Ever since my friend and hiking/camping buddy Chris moved to Germany, my outdoor trips have really gotten few and far between. I decided to try to change that (and also get into better hiking shape) starting with this outing to the Uinta Mountains. A different friend named Chris had planned a hiking/geocaching meet-up on Sunday, but since the group was meeting early in the morning and it’s a 3+ hour drive for me I decided to drive up on Saturday morning and get some hikes in, then camp nearby and join the event the next day without having to get up stupid early.
I got to the trailhead and started hiking up to Bald Mountain a little after 10 AM. I’m terribly out of shape and elevation gain has always been my nemesis even when I was in great shape, so I was a little worried about the 1,200′ climb to the summit. I just took it slow and steady, getting passed by a few hikers (including a guy and his 8-ish year old son), and made it to the summit in two hours.
Trail sign
Bald Mountain trail
Bald Mountain trail
Bald Mountain Pass panorama
Bald Mountain trail
View west of the Trial Lake area
Lost Lake
Bald Mountain
Murdock Mountain
Bald Mountain panorama
Bald Mountain trailhead
Circular structure on Murdock Mountain
Bald Mountain trail and Mirror Lake
Bald Mountain trail
Almost to the top
Final scramble to the top
Reid’s Peak
Bald Mountain
Steps leading to the summit
Mirror Lake
I took a long break near the top to rest and eat lunch and hydrate (I hadn’t touched my Gatorade or water the entire hike up), and then headed back down. Descending was physically easier but it was warmer in the afternoon and the heat was getting to me a little bit. I got back to the truck and had hiked 3.12 miles in about 3.5 hours. Certainly not my best work.
Cairn on Bald Mountain
View west from Bald Mountain summit
Bald Mountain trail
Hike stats
I’d planned on hiking to the summit of Murdock Mountain in the afternoon but I wasn’t sure I was up for it after Bald Mountain. I drove a short distance to where I was going to start the hike and decided to just take a quick 30-minute nap on the side of Highway 150 with the truck running and the AC on high. My alarm went off and I was feeling much more able to handle another hike so I got out and started walking. I found a geocache near the road and then continued hiking up the mountainside. It was very easy going at first, but then the gentle grassy slopes gave way to steep, rocky climbs. As I alluded to with a photo above taken from the Bald Mountain trail, there is a (mysterious) circular stone structure on the side of Murdock Mountain. I’d read about it in a trip report from Scatman on Backcountry Post, and according to the historical imagery in Google Earth it was constructed somewhere between September 2020 and October 2022. The structure is very impressive and must have taken days to build. I climbed on top and then jumped down into the center for some photos and suddenly got some severe muscle cramps, probably from being dehydrated and/or having an electrolyte imbalance. So I spent, like, 10 minutes inside that stupid circle stretching my muscles trying to get rid of the cramps. I’m glad nobody else was on Murdock Mountain to see that ridiculosity.
Geocache at Bald Mountain summit
Start of the climb up Murdock Mountain
Shelter
Steep climb to the circular structure
Circular structure
Recent fire ring
Circular structure
Peaks above Lofty Lake
Reflection from peak 11,158′ above Lofty Lake
Circular structure and Bald Mountain
When I started on this hike I still wasn’t certain that I wanted to go all the way to the top, but after visiting the rock circle I felt that I could continue on. The route got much rockier but there were always these little patches of soil and vegetation that were easier to walk on, while only having to cross really rocky and bouldery sections occasionally. The slope is relatively gradual and it was difficult for me to determine exactly which direction the summit was, so I had to refer to my GPS map often to stay on track. I got to the survey marker that marks the summit and my mind was playing tricks on me–it looked like other spots a couple hundred feet away were higher, but when I went to those spots they seemed lower than others. I had to trust that the people who placed the survey marker knew what they were doing. I signed the summit register and then made a quick descent to the truck, clocking a whopping 2.06 miles in 2.5 hours. This peak was much more enjoyable than Bald Mountain due to the solitude.
Rocky route to the Murdock Mountain summit
On the flank of Murdock Mountain
Murdock Mountain summit shelter
Murdock Mountain summit
Hayden Peak
Murdock Mountain survey marker
Murdock Mountain summit register
View along the Duchesne River
View west from Murdock Mountain
Murdock Mountain descent
Hike stats
I drove around a bit looking for a place to camp and the first few spots were either full or arbitrarily signed as “day use only” (aka “USFS: give us some money”). I backtracked to the large dispersed camping area west of Bald Mountain Pass and easily found an empty spot with no neighbors in view. Around sunset a couple of small groups moved in nearby but they were distant enough and quiet enough that it was a peaceful evening. I alternated between reading news and other sites on my phone and reading a book, until I got tired quite early and went to sleep in anticipation of an early start the next day.
Starlink at camp
My camp spot
Saturday’s sunset
Photo Gallery: Bald and Murdock Mountains