When Kings Peak wasn’t Utah’s ‘tallest’

                               The view from the southeast side of Kings Peak.

By Lynn Arave

Kings Peak, High Uintas, hasn’t always been recognized as the highest point in Utah.

An April 15, 1911 Ogden Standard-Examiner article stated that Emmons Peak in the Uintas, at 13,694 feet above sea level, was tallest. That was the general belief of that year.

(In reality, Emmons is today’s 4^th tallest in the Utah at 13,440 feet.)

However, just two years later, the Vernal Express newspaper on Jan. 23, 1913 stated that South Kings Peak was the state’s tallest summit at 13,498 feet. North Kings was second at 13,496 feet.
It stated that a "South Baldy" and a "North Baldy" were previously thought to be Utah's tallest summits at 12,210 and 12,680 feet above sea level.
-Back in 1881, it was even more sketchy. According to the Salt Lake Tribune of Aug. 18, 1881, Gilbert's Peak was believed to be Utah's tallest at 13,687 feet above sea level. Kings Peak was not even mentioned back then.
-In 1903, it wasn't much more accurate. A Salt Lake Tribune article from Dec. 8, 1903 reported that Uintah County surveyors were claiming that Emmons Peak was tallest in the state at 14,449 feet above sea level. (They were just 1,009 feet off the mark!)
-The Richfield Reaper newspaper of April 5, 1906 reported that a Mount Hodges had supposedly been named by U.S. surveyor Clarence King in the 1800s, but that now no one seems to know where that peak actually is. The newspaper called it "the largest unlocated peak in Utah." Could that have been today's South Kings Peak? Perhaps.
-The Salt Lake Tribune of April 10, 1914 finally got its somewhat right: it had Kings Peak as tallest at 13, 498, followed by Mount Emmons, 13,428 and Gilbert Peak, 13, 422.
(Lacking satellite measurements, North Kings would not be correctly named highest in the state until 1966.)
-The Roosevelt Standard newspaper reported on Aug. 20, 1924 that members of Salt Lake’s Wasatch Mountain Club had hiked Kings Peak (today's South Kings Peak). On top, they “salted the peak,” by placing a bottle of briny water from the Great Salt Lake on its lofty summit.

The water bottle also had the signatures of Utah Governor Charles R. Mabey and others on it.

A 1940s map pegged Kings Peak as the state's tallest at 13,498 feet above sea level.

A Jan. 30, 1947 article in the Vernal Express newspaper stated that in the mid-1940s, two men climbed North Kings Peak and constructed a two-foot high monument on the highest part of the summit.

Then, one of the men proclaimed, "There, that makes them even."

Other newspapers of the era referred to the "twin Kings Peaks."

For 53 years, that was the accepted belief, that South Kings, was tallest in the Beehive State. So, anyone hiking Utah’s tallest in that time period went to the southern peak, missing or passing by the actual tallest peak – (North) Kings Peak at 13,528 feet.

In June of 1961, a helicopter crash landed on Kings Peak. The crewmen walked away unharmed, but this crash took place on today's South Kings Peak. (Good thing too, as South Kings has a lot more usable space on top. If they would have crashed on today's Kings Peak, the copter likely would have slid down hundreds of feet on one side or the other.)

It wasn’t until 1966 that new measurements by satellite proclaimed the north Kings as highest and re-measured South Kings Peak to be second-highest at 13,512 feet.

(Ironically the U.S. Forest Service had placed the first official plaque on Kings Peak one year earlier in 1965. Back then, it estimated that only 30 people a year hiked on average to the summit.)

          The view looking down from Anderson's Pass to Heny's Fork,west of Kings Peak.

Kings Peak, Duchesne County, though it is the king of Utah peaks, is actually named for Clarence King of the U.S. Geological Survey, who explored the Uinta Mountains from 1968-1871. He was later the director of the Geological Survey.

By the 1970s, the Forest Service had a metal plaque on the correct tallest Kings Peak. However, that plaque vanished in the late 1990s, presumably by vandals, who either took it, or cast it off nearby cliffs.

 There's also a legend about Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first two men to conquer Mt. Everest in 1953, that he also climbed Kings Peak.

This is actually a true story, but it happened in the summer of 1978 when Sears and Kellwood (an outdoor equipment manufacturer), was testing camping gear in the Yellowstone drainage of the High Uintas.

Hillary, age 59 then, was said to have had little trouble hiking Kings Peak and the Uintas.

(No stranger to Utah, Hillary had also floated the Green River during 1969, as part of the centennial commemoration of John Wesley Powell's 1869 original exploration of the area. He also backpacked with his family in the High Uintas in the summer of 1962.)

Dozens a day each summer are likely hiking to Kings Peak in the 21^st Century.

Most popular starting point is the Henry’s Fork trailhead, accessed by seven miles of paved road and almost 20 miles of dirt road from Mountain View, Wyo.

Roundtrip hike distance is 30 miles, with a 4,128-foot elevation gain. The last mile is a scramble over large, loose slabs of rock.

               The author atop South Kings Peak, with Kings Peak in the background.

By the 1990s, some hikers began taking a steep, rock slide "shortcut," that directly accesses Anderson's Pass, instead of taking the traditional path over Gunsight Pass.
Kings Peak can be hiking in one, long extreme day, but most do conquer it in a two, or three-day backbacking trip and camping over at places like Dollar Lake.
At least one Salt Lake group snowshoes or cross country skis to Kings Peak each winter.

Not surprisingly, though Kings Peak is remote and almost 30 air miles from the nearest town, there is pretty good cell phone reception there (though in the surrounding valleys it is almost non-existent).

Danger from lightning storms is the key danger atop Kings Peak.
-Finally, a helicopter crashed on Kings Peak on June 16, 1961. This "Kings Peak" back then was actually today's South Kings Peak, state's second tallest. The crew was able to walk away and eventually met a rescue party. The copter was repaired and all traces of it were removed. (-From the Uintah Basin Standard Newspaper of June 22, 1961.)

-In 1933, some of the streams in the High Uintas had name changes. For example, today's Yellowstone River, located west of Kings Peak, used to be called Fast Fork, before that time. 
Lake Fork, which flows through Moon Lake, used to called West Fork. (-From the Vernal Express newspaper of May 11, 1933.)

(-Some material originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on July 25, 2014.) 

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net  

When Bear Lake became popular

When did Bear Lake first catch on a summer destination for Ogden area residents?

It was less than two decades after the advent of the automobile in Utah.

“Distance to Bear Lake only 76 miles” was a Sept. 1, 1917 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

Manager C.H. Wilson of the Utah-Idaho Motor Company made the drive in a six-cylinder, seven-passenger Mitchell automobile.

He drove from Ogden at 9 a.m., by way Beaver Creek and Blacksmith Fork/Hardware Ranch, considered the “Standard” route in that day.( I believe the “Beaver Creek” Canyon  mentioned is the one off today’s U-39, near the South Fork of the Ogden River.  It was 21 miles long.)

 The detailed story also mentioned “the great blue waters of the lake.” His actual destination was “Ideal Beach,” as it was called even back then, at evening time – an all-day journey.

Wilson returned by Logan Canyon, Logan and Brigham City and advocated that state roads should be made to access the lake. Almost all the driving was done on good dirt roads.

“Thrilling dugways and sharp turns” was how Wilson described going through Logan Canyon almost a century ago. In fact, it was reported that passing vehicles at many spots along the narrow canyon roadway was just not feasible.

Almost a year later, Aug. 24, 1918, the Standard published another detailed auto trip report to Bear Lake and back. This trip went through Ogden Canyon, mentioning now vanished key milestones there, like “Watson Flygare Camp,” “Bristol Camp,” “Wildwood” and “Becker Bridge.”

The route then went by way of “The Liberty Dugway” to Paradise, Logan and Logan Canyon.

Ironically, both the Beaver Creek Canyon ("Piss Ant Flat") and the Liberty Dugway routes never got fully paved, or became modern corridors.

MORE HISTORICAL ITEMS:
-When did Ogden City have its first public tennis courts?

It was the summer of 1922, when the parks of Lester, Liberty and Lorin Farr all received tennis courts, according to a May 10, 1922 Standard report. It was the tennis committee of the Ogden Kiwanis Club that was behind the construction. Ogden had one private tennis club and a few private and school courts previously.

-Lorin Farr Park wasn’t always known by that name. The Standard of July 12, 1918 stated the park was previously called Glenwood Park.

It was a recommendation by the Daughters of the Pioneers for the new name, to honor one of Ogden’s most prominent pioneers.

And, Lester Park wasn’t always identified by that title either. According to a June 14, 1881 Standard report, “Liberty Square” was the original name of that park.

-The greater Ogden area received some of its first location signs in 1927. According to a Sept. 7 Standard report that year, Weber Canyon’s Devil’s Slide, Devil’s Gate and other such touristy spots were finally identified for all travelers to locate and enjoy.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on July 11, 2014.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net  

Fourth of July festivities in 1895 Ogden

             Early 20th Century bicycle racers in Ogden on the indoor track at Lorin Farr Park.

 INDEPENDENCE Day in Ogden 119 years ago on July, 4, 1895 was a “Grand Success” and “observed in Ogden as it has never been before … “never such a day in its history.”

According to the Standard-Examiner of July 5 that year, there was a magnificent procession in the morning; a brilliant oratory in the park; an elaborate program in the afternoon; as well as a baseball game, cycle races, concert, fireworks, music and dancing.”

In short, there was much “mirth and frolic,” according to the newspaper report.

The report said people from all over Northern Utah were attracted to Ogden’s celebration – especially those from Salt Lake City.

The parade was a hit with many colorful floats, but there was a delay in getting it started due to the large crowd.

The mayor had issued a proclamation that fireworks were to be strictly controlled, but the police soon found that to be unenforceable, given the frequency of people using them throughout the day.

 Afternoon speeches and music were long and patriotic. However, the bicycle races didn’t go as planned.

“Only two gentlemen entered in the road race from the Reed Hotel to Five Points and back, therefore both of them (“Mr. Kohn” and Dan Cramer) get a prize and one of them only ran half of the way,” The Standard account stated.

The women’s bike race was even less so.

“It seemed that the girls thought it was too hot for a bicycle race and they would rather wear their prettiest summer dresses around the park than to bother bicycles,” the account stated. So, there were no female entrants in their race.

There was also a baseball game played at Union Field, between the Salt Lake University team and an Ogden team. In the end, the Ogden young men won by a lopsided score of 25-4. The disappointed Salt Lakers quit in the fifth inning and the game ended early.

A crowd of 10,000 was reported for evening open air concert and fireworks at Lester Park. The fireworks show lasted a full hour and then dancing went in the pavilion from 10 p.m.-11:30 p.m. However, it was reported to be 1 a.m. before the last party  had departed the park.

-"Cry room, where mothers with cross babies can see show one Peery feature" was a July 2, 1924 headline in the Standard. The  Egyptian Theatre in Ogden did initially feature a separate 'cry room', where babies and infants could make all the noise they wanted to, without disturbing other patrons. The theatre opened July 3 and also boasted fireproof walls and roof and more.
-Ever notice the “U” letter on the mountainside above the community of Uintah? It was originally placed there in May of 1923.

The Boy Scout Troop from Uintah constructed and whitewashed the huge block letter, according to the Standard of May 8, 1923. And they "were assisted by practically the entire male population of the town.”

A reported (but perhaps exaggerated) 200 tons of rock were used in its construction, which measures 125 feet in length and 100 feet across. A later program was being arranged to celebrate the feat.

-Think water use restrictions are a contemporary standard?

 No, they were even stricter more than a century ago. The Standard on July 17, 1900 stated that water consumers could only sprinkle their lawns been 6-8 a.m. and 6-8 p.m.

“If found sprinkling outside of these hours, our inspectors are instructed to shut off the water supply without notice. The use of water for public sidewalks and street sprinkling is prohibited,” the article said.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on   July 4, 2014.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net  

South Fork: A dam started but never built

                                             Tubing the South Fork of the Ogden River.

By Lynn Arave

IMAGINE the South Fork of the Ogden River without all or most of its campgrounds/picnic areas.

No Bott, South Fork, Perception Park, Meadows, Willow or perhaps even Magpie. No tubing or fishing most of the South Fork River either. It almost happened …

That’s because in November of 1912 full scale work began “on Big South Fork Dam,” according to the Standard-Examiner of Nov. 16 that year. (Some preliminary work had been done in 1911.)

After 40 years of dreaming about a dam on the South Fork, machinery was working there.

(Bishop W.S. Steward of Plain City had previously spent considerable money in the South Fork area trying to find a suitable dam location, but had given up. Other had tried too. Only a revival of support by former Ogden Mayor/then Standard-Examiner Publisher William Glasmann had pushed the idea forward again.)

Fifty men, armed with powder, steam and machinery, began to prepare the site for concrete work. This dam was envisioned of being able to double Ogden and area’s population and serve water needs for 100 years.

Where exactly was this dam started? At the confluence of Cobble Creek along the South Fork, or near today’s South Fork Campground.

The proposed earthen dam was estimated to cost $1 million (or $24 million in today’s value) and initially rise 120 feet – and eventually 200 feet in height. It would have had a storage capacity of 50,000 acre feet. (Pineview is 110,000 acre feet.)

 “The camp at the dam presents a busy scene and the place is a tented city,” The Standard reported.

The dam was eventually a joint project between Ogden City and the Ogden River Reservoir Company. Electric power generation was also planned.

However, the project was very controversial and a March 23, 1911 Standard article called a meeting on the South Fork dam the most important meeting ever held in Weber County.

(Remember: in this era, there was no Pineview or Causey Reservoir, only a small dam at the head of Wheeler Canyon in Ogden Canyon.)

“The people in Huntsville looked with surprise as the big gasoline engine hauling seven tons at a time through that town,” The Standard reported.

What happened to the dam?

It was eventually determined that the core wall was located on a fault plain. Also, while the south end wall hit bedrock, the rest did not. Blasting revealed an almost bottomless mud plain.

Plans were even revised to take the dam about 1.2 miles downstream to the west, but additional shortcomings on a suitable foundation and delays/changes/politics in construction doomed the  project.

“Reservoir site abandoned,” was a Nov. 22, 1912 headline in the Standard. That proved to be somewhat premature as some work on the possible dam was still being done in 1913, as well as the late winter of 1914. The project was on-off again many times.

As a sidelight, some of the first moving pictures ever seen by Ogden area residents came in the fall of 1913. “Moving pictures of fashion show and big dam” was an Oct. 22, 1913 headline in the Standard. Images of work on the South Fork Dam were shown at the Globe Theater, 2530 Washington Avenue. “The picture of the big dynamite explosion at the damsite is interesting,” the article stated.

As recent as May 18, 1923, the Standard reported government officials still mulling the South Fork of the Ogden River as a possible dam site. Interestingly, then, one site was called “Magpie Reservoir,” with potential for a 200-foot high dam (and likely the location of today’s Magpie Campground).

By 1926, Echo Reservoir in Weber Canyon was started and then the Great Depression struck in 1929.

By the 1930s, the Federal Bureau of Reclamation controlled all dam construction and it started Pineview Reservoir in 1934 in Ogden Valley itself.

In 1966, Causey Reservoir was completed. It is on the South Fork of the Ogden River (and also included some of Skull Crack Canyon, another potential dam site explored in the 1920s).

Still, you’ve got to wonder if the South Fork Dam had been built in the 1910s, where would today’s South Fork campgrounds be? What about Highway 39’s route? Would Pineview and Causey reservoirs still have been built the same, or at all?

Additional sources: “Public Documents in Utah,” volume 1, page 68; and “The Irrigation Age,” volumes 20-21.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard Examiner on June 27, 2014.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net  

Ogden Canyon: A ‘royal gorge’ in 1887

                                              The mouth of Ogden Canyon                          Photo by Whitney Arave.

By Lynn Arave                            

OGDEN area residents were fascinated with Ogden Canyon in the late 19^th Century. Whereas today the Canyon probably just seems like a conduit to Pineview Reservoir, or the ski resorts, or the South Fork campgrounds, it was practically worshipped 127 years ago and viewed as a natural retreat of its own.

“The chasm cut by nature’s hand through the Wasatch Range. A tribute to Ogden Canyon’s Grandeur.  Swift, swift river. How it roars and foams in madness. Then sings in peace.  Another royal gorge – Sublime scenery of a superb canyon – Something the world should see,” was a May 24, 1887 lengthy headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

The story mentions passing “the narrows” in the canyon. By that, I assume, the narrow opening at the start of the canyon (and widened in modern years).

Also mentioned is passing by the warm, medicinal springs of “Kiesel, Carnahan and Anderson.”

The recommendation is next to stop at Wilson’s Mills, tie up the horse and climb a nearby hill to gain a perspective of looking down the chasm.

“Cap Rock” was mentioned as another highlight, with one large rock leaning on another. (No modern reference could be found to this feature, so it may no longer exist in the Canyon.)

Finally, the story mentions a large cave, “often been compared with the Salt Lake Tabernacle,” with a “huge roof of overhanging-rock spreading its rounded rocky canopy over the astonished visitor.” (Again, what this is talking about is unclear today.)

“It is a delightful, healthy, pretty grand place,” the article concluded of Ogden Canyon.

However, 24 years later, there was a dark side to Ogden Canyon – flooding.

“The Hermitage is isolated and buildings on the lowlands are endangered – County bridge at the mouth of the canyon may go down – Homes in the City flooded,” was a Jan. 31, 1911 headline in the Standard.

The Ogden River was on a rampage that winter and even the bridge over Washington Avenue, between 19^th and 20^th streets was in jeopardy.

Ogden Canyon was also struggling with rumors in 1895 of plentiful rattlesnakes and hobos living there. An Aug. 24, 1895 Standard reporter said all the dynamiting being done in the Canyon that summer surely had scared all the reptiles away. And, the writer said he found no evidence of vagabonds living in the Canyon.

A July 12, 1899 Standard story claimed visitors to Ogden Canyon never numbered less than 1,500 people on a typical Sunday in summer. However, for their benefit, the road to the mouth of the Canyon needs better sprinkling, to avoid dust and more upkeep overall.

By early 1901, the mouth of the Canyon was being dynamited, to provide better access.

On Feb. 12, 1913, a fire destroyed the sanitarium at the mouth of Ogden Canyon. A forerunner to today’s Rainbow Gardens, a Standard story reported the place had “been considered as one of Ogden’s most popular health and bathing resorts.”

Heated by coal stoves, the building was razed to the ground. Only the private baths in the rear of the main building were left standing, with their brick walls.

The building’s loss was placed at $35,000, lowered to $21,000 with insurance.

Almost a hundred years ago (1918), there was also a different “Pineview” east of Ogden. In Ogden Canyon there was Pineview the hotel, with cottages, boating, fishing, trout and chicken dinners, hot coffee, sandwiches and refreshments.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner, June 20, 2014.)

Above/Below: From "History of Ogden, Utah in Old Post Cards," by D. Boyd Crawford, used with permission.

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net  

Mountainous State of Utah – ‘Life elevated’

                            The south side of Kings Peak, 13,528 feet.

By Lynn Arave

“LIFE elevated” has become the state’s slogan. Is that just all hype?

No, Utah is truly mountain territory and there are peaks scattered all over the state. Elevations in Utah range from 13,528 feet (Kings Peak) down to Beaver Dam Wash (2,185 feet).

Utah is indeed “High on the Mountain Top,” as a popular LDS Church hymn proclaims.

In fact, if you take the elevations of the highest point in each county for each of the 50 states and average them together, Utah is the “highest” state of them all.

Yes, six states -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Washington, Wyoming all boast mountains taller than Utah's highest, Kings Peak. However, those states also contain more low-elevation counties, reducing their statewide average.
The average of county high points for Utah is 11,226 feet, 435 feet higher than Colorado's 10,791. Nevada is third at 10,765 and Wyoming fourth at 10,179.
New Mexico, (9,404); Alaska, (9,259); Arizona (8,703); Idaho, (8,290); Montana, (7,502) and Hawaii (7,465) round out the top ten.  

                 Kings Peak, center, as reflected in a pool in Henry's Fork Basin

This formula was originally publicized by Winford Bludworth of Salt Lake City in the early 1990s. It was also used by Andy Martin of Tucson, Ariz., in his “County Highpoints” book, published a few years later.

(Of course, it does depend on what formula you use to determine average elevation, but just about any way you do it, Utah or Colorado will probably be the top state.)

 Note that Colorado does have twice as many counties as Utah does. Also, Colorado contains fifty-three 14,000-foot-plus peaks, while Utah has none. Yet, despite having many taller peaks than Utah, the eastern third of Colorado is a sloping plain toward Nebraska and Kansas, devoid of significant mountains.

A major reason for the Beehive State’s dominance is that it has mountains all over -- there are no "plains.” For example, even Washington County, containing St. George and the Beaver Dam Wash, soars to 10,000-feet plus in nearby mountains.

Beaver Dam Wash, the lowest Utah point is even taller than the high points of 13 other states. In fact, Utah's Rich County (9,255 feet), the lowest county “high point” in Utah, is taller than the high point of 37 other states.  Plus, it's the highest of the low county high points in all 50 states.

Highest point in each of Utah's 29 Counties:

Beaver: * Delano Peak, 12,169.
Box Elder:  "Bull Mountain," 9,934.
Cache: Naomi Peak, 9,979.
Carbon : Monument Peak, 10,452.
Daggett: * "Eccentic" bench mark, 12,276.
Davis:  * Thurston Peak, 9,706.
Duchesne : Kings Peak, 13,528.
Emery: East Mountain, 10,743.
Garfield:  Mt. Ellen, 11,522.
Grand:  Mt. Waas, 12,331.

 Iron: Brian Head, 11,307.
 Juab:  Ibapah Peak, 12,087.
 Kane:  ** Andy Nelson Peak/Gooseberry Point's S.E. Ridge, 10,027.
 Millard: Mine Camp Peak, 10,222.
 Morgan: * Thurston Peak, 9,706.
 Piute:  Delano Peak, 12,169.
 Rich: Bridger Peak/Swan Peak, north ridge, 9,255.
 Salt Lake:  American Fork Twin Peaks, 11,489.
 San Juan : Mt. Peale, 12,721.
 Sanpete: South Tent Mountain, 11,285.
 Sevier:  Fish Lake Hightop, 11,633.
 Summit:  Gilbert Peak, 13,442.
 Tooele:  Deseret Peak, 11,031.
 Uintah:  * "Eccentric" bench mark, 12,276.
 Utah:  North Nebo, 11,928.
 Wasatch: * Mount Cardwell, 10,743.
 Washington:  Signal Peak 10,365.
 Wayne:  Bluebell Knoll, 11,322.
 Weber:  Willard Peak, 9,764.
 *Shared high point with another county.
   

                               Willard Peak from the northwest at Inspiration Point.

The highest peaks in the Top of Utah:

(Note: All peaks are in Wasatch Range, unless otherwise note. Also, some summits straddle the county lines.)

 Box Elder County’s 5 tallest named peaks:

1. “Bull Mountain,” Raft River Mountains, 9,934

2.  Willard Peak, 9,764

3. George Peak, Raft River Mountains, 9,601

4.  “Inspiration Point”/Willard Mountain, 9,422

5.  Box Elder Peak, Wellsville Mountains, 9,372

              Thurston Peak, center, Davis County's highest summit.

Davis County’s 5 tallest named peaks:

1. Thurston Peak, 9,706

2. “Layton Peak,” 9,571.

3. Francis Peak, 9,547

4. “Ed’s Peak,” 9,381

5. Bountiful Peak, 9,259

Morgan County’s 5 tallest named peaks:

1. Thurston Peak, 9,706

2. Layton Peak,” 9,571.

3. Francis Peak, 9,547

4.   “Ed’s Peak,” 9,381

5.  DeMoisey Peak, 9,370

                       From the top of Mount Ogden looking northwest to Ben Lomond Peak.

Weber County’s 5 tallest named peaks:

1.  Willard Peak, 9,764

2. Ben Lomond Peak, 9,712

3. Mount Ogden, 9,572

4. Allen Peak, 9,465

5. Wolf Creek/James Peak, 9,422

Utah’s 10 tallest named mountain peaks:

   1. Kings Peak, Uinta Mountains, Duchesne County, 13,528.
   2. South Kings Peak, Uinta Mountains, Duchesne County, 13,512.
   3. Gilbert Peak, Uinta Mountains, Summit and Duchesne counties, 13,442.
   4. Mount Emmons, Uinta Mountains, Duchesne County, 13,440.
   5. Mount Lovenia, Uinta Mountains, Summit and Duchesne counties; 13,219.
   6. Tokewanna Peak, Uinta Mountains, Summit County, 13,165.
  7. Mount Powell, Uinta Mountains, Summit County, 13,159.
  8. “Wasatch Peak," bench mark, Uinta Mountains, Summit County, 13,156.
  9. Wilson Peak, Uinta Mountains, Summit and Duchesne counties, 13,049.
 10. "Squaw Peak" bench mark, Uinta Mountains, Summit County, 12,990.
   Note: There are 14 unnamed peaks over 13,000 feet above sea level in the Uinta Mountains.

 Tallest Utah Mountains NOT found in the Uintas Range:

1. Mount Peale, La Sal Mountains, San Juan County, 12,721.
 2. Mount Mellenthin, La Sal, Mountains, San Juan County, 12,645.
    3. Mount Tukuhnikivatz, La Sal Mountains, San Juan County, 12,482.
    4. Mount Waas, Grand County, 12,331.
    5. Manns Peak, Grand County, 12,272.
    6. Mount Tomasaki, La Sal Mountains, Grand County, 12,239.
    7. Delano Peak, Beaver and Piute counties, 12,169.
    8. Mount Belknap (or "Belnap") Beaver and Piute counties, 12,137.
    9. Mount Baldy, Beaver and Piute counties, 12,122.
   10. Ibapah Peak, Juab County, 12,087.
   11. Haystack Peak, Juab County, 12,020
   12. Mount Holly, Beaver and Piute counties, 11,985.
   13. Ibapah Azimuth, Juab County, 11,987.
   14. Mount Nebo North Peak, Utah and Juab counties, 11,928.
   15. Mount Nebo South Peak, Utah and Juab counties, 11,877.
   16. Mount Nebo Middle Peak, Utah and Juab counties, 11,824.
   17. South Mountain, San Juan County, 11,817.
   18. Mount Brigham, Piute County, 11,757.
   19. Mount Timpanogos “North Peak,” Utah County, 11,750.

  20. "Mount Timpanogos South Peak," Utah County 11,722.

SOURCES: USGS and U.S. Forest Service maps, “High in Utah” book, by Michael R. Weibel and Dan Miller.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on June 16, 2014.)

   

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net  

From ‘Observatory Peak’ to Mount Ogden

By Lynn Arave

HISTORY never recorded the first climb to the top of Mount Ogden (9,572 feet above sea level). However, it does include the account of a climb in 1881, plus a name controversy and more tales for the tallest summit east of Ogden.

“Mountain Mounters” was a July 6, 1881 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

“On the morning of the Fourth a party of young gentlemen set out from town, bound for the highest peak of the mountains to the east of us. They had a seven mile steady, fatiguing march of it, but at last they conquered the acclivity and reached the towering summit with its rarefied atmosphere and glorious panorama.”

The report continued: “As proof of their achievement they lit a fire on the top of the lofty elevation, which was observed in this city and taken as good evidence.”

Mount Ogden was originally called Observatory Peak and many a visitor to Malan’s Basin resort, near the end of the 19^th Century, hiked up there.

Then, by 1912, “Ogden Peak is the name of the mountain,” a Sept. 6, 1912 Standard story declared, as a “should be” title.

The “Observatory” name had come from the U.S. Government’s observatory marker on the summit, placed there in the early 1870s.  The peak’s height was thought to be 9,592 feet in 1912, 20 feet higher than modern measurements.

There was also a failed effort to name the peak Mount Henderson, in honor of a federal judge who hiked it.

A popular exaggeration in the early 20^th Century was that a person could see into 7 different states from the summit.

In a Dec. 2, 1919 Standard letter to the editor, it was stated that “Mount Ogden” was the peak’s name now thanks to topographical department in Washington, D.C.

Writer A.S. Condon stated in his letter: “Observatory Peak, as said, means nothing and Mt. Ogden means something.” He argued the unique Ogden name set the peak apart, whereas the former name is affixed to hundreds of other U.S. peaks.

In the Standard of May 6, 1920, it was reported that the National Geographic Society had indeed changed the peak’s name officially to Mount Ogden and that now appeared as such on maps.

The Ogden summit also nearly received an electric sign in the 1910s. A Standard report on Aug. 23, 1912 talked about the strong possibility of an electric sign saying Ogden” being put atop the peak.

The Federal Sign System of San Francisco had come to Ogden with blueprints for a mountain sign, 80-feet-long and 28-feet-high.

That’s all that’s mentioned of such a sign and so it likely never proceeded beyond the blueprint stage.

A 1919 winter climb of Mount Ogden reported lots of industrial and house coal smoke obscuring the great panoramic view below.

By 1922 some 100 hikers climbed Mount Ogden on an early July day. Hikers were treated to accordion music along their trek, so their spirits would be kept high during steep grades.

Then, on Oct. 4, 1922, Elder David O. McKay, LDS Apostle, future LDS Church President and former principal of Weber Academy (forerunner to Weber State University), led 365 students on a hike to Mount Ogden. A flagpole, time capsule and memorial were placed atop the peak.

                                Mount Ogden from the southeast.

(This mass hike was similar to Brigham Young University’s annual Mount Timpanogos hike of that same era.)

This annual Weber hike continued for a few years, but was eventually shortened to reach Malan’s Peak only. In the 1930s, it was the “Flaming W Hike,” where a bonfire was lit on top of the lower peak. By 1946, there was no fuel left on Malan’s for a time.  In the early 1970s, fires returned and one year the fire department had to be called and so electric lights from henceforth lit up the “W.”

Meanwhile, the flagpole, memorial and time capsule had been destroyed in 1967 when the U.S. Forest Service started enforcing a law that required all unauthorized structures on mountains to be removed. The relics were then hurled over the eastern cliffs below the peak. Only fragments of them were ever found.

On Oct. 24, 1987, Weber State Professor Gary D. Willden revived the original annual “Flaming W Hike,” with a trek back to the highest summit, Mount Ogden.

                                 The helicopter pad on Mount Ogden.

The following year, on Oct. 1, 1988, the now annual hike included some 200 hikers and even helicopters rides to a nearby mountain saddle for seniors who were part of the 1922 hike.

Today, Mount Ogden includes a concrete helicopter pad and is loaded with so many high tech transmission towers rising heavenward that it no longer seems the rugged and open peak it was into the early 1990s.  Yet, its spectacular views of the Ogden area remain.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on June 13, 2014.)

                                      Some of the electronic apparatus on Mount Ogden.

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net