Adventuring {Mount Ogden}

One of our summer bucket list items was to hike to the top of Mt. Ogden.  We picked a Saturday (July 30th) and invited some friends (Brian and Cassie Hendricks and their little guy, Max) and made our plan.  As with most mountain ascents there are a few options to choose from.  We picked the easiest (and at first I felt like it was a cheater option, but after actually doing it - and with two kids being carried the whole time - I now feel it was totally legit and plenty hard) by riding the gondola to the Needles Lodge at the top of Snow Basin and then hiking the ridge over to the peak.  The climb to the ridge from the lodge was steep and quick and got our muscles warmed up in no time.  (Gregg and I did it last year, me 8+ months pregnant with Sam at the time, after a big burger lunch and me in my chacos, so I knew it was doable, but man, my lungs were burning this time!)  Then we traversed across the ridgeline for a mile or so and enjoyed spectacular views of the I-15 corridor and the Great Salt Lake.  

The final ascent to the top of Mt. Ogden was steep.  Dang steep.  Like as steep as you possibly can go without it being vertical steep.  Sheesh!  I still don't know how we made it to the top with three little kids on our backs/shoulders.  And even more amazing is how the heck we got back down!  (The hand holding chain we made was a life-saver for sure!)  The kiddos made it to the base of the radio towers that are up there while the parents took turns scrambling the final few feet to the tippy top.  What an awesome 360 degree view from up there!  And there's even a helipad for the next time we want to pay a visit.  ;)  We decided to make a loop out of our return trip and took the service road down, down, down.  It didn't link up directly with the lodge, however, so we had to hike back up the mountain bike trail for the last mile.  In the heat.  In the dust.  With tired legs and backs and kids.  That was not my fave.  But once we were settled into a nice big chair in the cool lodge with a gigantic plate of hot, salty fries in front of us that last mile of misery all just vanished away.  Funny how that works.  (Double bonus - on the gondola ride down we saw a moose!)

Up we go!

My cute blue-eyed Blanchard boys.

We got off the gondola and Cal immediately
ran over to see the snow maker.  She knew just
what it was even!

Future snowmaker?  (I'm sure she'll be helping
Gregg this winter in our yard again.)

Up the ridge we go.

Cool view down into Layton, etc.

See those towers over on the top of that peak?  That's where
we're headed!  (Note: the road/trail you see winding down was
our descending route.)

Hi there, Sam Pants!
(He was an absolute champ, by the way.  Barely
made a peep the entire hike!)

The end is in sight!

Ridge pit-stop for raisins and water.

Saw a few of these lovelies.  They were quite
vibrant!

A nice view of Ben Lomond Peak in the distance (that's another
I want to bag someday, but probably not this year).

At last!  We have arrived!

Sleepy boy Max.

And sleepy boy Sam.

Hiking is hard work for these guys!

Brian was the first to try the scramble to the
tippy top.

Throwing rocks from the highest heights.

Asnooze.

We did it! Our first "summit" with two kids!

To prove I made it to the actual peak.

There's our house waaaay down there (somewhere).

Lovely view.

Markers at the top.

Lots of geological survey markers up there.

There's Gregg and Cal and the rest at our waiting
place.  To my left is the roof/helipad.

And another.  I took pics of three of those markers.
Why so many?

There's the way down.

Still sleeping!  (Amazing, really.)

Attempt number two of our group shot at the top.
(Attempt number one ended in Gregg's phone falling four-ish
feet from this perch onto the rocks below.  Came out of it
pretty much unscathed and ready to take another pic - amazing!)

Farewell!

At last!  Best. fries. ever.

Max and Cal enjoying the view on the ride back down.

Kid party on the downhill side!

I spy a moose!
(In the same place we've seen other moose before.)

Hello down there!

Good end to a good day.

All told, I think it was something like four and a quarter miles round trip in just over three hours.  Not the best pace, but I'm pleased with it considering the loads we all carried.