Hiking Lone Peak

The best thing about Salt Lake City is ALL THE EPIC things available within an hour’s driving distance. Hiking, climbing, camping, 11,000’ peaks, you name it, it’s there. I called up Jena to see if she wanted to tackle Lone Peak with me and at 6:30am on a Saturday morning, we set off on the Cherry Canyon Logging Trail.

After ascending steep switchbacks on a golden hillside, we watched light fall on suburbia. We frolicked through a forest exploding with fall color until we reached the Outlaw Cabin. From there, we ascended up a drainage, scrambling over boulders and followed some haphazardly placed cairns up to the saddle and then BAM! Amazingness.

We were quickly running out of daylight and noms, so we opted to turn around after spending some time basking in the awe of Lone Peak cirque. We retraced our steps back down to the trailhead in Draper.

Not going to lie, this was a tough hike, especially after weeks of climbing and not really hiking. It’s definitely doable in a day, but expect a long day at a high elevation. Next time, I’d get more of an alpine start and bring even more snacks. I really love snacks. You could also do this as an overnighter, but this would not be my preference as I want to reduce as much weight as possible. Water is available on this trail if you tend to consume tons of water at high elevations like me. I opted to carry water purification tablets instead of a filter to keep bulk and weight down.

Gear: Norrøna bitihorn lightweight pants, Mountain Hardwear Scrambler 30 pack, Woolx Base Camp Hoodie, Woolx Mia V-Neck T-Shirt, Arc’teryx Bora Mid GTX hiking boots, Black Diamond Ultra Distance trekking poles

Last updated on December 4, 2017.