doesn’t that just get your goat?

Inspired by our long hike up Timpanogos a week ago Sunday, we decided on another lengthy one for this past Sunday: Ben Lomond, in Ogden. This is a long hike - 16.4 miles roundtrip - but the ascent is quite gentle (3,532 foot elevation gain) and the footing is pretty good, mostly dirt and gravel with some loose rocks near the peak. Our guidebook told us to plan for 8 to 9 hours of hiking; we did it in 6 hours and 17 minutes.

We started at 7:30 a.m., parking in the trailhead lot on the North Ogden Canyon Road. The first bit consists of long switchbacks (we counted ten of them) that brought us up out of the canyon to the ridge. From there, we simply walked up, steadily but not at all steeply, crossing back and forth along the ridge, through meadows and evergreen forests. There are expansive views right from the get-go on this hike: Snowbasin, the Ogden Valley and Pineview Reservoir to the east; Salt Lake Valley, Antelope Island and Willard Bay to the west. And rising ahead of us, Ben Lomond – purportedly the inspiration for the iconic Paramount Pictures logo.

Maybe it looks a little like the logo ...

The highlight of the hike was right around Chilly Peak when H stopped suddenly to let five mountain goats – three adults and two fuzzy kids – cross the trail in front of us. They were no further than thirty feet away. And when we looked up the cliffs to our right, there were another 6 or 7 goats up there, gazing interestedly down at us. As you might imagine, we stayed there as long as they did, taking pictures. Finally: goats up close!

Goats! No binoculars necessary!

When we got to the saddle, the trail changed a little bit, becoming rockier and a little loose as we headed up the final 1.5 miles to the summit. But although the trail got a little steeper, it was never onerous. The views from the summit of Ben Lomond are spectacular, stretching out in all directions. It was really windy, however, so we lingered only long enough to admire the vistas, take a bunch of photos and sign the register before retreating a little ways down to a more sheltered spot for lunch.

View to the east on the way down - looking like autumn

The walk out went really quickly, what with the pretty good footing and steady/gentle descent. We decided that we didn’t even mind out-and-back trails (as opposed to loops) when the views are so good. The last bit was quite hot – those ten switchbacks down to the trailhead – and seemed a little long because of it. There isn’t any water on the trail at all so we had to carry a lot with us; I went through most of mine on that last little bit, wanting to hydrate before I got to that cold PBR waiting in the cooler at the truck.

The long (fairly flat) road home

We had an excellent day - Ben Lomond is a great hike. I totally recommend this as a gorgeous, easy trail to a little-visited peak ... if you are fit enough to do the 16+ miles.