First Time Summitting in the La Sals

Scott Chandler

Wildness is a necessity- John Muir
Joined
Jan 4, 2014
Messages
1,099
I've been fairly quiet on here for a while, having mostly done a lot of adventuring of the "keep it secret, keep it safe variety" but with the desert getting hot now some more general recreation hiking is starting to happen, so I figure more sharing will happen now.

5.30.18

A group of the seasonal staff at my park has taken a liking to hiking together when they can and they invited me along for their first mountain summit adventure. Having been here for a year they thought I would know all the answers to hiking in the La Sals, which was fairly unfounded. Yes they are close by, but I went to further mountains quite a bit last summer, so I was along for the ride on this one! They wanted to summit Mann's Peak, supposedly on of the easier La Sal mountains to get to the top of. While there is a trailhead higher up that would have shortened our walk by a good bit, when I saw they were in a sedan when we met outside of Moab I didn't bring that up. Hiking from Warner Lake would mean a longer hike and more elevation, but that isn't a bad deal at all.

The morning was beautiful when we arrived at Warner Lake. Still air, clouds in the distance and so many different bird calls that I was running around trying to find them all.
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I love how quickly one can get away from the red rock desert with these mountains. It takes just about an hour to be in a completely different environment. It's also so much quieter. The trail started out in quaint aspen forests before following a stream up the mountain to Burro Pass.

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We were all feeling the steepness of the trail and the elevation by the time we hit Burro Pass. It's still a bit early for the winter body, and two of the group had never been this high before in their lives. A bit of ugly weather was also brewing though, so we couldn't really linger on our way up...

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I was surprised by all the buggy life up there.

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And after a while of five foot start/stop walking, a summit was reached and views abounded. Sorta. We would probably be able to see further on a crystal clear day but storms dominated our views southeast towards the San Juans. See them another day I guess.

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While lunching on the summit we had quite the discussion about making the pika the face of climate change while they scurried about on this alpine island of theirs. We also got snowed on a little bit, which was great considering the clear forecast we had in the morning. A couple parting shots were taken before flying down the hill. It's crazy how quick all that elevation gets lost compared to how long it takes to go up.

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So yes, first summit of the year under the belt now! Woohoo! Here's to more upcoming.

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That is really beautiful up there! Thanks for the report.


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I need to get to the La Sals. I always see them when I'm in Moab and everytime I think how I need to explore them!
 
Extremely beautiful!
I love the fuzzy moth. So cute when they aren't fluttering violently in my face and hair.
 
I love how quickly one can get away from the red rock desert with these mountains. It takes just about an hour to be in a completely different environment. It's also so much quieter.

I understand how different the environments are, but in what way are the mountains quieter? (Or how is the red rock desert noisier?) Are you talking about literal differences in sound quality or different levels of human accessibility and busy-ness?
 
I understand how different the environments are, but in what way are the mountains quieter? (Or how is the red rock desert noisier?) Are you talking about literal differences in sound quality or different levels of human accessibility and busy-ness?

Haha more specifically the desert around Moab. I think anyone who has been here would agree that it is a loud town for how small it is.

The serene silence of any landscape away from civilization is amazing and the La Sals are the quickest spot to get away to that here IMO
 
Nicely done and nicely captured ScottMan!

Those are some really nice summits to stand on that is for sure.

It is really cool and unique to stand on the alpine summit's and look down into the red rock desert. It is even more interesting in the middle of winter! :)
 
It is really cool and unique to stand on the alpine summit's and look down into the red rock desert. It is even more interesting in the middle of winter! :)

BRRRRRRrrrrrrrr! Lol that would be quite the interesting site. Winter wonderland surrounded by desert.

Sky Island Ecosystems. Love em.
 
BRRRRRRrrrrrrrr! Lol that would be quite the interesting site. Winter wonderland surrounded by desert.

Sky Island Ecosystems. Love em.
It was really fun to ski in to a hut up there and watch sunset from up high there. You working DPSP again this year?
 
It was really fun to ski in to a hut up there and watch sunset from up high there. You working DPSP again this year?

Oooo does sound nice. I was so snow averse this winter I didn't go anywhere near those mountains this winter, even though they weren't terribly snowy.

Yep, still at DHP for a while longer.
 
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