My first hike to the top of hidden peak was a dozen years ago. It was early autumn, and the weather had begun to cool in the afternoon shadows. The trail started near the Snowbird Center and climbed through stands of aspen and pine. It took a couple of hours to reach the top, the view becoming more exhilarating with the ascent.
The last 200 yards were the toughest — pitched, rocky, treeless — but worth the effort.
It was a million-dollar view.
A multimillion-dollar view, if you happen to be Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort.
The planned development of a restaurant at the top of 11,000-foot Hidden Peak in Little Cottonwood Canyon is moving ahead. The only major roadblock left is a lawsuit filed by Save Our Canyons against the Forest Service. A zoning change was recently approved to allow the resort more flexibility in its expansion. Snowbird has money, land rights and support from county commissioners, the Sandy City Council and at least one state representative.
With that sort of backing, it's likely there will soon be a fine view from the window tables, looking all the way back to the Heber Valley.
Next time I visit Hidden Peak, I can expect to be dining on wood-grilled salmon in dill sauce, rather than a Power Bar and trail mix.
A nice trade-off, but not nearly worth the price.
What now includes a tram dock and warming hut will be a facility covering 50,000 square feet, including 18,000 earmarked for restaurant space and a smaller portion for retail. Current plans, according to Save Our Canyons, include a cafeteria-type restaurant, as well as a high-end restaurant.
The view will still be spectacular from Hidden Peak, but from neighboring peaks it will be far too close to what you see looking from one downtown high-rise to another — glass, concrete and people.
Snowbird has its reasons for building the facility. Dinner at 11,000 feet, watching the sun set, would be an enjoyable experience. An even more convincing argument is that the peak should be accessible to more than just fitness enthusiasts and skiers.
"I don't think it's appropriate for only able-bodied people to be able to visit the peak," Salt Lake County commissioner Brent Overson said at a public hearing in May.
Good point, except it's already accessible to those who can't hike there. I've seen people at the top who got winded standing in the tram. Adding a restaurant has nothing to do with equal access to the summit.
There isn't a serious need for restaurants in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Snowbird already has the Aerie Restaurant, The Lodge Club, San Francisco Sourdough, Superior Snacks, the Steak Pit, Keyhole Junction, The Forklift and Wildflower Ristorante.
As long as someone has a credit card, starvation isn't a factor.
At the top are bathrooms and a warming hut, as well as the Mineral Basin Express chair lift, which stretches down the south face. Opponents haven't even objected to improving the existing facilities.
But that's enough development for one summit.
Little Cottonwood Canyon doesn't really need more restaurants, it needs more mountains.
Unfortunately, mountains are harder to build.
The best reasons to be on a mountain are to get away from the crowds and enjoy the outdoors. The proposed facility all but eliminates those attractions. What next, an Imax theater? Maybe they should sell denim jackets that say "Hard Rock Cafe Snowbird" and "Save the Planet" across the back.
Two Septembers ago, a friend and I went hiking in the Albion Basin. We climbed past Cecret Lake, to the top of Devil's Castle. To the west we could see Hidden Peak.
The weather turned cold as the skies darkened to a flat gray. Clouds soon shrouded the mountain in a hush. A light, vertical snowfall began, completely silent, as the first traces of winter approached. An eagle swooped and banked a hundred feet below.
It was a still, serene moment, a scene I'll never forget.
I'll never forget the first time I see a building the size of a football field on Hidden Peak, either.
But for a different reason entirely.
E-mail: rock@desnews.com