OUT THERE!: BEN LOMOND SUMMIT (9,712 FEET)

Sunday, August 21, 2011

BEN LOMOND SUMMIT (9,712 FEET)

Just as we (my wife and me) reached the summit of Ben Lomond and looked out over the valley floor of Ogden City and her surrounding cities, we were buzzed by a single engine plane. We waved at its occupants. They took the easy way to the peak. We hiked in 8.2 miles from the trail head at North Ogden Pass. From the peak we were able to see mountains in Nevada to the west, Cache Valley (Logan area) to the North, Ogden Valley (Huntsville, Pineview Reservoir) to the southeast, and most of the cities along the Wasatch Front to the South. There was several large patches of snow at the peak area, a surprise for a hot, late August day.

Ben Lomond Peak.

The wildflowers along the trail and on the ridges and meadows were vibrant and plentiful. I want to get better at identifying wildflowers. After checking with a book, I'm sure we saw, Sticky Geranium, False Lupine, Lodgepole Lupine, Indian Paintbrush, Mountain Bluebell, Showy Daisy, and Kinnikinnick to name a few. I noticed a few different varieties of evergreen trees. I'm not an expert but I think I identified Douglas Fir and Bristlecone pine.

Indian Paintbrush.

The trail was lined with wildflowers.

One group of evergreen was fascinating to me. The hill they were growing on was somewhat steep. The trail cut through them and the shade and coolness in the air was a pleasant relief from the sun. Almost every trunk on these trees looked like it started to grow out of the slope and then suddenly decided to bend skyward. This created a bend in the base of the trunk. These were stout trees. Most of the hillside was hard and rocky. The roots of some of the trees looked to be growing out of the rock. As I examined the roots I could see where they were intermingled in the rock and soil. I imagine they ran deep beyond the exposed rock and soil to support their weird bends and reach the thirty and forty foot height.

Along the ridge. Ben Lomond in far background.

A mix of colorful wildflowers.

After coming out of the small grove of pines we hit two long switchbacks through thick brush with an almost imperceivable gradient. The end of the last long switchback brought us to the top of the main ridgeline leading to the summit. The summit was now visible in the distance as well as a nice view of the valley floor below. We paused at this spot and took in the vistas. Just to this point was worth the hike but our goal was to make the summit so we started along the west facing trail just below the ridge.

At the summit looking south to Mount Ogden.

We had heard that a herd of mountain goats roamed the rocky cliffs of Ben Lomond so I had my eyes peeled. I had never seen a mountain goat in real life. Seeing one would be a first. We stopped at a rock outcropping to snack and hydrate. A couple of hikers caught us and after exchanging greetings they told us they had seen a couple of goats down the trail. The news of the goats got me looking with more effort. As we came to the next area of trail where I could look down into the high meadows and rocky cliffs, I spotted a couple of the goats. They glowed with whiteness against the gray rocks and green brush. Further up the trail some other hikers had climbed up some rocks and were talking about a group of goats they could see. I climbed up the rocks and looked over the edge. A group of about twenty goats were nervously moving along the hillside. They finally dropped down into the rocks on the cliff and disappeared. I knew these goats could climb and run in some rough terrain, but watching them climb around the steep rock face of Ben Lomond's cliffs left me amazed.