Mount Olympus Summit

Wasatch Mountains - Salt Lake City, Utah
Mount Olympus Summit: 9,026'
About 7 miles round trip
4050 feet of elevation gain.

We started up at about 1:30 PM and got down around 8:00 PM. We hadn't hiked for quite sometime so we went at a much slower pace, We got to the summit with about 1 minute of sunlight to spare. The summit was quite cold, so we only hung out there for about 15 minutes.

The main challenge of Mount Olympus is psychological; just know that it is going to be harder than you think it will be, and you'll be all right. It is a Twilight Zone treadmill, seeming to exponentially elongate as you slide backwards.

There are 2 false summits:
Blister Hill (after the creek), and Saddle above Heughs Canyon.
Going down is always twice as hard as going up (For me). Especially in the dark, I found myself clomping my feet much harder on the steep snow covered trail, and after nearly 3 hours, every step felt like electrical torture shocks. My legs were sore for a good 3 days.

MOUNT OLYMPUS AREA

ALL MOUNT OLYMPUS LINKS

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2002

Twin Peaks from Mount Olympus

Looking southeast toward the Twin Peak Massif.
Thunder Mountain, Chipman Peak, and Lone Peak are also visible.
You can almost taste the icy clean air.

Lone Peak from Mount Olympus

Thunder Mountain, Chipman Peak, and Lone Peak above the sea of pollution.

Going up the rock scramble to the summit after reaching the saddle.
Behind is Cottonwood Ridge; Superior, Monte Cristo, Dromedary, Sunrise, and Twin Peaks.

Mount Olympus

This tree has refused to die for who-knows-how-long.
Almost to the top.

An ocean of filth creates a beautiful surface over the Salt Lake Valley.
The Oquirrh Mountains and the Stansbury Mountains are visible.

Peaks in the above picture:
(Far Left) Lewiston 10,411' and Flat Top Mtn 10,620'
(Under the sun) Lowe Peak 10,589', Tooele Peak 10,396' Butterfield Peaks 9,370
(Behind the Oquirrhs) Deseret Peak
(Far Right) Nelson Peak 9,359'

Another view looking west over the overcast valley.
The Oquirrhs sit off to the west, the Stansbury Mountains are visible behind.

The tenacious tree challenging the elements.
Flat Top Mountain sits in the background.

Looking north over Mount Olympus North Peak, Neffs Ridge, Grandeur Peak,
Emigration Ridge, Grandview Peak, and the rest of the northern Wasatch.

Mount Ogden and Ben Lomond

Looking far north to Willard Mtn. 9422', Willard Peak 9,764', Ben Lomond 9,712.
and Francis Peak 9,547'.

Looking west to Deseret Peak 11,031' in the Stansbury Range.

Looking west over the Kennecott Smelter and the Great Salt Lake.
You can see the Lakeside Mountains, Grassy Mountains and
the Silver Island Mountains between Wendover and
the Bonneville Salt Flats, the flattest place in America.
Pilot Peak 10,716' (Nevada) is the tallest thing visible.