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| Thayne peak as viewed from Bowman Fork |
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| Artie |
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| Frank near the peak of Mt Raymond |
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| Artie on the Mt Raymond ridge |
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| me with Gobbler's Knob |
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| east slabs of Mt Raymond |
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| Gobbler's Knob |
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| Mt Raymond with fireweed |
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| Franklin on the route to Raymond |
the dogs and i went up Bowman Fork in Millcreek Canyon. the trail leads up to Baker Pass which is situated between two peaks: Gobbler's Knob and Mt Raymond. Mt Raymond is likely my favorite peak ever, next to the Herzogstand in my dad's town in Germany which exists very clearly in my mind's eye. i get to see Mt Raymond frequently: sometimes weekly, sometimes daily, and at least once a month. although it is my favorite peak to view from near and far, i've never been up on the actual peak of Mt Raymond, and the urge caught me to summit it today.
let me just say, that class 5 scramble with two golden retrievers is ill-advised. after hiking a little over 4 miles and about 3000 ft of elevation gain, i got on the rocky ridge-scramble section up to the peak with the dogs, who probably would have been fine to reach the summit with their four-paw-drive, but i got a little nervous that one of them would slip and fall down one of the rocky chutes along the way. so we turned around to head back down the ridge with only about 100 yards to go to the summit. but as we were down-climbing the ridge, i realized that down-climbing a rocky ridge-scramble with two golden retrievers is also not a very good idea. we bailed out into one of the east-facing chutes which ends up in Mill A Basin, a watershed area, where dogs are "not allowed". but i decided the risk of getting crusty looks from other hikers was well worth the safer route choice.
the fall colors were amazing today. the dogs and i had fun. my knee, hip, and back are feeling so much better, and the dogs were just ecstatic to get out and romp around. i'll have to summit Raymond another time sans canine, but as for this trip, i really didn't feel like it was a loss not getting to the peak. it was a beautiful autumn day in the Wasatch.
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