Wasatch Mountains - Salt Lake City, Utah
Mount Olympus Summit: 9,026'
About 7 miles round trip
4,050 feet of elevation gain.
Mount Olympus is probably the most hiked trail in Utah outside
of the National Parks. It is filled with history, probably
one of the most historic peaks in Utah, when talking about
hiking. It's also one of the most brutal hikes under 8 miles.
I've known people who swore to never hike again after
the beat-down they took from Mount Olympus.
There are about 8 distinct parts to this trail,
understanding this gives you a good psychological advantage.
Because this peak beats you down with all of it's deceptive
views and false summits.
1) Steep Entance. This part ends pretty quick,
but most people give up at Pete's Rock. After you pass
Pete's Rock on the left, and the Prudential on the right,
it flattens out and turns left. This is one of the few
trails where you will see garbage and vandalism. This
section of the trail was designed to be difficult, to
keep the knuckleheads and vandals out.
2) Tolcat Overlook, this is the part that walks
through the quartzite and switches back up through the
manicured forest, it continues all the way to the stream
crossing, which is about halfway.
3) Blister Hill. At the start, you have two trails
to choose from, the switchbacks to the left or the real
Blister Hill straight up to the right. Take the switchbacks,
there's no need to be a toughguy, it's a long trail. Find
an easy rhythm and trudge up, don't force it, if you do,
you might be too weak to make it to the top. The quartzite
ridge to the north is Geurts Ridge, and is the same slab
as the peak. There is a quartzite ridge on the south side
all the way up. When the ridge ends, Blister Hill ends.
4) Open Section. Along this part of the trail,
you can see ridges far to the south and there are few
pine trees. At this point you will have reached full hiker
hypnosis, the phenomenon where the hiker has even tuned
out most of his mind to focus on keeping his walking rhythm,
so you will probably forget most of this part. You can
easliy see the peak from here, it looks close, it's not.
5) Enchanted Forest, this is a steep rocky trail
that gets very slippery most of the year. It's about the
same distance, or maybe a little farther than the Blister
Hill portion. This part can be icey or muddy, it's good
to have a walking stick.
6) Saddle. From here, you have incredible views
of Twin Peaks Massif, Lone Peak, Triangle Peak and down
into Heugh's Canyon. Half
of those who make it this far, stop here at the saddle,
because the views are rewarding enough to justify the
walk.. but if you keep going, it gets much better.
7) Rock Scramble. You begin with a steep scramble
that requires hands up the semi-smooth quartzite, this
is where the hike reaches a whole new emotional level,
as views start opening up. I'll never forget going up
and down this with a 72 year old man who, by they way,
did just fine with no help from me (But then again he'd
done it over 300 times).
8) The Peak. Boom, you'll feel great that you finally
made it. On a sunny day, you will feel purity, and a reason
for living. During the sunset, you might even cry.
Interactive Flash Trail Diagram of Mount Olympus
Another Interactive Flash Trail Diagram of Mount Olympus
I decided to go up around 2:30 pm and got to the trailhead around
3:15 pm. I knew I had very little time to get to the top, but
I decided to hike until the sun touched the mountains, and I
promised to not eat or drink anything until that point as well.
I didn't think I'd make it to the top of blister hill, but I
kept a steady pace, and only stopped a few times to take pictures.
As I went up, I asked people coming down, if they made it to
the top, no one did, and most were coming down early because
of nightfall, and usually looked at me like, 'Why are you going
up now?" My answer; "To take pictures".
There was mud and snow along the trail past Blister Hill. I
tried my best to at least make it to the saddle... But at about
5:15 the sun hit the mountain, I was about 5 minutes from the
saddle, I felt exhasted, delirious and defeated. I took as many
shots as I could, ate a half a handful of Wheaties, gave the
rest to my pug, who quietly followed me the whole way.
While we were eating, my cane slowly slid down the wet, icey
trail, I carefully hiked down to get it, but in my haste to
grab it, I slipped down a steep, wet mud covered part of the
trail. The near freezing mud on my hand felt like acid, I wiped
it off on a rock, and got moving, you don't want to make a mistake
up there....
Hello! This site is realy good, i came to know about Utah from National Geograph channel. The pictures taken by you give me fair idea about what Utah is all about. Keep it up.
Mahendra Pardesi
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