Bogley

rwpontius · Joined: 21 Apr 2006 Posts: 76

Hike date July 22, 2006. We left for Mt. Peale from the La Sal Pass “trailhead.” To get there one must go on south of Moab and turn east at La Sal Junction. Several miles after the town of La Sal make a left turn off of the main road. Probably a map would be useful since road markings aren’t always easy to see and we ended up going several miles up the wrong road before finding the right way to La Sal Pass. As you look north from the pass parking area you can see Peale and well to the left Tuk. Between the two is a smaller peak my map calls Talking Mountain. Head for the draw that cuts between Peale and Talking Mountain. The trail across the meadow pretty much takes you there although it isn’t straight. The trail goes into a timbered area and eventually drops you out on a dirt trail (4 WD road so I suppose you could drive there). Continue north on the “road” until it ends on top of a knoll. By going around the knoll you can see an area of downed trees left from some winter’s avalanche. The draw you want is the avalanche chute. Cut through the downed timber and up the draw. We generally stayed on the sides of the draw rather than the bottom. About all you can do is work your way up to the saddle between Peale and Talking Mountain. Not a good trail but easy to follow the draw. Officially the trail goes on up Peale from the saddle but we ended up working uphill toward Peale before the saddle. From the saddle the trail is pretty obvious and easy to follow to the top. Not really a steep grade either. The bulk of the climb seems to be going up the draw to the saddle. From the saddle to the top is pretty short. We forgot to time ourselves but it was definitely less than 2 hours and possibly as little as an hour and a half to the top. Return the way you went up. Oh, no snow on the trail anywhere and only a little in some of the sheltered basins. Great hike!
Sorry, still using film so no photos right now. Hopefully I can get some scanned later.
RP

James_B_Wads2000 · Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:35 am Post subject:

Thanks for the TR rwpontius, I have added it to the Utah High Pointing Index .

Another big High County Peak down, good job! I have yet to do Peale but I have hiked a little in the La Sals and really fell in love with them. I always wanted to climb Tukuhnikivatz and Peale at the same time. Peale is the higher peak but Tuk faces west toward the red rock country of Moab that I know and love so much.

James

stefan · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 4652 Location: somewhere

ahh james, you gots to do it this summer :2thumbs:

rwpontius · Joined: 21 Apr 2006 Posts: 76

James:
I did Tuk 2 years ago, it is tougher than Peale. We are considering a traverse across Melanthin and Peale from the Geyser Pass Road to La Sal Pass in the future. Probably we will try Wass first though. We did Peale on Saturday and floated Westwater Canyon on Sunday-how much better of a weekend can one person have?
RP

Rev. Coyote · Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 2039 Location: Location Location

rwpontius wrote: James:
I did Tuk 2 years ago, it is tougher than Peale. We are considering a traverse across Melanthin and Peale from the Geyser Pass Road to La Sal Pass in the future. Probably we will try Wass first though. We did Peale on Saturday and floated Westwater Canyon on Sunday-how much better of a weekend can one person have?
RP

A little late on this thread -- Tried Tuk last summer and made it about 200 vert. feet from the summit and it got way too unstable. How did you summit? Or did you?

That high country is where my heart lives. Sitting on the rim looking into Gold Basin was religious.

rwpontius · Joined: 21 Apr 2006 Posts: 76

Yes, I summited. It has been several years now but I don't remember it being that unstable and I like to think of myself as pretty cautious when hiking alone. Basically, I went north from the LaSal Pass Road to the ridge between Tuk and Peale and went more or less up the ridge to the summit. I believe I was a little bit to the south of the main connecting ridge part of the way. There is a small peak between the two (I believe it is Laughing Peak or something like that) and I was west of it (Tuk side) when I hit the main ridge. That last portion is definitely steep and I don't know that I would want to be right below someone climbing it but I don't recall it being that bad. Seems to me that is not as bad as the last portion up Pfeifferhorn if you have climbed it although several years and mountains may have clouded my memory. Interestingly, there was some sort of pit on a relatively flat summit! I wondered what that was about but nothing to give an indication of its purpose.
RP