Ben Lomond

[jon.moab]

I am looking at taking a group of scouts up Ben Lomond this weekend. The plan is to hike to the saddle Friday night, spend the night, then summit the next day. It has been a few years since I have biked the trail. We will hike up the Northern Skyline trail, from the North Ogden Divide. I have a few questions:

-What is the availability of water for pumping?
-How long will it take to get to the saddle? I have planning on about 5 hrs.

Thanks!

[Painted Horse]

Why don't you hike up from the Boweries in the North Fork Park. There is a nice trail ( although rocky) that you can follow up, There is a good size spring and large area to camp in about where the trail changes from vertical climb to a horizontal trail that heads back to the south. On the second day you can continue following the loop around and return to your vehicles. I ride this loop on my horses in about 3 hours. Your scouts carrying packs will be slower than this. But you are only doing half of the loop the night before, and the second day is all downhill. If you go to my Everytrail, you can follow part of my route before the battery on my phone died. The area where I backtrack is the side diversion where we rode over to the spring and watered the horses. This trail is all just under the skyline, So you would still have a half mile or so trail to summit on Ben Lomand Peak. http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2178080

[jon.moab]

Thanks for the info!