Thurston, Bull, and Willard

August 26-28, 2022

Earlier this summer I summited four Utah county high points (Kane, Iron, Rich, and Cache) on a couple of long camping trips with my wife in our RV. This weekend I set out alone in my Jeep and bagged four more: Thurston Peak (Davis & Morgan), Bull Mountain (Box Elder), and Willard Peak (Weber). I drove to northern Utah on Friday afternoon and arrived near Francis Peak that evening. There was a lot of traffic on the Farmington Canyon road and I was worried about finding a place to camp. I reached the top of the canyon and ended up easily finding a camp spot just north of Francis Peak. As usual I watched the changing colors of the sunset and read a book until bedtime.

View down Halfway Creek

Farmington Bay

Francis Peak

Camp spot north of Francis Peak

Sunset

Sunset over Farmington Bay

View toward camp

Sunset over Farmington Bay

Setting sun

On Saturday morning I drove just under one mile to the Thurston Peak trailhead. It’s a narrow road with few places to pull off, and at one point I had to back up to let a vehicle going the opposite direction pass. I reached the TH where there were already four other vehicles and very little room to turn around and park. I did my best and then began hiking. With the sun just rising to the east, the views to the west were outstanding. There’s a decent trail most of the way to Thurston Peak but the last third of a mile is along a ridge with no trail.

Tight parking area at Thurston Peak trailhead

Panorama above Layton

Thurston Peak trail

First view of Thurston Peak

View along 1000 N in Layton

Off-trail route to Thurston Peak

Final climb to the summit

I reached the summit at 9,706′ and had only seen a few people along the way, either trail runners or hunters. A marker at the summit explained how the peak got its name. Similar to a couple of weeks earlier on Bridger Peak I found a brand new log in the summit register, but this time I was the first to sign it. On the return hike I saw a few more people, still mostly trail runners but perhaps one or two regular hikers like myself.

Thurston Peak summit marker

New summit register

Thurston Peak survey marker

Morgan Valley

I spent much of the afternoon driving down into the valley, then north into Idaho. Just inside Idaho I stopped to check out a concrete navigation arrow near Strevell. Then I worked my way west and south back into Utah and the highest point in Box Elder County and the Raft River Mountains at 9,934′. The high point was only about 250′ from the road but I had to walk there and back twice because I forgot to find and log the geocache the first time. I drove back down over 2,000′ elevation and found a place to camp near the head of Onemile Creek. I ate some dinner and watched the sunset, and ended up going to bed early that evening.

Welcome to Idaho

Near the navigation arrow near Strevell

Navigation arrow near Strevell

Bull Mountain summit

My shadow at the Bull Mountain summit

Bull Mountain summit and Jeep

Onemile Creek camp spot

Saturday’s sunset

I woke up pretty early on Sunday morning and drove back to the nearest paved road, close to the navigation arrow, and then made breakfast. I entered Utah and fueled up in Snowville and then drove through Brigham City on my way to Willard Basin. Once again there was a shitload of people on the narrow and winding road. I got to my parking spot near Willard Basin and started hiking before 10:00 AM. I didn’t see anyone on the trail the entire time I was hiking, although there were people everywhere on other trails and roads. The hike was short, under three miles round trip, with about 1,000′ elevation gain.

Parking spot at the Willard Peak trailhead

Willard Peak

Willard Peak trail

Willard Basin pond

Willard Peak trail

Willard Basin panorama

Mountain "bikers"

Trail junction to Willard Peak

Willard Bay

Willard Peak

Willard Bay

Gumbies at Inspiration Point

North Fork Park

I was slightly nervous about the last bit of hiking to the summit because in the satellite imagery it looked quite rugged. In reality it wasn’t too difficult and I made it to the summit shortly after 11:00 AM. It was kind of strange to see and hear so many people nearby but not actually encounter anyone during the hike. It felt really great to conquer 24 of the 29 Utah county high points. But also, the remaining five are the most difficult. I hope to knock them out in the coming year or two–it’d be nice to finish them before I turn 50!

Final climb to the summit