In early September I was headed to Durango, Colorado, to meet up with some friends, hike into the Chicago Basin, and summit a few Colorado Fourteeners with them. But the weather forecasts kept deteriorating and we eventually decided to go our own ways. At that point I was in Spanish Fork, Utah. I had maps and route information for several Utah prominence peaks with me and a week to work with. Although I had driven through Utah many times on my way to and from Colorado over the past decades the only Utah peak I had previously visited was Kings Peak in the High Uintas. So I eagerly decided to spend the week hiking several Utah prominence peaks and thereby sample several Utah mountain ranges I had not yet visited.
Mount Tukuhnikivatz (left) and Mount Peale (right) on the forest road leading to La Sal Pass
My first goal was to summit Mount Peale in the La Sal Mountains east of Moab, located in the Manti-La Sal National Forest. Mount Peale has 6161 feet of prominence and 12721 feet of elevation. The La Sal range is quite visible from Arches National Park where a friend and I first noticed the range to the southeast when we visited the Park on our way to Colorado in September 1982. I have noted the range many times from I-70 on my visits to Colorado since then and I was eager to finally visit the La Sals and summit Mount Peale, one of the 57 “Ultra Prominence” peaks of the 48 Contiguous US States.
