A while ago, I went on a nice hike with some friends of mine. The peak we hiked was called Ben Lomond, which according to what maps I have seen, is somewhere around 6500 ft high. The trail is (according to the forest service website) 4.8 miles each way. I am lucky to be in a place where you can literally just step out your door and take a hike. This one was a little bit of a drive, but what's fun is that I have never tried this trail before, even though it's pretty close to the house. So it was a new adventure!
Unfortunately, there was a fire in the area about 5 years ago and so many of the trees are gone. There are a few left standing and some smaller ones have grown back, but it is strange to see the mountains looking so naked. However, the good thing* about this is that you can see all the really cool rock formations that were covered by the trees before.
*silver lining
Sometimes the trails in this area are not well maintained, but this one is set up for equestrian use, and so was pretty clear up until about mile 3 or 3.5. Then we had to bushwhack our way through some scrub brush to get past a certain area, but it was worth it. The views from the top were amazing. I will let the pictures tell the story.
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| Trail signage |
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| Bear print |
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| Does it look like this? Yup. |
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| Looking up at the mountain. See all the cool granite boulders? And the burnt trees? |
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| More granite. And a bit of foliage. |
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| View from about 2/3 of the way up. |
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| Granite awesomeness. Can you see those tiny people in the foreground (wearing purple)? |
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| View from the top |
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| View of the mountain from the bottom. We climbed to that very tippy top point. |
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| The day after our hike, it snowed. |
Which means that we have really good timing, because we would have been slogging around in the snow instead of just bushwhacking! I love living in a place where I can hike every day if I want to! Hiking is not only a great way to cross train, but it is probably one of my favorite activities!
Where do you like to go hiking? Have you ever hiked in the snow? Do you like rocks?
That does look like a great hike! What fun. It's a beautiful part of the country, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteI live in Washington so hiking is plentiful here too. My kids and I go hiking all the time and love to try new spots. You can check out some of our hikes at
ReplyDeletehttp://livinthehikelife.blogspot.com
I would have been so concerned about bears after that, haha. Looks like a great hike :)
ReplyDeleteWow, that is gorgeous! I have not done much hiking since the summer I spent in Colorado. There are good hiking trails in Northern Minnesota and every year I think - I shoudl go hiking some weekend. And then it doesn't happen. :( I need to make it happen one of these days! (And come visit you and hike in this area as it looks gorgeous!)
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I regret from my years in Utah is that I never hiked Ben Lomond. I need to go back and do that.
ReplyDeleteWe used to live about an hour east of the Rockies near Calgary. I loved hiking in the mountains whenever I had the opportunity. We hiked Mount Chester but could only go up the saddle - the rest of the mountain was socked in above that elevation. My son & I & a friend climbed up Chinaman's Peak (backside, not up the rock face). We did many hikes around Lake Louise and the Banff area. I really miss the mountains.
ReplyDeleteGreat story and photos. Consider yourself blessed to live in such close proximity !