Mt. Olympus lives up to its name

This post has been sitting in draft mode for months now. I took a trip to Salt Lake City in March, right before the U.S. got hit hard with COVID-19. I am SO GLAD I got out of town one last time right before the world started to feel especially crazy. I’m finally getting around to resurrecting this blog now that I’ve got a few backpacking trips on the horizon.

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I spent a few days in Salt Lake City last week, in hopes that the city would turn out to be the next place that I want to call home. Of course I had to squeeze in a hike between checking out neighborhoods and looking at apartments. I stayed with Sprinkles & Field Trip, who I’d met on the PCT, and they recommended that I hike Mt. Olympus, the mountain which is conveniently visible from their living room.

After fueling up with a giant breakfast, I met my hiking buddy (who I’d met a couple of days earlier) at the the trailhead parking lot at 10:00 am on a Thursday. After the set of 20ish steep stairs, the initial incline wasn’t anything too crazy. Things changed after we hit the first small water source that crossed the trail. The trail was more ice and snow than dirt from that point on. I was happy to have poles and a pair of borrowed microspikes with me.

It was a long, slow slog uphill. ~3,5000 feet of elevation gain over about 3 miles was not an easy feat, especially since I live at sea level. This hike tops out at around 9,000 feet.

We made it to the saddle, which is less than 1/2 mile from the summit. Just before reaching the saddle, I stopped and talked to a guy who’d made it to the summit with his guitar on his back while wearing Vans. I tip my hat to you, hardcore Utah guy. After he told me that the scramble back down from the summit was pretty sketchy, I happily plopped down for a snack break at the saddle. My lungs were happy to take a break.

The downhill involved a little bit of glissading and a lot of cautious steps.

We made it back down to the cars around 4:30 pm, which was about 6.5 hours from our start time. 6.5 hours to go about 6.6 miles. I had definitely underestimated what a difficult trail looks like in Utah. I hope to go do this hike again once it warms up so I can make it to the summit without fear of sliding down the ice to my death.