Tooele County High Point Trip Report
Deseret Peak
Date: August 4, 2002
Author: James Wedekind
We headed West for the Stansbury Mountains and Deseret Peak. Upon approaching the mountains we
could not readily distinguish which peak was Deseret. I also checked out the Narrows section about 0.5
mile from the Mill Fork trailhead. There are about 15 bolted routes that are look to be in the 5.10 range.
We camped about a hundred yards from the Mill Fork trailhead and were awakened several times by deer
grazing within 10 feet of our tent.
The morning hike took about 2.5 hours and the ridge line approaching the summit was continuously blasted with
strong gusts of wind. Along the way up we noticed an abundance of aspen boroughs that are ideal for the
wood turnings that my cousins sell in shops throughout the southwest. The summit offered good views of
the Salt Lake but the smog and dust from SLC obscured much of the scenery to the east.
We decided to make the hike into a loop and continued along the ridge headed north. The trail continues
around another mountain, but this can be avoided by following a use trail on the opposite side of a saddle
that cuts off about a mile of hiking. This side of the mountain offers spectacular views and I would strongly
recommend making this into a loop hike so that these great views of Deseret Peak and the surrounding
peaks can be enjoyed. The hike down took another 1.5 hours and we were back at our car by noon.
This was a great introductory hike for Utah cohp's. The trails were easy to follow, the views were great,
the hike was uncrowded (save the campground area that is populated by large RVs with a penchant for generators),
and the trail was steep enough to get the blood flowing.