Oh the wonderful, majestic mountains of Utah! There are mountains in every one of the state's 29 counties. They dominate the landscape in many Utah cities and make life possible here by creating watersheds.
Mountains helped make the 2002 Winter Olympics a reality here — they store the "Greatest Snow on Earth" for skiers and make a wonderland for hikers and scenery lovers alike. They lessen the likelihood of tornadoes, temper the climate in Utah and create shelter for a variety of wildlife.
But what are some of the "highs" of Utah's mountains? The biggest? The best, the strangest or the most unusual?
Here's a list of some Utah mountain superlatives. You may not agree with all of the choices here, but you will at least concur that there are many more potential superlatives out there:
Best panorama — Twin Peaks above Snowbird, 11,489 and 11,433 feet. At 500 feet above Hidden Peak and the top of the Snowbird Tram, nothing but the earth's curvature or haze blocks your view!
Best illusion — That Ben Lomond is taller than the adjacent Willard Peak. The latter, at 9,764, is 52 feet higher but doesn't appear so because it is farther north and set back from downtown Ogden.
Best imaginary image — Timpanogos from the south, where its mountain skyline can resemble a woman lying down to some observers — hence fitting with an Indian maiden legend.
Best name — Impossible Peak, a 7,520-foot summit in Garfield County, northeast of Boulder.
Biggest cliff — Notch Peak. The west side of this 9,655 peak southwest of Delta is a 5,033-foot drop — with almost a 90-degree incline to the Tule Valley below. Perhaps only El Capitan in Yosemite has a bigger cliff face in the United States.
Biggest hunk — Mount Nebo, a mammoth mountain east of Nephi and rising 11,928 feet above sea level.
Biggest hump — Navajo Mountain, a stand-alone formation, that's mostly in Utah and towers above Rainbow Bridge and Lake Powell at 10,388 feet above sea level.
Easiest Timp-level mountain to climb — Bald Mountain, higher than Timpanogos Peak at 11,943 feet, but can be climbed in just a 1,200-foot ascent off the paved Mirror Lake Highway.
Easiest 11,000-foot mountain to reach in Utah — Brian Head. You can drive a car on a good dirt road to this 11,307-foot mountain, the tallest in Iron County.
First peak scaled in the Salt Lake Valley by white explorers — Castle Rock on Fremont Island (elevation 4,995 feet), in the Great Salt Lake, when John C. Fremont explored it in 1843, but another expedition member, Kit Carson, was so bored he chiseled a small cross on the side of the summit.
First valley peak climbed by the Mormon pioneers — Ensign Peak, 5,414-foot elevation, a few days after reaching the Great Salt Lake Valley in July 1847.
Hardest summit to locate without a GPS — Signal Peak, 10,365 feet, the tallest in Washington County, is below treeline and not as easy to find as most Utah peaks.
Hardest peak to spell — Definitely Mount Tukuhnikivatz, La Sal Mountains, San Juan County, 12,482 feet. The title is a Piute Indian word that means, "where the sun sets last."
Most hiked mountain — Probably Timpanogos Peak, the crown jewel of Utah hikes.
Second most-hiked mountain — Likely Kings Peak, the state's highest. No exact numbers are available, but probably an average of 50 or more hikers a day climb it in summer.
Most mysterious mountain — Navajo Mountain, located deep in the Navajo reservation. A special permit is needed to climb or drive off road on the mountain, sacred to many Native Americans.
Most famous — Ben Lomond, Weber County, even though few realize it. The mountain was the inspiration for the Paramount Pictures Corp. logo.
Most unusual — Frary Peak on the top of Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. At a 6,595-foot elevation, it offers a 360-degree "aqua" view — Utah's only tall summit that's encircled by water, at least during non-drought years when the GSL puts its southern tip under water.
Most beautiful peak — backside (east side) of Timpanogos Peak from Midway or Heber City. A postcard view that can beat anything else in the state.
Most remote summit — Ibapah Peak, Juab County, 12,087 feet high, and 70 miles from any main road.
Most dangerous mountains — Any peak during a thunderstorm, with Kings and Lone peaks among the most hazardous, based on fatalities from lightning.
Most overlooked mountain — South Kings Peak. Only 16 feet shorter than Kings Peak, at 13,512 feet and a lot more stable on top, this summit was believed to be Utah's tallest until 1966, when satellite measurements "discovered" today's Kings Peak, about three-quarters of a mile away.
Most changed mountain — Francis Peak, Davis County, where the FAA's $2 million radar tower construction in the late 1950s lopped off almost 50 feet of its pointed summit. While most maps list Francis Peak's elevation at 9,547 feet, that was its original height. The natural height is now 9,515 feet, making it the fifth-highest peak in Davis County. The facility's base adds 55 feet and the radar domes chip in another 60 feet for a total of 115 feet in artificial height — making the peak, some could argue, artificially 9,630 feet above sea level.
Most seldom-visited major mountain — Navajo Mountain. Off the radar screen for most hikers, in remote southeastern Utah and deep in the Navajo Reservation are all reasons for its low visitation.
Most confusing peak(s) — Twin Peaks. There are three sets of "Twin Peaks" located just in Salt Lake County. Tallest are the so-called "American Fork" versions south of Snowbird, but the "Broads Fork" Twin Peaks, located between Big and Little Cottonwood canyons, look the most prominent from most of the Salt Lake Valley, though they are shorter than the Snowbird set.
Second most confusing peak(s) — Mount Nebo, which is actually a triple summit peak, with the north one being tallest by 51 feet at 11,928 feet, even though the south peak (11,877) is where the regular foot trail ends.
Most vertical relief — Moab (4,000-foot elevation) southeast to Mount Peale (12,721 feet) is an elevation difference of 8,721, highest contrast in Utah.
Second most vertical relief — St. George (2,880-foot elevation) north to Signal Peak (10,365) in the Pine Valley Mountains is 7,485 feet.
Strangest looking Utah peak — Beehive Peak, Sevier County, which resembles a red pyramid on its west side and a regular beehive from the east side.
Two mountains with walkable access, but not for the acrophobic — Angel's Landing and Notch Peak. The first has chains to hold on to, while the trail to the top is chipped out of rock along cliffs. The second is a sheer cliff on its west side, though loved by hang-gliders.
Two year-round mountain outposts — Francis Peak, Davis County, with an FAA radar facility; and Farnsworth Peak, Oquirrh Mountains, houses KSL-TV and numerous FM radio station transmitters. Both peaks are manned 24 hours a day, all year.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com