Cycling Bald Mountain Pass West
Ride 24 miles miles gaining 3,142’’ to 10,579’ at 1.8% average grade.
Climb summary from PJAMM friend and contributor Bruce Hamilton, La Quinta, CA.
This bike climb on State Route 150 (Mirror Lake Highway) ends at the highest paved pass in Utah. The Bald Mountain Summit climb starts in the town of Kamas, Utah about 45 miles east of Salt Lake City. This climb goes into the Uinta subrange of the Rocky Mountains and these mountains are a bit drier and more exposed than the Wasatch range immediately to the east of Salt Lake City.
Lower portion of the climb.
It’s cowboy country and there may be cows on the road. The day I rode I saw a cowboy herding cows with three border collies.
This is a long climb but with the elevation gained over so many miles the grade is not steep. The road follows the Provo River and climbs at river grade for more than half the climb. We pass the northern end of Lost Lake at mile 26.
Lost Lake
There are steeper sections toward the top, but nothing difficult. The steepest ½ mile (7.5%) and mile (6.8%) are in the last quarter of the climb. This is a beautiful ride with very little traffic and open views. Take a lot of water – there is no water and the entire route is exposed and there is no shade for the entire climb. It can be hot in summer – even in early September it was warm at 10,000 feet.
View at the summit.
She IS mortal 😉. . .
. . . have not seen that since the top of Mauna Kea circa 2017 . . .
Thank you Bruce and Stacy.