Hike Bald Mountain via Great Western Trail Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, UT

Sep 16, 2023 — Bald Mountain is a minor summit best accessed from Big Mountain Pass. It's just far enough away from Salt Lake City that the trail receives far less visitation, but it's a lovely outing with some nice undulations. I met up with Jason for a morning trail run. Starting along the Great Western Trail, we headed south past a gated structure and ascended pretty steeply along the well-maintained trail, nearly to the summit of Big Mountain South. This peak is the forgotten southern neighbor of Big Mountain. The trail doesn't lead all the way to it, but a social trail indicates we needed to start along the short spur to this substandard peak. This small stretch required some bushwhacking, very light relative to other 'shwhacks in the Wasatch Mountains.

Back on the Great Western Trail, we continued on a flatter portion along the mellow ridge, which offered some nice views. Then we found ourselves descending to the saddle with Bald Mountain to the south. We'd obviously have to regain this lost vertical on the way back, thereby nearly ascending Big Mountain South twice along this hike. Along the way we crossed through a pretty meadow and had great views toward our peak to come. It was a bit of a steep and mostly forested hike south to the bald summit of Bald Mountain, where we got views toward Little Dell Reservoir below. Bald Mountain was an apt name, albeit pretty generic. I'm quickly losing track of all the peaks uncreatively named "Bald".