Mount Timpanogos revisited

I convinced a couple of co-workers to join me for an overnight hike up Mt. Timpanogos. Scott, Sam and I meet at the Aspen Grove trailhead at about 2:30 and were hiking before 3. This was my first time hiking Timp via the Aspen Grove trail. The Primroase Cirque is a wonderfully beautiful backdrop for a hike. As I looked up the cirque at the trailhead I thought there was no way there is a trail up that thing. The trail zigzags up however and provides numerous viewpoints and spectacular waterfalls. Once we crested the Primroase Cirque we started looking for a campsite. We found a nice place a stone’s throw off the trail near Hidden Lake. There was a herd of mountain goats grazing on the west facing slope just above our campsite. They are awesome to behold. Scott was kind enough to pack in my binoculars so we got a good close-up view of them. After we set up camp I strapped my skis on my empty backpack and hiked up to Emerald Lake with my peeps in tow. I put on my crampons at Emerald Lake and hiked up the lower section of the snow field until there was a break in the snow. I should have hiked higher for steeper angles but my legs were pretty squishy from carrying skis and camping gear up that much vertical. I called it sufficient for my August turns. We hiked back down to our campsite and tried to enjoy our freeze-dried meal. The blueberry cheesecake pouch was a big hit. We filled our water bottles and headed to bed. The night was something else. We could hear what seemed like a steady stream of hikers going up and down the trail. Some were singing. We also experience a heck of a light show with a lighting storm that rolled through in the wee hours of the morning. Our plan was to get up at 5am and head for the summit. It was still pretty nasty weather so we just enjoyed the comfort of our tents and sleeping bags. We laid there wondering what had become of all the hikers we heard walk past us throughout the night. We found out later in the day that at one point there was over 60 people crammed in the quonset hut at Emerald Lake. I'm sure glad we stayed in our tents. After I heated water for my oatmeal I ran out of gas for the stove so Sam and Scott were stuck with granola bars and other dry foods for breakfast. I felt pretty guilty for not bringing a full canister of gas or at least heating water for someone else first. I packed up my skis and boots, water and snacks and we headed up toward the summit. It was about 8:30am. I stashed my skis, boots and backpack at the quonset and we headed for the saddle. From the quonset we could see the saddle but the summit was under a cloud. I was surprised to see so few people. At the saddle the wind and cold hit us hard. We were prepared for the weather and added another layer. Just as we got to the saddle the sky cleared and we could see some blue sky. At one point we could see the summit hut too. We thought we had timed it perfectly to have clear views from the summit however after about half way up the to the summit from the saddle the clouds had come back. A solo trail runner passed us on the way up and a couple of hikers passed us on their way down. When we arrived at the summit only the solo runner was there. He said it took him two and half hours to summit from the Aspen Grove trailhead. Pretty impressive. He looked real cold sitting there and headed down. We didn't stay long as there was no view but we were there all alone. We passed a few more hikers going up as we were descending. Near the saddle I came face to face with a mountain goat. Before I could get my camera out though he had walked over behind some rocks. I was able to snag a quick video of him before he disappeared in the fog. From the saddle back to the quonset we ran into more hikers heading for the summit. Many though were not dressed appropriately for the cool, damp weather. While our hiking experience was that of pleasure they were probably suffering. Back at the quonset I was please to see my skis were still there so I did a September 1st repeat of last night's ski. Scott got video evidence. I NOW HAVE 24 MONTHS OF CONSECUTIVE SKIING IN THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS. We dashed back down the trail to our campsite to pack up and pack out. We were lucky to have a space of weather where we could pack up without rain. Our gear was still wet from the wet weather. Once we started down the rain picked up. It rained on us most of the way out. The waterfalls were even more beautiful. Just before the trailhead the sun peeped out for a few minutes and dried our pants a little. Put another Timp summit on the list for Sam and I. For Scott it was his virgin Timp excursion.

Gunsight Chute

Morning hike started at Alta. Hiked under the Sunnyside lift, crossed the creek and up toward the Greeley bowl. At the base of the bowl I looked down as a large bull moose crossed the open space below me and disappeared into the scrub. Headed south to the base of the Gunsight chute. Just before the snow I looked up on the Greeley side hill and saw a deer watching me. Not much snow but I was already there with skis so what the heck. At the snow I put on my crampons and hiked up the snow. I transitioned to skis and got about 25 turns on the way down. On the hike out I saw another deer bounding across the trail. I now have 22 months of consecutive skiing in the Wasatch mountains.

Pfeifferhorn

Got to the White Pine trailhead at 7:00am. Not too many cars in the lot. Headed up the White Pine trail to the Red Pine cut off. At the White Pine bridge there was a powerful flow of water. I continue up the Red Pine trail past the Maybird cutoff to the north end of Beautiful Red Pine lake. There was a group of older teenaged boys admiring the view. I hiked on past them to the south end of the lake and the schoolbus sized rock. I followed a faint trail up to a boulder field. I stopped at the boulders to enjoy a Ding Dong. It was nothing to enjoy. Way beyond it's "best before" date. My solitude was broken by a group of 3 trail runners on their way down. I scrambled up over the rocks to the rocky ridgeline. The ridgeline provided excellent views of the whole Red Pine drainage. there are 3 more small lakes above the main Red Pine lake. I followed the carons along the ridge west to a trail. The trail leads to another rock/boulder ridge. This was tricky navigating along this section but I never felt exposed. From there a final trail to the steep climb up to the summit. I arrived on top at a little before 10am. I was the only one up there (well, me and the mountain goats). I enjoyed the 360 degree view and identified as many of the peaks as I could before tightening my laces and starting down. Back to the knife edge I meet the teenagers on their way up. They asked if the approach was steep. As I was scrambling down from the ridge I began to run into small groups and single hikers on their way up. When I got back to the Red Pine lake there were skads of people. Many were fishing. I picked up the pace hoping to get our before noon. I continued to pass folks on their way in. I got back to the trailhead at about 12:30pm. I ate my pb&j on the way to the office.

This video is best viewed at the youtube site - change the quality setting to HD


While I was still at my office, one of my co-workers called and asked if I had started a fire while I was in the mountains.

2012 - MS 150 Bicycle Ride

Scott picked me up at the office at 4ish on Friday afternoon. We fought rush hour and construction traffic all the way to the Logan fairgrounds. Rich showed up shortly after we got there. After we set up camp and picked up our registration packets we all hopped in Rich's car to get dinner. We went to the Firehouse Pizza and Pasta place on the south end of town. Scott said his pasta what the best ever. My favorite part was the warm chocolate chip cookie with ice cream. Back at our campsite we wandered around the fairgrounds after dinner for a while and chatted up with a few people that we knew. Brett Young showed up and camped with us. I was ready for bed by 9:30ish. I woke up before 6 to tinkle and then went back to my sleeping bag until after 6. I grabbed some breakfast and then got geared up to ride. Scott, Rich, Brett and I worked our way to the start line and got out on with the first wave of riders. We were still weaving around riders a bit when a fast moving train of Cisco riders blew by. Scott and I tried to tag on but their pace was smoking hot. We were able to find other riders to tag onto most of the way out but kept loosing them to the rest stops. We were buzzing along nicely when another fast train of riders blew past. I think one of them was my neighbor Dennis. I hollered but but he was busy gritting his teeth. Scott and I had a stratagem to ride to the 50-60 mile point before our first break. This first half of the ride was so beautiful and nice with no noticeable wind. Rural Cache Valley is really a spectacular place to ride a bike. As we were heading west to our first rest stop in Weston, Idaho the wind started to kick up and we could feel the heat of the day. We made a pretty fast stop and then had a tailwind for the next 5 or so miles until the course turned south and our face was right into a brisk, hot wind. Our pace slowed from about 22mph to about 15mph. A group of 4 Autoliv cyclists passed us going about 20 so we hopped on. We followed them all the way to the lunch stop. I was pretty hungry for my 10:30am sandwich. Scott and I choked down our food and went to the bikes. We debated whether to go or wait for the riders we had just followed. We elected to leave thinking that they would pass us soon and we could tag on again. No such luck. We rode the last 30 miles alone taking turns with our noses in the wind. We didn't realize until after we finished that no one passed us. We, on the other hand, passed a bunch of riders on this last stretch. As we rode by Scott's grandpa's homestead I got a short Cache Valley history lesson. Scott was emotional and teared up. My eyes were too hot and dry to tear so I just kept pedalling. We saw riders sagging with less than 10 miles to go (really). We finished strong keeping our pace between 15mph and 20mph. We enjoyed the enthusiasm of the finish area. It was 12:30, a half an hour off our goal finish time.We showered, cleaned up our camp area and headed for McDonalds. I got a large milkshake and Scott got a large smoothie. Fast minivan ride home. Scott said "well, there is another MS ride in the books."

Me with the finish line cheerleaders - I have the Dave Zabriskie hair thing going on

Park City - Mountain Biking

Scott and I have been heading to Park City on most Wednesday afternoons for mountain biking the trails there. Yesterday we met up with Steve (Perky), Dave and Craig to try some new trails to us. We started up Armstrong to the Mid-Mountain trail then on to the Iron Mountain Loop. Back to Mid-Mountain to Crescent Mine Grade down to Eagle to Lower Spiro. We rode from almost 4 hours. The trails were all wonderful. Some of the view from Armstrong and Iron Mountain were spectacular. Virtually all of the riding was on shaded single track trails. There were some gnarly rocky sections on the Iron Mountain loop trail. Perky schooled us all on these trails.

Scott is loving the view

 Scott checking out the view - Craig in the background

 This is what Scott is looking at

I have also been riding my road bike a fair amount these past few weeks too.

A pic from one of my road bike outings with Tom - Top of Big Mountain

Baldy Shoulder

Got a slightly earlier start this week for the hike of the week. I drove to the Collins lift parking lot at Alta and hiked up cork screw to the mid-mountain area then on up to the Baldy shoulder beyond the Wildcat lift. It looked like I would get the most skiing and have the best snow conditions taking this route. The skiing was real fun spring conditions. The sun even poped out a couple of times. I had to carry my skis a short distance at mid-mountain then skied pretty much to the parking lot. Got about 2,000 feet of vertical.

Gunsight

The long Memorial Day weekend started with and early hike this morning. I drove to Alta and hiked up the Gunsight chute. The snow was firm in most places but soft enough on top to turn. I used my crampons and mountaineering axe for the steeper part of the hike. Got to the top at 9:30. I found a pair of skis that had probably been buried the first time the previous season. They had lots of rust on the edges. One of the skis was broken and one of the bindings was also broken. I still carried them out with me. Bonus. My consecutive months of skiing streak is still going. I skied at the resort once and did a tour with Tom into the Tri-chutes in April. With this outing today I am at 20 months. October 2010 to May 2012. I will probably get June turns too but not so optimistic about getting July, August and September turns. BTW, I went to Hawaii on vacation the first of May. I was able to do a little hiking while there plus plenty of snorkeling. I scuba dove a couple of times too. Ben, my son in law, dove his first real dives while in Hawaii. Big fun on the Big Island.