Arguably the best mountain day hike on the Wasatch, getting to the top of Lone Peak (and back) is punishing. But, as they say, “it hurts so good!” The views, the variety of terrain, and the fact that it’s slightly technical but not too bad, makes this trek a winner. We ascended the Cherry Canyon logging trail due to the road closure that prevented us from reaching the Jacob’s Ladder trail. The hike was pretty brutal from the start and stayed steep nearly the entire way. You get a slight reprieve of flat ground at about the half-way point for about a half mile before restarting the steep. Once you get to the rock fields below the first set of cliffs, the cairns become a bit misleading so bring a gps or AllTrails app. We found ourselves off the trail a couple times up high and had to do some scrambling to get back on the line. The top section is the steepest but not overly technical. The final push across the knife edge is a little sketchy due to the drops on either side but the views will distract you from your fear ;) We summited in late September and it took us 10 hours round trip with breaks. An item to emphasize: You will need more water than you think. We each burned through 4 liters and ran out about a 1/4 of the way down. I would suggest 6 liters at a minimum per person. We clocked 17.8 miles and 6900 feet in elevation gain. We smiled through our tears. It was wonderful!