Ben Lomond Spring Break

Sam's spring break marks the winding down of the winter hiking season. This year was quite mild up in the mountains, but there was still plenty of snow along the ridge of Ben Lomond above North Ogden. We climbed out of the car at 6:15am and the first sound we heard was a pack of coyotes howling to the south of us. We then heard a lone coyote howl to the north of us. We started up the skyline trail that runs north along the ridge up to Ben Lomond summit. We only had about 4 hours to get as far as possible before we had to turn around. After the initial climb up the south edge from the road, we reached a good amount of snow at about 7000'. We put on the snowshoes and they made all the difference going forward. The snow was quite hard, so the crampons on the shoes were extremely helpful in getting up the steeper inclines. We then walked along th eridge for another few miles before turning around. All told, we covered 5.12 miles and gained 2100 feet before turning back. The windblown ridge was absolutely beautiful to look at and hike along, as the snowcap dropped off on the leeward side into small, clifflike structures.

Sam at about 7300' feet, going up a 45 degree incline.

Sam with Ben Lomond summit in the background.

Steve going up the same 45 degree incline.

Heading North along the ridge.

Yup.

Cool view of the leeward side of the ridge.

We weren't the only creatures up there.

Longer view of the ridge, heading back down (south).