When I just moved to Utah, I was trying to find the highest peaks to hike. Then I found A1 - a name that no one really hear of, a mountain truly locates in the wilderness. I couldn't find much information about A1, only this blog. I decided to follow what they did even though I was not a very experienced hiker/climber. (I try to keep active lifestyle and hike pretty often - on the trail though.)
It was the most strenuous and scary hike I've ever done so far.
There’s nothing easy on this mountain. No trails, no signs, and no human being once you go down into the forest. I actually went there a week ago and realized I wouldn't be able to come back if I didn't have a GPS. The mountains looked intimidating as hell which made me really want to conquer it! I got a 40 bucks used GPS in few days and found an adventurous buddy who was crazy enough to go with me.
Park at the mile marker 37 where the Kletting Peak sign is. We kinda figured out the route before we dived into the forest.
Go straight into the woods, slide down hundreds feet, cross a stream, hop on numerous falling logs and gradually climb up and became real steep. We were struggling on loose rocks and soil - we slip so many times and tried to grab pine trees. We traversed right to a boulder field which was "easier" to climb up. It was more than 1 miles bouldering up, bouldering up, until I had a emotional breakdown. I cried when we almost reached to Kletting peak. I was exhausted - I would lie on the rock panting. I knew I was going too slow and there was no way we could make it to A1 coming back in time.
Almost to the top of Kletting Peak.
We started from 3pm since I got off from work around noon and reached Kletting peak around 6:30pm.
Uinta Mountain Wilderness
A1 was still more than 1 mile away and seemed moderately strenuous. We gave up just sitting there enjoying the sunset view. The true wilderness mountain view was nothing I’ve seen before.
The true wilderness at the other side of the peak
Going down was not any easier or faster on this mountain. We chose another "easier" route scrambling down - more boulder than loose soil.
The rock was interesting - some of them are green, some are purple.
We put on our headlamps when we almost hit the tree line. Then it was real steep. When the loose rock falling down, we heard it rolling, rolling and rolling… Not many choices at that moment - we grabbed whatever was available and slid down one person at a time. It became real dark. At 10pm we were still tumbling in the woods.
It was like a nightmare that we couldn’t get out of endless forest. I already reached to my physical limit and it was all about mental strength. Almost 11pm we hit the road and found my car. We were so glad we survived. That was the most intense and craziest hike I’ve ever done. It was no joke.
My worn out hiking boots
I wrote this for people who are ambitious and also want to climb either Kletting or A1. Make sure you have a GPS, a pair of good hiking boots (which I desperately need), hiking poles (highly recommended), enough water and food, and an uplifting hiking buddy.
This hike was no big deal for him even though he was not an avid hiker. He made jokes all the way until it got dark - his headlamp was really dim.
*All the photos were shot by iPhone. I usually use Nikon DSLR photos but just smashed my camera few weeks ago...