Mount Nebo - August 6, 2020

scatman

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While I've hiked most of the summits in the Wasatch, one that has eluded me is Mount Nebo. So yesterday, I loaded the family in the Subaru (think of the Griswolds in Vacation) and we headed south to see if we could summit Nebo.

We arrived at the trailhead a couple of minutes before 7:00 am and hit the trail. As we made our way up the mountain, the wildflowers were still doing well, particularly at the higher elevations with the Lupine being especially fragrant.

We had to contend with a couple of steep sections: the first as you gain the main ridge just north of North Peak, and the second, when you begin the summit push from Wolf Pass.

The valleys here in northern Utah had had smoke from fires in California for a few days, but we were fortunate that the air had cleared out a bit and that we had some relatively nice views when we got to the top.

While heading up, the temperatures were perfect, but on our way down, the day warmed up considerably. I'm finding as I get older, that I don't like the heat as much.

Anyway, here are some shots of our hike, and I found that I had a really enjoyable time and wondered to myself why I had never attempted this before.

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Posted map at the trailhead

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The gibbous Moon over Nebo

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Bald Mountain to our north

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Looking up the ridge towards North Peak

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Tall Larkspur and some out-of-focus Coneflowers

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Lots of Showy Goldeneye on this hike

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Beetle kill?

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Gray Aster

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Pretty easy hiking up to this point. This is where the first steep section begins as it runs along the tree line on the right side of the
photo up to the top of the ridge.


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This shot gives one a feeling of the steepness of the trail.

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Once on the ridge, we caught our first view of Nebo

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Looking back north along the ridgeline, with Bald Mountain in the distance

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There always seems to be grouse on our Wasatch hikes.

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Heading towards Wolf Pass with Nebo looming above

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The next steep section ahead as we approach Wolf Pass

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Some Lupine, Paintbrush and Goldeneye at the pass

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Heading up the second steep section while looking back down at Wolf Pass

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Looking back at North Peak and Bald Mountain

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The summit block comes into view

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Mount Nebo - the actual summit is just out of view, maybe 100-150 feet beyond the pictured high point

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Ready for the final push....... I think. :)

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Almost there

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The previously hidden summit comes into view

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On top. It kind of looks like I'm giving my son a much needed elbow to his head. :)

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The community of Mona down below to the west

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The south summit of Mount Nebo

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Utah Lake to the northwest

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The way back

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Some Indian paintbrush holding on in the rocky terrain

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More goldeneye along the trail

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A look to the north on our way down with Bald Mountain, Dry Mountain and Loafer Mountain keeping us company for the time
being.


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The trail runs through a nice stretch of Elderberry Shrubs

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The trailhead is within sight!

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My Moab Ventilators after the hike! You can see along the outside of each heel where some of the tread has come off. :mad: This pair is relatively new. This is my sixth pair of ventilators and this has never happened before. Has anyone else had this same experience?
 
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My Moab Ventilators after the hike! You can see along the outside of each heel where some of the tread has come off. :mad: This pair is relatively new. This is my sixth pair of ventilators and this has never happened before. Has anyone else had this same experience?
The same thing happened to my last pair of Moabs (and I mean last pair, ever). They were fairly new also, and one heel just ripped off while boulder-hopping up Zedd's Mountain. A few hikes later one of them developed a small bulge between the midsole and outsole that got really painful, and I just threw them in the trash after that. Merrell's durability has been going downhill for quite a few years since I first started wearing them anyway, so now I'm back to wearing Keens.
 
Awesome hike! Definitely on my list. Definitely wouldn’t be fun going up in the heat. How long is the trail?
 
The same thing happened to my last pair of Moabs (and I mean last pair, ever). They were fairly new also, and one heel just ripped off while boulder-hopping up Zedd's Mountain. A few hikes later one of them developed a small bulge between the midsole and outsole that got really painful, and I just threw them in the trash after that. Merrell's durability has been going downhill for quite a few years since I first started wearing them anyway, so now I'm back to wearing Keens.

I'll definitely have to reconsider what shoes to buy going forward. I was supposed to wear these on my backpacking trip into Yellowstone next week. I do have a pair of Mid Ventilators that I bought when they were on sale last year that I'll have to break out and hope they get me through the trip.
 
Awesome hike! Definitely on my list. Definitely wouldn’t be fun going up in the heat. How long is the trail?

My GPS had it clocked at just under 8.8 miles round trip. Not sure how accurate my GPS is though. The trail is in great condition up until just below the summit. I thought it was a much easier hike than Broads Fork Twin Peaks.
 
Nice hike! Uh, that's not good news about the Moab Ventilator, as you know, I use those too for many years. Never had that happen, but I also haven't hiked too much on very sharp rocks. You could e-mail them. I recently had great experience with their customer service (they swapped a pair of mid Goretex, for the mid Ventilator, I can explain off line). But getting another pair of the Ventilator doesn't help much, if they don't last while you are outside hiking. "Keen" isn't wide enough for me, so if I'm forced out of the Moab Ventilator, I will try some of the wide toe box trail runners often mentioned on BCP.
 
So if you continue along the ridge to the South Peak and then drop down, where is the trailhead located?
we ran a car shuttle, with start and end points below. it ended up being a pretty grim day, we didn't finish with a lot of daylight left
 

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Great share!
For the record, when I think of you, your family, and car, I would always imagine the Griswolds. That is a compliment LOL
 
Thanks for sharing. Really great job at showing us what it is like. As for the shoes. I have been buying Merrells for a long time and the durability is not what it used to be.
 
My one attempt of that peak, I was deceived into following some social/game trails off the lower right of the ridge well after Wolf Pass. I found myself at a dead end well below the ridge where I should have been, having expected the path I was on, to somehow switch back or make its way back up to the ridge, but it was a no-go. By the time I was able to backtrack to the ridge where I could correct my mistake, I was too short on time for another commitment back at home that afternoon that I had to save it for another day. I haven't taken that other day yet to go back and get er done. Well done for you all! Kings of the Wasatch!
 
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