Bald Mountain

For this week's outdoor exploration activity, we hiked up to the top of Bald Mountain in the Uinta Mountains. Shortly after setting out up the trail, we passed a couple with those special walking sticks that look like ski poles who were headed down. This couple warned us that getting to the top was impossible due to an ice packed trail. I started rethinking the timing of this hike and wondered silently if we should just bag it and try it again in a few weeks when the ice should be gone. Daniel, however, was undetered and kept going. Not wanting to be a storm cloud to his blissful Uinta hiking parade, I followed him and hoped we would turn around soon. After several minutes, Daniel asked me if the walking-stick-wimps' comments had left me feeling somewhat less willing to continue. I admitted that they had but he assured me that we would make it safely to the top. He pointed up the trail to where the ice was and some people attempting to climb up it and said, "We're not going to go up that way. That's too dangerous." Relieved, my faith in my safety-conscience husband restored, I asked, "Then what way will we traverse the ice mass, darling?" He pointed straight up the side of the mountain, which to me quite closely resembled a cliff. "We'll scale our way up, fearless wife." Oh, one more reason to turn around. I voiced my hesitation to scale a cliff. Daniel then informed me that there is a distinct difference between scaling a cliff and scaling rocks. We, apparently, were going to scale rocks. Feeling 0% reassured, I loyally followed my experienced travel guide. Attempting to calm my rising fear of heights (which, until this point, I was unaware of), Daniel periodically drew attention to hoofprints and droppings saying, "See, we're following mountain goat trails!" This was no help. After about 45 terrifying minutes with frequent breaks and my refusal to enjoy the view below me, we made it to relatively level ground and met back up with the trail that led to the peak. With my nerves settled, we made it up to the top, took some pictures of each other, the view, and the mountain goats we had been shadowing up the mountain, all the while mocking the walking stick people with no mind for adventure. We went down the mountain a different way than we had come up (thank goodness). We followed the trail down encountering only about 10 feet of snow and some mud. Stomping through the snow and mud, Daniel said to me, "You know, I don't think in all the times I've hiked this mountain, that I've once used this part of the trail." Huh, imagine that. All in all, I did enjoy the hike. It was a beautiful view from the bouldery peak (despite the haze brought to us from the fires in California), Daniel and I got to spend some quality time together, and now I can say that I've seen a mountain goat, climbed to the top of a mountain, and scaled rocks! Enjoy the photos, they were tough to get! :-)