Lone Peak has been bagged. This was a HARD hike! Arguably harder than Mt Whitney last year.  While it’s not a particularly tall mountain at 11,260 feet, when you take the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail, you start out at a very low elevation right at the valley floor and hike all the way up.

We started out just before dawn and got to see the daybreak across the Salt Lake valley as we climbed.

About 2/3 of the way up, there is the landmark Outlaw Cabin.  Outlaw in name only, it was built as a shelter before the area was designated as Wilderness in 1978.

Bizarre landscape.

Amazing perseverance.

Haggered life.

The peak.

On the tippy top. A bit of a sketchy climb and then a very small table top peak.

We’ve been prepping for this hike all summer long.  I’ve been looking at the peak whenever I get a chance and envisioning standing on the top.  It’s really fun to have made it up and looked back across the valley back at myself.

Hiking down via a different route than we took up.  Very steep.

360 degree pano of the view with Lone Peak on the left and Utah Valley on the right.

11.25 hours
17.2 miles
7400 feet of ascent

Mount Nebo has been bagged. It’s the tallest peak in the Wasatch mountains at 11928 ft.  We took this picture two weeks ago when we did a family drive on the Nebo Scenic Byway.  Bytheway, if you haven’t driven this byway, you should.  It’s very pretty.

Here are at the beginning of the trail, catching our first view of Nebo.  It’s the tall peak on the left side of the center mountain mass called North Peak.

We’re on the west side of that same North Peak mountain now, looking at the ridgeline we’ll climb up to summit Nebo.

At the top of the first false peak before the real one.

We made the summit. Such great views up there, and it was a wonderful day.

I gave Kathryn a call to wish Ashley well on her soccer game and cheer for her from the mountain top. They’re down there in the distance.

We made it down without any issues. It was a great hike, and fun to bag another peak.

6.5 hours
9 miles
4330 feet of ascent

Mount Olympus has been bagged.  As you’re heading East on I-215, it’s the peak on the rocky spine on the first mountain.  It’s a really steep hike, ascending almost as much vertical as hiking Timpanogos, but in about 1/2 the distance.  It was a fantastic day, and the views were awesome.

The push from the saddle up to the peak got even steeper, and turned into a scramble in several places.

The Summit.  We’ll bag Loan Peak sometime this summer too.

5.5 hours
7.1 miles
4300 feet of ascent

Timpanogos…the final movement of this hiking season.  My friend Chris and I set out to hike Timpanogos, on was was likely the last really nice weekend of the year.  He’s done it a number of times, but this was my first.  It’s been a bit of a bucket list item, and was the last hike I really wanted to do this year.

We were on the trail a little before dawn.  I really do enjoy the pre dawn hours.  The stars are so clear and it’s so peaceful.  It was, however, a bit nippy!  The other fun part of being up pre dawn is that you get to watch the sunrise.  I absolutely love the early dawn moments when the sunlight first hits the mountain tops and they glow a special orange color in contrast with the shaded areas.  Then as you’re hiking along, all of the sudden you burst into the sunlight and feel its warmth, and you quickly shed some layers.

Mount Timpanogos from the backside.  We’re getting close.

The saddle.  It was an incredibly beautiful day.  Hardly any wind, and a very pleasant temperature.

The summit!  11,752′.

Amazing views from the top.  I love looking up at the mountain and knowing that I was there at the very top.

Partially frozen stream on the way back down.

All told, we made the hike in 7.5 hours, with a half hour break on the top.  A good time, all around.