Brigham Young University's Y Mountain is nothing short of an icon here in the Utah Valley. Due east of the main campus, "the Y", as it is known colloquially by residents of the valley, stands at an elevation of 8,572 ft. and rises 788 ft. above the surrounding valley. It is much larger than it seems, stretching 380 ft. tall and 130 ft. wide. It is made of concrete, and as of recently is lined with LED bulbs around the edges used for lighting it during the evenings of BYU homecoming week during October. The Y Mountain wasn't always called such, and was previously known by early settlers by its Ute name of Wahdahhekawee, which means "blessed mountain". In 1906 a proposition was made to paint the graduating class year, '07, on the mountain by Brigham Young High school juniors, which was contested by the president of Brigham Young University's president George H. Brimhall. To compromise, the suggestion was made that instead BYU would be painted on the mountainside. In April of 1906 the historic construction of the proposed BYU began, as thousands of buckets of whitewash and sand were hauled up the mountain by students and faculty. Many hours of labor passed and only the Y had been completed. The rest of the letters were postponed to be completed on a later date, and were eventually abandoned leaving the large white Y standing alone. From 1907 to 1973 a tradition of "Y day" was carried out in which students would take thousands of gallons of whitewash via bucket brigade to the Y to be repainted, which was discontinued in 1975 when BYU would contract a helicopter to deliver the some 20,000 gallons of whitewash needed to repaint it. In 1911, the bottoms and tops of the Y were altered, giving it the look it bears today. "Lighting the Y" began as a tradition in 1924, where students would carry pieces of oil drenched cloth and soaked mattress pieces and set them alight on the Y. This method produced only about 20 minutes of fire and was discontinued due to wildfire risk in 1985, and instead strings of electric 25 kw bulbs were lined around the Y, powered by diesel generators, allowing the monument to be lit for several nights in a row. in 2014 the Y was outfitted with LED bulbs mounted in the concrete that could be lit remotely, however the tradition of creating a mock bucket brigade still remains, and the lights are lit in sequence to appear as if being lit by torch as they were in the past. In 2013 BYU was allowed to purchase 80 acres of land surrounding the Y in order to control its preservation as usage, however it is still open to tourists and students who wish to climb the 1.3 mile trail to the top as I did this past month!
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| Here you can see the whole of BYU campus and surrounding areas of the east Utah Valley. Utah Valley University can be seen in the top left of the city grid. Utah lake shimmers beautifully int the background. |
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| Here my ward and I sit on the the top left of the Y. As you can can see it is truly immense. I can only imagine what it would've been like trying to paint it! |
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| At around 10 AM the sun just begins to rise above the mountains peak. Moments after this shot, a student leaped from this peak equipped with a glider and soared to the valley below just feet above our heads |
The climb to the top of the mountain is grueling. It got very hot just after the sun peaked above the mountain, and the footing of the trail is loose and difficult to progress. Though it is a short hike up (only just under a mile and a half) it was exhausting! I went on a Saturday morning, and the parking lot was almost completely full by 9:30 AM. The Y itself was scorching hot around noon. I recommend going in the early morning hours to beat the rush and heat. The area surrounding the Y is gorgeous, and several offshoots from the trail lead to more natural areas. Along the hike there are some learning opportunities as there are informational signs at every turn with information about the nearby plants and animals, warnings, and history about the Y and its construction. Near the top are newly constructed binoculars that can be used for free for viewing the area below including a map that shows landmarks of the area. It was awesome. All of BYU and most of Provo and Orem can be seen through the lenses. The drive up to the parking lot can be confusing without GPS as there are several ways to wind up to the area. I recommend taking a car with a good reliable engine as the roads are extremely steep (we're talking San Fran kinds of steep). It was a remarkable experience and will be a repeat hike for me!
