Deseret Peak

This was the hike that got me hooked on peakbagging. I hiked it with my two nephews and it was quite a day. We started on the trail around 8 am. It was a chilly fall morning. The hike on the lower portion of the trail winds up through lush forest and open meadows.At the top of the canyon we hit our first snow. About 500 yards further we came upon a herd of about 15-20 mule deer. They didn't even run, just stared back at us. We reached the saddle about 10 am and had some much needed jerky and trail mix. Very cold at this piont, lots of wind. Reached the summit about 11 am and sat and shivered for about 30 mins. We decided to go back a different way by a trail that would loop down to the trail that we came up on. At this point we were in about 4-6 inches of snow, and it seemed that we were headed in the wrong direction. We noticed our trail way down at the bottom of the valley and decided totake a short cut over a cliff and down a steep talus slope to get there. To make a long story short, after several tumbles and cuts, scrapes, and stops to dump the rocks out of our boots, we made it back to the truck about 4:30 in the afternoon. Great hike! Happy summiting!