Utah County High Points

The map of Utah. All completed county high points are labeled with small white sticky notes.


Starting in the Fall of 2003 I began hiking the county high points in the state of Utah. Though not initially a goal, by the time 2006 rolled around and MBA school was starting for me, I had decided to climb all the county high points during my next two years while living in Provo. Since I'd only summited five of them to that point, that left me the formidable challenge of climbing 21 peaks in two summers with a few potential winter ascents, though most of the peaks cannot be accessed until much of the snow has melted (early summer).
On Friday, 01 August 2008 I finished my final peak as Autumn and I climbed Mt. Waas in the La Sal Mountains of Southern Utah. Below is a list of the counties, their peaks, elevations, the date I climbed them on, and who accompanies me on the hike.

1. Beaver County, Delano Peak, 12,173', 30 April 2007, Nate Beck
2. Box Elder County, Bull Mtn, 9,920', 26 May 2007, John and Ashlee Barnhill, Autumn Humphries
3. Cache County, Naomi Peak, 9,979', 02 September 2006, Dave Dibble, John Barnhill
   
4. Carbon County, Monument Peak, 10,452', 14 October 2006, Ned and Linda Iverson
   
5. Daggett County, Eccentric Peak, 12,276', Autumn Iverson
   
6. Davis County, Thurston Peak, 9,706', 12 June 2004, Solo, 11 February 2006, John Barnhill
   
7. Duchesne County, Kings Peak, 13,528', 19 September 2003, Dave Dibble
   
8. Emery County, East Mtn, 10,743', 28 October 2006, Rachel Hawkins
   
9. Garfield County, Mount Ellen, 11,522', 30 July 2008, Autumn Iverson
   
10. Grand County, Mount Waas, 12,331', 01 August 2008, Autumn Iverson
    
11. Iron County, Brian Head Peak, 11,307', 21 July 2007, Solo
    
12. Juab County, Ibapah Peak, 12,087', 13 May 2008, Dave Dibble
    
13. Kane County, On county line, 10,040', 21 July 2007, Solo
    
14. Millard County, Mine Camp Peak, 10,222', 16 June 2007, Solo
    
15. Morgan County, Thurston Peak 9,706' (Shared with Davis County - see above)
    
16. Piute County, Delano Peak, 12,173' (Shared with Beaver County - see above)
    
17. Rich County, Bridger Peak, 9,255', 26 January 2007, Dave Dibble
    
18. Salt Lake County, American Fork Twin Peaks, 11,489', 13 August 2005, Mark Sauder
    
19. San Juan County, Mount Peale, 12,721', 31 July 2008, Autumn Iverson
    
20. Sanpete County, South Tent Mtn, 11,285', 07 July 2007, Autumn Humphries
    
21. Sevier County, Fishlake Hightop Mtn, 11,633', 13 October 2007, Autumn Humphries
    
22. Summit County, Gilbert Peak, 13,442', 01 September 2007, John and Steven Barnhill
    
23. Toole County, Deseret Peak, 11,031', 23 September 2006, John Barnhill
    
24. Uintah County, Eccentric Peak, 12,276' (Shared with Daggett County - see above)
    
25. Utah County, Mt. Nebo, 11,928', 30 May 2003, Dave Dibble, Summer 2004, Ben and Jenn Iverson, Kimber Hopper
    
26. Wasatch County, On county line at 10,840', 07 October 2006, Jared Hahne and Rachel Hawkins
    
27. Washington County, Signal Peak, 10,365', 23 June 2007, Russ Tanner
    
28. Wayne County, Bluebell Knoll, 11,328', 13 October 2007, Autumn Humphries
    
29. Weber County, Willard Peak, 9,764', 17 October 2003, Dave Dibble
    

Interestingly enough, because Utah is so mountainous and does not have any significant flat areas, if you take the average of all of the county high point elevations it is higher than any other state in the Union, including Alaska. To my knowledge, only 37 other people have ever completed all the counties (http://www.summitpost.org/list/171195/utah-county-highpoints.html), though undoubtedly some have done it and have not been posted on this website.
For all the blood, sweat, tears, scrapes on my motorcycle and car, and expended gas money, I feel like I have gotten a thorough education and exposure to the state that few others can say they've experienced. Utah has incredibly varied landscape, yet, at 10,000'+ it is all rugged alpine wilderness with incredible serenity and beauty. I'd like to thank everyone that put up with me for hours on the trail as I sung my camp songs or repeated the same jokes that I'd told last hike. I hope they were still funny and I truly enjoyed your company. I can't say that any of the hikes I wish I hadn't gone on. There were some long hours on the motorcycle saddle that I was pretty tired on though!
Anyway, it's been fun but it is time to close this chapter on my life as Autumn and I head to Tucson and begin work there. So, will there ever be another county high point goal in another state? Possibly, but I'm not planning on it right now. There are a few monumental mountains that I plan to climb sometime in my life (Rainier, Hood, Grand Teton, etc.). I do have the state high points in Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and California under my belt, so I may do the top 10 state high points or something. I don't have aspirations to climb Mt. Everest and I'm not even sure I'd take advantage of Mt. McKinley/Denali, were I given the chance. I'd sure think about it though!
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