Mount Ogden

Mount Ogden, in center

Overview

Mount Ogden is located in the Wasatch Range of Utah. There are several ways to summit this peak, we chose the Taylor’s/Malan’s route since the trailhead wasn’t too far from my brother-in-law’s place and the mileage wasn’t too strenuous. I’m not too familiar with Utah based climbing sites, but SummitPost has three different options for this climb all staying within class 2. We saw a few people near the summit, and some near the trailhead, but we were alone for the majority of our route, probably because the locals knew more about the route than we did. I hope you enjoy this trip report and find it helpful in planning your next adventure in the hills.

Directions/Trailhead Information

The Ogden 27^th Street Tailhead is located at—latitude 41.215925°, longitude -111.928953°. If you enter “Ogden 27^th Street Tailhead” into the Google Maps app, the location will come up providing you directions. There is limited parking, where there is no parking lot, just street side parking. We arrived about 4 am, and the parking at the end of the street near the TH was closed with a sign saying “no parking 10 pm to 6am” so we parked along the street about a block away. A couple minutes after we arrived a police officer drove by, so I would suggest following the guidance of the signs. There are no restrooms at the trailhead.

The Climb

This climb can be split into three segments – 1) The ascent of Malans Peak, 2) The bushwhack of Waterfall Creek, 3) Tree line to the summit of Mount Ogden.

The city lights from Malans Peak

We arrived to the TH around 4 am with the plan of being back to the car by noon. At the Ogden 27^th Street Trailhead there are trails leading off in multiple directions, and with the full cover of darkness, along with the unfamiliarity of the area, I thought it would be best to have a GPX route for us to follow on my phone. I created a route on the GAIA website, but this can also be done on Google Earth or through many other geospatial applications. From the TH find the Taylor Canyon Trail signage, and follow those the best you can. If you ascending in the daylight that will be much easier, but it’s not impossible in the dark. The trail heading up to Malans Peak is well maintained, just be sure to take the small bridge crossing the creek to the south before the switchbacks begin.  We made the summit of Malans Peak at 5:40 am, so just over an hour and a half from the TH to gain the first 2,000 feet. The view to the west was city lights filling up the darkness. This was a neat sight, and gave us a nice resting spot. This is probably the stopping point for a lot of people heading up this trail. But for us, the day was just beginning. We kept on the trail that transitioned to Malans Basin Trail. From the peak, the trail descends about 150 feet till you are near the Waterfall Creek, where the historic Malans Height Resort location was from 1893-1913. There was a sign there with a few fun facts about the history, which included meals for 50 cents.

The jungle

The second segment starts from the sign of the Malans Height Resort. The environment quickly transitions into the jungle where there is a lot of overgrowth of willows that make navigation in the dark quite difficult. This is where trails become paths, and they lead off in all directions, so choosing the path of least resistance (POLR as Danny calls it) is all we could do. We found ourselves all over the place, in once instance you would be on what felt like a man-made trail, then soon it would peter out into nothing. To top it all off the thunder, lightning, and rain decided to pay us an early morning visit. Luckily, we only heard a few rumbles and a couple flashes, but the rain stayed with us for most of the morning which turned to hail at times. So, a lovely morning indeed. My advice is to stay on the north side of the creek till you are near the 7,600 ft contour, then transition to the south following what paths you may find up to tree line which is near 8,000 ft.

The third segment, above tree line to the summit provides its own challenges. If you survive the bushwhack and still have the motivation to continue to the summit, good on you. We were both pretty exhausted as this point, but slowly trudged on. There were some cairns here or there, but nothing yet that would make me believe that more than a few people have used this route before.  The good news is the peak is in sight, highlighted by enormous radio towers. Once we made it up on a shelf around 8,800 ft a defined trail evolved out of nothing. If you follow my GPX route you will notice the often-squiggly lines turn into longer, straighter segments. This is a good indicator that a trail or a decent POLR has presented itself, and we have stopped making circles in the jungle while trying to find our way. Once on this nice trail, stay on it as it climbs to to the saddle, then there is a broken-up road that leads from the saddle to the radio towers near the summit.

Me and Danny on the summit

We ran into a hunter that was out spotting deer near the saddle. After a quick chat we started up the rocky road to the summit. Don’t walk under the towers, instead find a path that leads up on the rock to the summit, just after the switchback. This will be clearly defined for you. The summit is a decent size area, with an included heli pad. The view to the east drops down into the Snowbasin ski area, and to the west is the Great Salt Lake. We started plotting our next climb before we decided it was time to bail from the summit as another round of rain, hail, and extreme winds made us think the mountain was trying to tell us something. It took us an hour longer than expected to summit due to the bushwhack, so we thought we should just keep moving.

Looking into Snowbasin

Neither of us wanted to descend our ascent route, but after a brief discussion we thought it would be best since we knew what to expect. The descent wasn’t too bad, since the daylight helped provide us some guidance on the paths leading ack to the Malans Height Resort area. We knew after we made it there is was a trudge out on a well-defined trail. We made it back to the summit of Malans Peak around 11:30, so I knew we were running late. Luckily this area is right on top of town, so we could send messages back to our wives to let them know we were behind schedule. We started seeing a lot of people on the descent from Malans Peak, so I’m sure this is the main attraction in the area. The view is quite remarkable in the daylight or dark, so I’d recommend the trip up there. I don’t recall the time we got back to the car, but I’d guess it was close to 1 pm, so we were late, but not too late. The descent is always nice when you are on a trail and not a POLR.

Parting Notes

This is a heck of a climb. In Denver, you don’t have the relief you get in the Salt Lake City area. The area we climbed it is not uncommon to gain 5,000 ft in a climb whereas back at home its mostly in the 3,000 ft range. So, it’s easy for me to say, this one kicked my butt. I loved getting out there and managing through all the adverse weather and route conditions. Best of all I got to share that adversity with my brother-in-law. Hopefully he found some enjoyment and we can get back out on a climb next year. I have another TR in the works for a recent climb I did in Colorado, so hopefully I can get that out soon. In the meantime, happy trails and stay safe in the mountains. Cheers!

GPX track

Date: August 10, 2019

Trailhead Elevation: 4,845 feet

Mount Ogden: 9,570 feet

Total Ascent: 4,964 feet

Class: 2

Distance: 9.8 miles

Moving Time: 7 hr 31 min

Stopped Time: 1 hr 0 min

Climbing Partners: Danny

GAIA GPS Link: Mount Ogden