Mount Nebo & North Peak

In my mind, Mount Nebo was a monster. Several people I have talked to told me it was a hellish hike that they never wanted to do again. Since the "Nebo Group" is the last section of the Wasatch Eleveners book I had never really read the section, just skimed it a few times.

I studied the section the night before the big hike and after some initial confusion was please to see that the summit of Mount Nebo is the northern peak and only requires a 10 mile roundtrip hike. The confusion stemmed from the fact that there is a separate mountain called North Peak that is just north of Mount Nebo's north peak and is also an official Wasatch Elevener and is accessed from the same trail.
Once the confusion lifted I planned the hike to cross North Peak (11,155 ft) and then climb Mount Nebo's north peak (11,928 ft) and finally return while bypassing North Peak.

Kirk and I started hiking at about 7:10 from the trailhead after about and hour and a half drive from Orem. There were several groups of hunters along the lower parts of the trail and we heard distant gunshots, I believe it was muzzle loader season and even though it was a Wednesday there a lot hunters around. We crossed a dry Gibson Creek after two miles in about 45 minutes. The trail became significantly steeper after this point. At 2.5 miles from the trailhead we left the main Mount Nebo trail in order to climb to the summit of North Peak. There was a faint, spotty and sometimes multiple trails running up the north ridge of North Peak. A cold wind was blowing over the ridge from the east side so we stayed on the west side of the ridge when possible. There was a trail that contoured around to the west about 100 ft of altitude below the summit, we followed this trail mostly to stay out of the cold wind. When I noticed that we were past due west of the peak we turned up hill and bushwhacked the final 200 ft to reach the summit of North Peak. We took a couple of photos and quickly headed out to continue on to the primary goal of the hike.

There was no trail down to Wolf Pass where we would rejoin the Mount Nebo trail but there were many human footprints headed in the same direction. There would a few slides of scree which we had fun loping down. Wolf Pass is at the 3.5 mile point on the trail which we reached 2 hours into the hike.

It took us another hour and a half to travel the last mile to the summit of Mount Nebo. The trail was very steep and hard to follow in places when it either became faint or broke into several branches some of which ended abruptly. There were a few cairns some of which we missed and didn't see until the return trip. There was a small but sturdy metal mailbox at the summit containing a log book for hikers to write a message and/or sign. On the summit we had a bite to eat, took photos, signed the log book and did a little foot maintenance.

We took our time on the hike down stopping to enjoy the views and take some photos. The return hike ended up taking about 3 hours and 10 minutes. I would rate this hike much easer than Mount Timpanogos, in fact I would rate this hike as easy or easier than most of the other Wasatch Eleveners. Only Monte Cristo/Superior and Red Baldy come to mind as less of a challenge. The worst part of this hike is how much wasted ascending there is, the profile graphic below shows how many humps are crossed in both directions. The best part of this hike is getting bragging rights for climbing the highest peak in the Wasatch.


GPS Tracks: kml gpx
Google Maps: Terrain

Dromedary Peak

GPS Tracks: kml gpx
Google Maps: Terrain

Mel Hall and I set out to tackle this peak on a remarkably pleasant September morning. We left the Mill B South trailhead in Little Cottonwood Canyon just after 7:00am to head up the Broads Fork Canyon. We made great time through the pretty, wooded, two mile section of maintained trail up to the beaver pond getting there in an hour and a half. The next one mile section of the trail is unmaintained and has lots of obstacles climbing the drainage above the beaver pond to the rock pile in about an hour. The next section is an open talus slope on the east side of the bowl ringed by Broads Fork Twin Peaks, Sunrise/O'Sullivan and Dromedary Peak. We made the saddle on the north ridge of Dromedary in about an hour and a half covering just six tenth's of a mile. The final two tenth's of a mile scramble to the peak took another hour negotiating many tricky rock climbing sections I would rate as class 4. Apparently there is an easier route to the top if you traverse around to the east ridge at some point after the saddle but I didn't learn about that until after the hike.

The descent was long and slow taking four and a half hours to retrace just 4.2 miles with the peak scramble retreat taking and hour and 20 minutes to get back to the saddle.

The trail profile graphic below correctly sums up the hike as: steep, steeper and steepest. About 4900 vertical feet over 4.2 miles, 8.4 miles round trip.

Bullalo Peak Loop

The Paxman and I did this 4.1 mile reverse lollipop loop to the top of Buffalo Peak the other morning before work. It took us 1:50 round trip with a short stay at the summit. Buffalo Peak is the peak that is a little higher than Squaw Peak and between it and Cascade Mountain. The hike started at the Squaw Peak overlook trailhead. On the return side we took the 'high road' (see the bump on the hike profile) but the descent was very steep, I suggest taking the 'low road' unless you like sliding down steep dusty (or muddy) chutes on your butt through scrub oak. I barely kept my footing and almost lost my iPhone.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx
Google Maps: Terrain

Lone Peak via Cherry Canyon Logging Trail

Lone Peak is one of the most challenging hikes of the 18 Wasatch Eleveners and the only Wasatch Elevener that requires class 4 scrambling. The trailhead we chose makes a 16 miles round trip that we split into a two day backpacking trip. Though I'm in the best shape in my life this was the most demanding hike I have ever taken. In retrospect it could have been much worse. We had reasonable weather the first day and very cool weather on the second day. The hike down was a bit wet with a few light rain showers but a 90 degree day would have been MUCH worse.

I planned the trip and hiked with David N from the Wasatch Eleveners Facebook group. We also met a couple, Eric and Heather, who were great companions who shared the Outlaw Cabin meadow and many hours of the hiking with us. Eric and I shared trail information and I think we all benefited from the cooperation.

Our simple plan for hiking Lone Peak via the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail:

1. Hike 4.3 miles to the spring
2. Load up on water
3. Hike the remaining 1.3 miles to the Outlaw Cabin
4. Spend the night
5. Hike to the peak
6. Return to camp
7. Pack up
8. Hike back to the trailhead

We left the trailhead just after 9:00am and the hike up to the spring took about 4 hours. After loading up on water and taking a break the remaining hike to the Outlaw Cabin took another hour.
Our assault on the peak began about 8:30am and we reached the peak in about 2.5 hours. After enjoying the view at the summit, it took about an hour and a half to return to the campsite. The long descent to the trailhead took about 3 hours.

There was a lot of wildlife on the mountain. A pair of deer slept about 30 feet from me and the chipmunks were hard at work moving pine cones to some hidden storage location. I heard mountain goats but never sighted them. The scenery was very nice with lots of interesting white granite rock formation for most of the trip. I had wanted to take a side hike to Enniss Peak but didn't feel up to it after the long hike up with a heavy backpack.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx
Google Maps: Terrain
Photos: flickr

Mount Superior & Monte Cristo

I thought Mount Superior & Monte Cristo was going to be a relatively easy hike as compared to the other Wasatch Eleveners. Though short, only 5 miles, the hike involved quite a bit of scrambling and route finding. The hike starts from the Alta "Town Building" just off on the north side of highway 210, the main road going up Little Cottonwood Canyon just across from the Alta Lodge.

Follow "Michigan City Rd" which quickly turns into a gravel road around a couple of switchback turns before turning left/north on to a jeep trail right across from the snow avalanche study area. Note the power lines running up to the northwest, you should end up reaching the pass at the sport where these lines cross the ridge into Big Cottonwood Canyon. Follow the jeep trail west-northwest as it wanders up the slope. There is a turn off of the jeep trail on to a single-track trail going west at a quick double switchback. This trail climbs up all the way to a power pole at the pass where you can see down into Mill D South Fork in Big Cottonwood Canyon. This section accounts for a little less than half of the distance and a little more than half of the elevation gain.

The rest of the hike follows the ridge west over and around various peaks. The first unnamed peak has some antennas and a small metal box shaped structure. There are trails that contour around this peak on both the north and south sides. The south side is longer but has a nice view of the canyon. I suggest trying one on the way out and one on the way back. There is also a side trail that runs up to the top of this unnamed peak from the north side if you feel like you have any extra energy you wan to burn it off.

In places there is a nice trail along the ridge and others the trail seems to disappear out of thin air. In general, the trail follows mostly on the south side of the ridge. My best advice is keep looking ahead and don't be shy about backing up if the direction you're head starts looking too radical.

The stretch from the antenna peak to Mount Superior is most of the real work. When you reach the summit of Mount Superior you will be rewarded with a great view of Monte Cristo to the west. The traverse over to Monte Cristo is fairly easy.

GPS Tracks: kml gpx
Google Maps: Terrain