"7/27/25 14.33 miles total. 4,702 vert. Ben Lomond Peak + bonus of Willard Peak. Made a friend at the trailhead due to shared frustration at the trailhead parking situation. Apparently the Cutler Trailhead in North Fork Park doesn't open until 7 am. If you want to start earlier, it's about 2 miles straight uphill from the roadside parking "winter access" to the trailhead. We both opted to wait. The closest parking from the "trailhead" is a half mile away from the trailhead, turning what is listed as a 10-mile hike, into an 11-mile hike. We both hiked our own hike, frequently hiking together, but also taking turns passing each other and catching up the whole way to Ben Lomond. We ate lunch together, and took photos of each other and together at the top. Here, we split ways. She called it quits at Ben Lomond, and hiked back to the cars. I made the potentially foolhardy decision to jump over to Willard Peak, adding just under 4-miles total onto my trek. At the base of Willard, the map shows a trail shooting off from the main trail, but there really isn't much of one. Just a scramble to the top. It showed a route all the way to the highest point, which started with a scramb..." — ghostofsws • Jul 27, 2025

"A buddy and I tried to hike Ben Lomond. We made it about 150ft from the summit but some steep grades and deep snow pack stopped us since we did not have crampons or spikes. We settled to summit Chilly Peak and call it a day. We had to bushwhack on the back end because a trail along the ridge ended when we tried to take it and get better views, but it made for a funny story. We will be back! " — mchikes • May 21, 2021

"It was later in the afternoon and I wanted to see if I could make to Ben by sunset. I wasn't sure how far I was going to make it before I hit the snow. It was nice to see the trails nice and dry for a majority of the trip. It really wasn't until I hit the Jct where the North Frok trail meet up at the base of Ben. The rest of the way it was pretty much a crap shot. I went shouth where the ridge was pretty clear of snow. As I got closer to the Peak I could see the shadow of a Goat watching over me. I really didn't expect it would be there when I reached the top, but to both our suprise it was. I startled the Goat as I rounded the last little bit to the Peak. I sat for an hour and watched a small heard below me. The sun started getting lower and I decided to get off the snowy ridges while I could still see. The last two hours were in the dark but it was nice and peaceful. Another awesome hike." — CacheMACS • Jun 23, 2017