Lowe Peak Summit Attempt

I've been eyeing Lowe Peak for about 10 years, thinking about climbing it for about 5, and seriously considering it for the last 2 or 3. At 10,589', it's the second highest peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, the range to the west of the Salt Lake Valley. More importantly, it has that classic pyramid mountain look that makes you look up and say "I wanna sit on top of that," and it really jumps out of the western skyline as viewed from my mom's front yard:

Lowe Peak, Tuesday AM

The path up the mountain's SW side is not particularly intimidating, approximately 5mi (depending upon route) and 4000' vertical feet from the end of a paved road. However, these mountains are rarely visited compared to the Wasatch to the east, established trails are few and far between, and in winter avalanche danger (made worse by the remoteness of the mountain) is a serious consideration. Bottom line, my visits to Utah over the last few years (usually during snowy season) haven't presented a reasonable chance to have a go at it.

Arriving in SLC on Monday, I recognized a window of opportunity. It's early in the season, without much snow accumulation, and it had been several weeks since the last storm. With the snow relatively settled, possibly quite a bit of melt from the previous week's warming, and the next storm scheduled to arrive Tuesday night, I knew Tuesday was the best shot I'd see for a while. I knew I was physically prepared, the weather forecast looked good, so I made plans to go.

After checking out trip reports on Summitpost and WillhiteWeb (a great website I just discovered), consulting with the respective authors, refreshing my avalanche preparedness, and studying the topo map, I was set to go. The only thing I needed was a travel companion. Fortunately my dad's friend Bill, a saavy and experienced outdoor adventurer, was up for the expedition on short notice.

The planned route was 3.2mi/3500' from the trailhead, including roughly 1.2mi up Ophir Canyon, a 1mi routefind up to Dead Ox Pass, and another mile along a N-S ridgeline to the peak. I knew we may have up to an additional 1.5mi/500' walking up a dirt road, depending upon road/snow conditions. As it turned out, we made it about halfway up the dirt road before parking the car and setting off on foot.

The first couple miles passed without incident in a little over an hour as we worked our way up the canyon, crossing the stream a number of times along the way. There was a well-worn path indicating that others had recently traversed the route, and no need for snowshoes. Arriving at a small meadow, the footprints ended, so we strapped on our snowshoes and continued along. There was some question as to whether we should continue upcanyon, or peel off to the east and start heading for the ridgeline toward Dead Ox Pass. We decided to head east, working our way up a steep hill:

Sagebrush- and snow-covered slopes

A few more feet of snow would have been welcome, as the exposed sagebrush presented a challenge. Postholeing through the deep snow made for slow progress, yet the brush would easily catch snowshoes. We opted for snowshoes. The steep grade (later estimated at 1800'/mi) was no joke, and our progress slowed considerably.

A lone fir, with Rocky Peak in the background

2:30 in, we were still an estimated 500 vertical feet below the ridgeline, and it became clear that the summit was not within reach, allowing time for return before dark. Furthermore, I suspected we were off course, and had drifted south of the planned route. The view, however, was great, so we stopped to have lunch:

Looking west toward Bald Mountain, with the Stansburys in the distance

Lowe Peak and Dead Ox Pass, to the NE

With time short and heavy legs, we made our way back to the car without incident in about 2 hours, spotting a mule deer doe along the way. Upon arriving home, I studied the topo some more, trying to figure out exactly where we'd ended up. Using google earth, I was able to pinpoint our lunch spot, as matched to the photo above:

Google Earth is cool!

Indeed we had peeled east off the main canyon too early, ending up around 8900' on a ridge to the SW of Dead Ox. This view illustrates the intended path as compared to the actual:

Oops.

It's clear to me after this experience that I need more practice with my routefinding navigation, particularly in snowy terrain. But the good news is that we used good prudence and judgment, returning safely instead of pressing on toward what could have become a dangerous situation. It's also clear to me upon review that the route via Dead Ox is longer than 3.2mi from the trailhead. I estimate it's actually about 4mi. The 3.2mi route heads more directly up the drainage on the SW face of Lowe (as described by Willhite), and would be the preferred summer route. However, it looked like the snow on that face was relatively unstable, and I don't think I'd try it in winter.

This was a great scouting trip, and I look forward to returning to Lowe next time conditions allow!