| Beautiful August Day Hiking "The Loop" Trail on Deseret Trip Report |
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| Beautiful August Day Hiking "The Loop" Trail on Deseret   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Utah, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 40.45970°N / 112.6263°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Aug 25, 2007 Season: Summer | Page By: COTrekker02 Created/Edited: Aug 25, 2007 / Aug 27, 2007 Object ID: 328737 Hits: 327 Loading... Page Score: 87.42% - 4 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
To the Summit! I had been thinking about heading to the Stansbury Mountains and hiking Deseret peak since moving to Utah in June of this year. So, we took the opportunity to head over there today and climb the peak, and hopefully partake in my other favorite pastime afterwards...drinking microbrews at Toole's brewpub, Tracks.
So, we left our home in SLC at 8:40 am and were in the parking lot at the loop campground at 10:00 am. There were a few cars in the parking lot, but it was by no means overcrowded. We started hiking in a comfortable temperature with a cool breeze through a beautiful aspen and pine forest. The trail gains altitude at a liesurely pace, and isn't too steep. The trail meanders through several meadow areas as it climbs to the head of Mill Fork canyon and gains the ridge south of Deseret. In later August when we climbed the peak, most of the wildflowers are past peak, but it is still a beautiful hike, and the pine and spruce are prevalent here, especially on the north slopes.
We gained the ridge and were able to look west into Antelope Canyon, south towards the Bear Fork, and north towards our prize, Deseret Peak. We kept slogging up the ridge towards the peak the last .9 mile or so, and finally made the summit at 12:20. We shared the summit with several people, and took in the spectacular views from all directions. This peak offers views of the Great Basin desert and salt flats to the west, Stansbury Island and the Great Salt Lake to the north, Toole and the Oquirrhh Mountains to the east, and the Wasatch range looms in the distance high above it all. The views are awesome, and if you perch near the east side of the summit, you can peer down the cliffs into the upper canyon 1500 feet below.
Completing the Loop After spending 30 minutes on the summit, we decided to descend. The microbrews were calling! So, we headed from the summit along the north ridge, which is noticably steeper with loose talus abound. Needless to say, we each slipped a few times. The trail follows the ridge closely, but stays to the west of the ridge proper. It switchbacks steeply and looses altitude quite quickly. There is one part where we had to negotiate a couple odd steps as the trail navigates through some very small rock steps. The only danger here is slipping as the steps are slanted and there is a lot of loose rock around. Once down these we continued towards our goal; a spot in the ridge where we head right and back into the canyon towards our car.
About 45 minutes after leaving the summit, we found the spot we had heard about where you can leave the ridge early. We were tired of the ridge at this point, so took this shortcut. the trail was steep at first and quite rocky, but we lost altitude quickly. The trail meanders through some shrubs and weeds, so it can be a bit hard on the legs. We eventually crossed a creekbed and hit a maintained trail. We could see the main trail descending the ridge northeast of where we were hiking. We had definitely saved some time, but it was tedious work and I would not have taken the short cut again given the chance.
We startled a grazing mule doe and her fawn, so it was fun watching them bounce across the landscape. They stopped after a while and watched us a we passed below them. It seems they hadn't seen anyone for a while, and given the solitude of this place, I believe that may be true.
Before long we were back in the cooler shade of the aspen and pine forest, and before long we met up with the three-way junction .7 miles away from the trailhead. We made our way back to the trailhead in the mid-day heat, but it was surprisingly peaceful and we didn't encounter many other hikers.
We relaxed for a few at the trailhead before driving back down to the valley floor. We made our way to Toole and eventually found Tracks right near - who would guess - the railroad tracks. After some grub, a couple beers and a growler for later, we headed back to SLC over the Oquirrhhs via Middle Canyon and Butterfield Canyon.
Deseret is a great peak and I am impressed with the diversity in the great basin ranges, especially since they are all so isolated and surrounded by barren deserts. I hope to explore more of these ranges across western Utah and Nevada in the future. Next stop...Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park... Images
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Utah Western Desert Ranges
