Hike Bald Mountain and Bald Mine Peak Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, UT

Jul 22, 2022 — Bald Mountain is easily overlooked due to its proximity to Mount Nebo,  its colossal neighbor. However, it's a relatively high-prominence peak and there's even a sign along the Nebo Loop Road pointing to Bald Mountain, but somehow I never noticed it despite driving this road many times. Any car can make it to the turn-off for the Mount Nebo Trail here (39.84361, -111.71978647) and likely for another mile or so, but at least mid-clearance and/or decent tires are required to reach the trailhead due to some lightly rockier sections and mior ruts. I parked at a little clearing and had initially planned to head directly up the southeast slope of Bald Mountain, but I checked out my satellite map one more time and spotted some sort of trail carved into the slope. Unmarked on maps, I wasn't sure what this trail was called or if it was even maintained, but I decided to try it since the slope looked steep and uninviting.

The first quarter mile of the trail had some deadfall, but past this I was relieved to find it was in great shape and had excellent views back toward Mount Nebo. It curved around the mountain on an old erosion control terrace for a bit before curving north and ascending a wide gully to gain the southeast ridge of Bald Mountain. Here the trail continued, though less obviously, up the ridgeline. Gaining about 1200 vertical in about 0.7 mile was made more friendly by the expansive views to the south.

After enjoying the summit for a bit, I realized I had plenty of time and decided to go for Bald Mine peak to the west. Sam Grant took a route that dropped east, avoiding some extremely steep-looking terrain. I decided to give it a try, first descending to the south from Bald Mountain on a steep, grassy slope. Unsure where the best spot would be to leave the comfy ridge, I kept peering over the edge and wasn't happy to find that the slope steepness was persisting long past when Sam had descended. I didn't really want to do any crumbly scrambling today, so I continued along the ridgeline farther, only deciding to leave it when the slope became a bit more tame. The goal was to make a descending traverse to the saddle separating Bald Mountain from Bald Mine Peak. Unfortunately, there was really no easy way to do so. Staying on the ridgeline longer wouldn't have helped much since the southern slopes of Bald Mountain don't east up pretty much ever, so I just headed toward the saddle by making a loose, descending traverse. I called the route Class 3 because it's likely you'll have to downclimb at least one small cliff band here or there, though you could get lucky and maybe find a Class 2 route all the way. Also, it's just a slow, not super fun section of side-hilling on loose terrain with the potential for loose rock.

The slope eased and I reached the saddle where I stumbled on an old mining road. I followed the road as it ascended Bald Mine Peak's east slope and then I left the road to continue directly to the summit. The angle was steep, but any brush easily avoidable. From the summit I could see quite how bad the west face of Bald Mountain was, big cliffs and very loose rock preventing probably any chance at a direct traverse between the peaks. I also tried analyzing the route I took, and I don't think I could have found anything better. In hindsight I would say doing Bald Mountain and Bald Mine Peak both as out-and-backs would have been more pleasant, but I had set my mind to getting both and so here I was. I backtracked from Bald Mine Peak and took the mining road back to my car, an easy second half to this otherwise very steep loop.