While in the San Francisco Mountains, exploring for
charcoal kilns, we thought we'd take a side trip to the top of Frisco Peak (9,629') . . . the highest point of the range and a place we'd never been. We were surprised by the views which allowed us to see west to the Snake Range, north to Delta and east to the Tushar's. This mountain certainly had the feel of a much higher peak than we were expecting.
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| Looking north towards Delta and the Sevier Lake bed . . . which is just a large alkali flat |
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We had heard there was a hang gliding ramp at the summit . . .
Our friend, Mary, is practicing for her lift off! |
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I guess this register says all you need to know about the ramp . . .
According to Ramblers, a pilot has flown his hang glider 178 miles to Park City from this peak! |
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Scary, scary!
There's no turning back . . . once you're committed it's do or die! |
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| There were even a few aspens at the top waiting for their summer leaves |
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Oh, did we mention there are "tons" of towers at the summit?
We assume this "sky mountain" provides a good place to put these transmitters |
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| We were able to pull up the NGS Map and found that a benchmark had been placed here in 1971 . . . We found reference marker #2, which points to the benchmark, but were unable to locate it or reference marker #1 |
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| Upon further inspection, Allison located the drill hole where the benchmark was originally set . . . it didn't surprise us too much that it was missing as it was located in the middle of the road . . . however, the last reported observation of this benchmark, in 2008, showed it being present |
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Looking east towards the Tushar Mountains near Beaver . . .
You can see the road (in the lower right hand corner) that we took to reach the top of Frisco Peak . . .
The photo also shows the pinion pine flats where we have spent most of the day exploring charcoal kilns that once supplied the smelters in the town of Frisco, at the mountain's base
(Click on the picture for a larger view) |
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| Time to head back down and search for one more set of kilns |
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| A special thanks to our friends, John & Mary, who took us to the top in their Side-by-Sides |
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Almost down . . .
Mary looking at the switchbacks that will take us down the steepest part of the road |
What a nice surprise this side excursion was! We have always wondered, as we passed by on our way to Great Basin National Park, what the views were like from the top of Frisco Peak. We were leery about driving to the top because our friend Tom said the switchbacks were not passable with his truck in 2018 (instead, he parked his truck and hiked 6.5 miles with 2,200 ft of ascent for his
Peakbagger post) To our surprise, we found the road in very good condition and wouldn't hesitate to take our Tacoma to the summit.
