4th highest mountain range in Utah Deep Creek Mountain Range
Growing up in Nephi Utah I had Mount Nebo in my back yard and I learned at a young age that it was the highest peak in the Wasatch mountain range. However it was not the highest mountain in Juab County in which I lived. This title was held by a distant mountain pushed up against the Nevada border about one hundred miles west of Nephi. Back in that day getting information was a challenge. I remember finding the phone number for the BLM office in Fillmore which was about 50 miles south of Nephi. I called and asked for information about the Deep Creek Mountains and Haystack Peak. The ranger mailed me a map with some hand written instructions and notes on it and my cousin and I were off to explore this wild place.
He was 14 and I was 17 and drove us out in my uncles truck to what seemed to us was another world far from civilization. We found a few ranches and many gravel roads and with the aid of the map from the BLM found Granite Creek canyon. We were amazed that there was a healthy stream flowing down the canyon and even caught a fish. The road which was really a rough jeep trail wound its way far up the canyon. The peak which we later learned was actually named Ibapah was far above us even as we came to the end of the jeep road. 
The following morning we followed a wonderful trail carved into the canyon and mountain by the Civilian Conservation Corp. (CCC.) We were impressed that even in this remote place the government had employed men during the tough years after the depression in 1933 to construct trails and do other environmental positive projects.
The trail brought us to the foot of a ridge that shot straight up to the summit itself and at this point we decided to
leave the trail and go directly for the goal. Wow, what an adventure! The wild and steep nature of the mountain really started to show. Boulders the size of semi-trucks laying on a steep angle blocked the way on every turn. Do we climb up the boulder only to find that getting off at the top to be an impossibility? We questioned ourselves numerous times. As we gained elevation the trees began to be shorter and less entangled and the boulders gave way to smaller rocks which made progress easier. Finally as we reached the tree-line the slope consisted of rocks and grasses with many miniature flowers all in bloom. Finally, we reached the summit, what a view! We could see the whole range with Haystack peak a few miles to the north and the desert stretching out in all directions. It was a great accomplishment.
We ate our lunch and then began to return down the same ridge. Going down turned out to be quick and easy. After returning to the tree-line we slipped over into the basin/canyon to the east and glissading down the snow we reached the bottom quite quickly. A little cross country hiking to regain the trail and we were back to camp by mid-afternoon.
Years later I wanted to hike the same route and after convincing a good
friend we came out for the attempt. The track we drove up as teenagers was blocked off so the hike in was further than before and the well made trail was not well maintained. In fact the CCC trail was no longer used. After camping at the end of the old trail we tackled the ridge the next day. It was tougher than I remembered and lunch came before we even reached the tree-line. It was a long pant to the summit but, the views were still amazing.
With no snow in the basin/canyon as in my youth we opted to hike down the trail which seemed to go on forever. I would not recommend this route but, for anyone wanting to try it I would be happy to describe it in detail for you.
More to see in this remote and un-spoiled mountain range, Utah’s fourth highest.