wasatch and beyond: Gobblers Knob and Mt Raymond

August 15, 2010

Gobblers Knob and Mt Raymond

Mt Raymond (left) and Gobblers Knob (right) as we approached from Butler Fork. Baker Pass is the lowpoint in the saddle.

Date: August 15, 2010
Distance: ~10 miles
Vertical: ~4000 feet
Time: Under 5 hours
Peaks: Gobblers Knob (10,246 feet) and Mt Raymond (10,241 feet)
Route: Butler Fork to Baker Pass saddle, ridgeline to Gobblers, then reversed it back to the saddle and up to Mt Raymond.

The first post-JMT, post-post-JMT depression trip report! After coming home from California 3 weeks ago, Andrea and I were feeling a little lost... after a year of dreaming about the John Muir Trail, and then months of training and planning for it, we didn't really know what to do once it was over. However, a great hike today lifted the spirits. We headed up to Big Cottonwood Canyon and tagged a pair of peaks, and also scouted some awesome areas for backcountry skiing this winter.

The post-JMT depression also made me realize what a goal-oriented person I am... when I don't have something BIG somewhere on the horizon, I feel a bit disoriented and completely lack focus. The solution? Start planning the next adventures... next weekend we're heading up to the high Uintas to climb Kings Peak (the highest point in Utah) and several other 13,000 foot peaks. Over Labor Day we're planning on either heading to Wyoming (Teton Crest Trail) or Colorado (Chicago Basin 14ers). Long term, we're already thinking about a summer 2011 excursion to the Pacific Northwest to climb a bunch of Cascade volcanoes (Rainier, Adams, Hood, Shasta), and doing some backpacking in the Lake Tahoe basin region.

Here's pictures from today's hike... we heard there was a moose on the trail, and that it charged towards another group of hikers, but unfortunately we never saw it! Other than when I dislodged a rather beefy rock and sent it flying towards Andrea (she dodged it and only had a minor hand wound), it was a relatively safe hike... unusual for us, but a lot of fun.