Hiking

Friday August 22th.

I believe my alarm went off sometime in the 7:00 hour. I don't know for sure because I told it to be quiet and went back to sleep. Another alarm went off at 8:15 and I knew it really was time to get up now. I had to convince myself, then Jason, but we dragged ourselves out of bed and into the car so we could start the days adventure.... actually hiking, for the first time on the trip.

Well, today I found the will to get out and work my.. body. The thought was that I would go summit Mount Superior and Monte Cristo, but it didn't quite turn out that way.

After work I went home and grabbed my effects, and drove myself up the canyon while listening to Glenn Beck. There's not nearly as much traffic up there in the summer, and it feels good. In the winter I feel like the canyon I love is being over-run by pot heads and ski-bums. It is no kindness to me. I go up to do a winter climb and I feel like the skiers want me out (esp. backcountry skiers). But once that snow melts, it's mine again. The road is clear of most traffic and the trails are only for those who walk (or run?).

Things started off well. I got a good brisk pace going and headed up the road from the parking area. After not too long the road turned to dirt. My brisk pace got me off the blocks, but soon I was slowing due to the steep nature of the trail. I had almost forgotten. My mind always turns on me during the first hour or so of a climb. The "wow.. this sucks. You like being lazy, remember? Just give up and go to Taco Bell" thoughts started creeping in. But I had fresh encouragement in my system from listening to the Bob Lonsberry show earlier today. Basically he was speaking against self-doubt and self inhibiting behavior. So, I continued onward and upward. Then I realized something. The wind was blowing, it was significantly cooler in the mountains than in the valley and I was not dressed properly.

I don't know what I was thinking. I should know that on top of an 11,000 foot peak the weather will be.. chilly. But I dressed in shorts and a short sleeve shirt and neglected to bring a jacket. Well, doubts started in, but I still had a goal in sight. I was going to make it to the pass or bust. Come wind and chill, I was going to get to the pass. So I continued on. Through a mini forest I went on. The evergreen trees were sparse and short, but it was a welcome change from the rock and prairie along the trail. In the trees the grade has become less steep, but it was not to stay. After, it got steeper than before and switchbacks ran up the final slope to the pass. I didn't look too far ahead at this point, and I didn't realize how close to the pass I was until only a minute or so before I got to it. Just as I thought, the wind was howling on top. No way I would be able to continue on to Superior, or Monte Cristo. The sun would continue lowering in the sky, and the temperatures would only drop. So I sat down on the leeward side of the pass to stay clear of the wind and had a little bit of a snack. Another hiker came up and sat a ways down the pass. I left before him and started my way back down the trail.

I generally prefer to run down trails. Why fight gravity going up AND down? So, I did, though I took it easy. I didn't want any sprained ankles. The descent was uneventful, and before I knew it I was staring my Jeep in the face once again. I didn't get any summits, but my main purpose was archived. I woke myself up. Every now and then I fall into a sleep-walk state of life. I'm always tired, but can't sleep. I have plenty of energy, but am too lazy to do anything about it. Nothing ever works quite as well as it could. But after smacking myself on the hillside, I am awake. My lungs are clear, and I feel like they are working better. My mind is more alert and awake. Best of all, I think I'll be able to sleep a lot easier tonight. So, today was a pretty good day, even if I did "watch" the first half of the Jazz game. Okay, I was in the same room as a TV which had the game on and I was doing my best to ignore it. But it looks like maybe we can all move on with our lives tomorrow. I'm such a killjoy, aren't I? Good.

Trip Stats
Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Miles: 2.8
Elevation Gain: 1,370 ft
Avg. Elevation gain per mile: 979 ft
Highest point: 10,020 ft

I have officially been awake for 30 hours streight now. Why? Because I'm nuts, most likely. But in all reality it is because I needed to get up early (3:00 am-ish) to go climb a mountain, so I decided to just not go to sleep. I guess it has worked out, but not perfetly. Let's see what I've learned today.

-I've learned a new meaning to 'cold'. Cold is when the drinking tube in your backpack freezes solid, preventing hydration. Cold is taking off a pair of gloves to expose another pair of gloves so that you can have some dexerity. Cold is being excited when your toes hurt because it means you can feel them again. When I spent 6 hours in 'Cold', I returned to my car, shed layers, and was warm in my car, without the heater on, and I could see my breath.

-I've learned that blogging is really hard to do after being awake for 30 hours.

-I've learned that when you're trying to be sneaky somewhere where people are sleeping, and you think there is no way you can get any louder, someone will send you a text message.

_I've learned that underscores are kinda cool... that's it, I'm losing it. I'ma go to bed, but I leave you will some cool pictures of this mornings adventures into the cold.

See more photos of this trip HERE

I was packing up my room in preparation to go to the MTC when Cloey called me and asked if I wanted to go for a hike. How could I refuse a last chace to get out. So she, Jarom and Isaac came over and we drove up to Alta. Being a holiday, the place was packed, and we had to take a shuttle up to the trailhead from the town. It worked out well though. Once we reached the trailhead via shuttle we went on up the trail to catherine pass. At first Jarom was carrying Isaac in his backpack. About halfway to the pass I took him to ease Jarom's Burden. Nearing the pass, there is a nice meadow. We stopped there to give some rest, eat some food, etc. They ended up changing Isaac's diaper. I got a bunch of good pictures of Isaac on the trail, playing with dirt and flowers and such. I'll link to a gallery page when I get it up and working. Once we reached the pass, Cloey and Jarom thought it was time to get back, as Isaac was getting preety tired. We sat at the pass for a few minutes, and had some other hikers take our pictures. At that point, I took off for the summit and they went back down. I didn't want to miss my last chance to summit a peak (however insignificant) for two years.
The trail went fast and easy, just like I remembered it. The peak was just as crowded as one would expect, yet I still felt at peace up there. Until I ended up on the phone with Jason making plans for sushi...

I took off back down the trail after a time. I was hauling it, like I usually do on downhill terrain. There isn't much to tell durng this part because I basically got tunnel vision until the trailhead. I got there just after Jarom, Cloey and Isaac did. Appearantly, Isaac hadn't made it awake.

View more pictures of this trip HERE

Went up with a bunch of guys from my ward, including Howie. Started off fairly early in the morning. We were at the trail head just at dawn. The air was cool and the clouds were low, which gave for a really awesome sight when we hit the red pine overlook. The trail was somewhat steep, but nothing too bad. At red pine lake things start getting a little harder. It takes some scrambling up talus to get to the upper lakes, then a slog up a really steep hill with loose scree. Luckily there were patches of vegetation and more stable ground to go on. once on the ridge, we got hit by th wind. Pretty nasty wind in fact. We made our way across the alpine ridge past some fun third class scrambling. We opted to take the Maybird Gulch side of the ridge during our scramble which made for some sweet exposure. Once we reached the base of the peak, the hike up it was steep, but didn't take nearly as long as I thought. Before I knew it we were on the summit. We took some pictures, ate lunch, joked about finishing the ridge and going down bells. I talked to another hiker who had just done Moran this year. We hiked down rather speedily, and were back to the car by noonish.