This one a steep climb. By far, it was the steepest climb I've encountered this year and I would assume it's the steepest I have ever climbed. The trailhead sits at 7,443 feet and I climbed to 11,031 feet according to the topo maps. This nearly 3,600 foot climb is completed in about 4 miles.
The trail itself was fantastic. It wasn't too wide but is also wasn't overgrown like the trail I took up the Wellsville mountains just two days prior to this hike. There had been some rain showers in the area overnight which only softened the trail. Place some welcomed beds of pine needles on top of the soft dirt and it makes for a comfortable trail. I honestly hope that walking in heaven will be a soft dirt trail with half an inch of pine needles on the surface.
This is not to suggest that the trail was without it negatives. I think I ran across some poison ivy but I still am not sure. It looked just like the stuff I saw on the Wellsville hike and that stuff was everywhere, so I have my doubts. If anyone can tell me whether or not this is in fact poison ivy, I would really appreciate it.
Perhaps the biggest pain in the leg was what I believe is a type of Indian thistle. These have somewhat pretty but needle shaped purple blooms with very sharp thistles below. These continued to pierce my pants and stab at my legs when I took my eyes off of the trail.
There was a ton of shade on this hike, at least until I approached the first basin. From this point, I continued in and out of the trees numerous times. I believe I was in the shade about one-third to one-half of the time. At the outset, this wasn't as welcomed as it was in the early afternoon. When I began the hike it was rather cool and I had to wear a long-sleeved shirt.
It was amazing how much higher I seemed to get in what felt like only a short distance of hiking. Each time I would turn around the cities behind rapidly got smaller and smaller.
Around 3.3 miles into the hike, I finally made it to the saddle at just over 10,000 feet. If someone were to hike to this point rather than continuing on to the peak, it will still be worth the hike. The view is magnificent. There is a small plateau and the trail splits here. From this point, you can see so many mountain peaks it is just beautiful.
What kept my mind alert, however, was the explosions I heard around this point. At first I thought the Air Force may have been dropping bombs during training missions but I never saw a single jet. The explosions continued, however. As I came over a ridge toward the peak, I could see huge clouds of smoke. What amazed me was how long it took for the sound to travel to me after witnessing the explosion. It was truly a sight to see. If you check out the photo below, there is a plume of smoke just right of center and the smoke is being blown to the left towards Salt Lake.
The view from up here was amazing. As per usual, the photos do not do it justice. These photos in particular disappointed me in that you don't get the perspective of just how high up there this really is. At least if you look at the photo below, you can see the canyon I hiked up to get to the peak.
This was the most gratifying hike I have ever done. Lake Blanche is beautiful. White Pines is ideal. But the view coupled with the sense of accomplishment made this the highlight of the year and perhaps one of the most fulfilling moments of my life. I only wish my family could have been with me.
With little time spent at the peak, I hobbled my way back down the trail. The only wildlife that I encountered were a couple of does and a very friendly Border Collie. Outside of meeting a few very friendly hikers along the way, this was the only excitement I encountered on the rapid descent back to the trailhead.
Map for the hike:
View Deseret Peak - 2011-08-29 in a larger map
Stats for the hike:
Created by My Tracks on Android.
Total Distance: 14.62 km (9.1 mi)
Total Time: 4:31:01
Moving Time: 2:48:07
Average Speed: 3.24 km/h (2.0 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 5.22 km/h (3.2 mi/h)
Max Speed: 14.76 km/h (9.2 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 2234 m (7329 ft)
Max Elevation: 3345 m (10973 ft)
Elevation Gain: 1342 m (4401 ft)
Max Grade: 0 %
Min Grade: -8 %
Recorded: Mon Aug 29 09:11:28 MDT 2011
Activity type: hiking
Photos for the hike:
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| Deseret Peak - 08-29-11 |
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