Daniel's Summit
Daniel's summit ( sometimes also called Strawberry Pass )
is a moderately busy, wide highway over a barren part of
the Wasatch Plateau. Most parts have a wide shoulder,
except where you need it most, at the steeper parts. There
the road is rumble stripped without any apparent
consideration that anybody might want to use the shoulder
for bicycling. Often the rumble strip runs close to the
middle of the shoulder. But for the most part, there is
plenty of room on this long, shallow climb. The pass is
marked on state sponsored and commercial highway maps.
Besides a highway summit sign there is also a not so
official sign, one of the major attractions of the summit,
as the last picture shows. Another small sign, next to the
pictured billboard, prohibits parking for anybody except
snowmobile owners, apparently the most prized customers of
the establishment, which specializes in overpriced kitsch
and $1.25 cans of soda. (May/05)
The first picture shows Mount Timpanogos, highest peak in
the Wasatch Range, seen from the western bottom of
Daniel's Summit near Heber city. The Alpine
Loop Road summit is on the right shoulder of this
mountain, while Provo Canyon leads through a low gap on
the left of the peak.
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1.(6350ft,m00) START-END EAST:
junction US40 - paved road to Strawberry Pinnacles
on left
2.(6600ft,m03) START-END EAST ALTERNATE: Fruitland
3.(7630ft,m25) dirt road on left heads south to
Soldier Summit road
4.(7930ft.m31) dirt road leaves on left
5.(8020ft,m31) TOP: Daniel's Summit
6.(5600ft,m49) START-END WEST: Heber City |
Approaches
From West. The best views of the Wasatch Range
and its crowning Mount Timpanogos are obtained before entering
the canyon. A gradual climb leads through a pine forest to the
summit. After such a uniform, gentle grade the steepness of
the last stretch often comes as a surprise.
From East. Leaving Duchesne there is another apr.
500ft climb before the profile starts. US40 climbs gradually
onto a rolling hill summit plateau, extending for many miles.
Without an altimeter the highest spot is not obvious. The road
goes along the large Strawberry Reservoir for several miles,
offering relief from summer heat with a double dose of
altitude and water coolant.
Tours
Dayrides. A dayride from near Fruitland to
Heber City across the pass and back, also including a sidetrip
towards Strawberry Pinnacles, measured 115 miles with 5864
feet of climbing, using a Vetta 100A cycle computer.The
sidetrip accounts for about 12 miles.
History
Escalante Expedition: (<Douglas
Pass(Co)) After having crossed Douglas Pass in Colorado
and then crossed the Green River in Utah, the California bound
Escalante group of priests and Indians followed roughly the
path of today's Rte40 onto the Wasatch Plateau. But rather
than descending into the area of today's Heber City, they
followed Diamond Creek, today's Diamond Fork Canyon road to
Spanish Fork, also the eastern bottom of Soldier Summit.
Winter caught them on Utah Lake. Rather than continue to seek
a route to far parts of the Spanish empire, they retreated
back to New Mexico.
Fremont Expedition: (<Dead Man Hill
Divide(Co)|Battle Lake Pass(Wy)>)A similar Diamond Creek
route was used by Charles Fremont during the return trip from
California during his harrowing second expedition. Brought
into existence by Senator Benton's (his father in law) desire
for american manifest destiny to spread across the continent,
Fremont had encountered difficulties in California. Of the 39
original members two dozen had survived after a bad winter
crossing of the Sierra Nevadas. Most of the mules were dead
and even the Howitzer canon, that they had lugged along for
all those miles, had to be abandoned. After resting at Fort
Uintah at the eastern base of the mountains for two days in
June 1844, the group continued through Brown's Hole along the
Colorado Wyoming border and crossed Battle Lake Pass in
Wyoming.
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