The trail is also regularly used by hikers, bikers, paragliders and hunters to access the backcountry in the Slide Canyon area.

When this was complete, a line of high school and university students, and some faculty, passed buckets of lime, sand, and rocks up the mountain in order to fill up the letters.

This consisted of thousands of students hauling, by bucket brigade, gallons of whitewash up the mountain to paint the giant Y.

Eventually, this process evolved into using mattress batting soaked in used vehicle oil which was carried up the mountainside.

Once at the Y the mixture was formed into "gook" balls (a little bigger than softballs) with a thumb size hole poked into the top.

Initially, the lights and generator were dropped off and picked up by helicopter before and after each event, but after several years an old military ammunition bunker was installed on the mountainside near the Y to securely store the equipment when not in use.

[citation needed] In 2014, the US Congress passed a bill allowing BYU to purchase the 80 acres surrounding the Y from the US Forest Service.

[9][10] In 2016, BYU officials announce the finalization of the purchase of 81 surrounding acres, renovation of erosion damage, installation of permanent lights and trail enhancements.

[12][13][14][15] Like many college symbols, the Y has been the target of various pranks, many of them involving red paint, the principal color of BYU's archrival, the University of Utah.

[16] The cost of repair was reported to be over $6,000, and therefore, in accordance with laws of the state of Utah, the perpetrators were initially charged with second degree felonies.

[18] Hiking to the Y is a popular activity for BYU students and locals going for a walk or jog, or exercising their pets.