We did it!

On September 19th, 2021 we decided to hike to the top of Bald Mountain that is located in the Uinta/Wasatch National Forest. We reached the base where it was 41 degree’s and sunny with the wind blowing 20+ knots. The hike started out on a nicely defined trail with lots of exposure to the wind. As we climbed higher, the temp’s dropped and the wind continued to pick up, often times causing us to hang on to keep our balance.

There were several stops on the way up as we caught our breath and tried to warm up while staying hydrated. We only met two groups of hikers coming down and we were glad we got an early start. About half-way up, we encountered a very sketchy part of the trail that was about 3′ wide and straight down several hundred feet if you slipped. We were both uncomfortable during this stretch but neither of us admitted it until we got back to the bottom!

As we continued to climb, the wind continued to rip across and around the mountain! I’m guessing 35+ knots at least which made any exposed skin cooold! We only had one pair of gloves (ooops, poor planning) so I used my right glove so I could hold on to my hiking pole, without my hand freezing to the aluminum, and Leslie took my left glove. She’s more brave than I am and didn’t use her hiking pole on this one.

It started to get very rocky the last third of the way to the top. Fortunately, it was large rocks and so long as you picked your path, you were able to maintain solid footing, which was good cause the wind was picking up even more! Just near the top, there was one stretch that you had to walk across several large slabs of rock that were fully exposed on the right hand side and straight down several hundred feet! We stopped here as two hikers were coming down and we chatted with them about the hike and where they were from (Minneapolis & Chicago). After they moved on, it was our turn to summit!

We slowly made our way across the rocks and continued to climb to the summit. The wind was roaring at this point and we had to almost yell at each other (not that we ever do that) just to communicate. We ended up making the summit at 11,890 feet and were so excited! There was a bench that someone had made out of rocks that I walked over to rest. There were also a few memorials that folks had set up and I started taking some pictures of the amazing views. Camera’s just can’t capture the scale and beauty of the landscape in my opinion. It’s kinda like visiting the Grand Canyon. YOu’re just in awe of the size and magnitude of the canyon feeling humbled being in its presence. You take pictures thinking you’re capturing the feeling, but when you get home, you’re disappointed as they just can’t capture that feeling you had while standing at the edge. It felt like that standing at the top of Bald Mountain on this day…

The views at the top were amazing in all directions. To the East, the clouds were at eye level and moving fast to the North. To the West, you could see for miles at all of the mountain tops along with all of the small lakes down in the valley below us. After a few minutes of trying not to get blown over by the wind and taking some pictures, it was time to head down.

Going down was much, much quicker than the climb up! The wind was still howling but our pace was much faster. What was a bit disconcerting on the way down was some of the steep ledges that we crossed back over that we didn’t realize on the way up. I’m talking one slip and you were over the edge and tumbling down hundreds of feet! Also on the way down, we encountered several groups of folks heading up to the summit which made us glad that we got an early start. In one group, there was a couple dressed in shorts and sleeveless t-shirts, but hey, at least they were carrying a water bottle to stay hydrated! SMH…