Getting ready for a Mount Nebo (Central Utah) Backpacking trip this September

[wildmanh]

This September like last year some friends and I will be backpacking up Mount Nebo here in Central Utah. The standard plan is to head up the mountain by noon on Friday, camp near the spring at ~9,500 feet which is about half way up. Spend the night there, hike to the top, come back, get the gear and head home Saturday evening. It worked out well, but IMO didn't give us enough time to really explore the mountain. So I came up with an idea.

This year, if I can pull it off, I want to head up the mountain Thursday afternoon. Spend the 1st night at the Meadow which is about 1/4 of the way up. Then Friday morning head to the Spring, setup camp near there and just have some fun while waiting for my friends to arive. Then Saturday with a lighter pack that just has the essentials I could hike to the top if I wanted or explore the cliffs that are above the springs. After making it to where I wanted we would all pack up camp and come home.

Last year I mostly stayed at the Springs chatting with the Wasatch Academy (a local private high school - they do this trip each year) guys, filtering water from the spring and filling peoples bottles and taking in the views! Thinking I want to do the same this year, if we go when Wasatch goes, but at a more leasurely pace.

Even though I'm in better shape then I was last year, I still need to get out with a pack on and hike. My Medium Alice pack when loaded for an afternoon hike up the canyon weights around 25 pounds. Am going to start carrying more weight in my pack and spend more time on the trails to help increase my strength and endurance.

So you know, I took the Frame, shoulder straps and Kidney Pad off my Blackhawk SOF Ruck Pack Kit and put it on my LC1 Medium Alice Pack. That setup carrys so nice. This setup saved me money because before I did it, I was planning to buy a new day pack with a Kidney pad and side pouches for water bottles. Sure it's a little big for short trips, but the confort makes up for it.

Anyone else getting ready for a big trip? If so how are you preparing? What do you think of my plans? Lets talk..

By the way, if anyone is interested in joining us on our annual Nebo Backpacking trip, you are more then welcome to. It is a hard trail, but amazingly beautiful. Especially in the fall.

 

[Steely_Gunz]

I envy you Heber

I'm going "camping" next week with my wife, daughter, dog, and mother in law. We're taking M-I-L's gigantic RV. Certainly not looking forward to the cramped space, but I've been told we're making a stop over in the Smoky mountains, so that'll be fun.

Not much cool stuff to take for this trip since all the creature comforts will be at hand. Still bringing a bag of emergency stuff, a 12" siru or AK in a shoulder rig (just for fun), and my lil Ruger .380 for peace of mind. if I'm lucky, I'll get to make breakfast with my dutch oven most mornings. My favorite part of camping, whether it be in a tent or RV, is getting up with the sun and taking in the morning air. Just a peaceful start to the day with a cup of coffee and a quiet breakfast prep. Sippin' my joe, pealing potatoes with a siru, and watching the "neighbors" eyebrows raise

I like your idea Sounds like an excellent time. Leave a detailed note. We don't want some sort of 127 hours situation, right?

 

[wildmanh]

I envy you Heber

I'm going "camping" next week with my wife, daughter, dog, and mother in law. We're taking M-I-L's gigantic RV. Certainly not looking forward to the cramped space, but I've been told we're making a stop over in the Smoky mountains, so that'll be fun.

Not much cool stuff to take for this trip since all the creature comforts will be at hand. Still bringing a bag of emergency stuff, a 12" siru or AK in a shoulder rig (just for fun), and my lil Ruger .380 for peace of mind. if I'm lucky, I'll get to make breakfast with my dutch oven most mornings. My favorite part of camping, whether it be in a tent or RV, is getting up with the sun and taking in the morning air. Just a peaceful start to the day with a cup of coffee and a quiet breakfast prep. Sippin' my joe, pealing potatoes with a siru, and watching the "neighbors" eyebrows raise

I like your idea Sounds like an excellent time. Leave a detailed note. We don't want some sort of 127 hours situation, right?

Jake, thank you for your responce. Getting up with the sun, sipping some Tea/Hot chocolate and taking in the morning air/sounds is one of the things I also love about camping. The camping area next to the spring up Nebo is a perfect place to watch the sun rise and I'm so looking forward to it.

Even though you will be car/RV camping, I'm sure that you guys will have a good time. Your attitude makes all the difference. What do you make in the Dutch Oven for breakfast? I've never done a dutch oven breakfast, but would love to try to some day.

Sunday I went hiking up the canyon above Mud Hole along the same trail that I took last weekend on the campout. There were tons more white flowers up there yesterday. Instead of moving slow to enjoy the scenory as I went, I moved really fast to get to part of the trail I have never been on. It was cloudy, damp from a recently storm and really muggy. I got soaking wet because of it. After I passed the part of the trail I'd been on the previous weekend, it was really slow going because there really isn't a trail past that point any more. Guess the big flood in 1998 washed out the upper half of the trail. I was cutting my own trail through all the follage, scrambing over rocks and downed trees. After a while it got really hard trying to find a way through then it started sprinkling so I turned back and am glad that I did. Even though I didn't make it as high as I had wanted, it was good practice. Note to self, go up that trail after you give the area a day or two to dry from recent storms.

My 25 pound pack is getting pretty easy to carry up the mountain. I feel that it's time to add more weight to it. A folding chair strapped to the bottom, a few more quarts of water on the inside, a coat and some extra blades should do the trick. Talked with the John down the street who wants to learn the local trails yesterday before my hike. We are planning a hike for the week of the 24th to the 30th. He's from up north and normally only here on the weekends, but is taking that week off because the 24th is a state holiday. I'm thinking that we should hike up the Meadow Fork trail that week.

I've been averaging one good hike every other week the last month or so. This needs to change, even if I just load up my pack and hike a few miles around town. Thinking a 4 mile hike around town once a week on top of the hikes up the canyon every other week or once a week will be a good thing.

 

[Gorog]

Darn it, I want to go camping, too. Oh well... at least I can be there in spirit, right? Thanks for sharing Heber, and bring back many pictures, please? I don't know about the rest of us, but I am still waiting on those quaking aspen photos, they should be spectacular! Peace and good luck on your travels.

 

[wildmanh]

Darn it, I want to go camping, too. Oh well... at least I can be there in spirit, right? Thanks for sharing Heber, and bring back many pictures, please? I don't know about the rest of us, but I am still waiting on those quaking aspen photos, they should be spectacular! Peace and good luck on your travels.

Wednesday I went hiking up Nebo. Just a hike to the Meadow (2 miles up the trail) for lunch then back. Posted pics in a thread over in the W&SS forum here: Wednesdays Hike up Nebo. And Yes, there are pics of Aspen.

 

[Gorog]

Those pictures are spectacular. I mean, of course, professional photography is a bit crisper and less washed out by sunlight, but, who cares about that? The aspen are beautiful, the landscape is incredible, like some planet sized giant used a proportionally sized scraper to cut rifts in the countryside. Gorgeous stuff. I can't stand Delaware whenever I look at the wonders of Colorado and Tennessee, at Mississippi and all those beautiful places way out there...I wish I could just jump on a plane and GO. But I can't. Too bad. Oh, whatever, I need to pull myself together and get on with life. Thanks for sharing man, you are super cool. Peace.