Trip Report
I was in Utah to see Dylan, a hiking friend. Dylan is in his sophomore year at Utah State. We'd long been talking about me coming down to hike up Naomi Peak and take in a Utah State football game. I finally made it happen this year.
Naomi Peak sports over 2000 feet of prominence and is the highpoint of Cache County in Utah. It is also the highest point in the Bear River Range.
After a long day the driving down and hiking to Thurston Peak, I made it Logan just before Dylan got off work. We agreed to a 7am wake-up so we could hike up Naomi Peak and get back in time for the game.
We awoke in the morning and made the 45 minute drive to Tony Grove Lake, where the trail to Naomi Peak starts.
After 15 minutes of getting geared up and paying the $6 parking fee, we had boots on the ground and were off.
The trail to Naomi is well-graded and signed. We followed the excellent trail, only taking one break, enjoying the nice day and catching up on life. We were both impressed with the alpine nature of the hike and the terrain. You never really know where the trail is headed or what is "the top" until the final section that angles to a rock outcropping that is the highest point around.
We shared the top with 3 others, but it was a bit windy and chilly. After some photos of the surrounding mountains and impressive Cache Valley, we were off. Instead of settling for one peak, we were both in the mood to tackle the really steep looking Mount Magog. So we made our way off-trail to the saddle between Naomi and Magog and then climbed up the 330 feet to Mount Magog.
The last 100 feet looked like it might be technical, but it was just easy and fun scrambling. This is where I felt the 9 miles of hiking the day before and efforts so far today. So I slowed a bit, but made it.
The top was neat with some nice views in all directions and huge, seemingly human cut blocks of rock (it's natural, not a quarry).
We then picked a descent path to avoid several cliffy areas and lead us back to the trail. Our route was perfect and soon we were on trail hiking back to the lake on a gorgeous blue bird day! 2 peaks and 9 miles in under 4 hours... not too shabby!
Then it showers, lunch, and the Utah State football game.
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