Behind the Numbers:
- 7.6 miles
- 1300 feet elevation gain/loss
- Out and back in ~4 hours (with misbehaving dog)
Susan and I finally got out on our first legitimate hike together. Now, we’ve both been hiking a bit here in Logan (She’s hit Naomi Peak with her co-workers and I hiked Stump Hollow with the Logan Hiking Club among other trips), but this is the first real hike we’ve had the opportunity to enjoy with one another…and Derby as a bonus!
The hike is ideal for the warm weather season as it starts at Tony Grove Lake, which is at high altitude (8100 feet at the parking lot) and one of the first areas to close when the snow comes. The trail starts on the same route as Naomi Peak, the highest peak in the Bear River Range at just under 10k ft, before splitting off on its own. Then it climbs steadily over 2.5 miles to ~8900 feet before peaking and the steeply declining 500 feet in the next half mile into a beautiful valley. Once the descending is done, the trail meanders a bit more before terminating at White Pine Lake, a small glacier fed lake nestled between the Biblically named Mt. Gog and Mt. Magog.
Saying the trail terminates is a misnomer since there are actually a variety of other trails and backcountry options once you are in the valley, but the lake is the dead end of this particular trail. Anyways… enough of the trail itself, onto our experience of it:
We left on a rare overcast morning at just before 9am and the trail was isolated. We were alone until around 2 miles when a father and son bow-hunting duo came up behind us. They creeped me out a little in their camo with their bows and stealthiness, but seemed like nice enough fellows and soon left the trail and wandered into the trees (to stalk us? or deer?). After that the trail was quiet again until the local peak where we encountered our first dogs. Derby actually made a pretty smooth pass and then it was on to the switchbacks into the valley. The views in this section were spectacular, as we descended the trail. The only complaint was the lack of wildlife. There were a variety of birds, many of which I can’t identify, but otherwise the “wildest” life were a couple cows that were allowed to graze in the high country during the warm weather months. As we approached the lake, we started to hear and see other groups of hikers/campers.
Along the trail 
The lake 
A little friend at a our turnaround spot
Once at the lake, we stopped on a tree for lunch and made friends with a pika that had clearly become accustomed to humans unfortunately (he almost climbed in my lap before I knew he was there). Then we started to retrace our steps back to the car. This also happened to be the time the trail traffic started to pick up. Groups of overnight hikers (with dogs) were starting to trek home, other speed-hikers (usually with dogs) were making their way to the lake, and horse-riders (with horses AND dogs) were strolling around. All this was enough to work Derby into a frenzy. We had to divert him off the trail a few times just to make some passes. The highlight of the return trip was seeing a real cowboy actually herding cattle across the valley. Either way, finally we arrived back at the car just after lunch and Derby was shell-shocked by the exertion of the morning…he slept for the next 24 hours.
Overall we really enjoyed this hike. It was challenging enough for a good day’s effort, offered variety in terrain and enough shade to keep things fresh, and had enough traffic to feel safe without taking away from the feeling of being in nature.
As we continue exploring, we’ll compare the hikes and try to rate them relative to one another.
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