Lone Peak - July 14, 2021

scatman

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On Bastille Day 2020, I hiked to the top of Broads Fork Twin Peaks for my 56th. So this year, I chose Lone Peak to celebrate good old 57. Now the last time that I summited Lone Peak was nine years ago, and I thought then that it was a pretty strenuous hike for a young lad of 48. So since March, I have been training so to speak for this hike. Being older now, I figure what I've lost in strength, speed, coordination and endurance, I can make up for in wisdom. Can't I? Yeah right! :roflmao:

A couple of weeks ago, @Ugly suggested that I try the Trail of the Eagle on my summit attempt, instead of the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail. Having never heard of this trail before, Ugly was kind enough to give me some beta on it, and I made the trailhead decision to take it up the mountain.

We, Katie and I that is, arrived at the Orson Smith Trailhead at 5:30 am. The car thermometer read 81 degrees, and to me it felt like there was some humidity in the air. I was expecting it to be a hot day so I had five Nalgene bottles full of water (one of which was frozen) and a 32 oz, green apple Gatorade, while Katie had 4 Nalgenes, again one frozen, and a smaller bottle of blue, sorry, I can't remember the flavor, Gatorade.

We hit the trail at 5:40 and made our way up to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (Perhaps the old BST). Once reaching the BST, we turned north for about 0.3 miles, where we crossed a suspension bridge that spans Bear Canyon. Right after crossing the bridge, we took the first right and soon after we came to the sign for Trail of the Eagle. The trail begins by switchbacking up the ridge before moving over to north side of the ridge. At this point, you have views down into Little Willow Canyon. Eventually the trail gains the ridge proper again and we made our way up to roughly 8700 feet, where Trail of the Eagle meets the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail. A couple of interesting things to mention along this stretch: One, we found @Ugly's cache of circus peanuts at 7440 feet. I can't tell you how appreciative we were for hiking those up there for us. :) And be sure and tell your daughter thanks too for leaving us eight peanuts. :thumbsup:

Well, soon after the peanut find, we had the bejeebies scared out of us by a grouse that took flight right in front of us. Katie took the brunt of the scare, but it made me jump too.

Once on the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail, it wasn't long before we made to Outlaw Cabin. The cabin was built back in 1978, before the wilderness designation, and it might have some kind of functionality to it today, even though it is a bit run down. At the cabin, we stopped for a snack break and to take some pictures.

Once we left the cabin, it was now time to work our way up the upper portion of Little Willow Canyon, which is kind of steep, and it seems to this old fart to go on forever. I was beginning to feel it as we reached the very upper part of the canyon, but soon was rewarded with our first views of Lone Peak and the Lone Peak Cirque.

At this point, we made our way down off the ridge and worked our way to the base of the summit ridge of Lone Peak. Once we reached about 2/3rds of the way along the ridge, it's time to put on our scrambling shoes and scramble across the knife edge that leads to the summit.

After reaching the summit, we took summit shots and ate our lunches. We also got to chat with a couple of rock climbers who had climbed the face of the peak and arrived at the top during our lunch. We were lucky, all the smoke that had been in the surrounding area from forest fires from other states, up to the 13th, had pretty much cleared out, so the views were incredible.

Just as we were finishing up our lunches, and the climbers had started to work their way over to the south summit of Lone Peak, we heard thunder to the west as some cumulus clouds were beginning to build up above the valley floor. Packing what was left of our lunches away, we beat a hasty retreat off the summit and summit ridge, and dropped down into the cirque proper.

At this point we took the Jacob's Ladder Trail down. "Trail" at this point is being kind. Working our way down, across and through granite slabs and boulders would probably be more accurate. At one point, we ended up heading further south than we should have, and we had to climb back up to find the trail, which did not amuse my daughter. :) Or maybe it was the drizzling rain that had her out of sorts. :thinking: Of course, on this stretch of being semi-lost and wet, we saw three deer to make up for it. :thumbsup:

We eventually found the Jacob's Ladder Trail and began heading down the mountain. Eventually we reached the Draper Ridge Trail, where we followed it for a short distance before hooking up with a connector trail that leads back to the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail. This connector trail has grown up quite a bit over the last nine years, and was hard for me to locate at first. And as we approached the Cherry Canyon end of the trail, small aspen trees had bent down over the connector, making for a bit of bushwhacking that I had not anticipated.

Now that we had reached the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail, we followed its many switchbacks down the mountain and back to the trailhead. I'm pretty sure along this stretch, I saw more lizards than I have ever seen while hiking in the Wasatch.

We got back to the Subaru at 8:02 pm, making it a 14 hour and 22 minute day, but I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate number 57.

What is the French word for Scatman? Homme de caca? :D

Shots of our hike:

Lone_Peak_Lollipop_Loop.jpg
Overview of our route

01.jpg
5:45 am, and we have reached the shoreline trail

02.jpg
The way we will return to the trailhead

03.jpg
The suspension bridge over Bear Canyon

04.jpg
Sign partially covered for Trail of the Eagle

05.jpg
Making our way up Trail of the Eagke

06.jpg
Lupine was plentiful above 7000 feet

07.jpg
The only fireweed we saw the entire day was a few plants along Trail of the Eagle

08.jpg
Finding @Ugly's cache! ;) Made our day. @Rockskipper, I've got the UTM coordinates of the cache if you are interested. Never
know when you might want a peanut. :)

09.jpg
Moseying, amongst the paintbrush, towards the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail

10.jpg
Looking up the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail from the intersection with the Trail of the Eagle Trail

11.jpg
Staring to see some large granite boulders as we climb

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Granite everywhere to our north

13.jpg
A bumble bee enjoying some horsemint. Some sections of the trail had overwhelming smell of mint as we hiked along.

14.jpg
Pretty views as we make our way towards Outlaw Cabin. Meadow full of false sunflowers

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Outlaw Cabin

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And an Outlaw to boot! :D

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I could use a good cast iron skillet meal about now. Burger Boy is always hungry.

18.jpg
Beginning the section up the Little Willow Creek Drainage

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Looking back down the drainage towards the valley

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Our first deer sighting

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Aargh! Upper reaches of the drainage

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Worth the view though - Lone Peak summit across the cirque

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Working our way down to the base of the summit ridge

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Still working our way across

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Lone Peak summit above - starting our climb up the ridge

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Almost to the top of the ridge

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One of the rock climbers moving up the face of Lone Peak

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Time to put on our scramble shoes. :)

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Daisies among the granite rocks

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Scrambling towards the summit

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Summit shot

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A look over at the south summit

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Looking east along "The Beatout" towards the Pfeifferhorn

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Utah Lake below to the southwest

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Broads Fork Twin Peaks, Sunrise Peak, and Dromedary Peak to the north

36.jpg
Looking down the cirque from the summit

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Lone Peak - heading down

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Storm clouds moving in

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Making our way across, down, through the granite slabs looking for the trail

39.jpg
View of the ridge to the north

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Stormy over Box Elder and Timp.

41b.jpg
One of the deer that we saw while getting back to the trail

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A look back up at Lone Peak

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Heading on to the Draper Ridge Trail

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Back on the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail - Looking north at the ridge where the Trail of the Eagle is located and where we were
earlier in the day.

44.jpg
View looking back while heading down the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail

45.jpg
Sea of scrub oak

46.jpg
View from the Cherry Canyon Trail intersection with the Shoreline Trail. Almost back to the trailhead at this point.


The End.
 
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A cache of circus peanuts? Is this kind of like the BCP version of Fenn’s Fortune? I know how it goes - I’ll find an empty bag. If you guys didn’t eat them all, some marmot did. Anyway, impressive way to spend a birthday.
 
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Congratulations Hugh!

I knew you'd be successful on your birthday adventure. I cannot think of a better birthday treat than a Circus Peanut and Green Apple Gatorade. :p
 
Happy Birthday @scatman , you are clearly in great shape, ready for Yellowstone :poop:. Great views from the top!
For a second I thought it was you on the face of Lone Peak, whew....
 
A cache of circus peanuts? Is this kind of like the BCP version of Fenn’s Fortune? I know how it goes - I’ll find an empty bag. If you guys didn’t eat them all, some marmot did. Anyway, impressive way to spend a birthday.

I don't know. What is a cache of circus peanuts worth? Obviously gold to me, but others maybe not so much. I'm not clever enough to come up with a poem to describe the location of the cache. You'll need to come up with something. Imagine how many people will begin to search. :D
 
Way to celebrate in style (and no rattlers).

Yeah, no rattlesnakes on this one. I must have lost my touch. :)

I thought about you when I saw the rock climbers. On the summit, one of the climbers let me lift his pack with his climbing gear in it so I could feel how heavy it was. I took a group shot of both of them on the summit with one of their cellphones.

Almost at the summit
03.jpg
 
Congratulations Hugh!

I knew you'd be successful on your birthday adventure. I cannot think of a better birthday treat than a Circus Peanut and Green Apple Gatorade. :p

Katie is kind of particular about what flavors of Gatorade that she will drink. Green Apple just happens to be one of them, otherwise I would have had something like fruit punch or mango.

Notice how I'm color coordinated with the peanut? :thumbsup:
01.jpg
 
Happy Birthday @scatman , you are clearly in great shape, ready for Yellowstone :poop:. Great views from the top!
For a second I thought it was you on the face of Lone Peak, whew....

I wish that was me. You know, I believe that I could have gotten into rock climbing back when I was a young man. It looks like a lot of fun. I just didn't grow up around it, so I'm afraid that I missed my chance. Thanks for the birthday wishes.

Where is the rope? :)
04.jpg
 
Is it real gold?
It’s kind of yellow,
But such an odd shape!
Kind of like baked jello.

(Not too many words that rhyme here, but we are in Utah.)

True treasure it is,
Or so we’re told,
By the man in the kilt,
His stories so bold.

It’s on a big peak,
And if you fail,
Your life is at stake,
Or so goes the tale.

The brave one will win,
The reckless will die,
If your life is worth peanuts,
Then give it a try.

Sucker or hero,
You soon will know,
For fool’s gold treasure
Lies below.
 
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I appreciate the climbing shots. I have not yet been up there, but have heard good things from climbing partners.
 
Is it real gold?
It’s kind of yellow,
But such an odd shape!
Kind of like baked jello.

(Not too many words that rhyme here, but we are in Utah.)

True treasure it is,
Or so we’re told,
By the man in the kilt,
His stories so bold.

It’s on a big peak,
And if you fail,
Your life is at stake,
Or so goes the tale.

The brave one will win,
The reckless will die,
If your life is worth peanuts,
Then give it a try.

Sucker or hero,
You soon will know,
For fool’s gold treasure
Lies below.

Love it Rockskipper. It's so good that I won't even know the location of the cache. :)
 
Great birthday pics n hike…I am so elated that another has takin’ up moseyin’ down th trail at times. For some reason I find myself doin this more n more these past few years! I have also discovered sauntering’ down th trail is almost as enjoyable as moseying’. (By th way…that wisdom gaining’ thing doesn’t seem to be kickin in at all with me…if it’s not with you…it’s gotta mean that we are still wayyy too young to be wise!

Happy Birthday Young man!
 
Great birthday pics n hike…I am so elated that another has takin’ up moseyin’ down th trail at times. For some reason I find myself doin this more n more these past few years! I have also discovered sauntering’ down th trail is almost as enjoyable as moseying’. (By th way…that wisdom gaining’ thing doesn’t seem to be kickin in at all with me…if it’s not with you…it’s gotta mean that we are still wayyy too young to be wise!

Happy Birthday Young man!

I need to use the word "saunter" more I think. It suits my age. :moses: We are definitely going to be sauntering along Gneiss Creek and the Bechler come September. :) And thanks for the birthday wishes.
 
It's belated because I was up at Bear Lake, and although Idaho really does have cell service these days, I was blissfully unconnected while the mosquitos munched on my ankles and I gazed at turquoise blue waters.

Happy Birthday!

A brief synopsis of my peanut adventure:
It's too bad that I was a day early, not knowing you shared the birthday with Bastille day, so I broke away from watching The Tour, packed up a single 12oz bottle of water, 7 moon pies, and a full bag of circus peanuts, and started on my way a day too early. Then, at about 5000' under the first mahogany tree, I had to eat the first moon pie just to do quality control while I chased a grouse up the trail.
At 6200' in a beautiful patch of maples I sat in the shade, started to take a nap on the trail, and was rudely attacked by four trail runner pirates with lulu lemon leggings, tutus and eye patches that demanded ransom for my survival, since I was sleeping in their shade. I offered them some moon pies and they tore out about half the bag of peanuts, scattering them among the wild sweet pea flowers and next to a rattlesnake. They only eat and drink sugar substitutes, like ones that start with diet, and so they were not happy. Once they finally passed downhill I gingerly gathered a few peanuts, dusted them off and crawled up the trail.

At 7349' precisely, I sat down and ate the other half dozen moon pies that I had previously frozen for freshness, had successfully kept from my attackers, and had been using to ice the wounds left by the hoka shoe prints that the lulu lemon pirates left on my back. After I had eaten, I had thought to go on, but was puckered out. So I gingerly tied the peanut bag to a passing coyote who says he swore off sugar, and he must have dropped them where you found them. Either that or they were not the peanuts I left you at all!
How did you feel after you ate them?

Then I crawled back home and woke up at Bear Lake.

Next year though, I will get it right and carry some Swig drinks and cookies as offerings to the lulu lemon pirates, and I will be waiting wherever, with a banana moon pie for your birthday. Just give me the right place and I can remember Bastille day. I will be waiting before 7am.
 
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