Lone Peak

When I look east from my front porch I look directly at Lone Peak. It rises almost 7,000 vertical feet from my front porch to the peak. I have become somewhat fixated on it over that previous year since I watched this video. http://youtu.be/TwYIbafCEnc One summer Saturday night after I got the honeydos done I hiked up the Bear Creek trail toward the summit. I was treated to the most beautiful sunset over the Great Salt Lake and the Oquirrh Mountains. Continuing up I could see into Utah County. I saw some fireworks in Utah County as it got dark. I turned around and headed down but got a good taste of what would be in store for an assault on the peak. The trail was loose and steep. Actually was easier going up than going down. So when Connie went to Disneyland with the Hunts I had a Saturday to myself. I started up the Jacobs Ladder trail early and hiked in the dark with a headlight for about 20 minutes before the sun started to lighten my way. Turns out it was the opening day of deer hunting season. As I ascended I past abandoned 4 wheelers and I could start to pick out orange jacketed hunters perched over the side of the lower mountain. Also as it got light guns started to fire. At one point I observed a hunter taking aim and firing. I could also see his target - a deer. It took a couple of shots but I think he got it. I didn't wait to see, I kept hiking. Eventually I came to the Draper Ridge trail junction. The trail was not as steep at this point making for very pleasurable hiking. The terrain also changed to a more alpine environment. Eventually I came to the upper cirque. It is loaded with large granite boulders. I thought I was following the main trail but ended up scrambling over these big boulders in an inefficient way. Once I got to the end of the upper cirque I started to ascend to the final ridge to the peak. I met 3 hiker at this point a Dad and two adult daughters. The Dad had summitted Lone Peak an astounding 29 times. Both daughters had also summitted before. I joined their group and followed them to the summit. The Dad's trail knowledge made the final scramble easy and fun. This summit is absolutely incredible. Getting to it is one thing but actually standing on it is something else. It's like standing on your kitchen table with dangerous drops on all sides. And the view is the best - in all directions. I was starting to chill so I didn't stay long on the summit. I stayed with the daddy daughter group all the way down. Turns out there is a better route up through the cirque. By staying higher on the west side of the cirque there was a pretty smooth trail back to the alpine meadow area. Then the fun begins. The steep decent on slippery trails made for slower going than I anticipated. Trekking poles helped but only somewhat. Our little group took a few breaks on the way down including our lunch break in the upper cirque. The Dad and daughters were such good and nice people. It was a real pleasure hiking with them. I had thoughts of bolting ahead but didn't. I was pretty worn out at this point but mostly I enjoyed their company. We said our goodbyes at the trailhead and I drove on home total exhausted. About 10 hours of hiking. The only picture I got was the picture of me on the summit. The rest are from the internet. I’ll check my batteries before my next hike up to the summit of Lone Peak. Yes I want to do it again.