I quickly ate some food, and rushed home. I packed up my old backpack that had been with me when I camped on an island in Arizona with my family. We had to swim to the island because it was too rocky for boats to get near....also we didn't have a boat. I had taken that backpack to England and Wales on my mission. Often I was annoyed that it was too big and bulky, but it served me well every time I had to bring home groceries on bike or foot. I have had many wonderful experiences with that backpack, and it was definitely on its last legs. After its orange and grey cloth was filled with some climbing rope, 4 bottles of water, some snow pants, and some trail mix, I plunked it down in the back of my Subaru, and headed off towards Mount Olympus.
Mount Olympus is one of the taller peaks in the nearby area. The summit is at 9,600 feet (2,000 feet higher than I've climbed before) and to get to it you have to traverse rough terrain, steep inclines, and deep snow over about a 3.5 miles trail (2 miles more than I've done on a climb since I moved to Utah). It loomed out of the distance like a giant, as I got closer to the trail head parking lot I couldn't even see the peak anymore because it was so far away. There was graffiti on the concrete slabs in the parking lot, and every parking space had piles of broken safety glass in it. Clearly car break-ins were not a rare occurance here. Luckily I had nothing of worth in my car except maybe my CDs, but who listens to CDs anymore anyway. I booted up my Garmin GPS, cinched up the straps on my aged backpack, took my ski poles in hand, and started off on the trek.
I was only a hundred yards up the trail when I realized that this was no baby trail for the weak hearted, it was steep, rocky, and difficult... Just the way I like it. Some kids were scrambling over the lowest boulder on the side of the trail; this too had gratuitous amounts of graffiti on it. There were some anchor points for rock climbing, and if I had had more time (and a belaying buddy) I would have been tempted to climb it, but I had to push on. It was already noon, and I anticipated a 7 hour hike. I really wanted to get back before night fall.
I have been watching a bit too much Man vs. Wild on YouTube, so one plan that crossed through my mind was to scale the mountain, then create a snow shelter on one of the protected faces of the mountain, sleep through the night in the wild, and then go exploring some more the following day. One problem with this was that I didn't have any gear with me. I suppose the whole point of survival expeditions is making it through with whatever you have with you at the time, but I was in no quest to get in over my head unnecessarily. I was confident that I would have been fine, and that I had sufficient skill to tackle the wilderness alone, but it would still have been nice to have at least a flint and steel along with me... or maybe a sleeping bag. Soon though I'll be out there for a 2 day trek; that should be an adventure.
I hiked up the trail and found a rather large boulder that looked like fun. Probably about 80 feet tall. I scaled it once taking the easy route, then did it again with my camera at the bottom to film my ascent. It was tougher than I though because I had my ruck sack offsetting my center of gravity, but I made it up in a few minutes. I think it would be fun to have a camera crew following me around like Bear Grylls, but so far I don't really do anything cool enough to justify filming. I just think it would be sweet.
Soon I broke above the tree level, and I could see the other mountains in the range. It seems that no matter how high I climb, there is always another peak that is just slightly higher up, taunting me. The city was still close at hand, and I could see the whole valley splayed out beneath me. From my vantage point I could see the Great Salt Lake... I wonder how long it would take to swim across.
The last few hundred feet were nearly vertical. I had to be careful to place my feet in the packed snow prints left by the foreigner's crampons. The ski poles lost their value in the veertical terrain and I had to stox them along side my pack. It's much easier to do this with my hiking pack vs. my school pack. Still I'd like to get some proper gear. It depresses me to think about how much of my kit was purchased at Wal-Mart.
It's a strange feeling when you get to the summit of sucha tall (to me) mountain. 9,600 feet above sea level. The last time I was up at this altitude, I was in a pressurized airplane cabin. Still it was all worth it for the view. It's hard to get up here and see all of this and not believe in God. All of creation just fills me with awe.
I found a mail box buried underneath some snow with peoples names and artifacts. One wrote a peom, one left a condom wrapper, on left an american flag, some left business cards. I wrote my name and date with the pen that was stached in the mail box, and began my descent. I suppose the view from teh top is definitely worth the effort of the climb, but for me, the challenge of the climb is in itself reason enough to take it on.
To speed up my descent, and make it possible to get to the Subaru in time, I donned my snow pants, held my backpack in front and slid on my backside as far as I could. It was fun, but dangerous. I got up to speeds of 25 MPH on my slides, and I had to be careful to dodge the rocks hidden underneath the snow. If I got it right it would greatly speed up my progress and help me get home before sundown; get it wrong and I could end up with a broken tailbone, or worse.
At the end of the day I got back in just under a 6 hour round trip. I was dead tired, and rested most of the next day; but all I can think about is which climb I'm gonna do next.
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