Bald Mountain - August 20, 2022

[scatman]

I was supposed to hike to the top of Reid's Peak on my annual Uinta trip, but since the weather called for storms, I didn't feel comfortable summitting Reid's, which I have never attempted before, in a cloud, so I instead did the old standby, Bald Mountain. Someone at our campground had said that the storm was supposed to move in around 1:00 pm, so I hit the trailhead around 10:30 in the morning. Unfortunately, even at that time, the top of Bald Mountain was already in a cloud. About 1/3 of the way up, it began to drizzle, and maybe halfway to the top it began to rain with a little more authority. Pretty soon I was just hiking through the cloud. When I did reach the summit, the clouds broke for a few minutes. I took advantage of the break and took some shots down towards Moosehorn Lake and vicinity. Heading back down, it clouded up again and began to rain.

Clear at the trailhead

Cloudy up top

Harebell along the trail

Storm clouds to the west

Murdock Mountain

Looking out towards Mount Watson

Haystack Mountain

The trail

Buckwheat along the trail

Yarrow

Arnica

Fleabane

The trail makes it way through a small stand of conifers

Heading on into the cloud - drizzling at this point

Not sure what this plant is

Back to just rocks

Thistle

Paintbrush and buckwheat

Rain and wind have picked up by this point and my hands are getting a little chilly

Selfie

Kind of an eerie feeling to it.

Looking into the abyss

Reduced visibility

Rock stairs to the top

Moosehorn Lake below as the clouds cleared for a couple of minutes

Can you make out Reid's Peak?

It's peaking out from underneath the cloud

Heading back down

Clouds moving back in

You can see a little further now

Reid's peak peeking through again

Some stonecrop

Cloud covered Hayden Peak from the overlook

Pearly everlasting

Hayden Peak on my ay back to camp

Kletting Peak on my way back to camp.


The End.

 

[regehr]

nice! I love hiking in a whiteout, especially when it clears occasionally like this

 

[scatman]

nice! I love hiking in a whiteout, especially when it clears occasionally like this

The rains kept the crowds down too on this popular trail. I actually had the summit to myself for about ten minutes.

 

[Jackson]

The place where I first met Scatman and his family! Really cool shots with the clouds/fog. Probably helped keep the crowds at bay too.

 

[Bob]

Had to go find more rain and mud .... As if you already didn't have enough

 

[scatman]

The place where I first met Scatman and his family! Really cool shots with the clouds/fog. Probably helped keep the crowds at bay too.

How long ago was that Jackson, five or six years now? My how time flies. Most of the people I ran into were coming down as I was going up. A lady summitted five to ten minutes after I did. I did run into a small group heading up as I descended.

 

[scatman]

Had to go find more rain and mud .... As if you already didn't have enough

You've taught me well Bob! A good hard rain and some clay mud to stick to your shoes makes the trip.

 

[Jackson]

How long ago was that Jackson, five or six years now? My how time flies. Most of the people I ran into were coming down as I was going up. A lady summitted five to ten minutes after I did. I did run into a small group heading up as I descended.

Yep, probably 5 years. I think it was summer 2017.