It looks like our first summit will be Abajo Peak in the Manti-la Sal National Forest West of Monticello, Utah. The name of this particular group of igneous mountains is the Abajo Mountains or the Blue Mountains as they are known by the locals. An interesting fact lies in the word Abajo which means low or down in Spanish. The reason for this lies in the shape of the range of mountains. They lack the sharp relief of the mountains further north in Utah and have a rather rounded or low look to them. Don't let that fool you too much as they have an overall elevation of 11,360 feet and a prominence of 4,550 feet. This hike will be mainly a leisure hike, one you could even bring your kids along for from what I've been able to read about it (there is a road to the top). So don't be afraid to come along for this one if you're worried at all about the difficulty.
We are going to plan for May 10th and 11th. Hopefully that will give everyone who wants to go enough time to get work off for that Friday. If you don't want to take the day then we will be leaving in the late afternoon so you can finish up almost a full day of work before we run down there in the evening. We will camp when we arrive then summit the next morning and afternoon and either come home Saturday or Sunday for anyone who may want to make a weekend out of it.
May is still a bit early and there may be snow hanging around at that time. In fact, we probably better plan on it. If there isn't then we can leave the extra clothing and gear in the cars but its always better safe than sorry. If anyone has any more information or first hand experience please post it in the comments.
