Mt Ellen May 2013

[peakbagger1971]

It's been taking me forever to finish the Utah county high points. I was heading down to the Hanksville area to meet some friends to hike a canyon (TR coming soon)so I thought, "Man I need to bag Mt Ellen," so I left early Friday morning to bag the peak before the canyon hike on Saturday. It wasn't the warmest of days but it wasn't to bad. I wasn't sure which route I should take to get to trail head at Bull Mountain Pass so I called the BLM office in Hanksville before I left. They recommended I take the road from the west side because it was more likely to be snow free. I didn't realize how far out of the way that was until I got down there. They were right though it was mostly snow free all the way to the top. I was also hoping to see buffalo but no luck. The closest I got was a skeleton near the summit. It was very cool and very windy. I was almost blown over a time or two. I lost my hat and had to run after it before it went over an edge. I was fortunate to catch it. Here are some pics.

[accadacca]

Congrats!

[pudgy_groundhog]

Hi peakbagger,

This is one of the two guys that you met on your way down to Bull Mountain Pass. We made it up to the summit with the huge cairns on it. The winds were incredible up there, almost knocked me down a couple times. We were very surprised to see you up there. The hike up to Ellen was our finale after a week of canyoneering in the white canyon area. It was nice to meet you, if only for a very brief time.

[Byron]

It's nice to hike and camp up there when it's blazin' hot down below. If I recall, you would have driven by McMillan Springs campsite on your way up...that's a nice place to camp. I've been up there quite a few times, and it never seems too windy once spring ends, at least not like hurricane force!