Mount Raymond - July 8, 2023

[scatman]

So @TractorDoc has been training for an August trip down into the Thorofare, and he has been posting some of his training hikes here, and basically putting the old Scatman to shame. He's been loading his pack with 50 lbs., heading off with the wife, and finishing up with some fancy ice cream. Oh and least I forget, he's had snapping turtles and vintage diesel locomotives in his reports. How am I supposed to keep up with that? I mean having a snapper in your report is like having a wolverine or a cougar in my book. And he also takes some damn fine pictures too. @Rockskipper, please let the Doc know that the Thorofare is relatively flat.

So in a effort to keep up with him, old Scat is going to have to bring out the heavy guns and hike some of the bigger daddies in the Wasatch I guess.

I was scheduled to give blood again on June the 10th, but since I was heading to the Wyoming Range with @Bob on the 26th and didn't want to die, I delayed giving until Saturday, July 1st. So heading into this hike I was a pint low so to speak, and I could tell right off the bat that this was going to be a struggle. I persevered though, and while I didn't set any records doing so, I made it to the summit to enjoy a lot of butterflies and ladybugs.

2023 has been an incredible year for wildflowers, and this hike was no exception. From start to finish it was wildflower paradise.

Katie and I took the Bowman Fork Route on this one, which means a long approach to Raymond. Roundtrip distance was about 10.5 miles,and it took us a good nine hours to complete. This included a long lunch up top to enjoy the wonderful 360 views.

Gearing up at the Sube at 6:41 AM

Early morning light on Grandeur, viewed from the Millcreek Road

Thimbleberry

White geranium

Common ninebark

Columbine

Send the cavalry @Rockskipper. I'm really to old for this anymore.

Lupine

Wild roses

Pink geraniums

Common yarrow

Caterpillar

Paintbrush

Skyrocket

More geraniums

American vetch

Clematis

Groundsel

Bluebells

Fungi of some sort

Pretty walk through the aspen

Mount Raymond

Ladybug

More aspen

View back at Grandeur Peak, with Frary Peak in the far, hazy distance

Larkspur

Western wallflower

Baker Spring, which I would take advantage of on our way back down as it was a hot day

Mount Raymond - working our way up to Baker Pass

Mount Raymond

Ground squirrel

Paintbrush

A look down Porter's Fork

A little bit of snow here and there to deal with

Clematis

View of Raymond from Baker Pass

A group of ultra marathoners who were discussing the Crazy Mountain 100 in Montana, all while I was thinking to myself the Crazy
Raymond 10.5 The guy pictured without a shirt said he is planning on beating the course record.

Skyrocket that has bleached to white

Wildflowers on the saddle

Wasatch beardtongue

Katie, making her way up Raymond with Gobblers Knob above and to the east

Monument plant

Could use that extra pint of blood about now.

The scramble section begins

So let's scramble

Katie's turn

I ran into a rattlesnake just about here once

Slow going for me

The summit comes back into view

A painted lady, just below the summit

Nuttall's linanthus

Views from the summit:

Wildcat ridge - looking west

Knife's edge the protrude south from the summit

View to the south (L-R) Dromedary, Sunrise and Broads Fork Twin Peaks on the Cottonwood Ridge

View slightly to the northeast with Mount Aire on the Millcreek Ridge

Benchmark on Raymond

View to the east and Gobbler's Knob

Ladybug. There were a lot of these on the summit

View towards Mount Superior on the Cottonwood Ridge

Summit shot

Figuring out the way back down

Easier going up I think.

View towards the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon

Back through the aspen

Back at the official trailhead which is located in the Terraces Picnic Area

Back at the Subaru

After our hike, we headed down to Liberty Park in Salt Lake for the Food Truck Faceoff for dinner. There were maybe 20 -25 food trucks participating in the faceoff with monies going to charity.

I got the pulled pork nachos from Salt City Barbeque

Katie got a Navaho taco

Delicious!

Then it was time for a milkshake from Iceberg

An Oreo shake to be exact

Listened to some bands for a couple of hours while we enjoyed our food.

And then today, it was time to finish staining my upper deck.



The End.

 

[Bob]

Yeah ... Thorofare is my kind of flat... With only one or two horse trails, no mud

 

[TractorDoc]

So @TractorDoc has been training for an August trip down into the Thorofare, and he has been posting some of his training hikes here, and basically putting the old Scatman to shame.

Nothing shameful about what @scatman accomplishes on his weekend hikes; do not let his modesty fool anyone here on the forum.

I could not touch your talent when it comes to "snapping" wildflower pictures then putting a name to them.

I bet you scrambled up Mount Raymond like a mountain goat, blood or no blood. Elevation is my kryptonite. I may do ok on the flat parts of the journey, but I know you added the climbing portion to put me in my place (far back on the trail sucking wind).

Even training with 50lbs. is probably not going to help me all that much. . . you know I overpack and will end up trying to carry 60lbs. down the trail.

Good choice on the nachos. That deck is looking pretty good too!

 

[Rockskipper]

American vetch sure looks a lot like sweetpea. As for @TractorDoc, you have the solution - just get a couple of pints of blood from him before you start the hike. Easy sweetpeasy!

 

[ImNotDedYet]

Great report, as always! I shall call you the wildflower whisperer.

What's the elevation gain on that hike?

That scrambling at the top looks "fun"! I hate down scrambling!

 

[Ugly]

Raymond looks wonderful and steep, and oh so green.
The wildflowers have been great this year. I wondered what those flowers were... Skyrocket... but as if I will remember that.

I always laugh when I hear Clematis, it sounds either like an 1800's cowboy name, or the name of an STD, or an 1800's cowboy name of an STD.
"I got the dang Clematis again from Molly and Fern's place."
"You keep using that word... I do not think it means what you think it means... I do not think that is Clematis."

 

[SteveR]

Now that's a busy weekend!

 

[scatman]

I bet you scrambled up Mount Raymond like a mountain goat, blood or no blood. Elevation is my kryptonite. I may do ok on the flat parts of the journey, but I know you added the climbing portion to put me in my place (far back on the trail sucking wind).

More like a 90 year old man.

 

[scatman]

American vetch sure looks a lot like sweetpea. As for @TractorDoc, you have the solution - just get a couple of pints of blood from him before you start the hike. Easy sweetpeasy!

Hey, don't be giving him any ideas. I'm in enough trouble already.

 

[scatman]

Great report, as always! I shall call you the wildflower whisperer.

What's the elevation gain on that hike?

That scrambling at the top looks "fun"! I hate down scrambling!

The elevation gain from the Millcreek side, from the road is approximately 4,181 feet.

 

[scatman]

Raymond looks wonderful and steep, and oh so green.
The wildflowers have been great this year. I wondered what those flowers were... Skyrocket... but as if I will remember that.

I always laugh when I hear Clematis, it sounds either like an 1800's cowboy name, or the name of an STD, or an 1800's cowboy name of an STD.
"I got the dang Clematis again from Molly and Fern's place."
"You keep using that word... I do not think it means what you think it means... I do not think that is Clematis."

I can see what you mean about Clematis.

Yeah, it is nice right now while everything is green.

Hey, have you ever done Superior?

 

[Ugly]

Hey, have you ever done Superior?

No, I have scrambled up to the pass by Monte Cristo from the Lake Blanche/Sundial side, but never up to Superior or Cardiff.
Is that one on your list that you're looking to check off?

 

[scatman]

No, I have scrambled up to the pass by Monte Cristo from the Lake Blanche/Sundial side, but never up to Superior or Cardiff.
Is that one on your list that you're looking to check off?

I'm turning the big 59 on Friday, so I took the day off from work and am planning on summiting Superior and Monte Cristo. You're welcome to join Katie and I if you want to. I've also invited a couple of retired ex-coworkers to join us.

 

[Bob]

The elevation gain from the Millcreek side, from the road is approximately 4,181 feet.

And you were complaining about the upo from Little Gray river

 

[Ugly]

I'm turning the big 59 on Friday, so I took the day off from work and am planning on summiting Superior and Monte Cristo. You're welcome to join Katie and I if you want to. I've also invited a couple of retired ex-coworkers to join us.

Ah that sounds good, and I would go, but I am in the Uintas Thurs- Saturday this week.
Superior has not crossed my mind, but I have wanted to do Monte Cristo.

 

[scatman]

And you were complaining about the upo from Little Gray river

The up after Little Gray was straight up.

 

[scatman]

Ah that sounds good, and I would go, but I am in the Uintas Thurs- Saturday this week.
Superior has not crossed my mind, but I have wanted to do Monte Cristo.

I'll be thinking of you as I crawl to the summits.

 

[Ugly]

I'll be thinking of you as I crawl to the summits.

From there if you look east for splotches of orange on the snow, you just might be seeing me.