Flat Top Schwack

Looking into Ophir Canyon.

by Sam




It was a cloudy day. It rained. There was mud and bushwhacking and cows. Maybe I shouldn't have climbed the mountain but its alluring song called to me. I had to go up the mountain. I had to be high. Sights were not to be seen, obscured by the clouds. But running along mountain ridges as the clouds enveloped me was a beauty all its own. Companions, I had none, but I was not alone. God was in the mountain, in the wind and the clouds. The Great Spirit of the mountain and sky. A man can learn a lot about himself, alone in the wilderness. Today's excursion brought me closer to the divine as I strolled among the heavens.

Pepe Big Bull, huffin' & stompin' right at my turnoff.
I've never been so afraid of a cow before.

Flat Top Mountain is the southern most peak, and the tallest, on the Oquirrh Mountain Range. To access the trailhead go through Ophir Canyon. The sign and map at the trailhead only show a trail for Lion Hill Loop. (I guess Flat Top is a secret, don't tell anyone). The first part is a jeep road (if you have 4WD you could drive farther than the trailhead, if desired). Along this road there is about a 1/2 mile section of private land, respect it. I've been told that as long as it's not hunting season the owners are ok with a quiet passerby. At about 2.3 miles you come to a crest giving you a good look south. The Lion Hill loops west continuing on the jeep road. For Flat Top turn east, up a 4 wheeler road and go a short distance to what seems like a small parking lot/turn around point. From here, I had to do a bit of trail finding. The one you want is on the north end. It's a single track well delineated trail, however it's overgrown with sage brush, oak, and other unforgiving whackers. Wear calf sleeves. The trail is pretty easy to follow, but when in doubt, it probably switchbacks.

Can you find the trail? Keep looking, it's there. Trust me.

After climbing about a mile you'll come to another crest/ridge. The trail seems to keep going straight but instead you should turn north. This takes you through a dense alpine forest that'll make you think you're in the Cascades. It was incredible. Coming out of the forest, the trail disappears somewhat. Once again, you come to a ridge. The trail turns east. A keen eye and trail sense will help you stay on the path, but when in doubt stick to the ridgeline from here on out. Heading up toward Lewiston there is a semblance of a trail headed north back into the woods. Take it, unless you want to summit Lewiston. After skirting around Lewiston you'll come across boulder fields. Just follow the ridgeline the rest of the way. Sometimes you'll see the trail, sometimes not. You'll know you've made it when you see the summit mailbox and the obvious man-made structures.




On the way back down I took the liberty to build up some cairns in the tricky spots. This is a rare gem of a trail that has a variety of terrain. Honestly, it was one of my favorites. Due to the private property and remoteness of the starting point it gets overlooked. Don't let this stop you, it's still only a little over an hour away from SLC. Go and do it (not in hunting season), but don't tell them I sent you. :)

Summit Monkey.

Shrouded in cloud.

Map and stats of Flat Top Mountain.

Pole Canyon, Lake Mtn in the background.

Summer Trail Series: The Triple Traverse

Summit Monkey on Dromedary, O' Sullivan on the left, Twins on the right.

One of the more rugged areas of the Wasatch Mountains is found on what's known as The Triple Traverse. This includes some of the highest peaks on the Cottonwood Ridge, Twins, O' Sullivan, and Dromedary. It is an exposed class 3 scramble, which means lots of shale to traverse on steep slopes, including knife edges, and some minor rock climbing. This is not for the faint of heart.

Chris takes a picture of the raspberry bushes.

We started at the Broads Fork trail and then took the Robinson Variation up to the Twins. The Twins are the most prominent peaks seen from the valley towering in between Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. They are the easiest to summit of the Triple Traverse. Broads Fork is a steep trail but mostly runnable for the first three miles. From there, several routes are possible to choose from up to the Twins, but all are incredibly steep, traversing scree, often falling back two steps for every one you take. Unfortunately, the many raspberry bushes were not quite in bloom yet, unless Mr. Bear has come along and eaten all of them already. Instead, this morning we were attacked by man eating mosquitoes. I had to sacrifice my left arm to them to escape.



Steve Huff only had enough time to summit the twins and looped around going down the standard route. The rest of us carried on scrambling, quad burning, surfing, crashing, slipping, hanging on for dear life. Around, up, over, down, repeat. By the time we summitted O' Sullivan, the middle peak, we were tired and refueled, only resting a moment before setting off for the steepest section. Surprisingly, the descent from O' Sullivan was not as hard as we expected. Don't think for a minute that it was easy or not life threatening. Just afterward, it seemed quicker and easier than expected.

Steve descending from the Twins in the background.

Summit Monkey on West Twin, Salt Lake Valley down below.

Knife edge ridge in between the Twins and O' Sullivan. Chris, Steve Ball, and Sam.

With Dromedary summitted and The Triple Traverse completed Chris Pope and I celebrated by drinking Mt. Dew. Then we started down toward Lake Blanche, ultimately looping around the next drainage. It looked easier than what we had just completed, and it was...mostly. It was not as steep and the rock slides were fun to traverse down. However, we got cliffed out several times. All but a few times we were able to go around, but some of them we had to climb down. Chris was amazing. He seemed to scurry down the rock faces like he had spiderman's power of sticky hands.

Chris, surfing down the scree.

Steve Ball, in a tight spot.

Sam rock climbing down.

Chris and I were planning on being done a half hour sooner so we left Steve Ball alone. Every man for himself! Finally down to Lake Blanche we emptied our shoes and hurried down the last three miles running strong around 10:30 min miles.

Map and Stats of The Triple Traverse.

Summit Monkey on O' Sullivan.

Trail Advertisement for Mt. Kessler (and White Baldy)

Mt. Kessler

by Sam

Are you tired of all the hustle and bustle on the ever popular Mt. Olympus trail? Do you like climbing straight up the mountain without those dizzying switchbacks? Do you like getting your quads pounded out in a good massage but can't afford it? Do you suffer from cold feet or icicle toes? Are you looking for spectacular views not limited to the city but encompass the entire Wasatch range? When's the last time you pressed wild flowers? Do you like being alone? Are you afraid of mountain lion dens? Bears? Does the stillness of the forest leave you unnerved? Have you ever seen the trees so thick the sun cannot penetrate them?

Selfie on the summit.

Well, have I got a trail for you. Mt. Kessler towers above the ever popular Doughnut Falls but most people have no idea how to get to it or that it's there at all. The trail that leads you up to Kessler can be tricky to find. It is not marked and if you don't already have a general idea where it is, you'll miss it. Don't take the trail headed to Doughnut falls. Well, you could if you wanted to, it would just require dodging thousands of people and some backtracking. Instead, from the parking lot take the would be service road. Pass the locked gate and loop around. The road eventually turns into the Doughnut Falls trail, unless you stay to the right when it forks. After the fork, keep your eyes peeled for a single track unmarked trail on the right. It's about 3/4 mile from the parking lot.



That trail will lead you up to Kessler through beautiful wildflowers, wonderful aspen groves, dense firs, around the mountain lion's den, and up, up, up the steep hills. Once you reach the ridgeline continue on the trail to the south until you reach the summit. No scrambling, no crags, no people anywhere.

Lion's den.

View of the Wildcat Ridge, Salt Lake Valley beyond.

Summit Monkey with a good view of the Triple Traverse on the Cottonwood Ridge.

Map and Stats of Mt. Kessler and White Baldy.

If Mt. Kessler isn't enough for you, (it wasn't for me, 5.3 miles and only ~3,000' vertical? More please!) go on over the mountain to the White Pine trail and hit White Baldy. Chris Pope and I headed up the trail until we came in view of the lake. At this point, a fellow coming down, Scott was his name, hitched his rope to our wagon and accompanied us the rest of the night. He wanted to hit the summit but didn't have a headlamp, so he abandoned that idea until hooking up with us. Luckily, he knew his way over the boulder field and we followed him up the ridge until darkness descended on us. At this point we asked ourselves the soul searching questions that every trail runner/mountaineer-er asks.

White Baldy in the middle.

Chris and Scott traversing the boulder fields.

Do I really want to traverse the knife edge ridgeline in the dark in order to reach the summit?

Do I want to go down what I just went up in the the dark?

Is it really worth it? In the dark?

Did I mention that it was dark?

So, we turned around. We didn't summit. We were probably only 1/2 mile away at most, but it's treacherous. In fact, I happened to have an enormous boulder give way right under my feet and make quite a racket sliding down the moutainside. Fortunately, my handholds were secure and those rocks didn't give way. Phew!


Scott seemed to be an experienced mountaineer and talked fondly of summitting peaks the likes of Gannett in the Wind Rivers. He moved quickly over the boulders, in the dark, sharing our headlamp light. Back on the trail, he held his own going down at about 11:30 min. mile pace. Not too shabby. Chris and I probably would have recklessly gone down at 8:00 min miles without him, but that was probably for the better. My stomach was roiling a bit from the enormous and delicious JCW burger I had for dinner. Upon arriving at home, my stomach decided it was done with the last of it and I woke my household up heaving it out about 6 or 7 times. It wasn't as delicious on the way back up. Then, I felt better and went to bed.

And you thought the sunset was good down in the valley. Ha!

Nighttime Grandview. Photos Only

By Steve



Sam running South into the basin below Sessions Peak

Steve in the same basin.  The basins on
both the North and South side of
Sessions Mountain are freaking
awesome. We parked and started
 just a little north of this point. 
We met at the Bountiful B at 8:30pm
and then drove up.

A Grandview of Disco



Cyborg at sunset

This was right as we entered the most awesome Aspen grove
that I know of.   It is located halfway up the "Sessions Liftoff"
climb on the north side of Sessions mountain. 

Seriously, this aspen grove is one of the most beautiful you can find anywhere.  I told Sam the trees remind me of
giant noble statues from the ancient times.



More in the aspens

 

Colorful Sunset

Awesome

 

Approaching Summit  City Lights behind

Steve on the Summit at 11:15 pm

 

Salt Lake City lights from Grandview Peak

Coming back Sam spotted a porcupine on the Great Western Trail

Timp & bacon at midnight

To celebrate independence day, I ran to the top of Mt Timpanogos with 60 of my closest friends. There are too many names to list them all here, but two of my fellow trail monkeys, DJ and Jeff, were there. Craig Lloyd created the event and invited several runners in the valley to join him for a night run up Mt Timp.

Where's Waldo? 

We started at 9 p.m. We headed out in small groups so that the forest service wouldn't be upset at us for having such a large group. For the first mile or so I didn't need my headlamp. I hadn't summited Timp before, nor had I ran on any of the trails near here. As night fell we turned on our headlamps. Because I normally run in the early AM hours, my mind kept playing tricks on me thinking that it should be getting lighter instead of darker.

Trail runners are great. I didn't know a lot of the runners that I was with, but we easily fell into conversation and had a great time. In fact, our conversations were going so well that we missed a turn and headed towards Scout Falls. We realized our mistake and headed back. It probably added about a 1/4 mile.

As we ascended higher in elevation, there were several snow fields we had to cross. There were some good tracks across from previous runners and hikers, but they were still a challenge to cross without slipping. Also, going up, we would occasionally pass a group of hikers. I can only imagine what they must have been thinking as they stepped aside 60 times to let us pass.

I reached the saddle in 1 hr 40 min. From there the peak is only .75 miles, but it would take another 20 minutes to get there. The scramble up was fun for me. My legs were dead, but I was still going faster than the hikers that were on that section. The views of the valley from there were awesome. I definitely need to get back up there during daylight hours.

The peak was an absolute party. There were runners spread out all over it. Ben Light had headed up early and cooked bacon for everyone on the summit. Bacon is delicious after climbing 5000 ft. I took a few pictures on the top, but they didn't turn out well. If you want to really know what it looks like from Timp around midnight, you will have to join us next year. It was cold on top, so I didn't stay long.

View from the top

The downhill was very technical with several close calls. I managed to catch myself each time, and came out without a scratch. After a few miles down, my headlamp decided it was done and shut off. I didn't bring any extra batteries with me. Another three miles in the dark on a trail I am not familiar with didn't sound fun. Luckily, I wasn't alone. Scott Summers, one of the runners just behind me said he had some batteries. He happened to have 3 AAA's which was exactly what I needed. 

The final few miles were challenging because my legs were tired. Arriving at the parking lot, there was another party. This one had more than bacon. There were BBQ grills going and a whole spread of food to munch on. I relaxed and visited with my friends. A great way to end the evening. 

DJ - enjoying a steak

It was now 2 AM. I had an hour drive to get home and was supposed to help the scouts set up flags at 7 AM. I wanted to hang out longer, but decided to head home and get a little sleep before the 4th of July festivities got going.

The Social Circus

By Steve

Craig Lloyd described it this way. "Ragnar is not a race and can hardly be considered a running event. By definition, I would have to call it a social circus"

A couple months ago I was approached by a friend asking if I would be interested in filling a vacant spot on his Ragnar team, as one of the members of his team suddenly couldn't run it. For a couple reasons, I said it was a problem:

1.  I don't want to pay $125 for Ragnar when I could spend that towards my first 100 miler.
2.  I don't have $125 to spend on either Ragnar OR a 100 miler.

His replied that the poor schmuck that dropped out had already paid the bill and that he wasn't getting his money back.  HAHAHA!!!  Poor schmuck!

A few days before the race, I came down with yet another cold.  Add to that a night spent at scout camp where the campfire smoke was wafting into our tent all night, and you can imagine that my lungs were in pretty bad shape going into this.  I would spend the two days of Wasatch Back Ragnar coughing before and after each run, and sucking back on an asthma inhaler hoping to clear it up.

The ladies from Van 1.  Brook, Luanne, Kira, and Ann

Our team isn't made up of the fastest runners, but when it comes to Ragnar, it makes no difference if you finish in 28 hours or 37 hours.  You can have an awesome time if you don't take it seriously.  Running is a lot of fun if you add even the smallest resemblance of competitiveness.

Another nice surprise is that this year they allowed you to run pacers with night runners.  I thought this was kind of cool as it would allow me to get in some additional miles and hopefully make the 8 mile uphill night run a little less daunting for Brook, who took me up on the offer.  We had a great time laughing our way up to East Canyon.

It's not so much the running as much as the scenery
that brings me back to Ragnar

After our second legs, we tried to get some sleep at... some high school.  I don't remember, and I don't feel like looking it up.  My coughing kept me  awake most of the 4 hours we had to get some sleep, so by dawn, my sleep for the last 3 nights had consisted of 7 hours of loud boys and smoke inhalation, a 3:00 am wakeup call to start Ragnar, and now an additional 3 hours of broken sleep on the grass in front of the high school.  So yeah... I was pretty tired.  I was glad everyone else on the team seemed to be doing pretty well.  By the time we finished our third legs and were standing in line at Cafe Rio, random strangers started looking like famous movie stars everywhere.

That's Toby from "The Office," behind Brook, right?

Regarding the actual running... Here's how I did if you care:

Leg 2:  8.7 miles at 7:46 min/mile
Leg 15:  4.9 miles at 8:33 min/mile
Leg 18 (Pacing Brook):  8.2 miles at 14:30 min/mile
Leg 27:  7.7 miles at 8:32 per mile

Total of 29.50 miles and 2,193' vert.  

Ragnar is what you make of it.  I make fun of it as much as any ultra marathoner.  But even still, it can really be a lot of fun given the right people on your team, and I had a freaking awesome time with my fellow van 1 monkeys.