Kessler Peak is another favorite Wasatch hike, and the God’s Lawnmower Trail from the Doughnut Falls trailhead is my preferred route. It’s short and steep, perfect for after work hike. The trail is heavily wooded with aspens and Douglas Fir, so the hike is cool, green and shady, a nice escape on a hot summer afternoon. I feel some urgency to hike/ski Cardiff Fork because, as of September, the landowners in Cardiff Fork have not renewed the public access agreement with the USFS allowing public access through their land. It’s possible that public access might be denied in the near future. Today I saw signs saying as much - ’No Trespassing’ or ’Not a public Trail.’
Stats - Kessler Peak Summit from Doughnut Falls TH, via God’s Lawnmower trail:
One-way distance: 2.38 miles
Trailhead Elevation: 7,479 feet
Kessler Peak Summit Elevation: 10,403 feet
Elevation gain: 2,982 feet
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| During the ascent, the trail traverses east to west across the top of the avalanche path/ski run called God’s Lawnmower. From the highway, seen way below, it looks steep and intimidating, but looking up a mountain from the base is often misleading, often looking steeper than it really is. God’s Lawnmower is a prime example. From this vantage point, near the top, it looks benign, it looks like an easy ski run. That said, the absence of mature timber down most of it’s length indicates that it slides big and catastrophically. A warning, ski it only when conditions are welded. |
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| View north-east from Kessler’s summit, the middle ridge line is the Park City divide, separating the Park City side of the Wasatch from the Big Cottonwood drainage. |
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| View south from summit of Kessler. Top of the Snowbird tram on the left, in the middle are American Fork Twins (left - 11,433 ft and right 11,489 ft (hi pt of SL Cnty)). The nearer ridge is Mt Superior (11,040 ft) the high point on the right and Monte Cristo (11,132 ft) is the high point barely cut out frame on the far right. |
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| View east with the near steep/exposed face falling of the Reed and Benson Ridge. |
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| Park City ridge-line, Guardsman Pass the low point on the right, where the conifers and the aspens meet. |
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| View directly north off the summit of Kessler. |
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| View south, Mineral Fork of Big Cottonwood is the near drainage on the right. |
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| Kessler East Couloir a popular ski run because it’s not very steep, about 36 degrees, so the riff-raff descend in hordes. |
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| A vertical mine shaft just below (NW) Kessler’s summit. I’m not sure what mine it is, nothing is listed on my mine maps. The closest mine found is the Carbonate Mine, shown on. the face SE of Kessler’s summit. This could be another access for the miners because there’s a ruin of a miners cabin just down the hill. |
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| Deadfall blown over onto another tree and the live tree growing around the dead. |
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| Ruin of miners cabin near the summit of Kessler (NW about a quarter mile). |
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| On the descent, long shadows stretching over God’s Lawnmower. |
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| I love the colors of fall. |
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