Our goal Wednesday morning was to climb Deseret Peak, the highest summit (11,031 ft.) in the Stansbury range of mountains that run on the west side of the Tooele valley.
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| Alan Larsen (BYU Shirt in center) rallying the group before the hike |
We were joined that morning by Alan Larsen who was the scout master to all the boys in this group. It was great to have him join us and he immediately set a good tone by getting everyone ready to hike.
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| L-R: Stephen Bons, Yhann Masbernat, Jack Windsor, Haven Ruiz, Max Rammell, Mark Larsen, Spencer Bons, Alex Jensen, and ElRay Roper |
At the trail head Alan snapped this group photo as a reminder of how we all started together. We left the trail head around 8:30 and the trail got steep in a hurry. After about half a mile we had fun crossing the creek then the trail headed up the mountain to the south towards the saddle.
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| Alan and Alex negotiating the stream. Alex ended up stepping in the stream to keep his balance. |
Fortunately we did not have to take too fast of a pace and I was able to keep up.
The hike reminded me a lot of going up the Timpanooke trail to Timpanogos. Nice alpine views were plentiful and all the rain we received in May had the scenery very green.
The trail wound it's way up South Willow canyon to the top of the canyon. The young men stayed together in a group while Alex and I brought up the rear.
At about 8700 ft we ran into snow. At first it was just small patches across the trail but the higher we went the larger the sections of the trail that were covered. At around 9000 feet we just started up along the exposed ridge line to stay out of the snow.
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| Alex Jensen struggling up the steep draw |
At 9300 feet we crossed a snow field and started up a steep draw. At this point I decided that I had climbed enough and I headed back down. The rest of the group continued up the draw towards the saddle. As they got within about 75 feet of the saddle most everyone turned back because the shale was slick and the rocks were sharp.
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| Haven Ruiz, Spencer Bons, and Stephen Bons made the summit |
Three members of our group made it to the saddle and on to the top. They said the views were great. Those who didn't make it stated that they thought we should come back later in the summer and make the climb again. We'll have to put that on our calendar.
At about 8700 ft we ran into snow. At first it was just small patches across the trail but the higher we went the larger the sections of the trail that were covered. At around 9000 feet we just started up along the exposed ridge line to stay out of the snow.
