Bald Mountain

We made the two hour drive to Bald Mountain in the Uintas.

When we stepped on the trail (around noon), it was very warm and sunny with no need for a sweater:

The base of the mountain:

Starting to climb:

The weather changed so fast. Somewhere along here it started to sleet and hail. It lasted about 10 minutes. We kept going:

Blue sky off in the distance:

The sky cleared. We are about halfway up the mountain.

Starting to get some views:

The switchbacks were narrow and frequently ran along the edge:

The trail goes along the top of this rocky ridge:

We are going out to that point:

Clouds:

Freaky trail:

On top:

We were above the clouds:

The top was a spacious but very rocky area:

Joe:

Don't look down:

The clouds were rising like a geyser:

Me:

Keep in mind I have walked through a hail storm and the wind is blowing:

High up!:

The summit elevation is 11,943 feet. Other Uinta peaks to the east are higher- including the highest point in Utah, 13,528-foot Kings Peak-but none are good day hikes.
I think Bald Mtn is high enough for me!"

This is our way back down:

It was like walking in the clouds.
There was a place that looked like giant stair steps, but I was too busy to get a picture of them.

Half way down the mountain a slow but steady drizzle of rain started and stayed with us until we reached the bottom. We also went across a zone that had high freezing wind. It was an adventure.

We made it to the car safely and ate lunch inside the car.

The drizzle stopped and we drove a bit to scope out a trail for our next hike.

We found a place that mom suggested, called Highline Trail. We walked for about 30 minutes one way, just to get a feel for it.

We could see Bald Mtn from Highline. We were up there!:

10 minutes into this trail we saw a large Marten (very cool).  It climbed down a tree and ran away.