Orange Trail Monkeys and the Wasatch Mountain Wranglers

By Steve

In the summer of 2011 the Orange Trail Monkeys consisted of me, Sam, and another trail running buddy of ours, Brian Wells.  At that point, we didn't have a blog or any name we were calling ourselves, but we did have monkeys on our shoes.  We were proverbially in our infancy of trail running and were exploring our new world. 

The first major event we wanted to do was to run Kings Peak.  We had already walked it once in a single day before, and now that we were all in marathon shape, we decided to aim a little higher.  All summer long we made plans and settled on a date.  About two weeks before we were to run it, Brian talked with someone at his work at Adobe who somehow knew of a small group of trail runners who had organized a little event called the second annual Quest For Kings Marathon.  We didn't know any of the people running this event, but sent some whack-o named Craig Lloyd an email telling him that we would be there to join him.

Sam in his trail running infancy.  2011

Let me tell you about our first experience with what would become the Wasatch Mountain Wranglers unofficial board of directors. Brian, Sam and I were headed up Henry's Fork Basin when down the mountain came a couple of runners, Josh Greenwell and Scott Wesemann.  They had started some time around midnight and were trying to do a double summit of the mountain.  But Scott changed the plans when he started puking all over the summit ridgeline.  Since that day he has become Sam's mentor in the art of dumping bodily fluid onto mountain sides.

Fast forward 4 years and hundreds of solo and group runs to last night.  Craig and the refuse2quit team put on the first annual Wasatch Mountain Wrangler formal dinner at Thanksgiving point.  With the Facebook group currently standing somewhere over 1,400 members, this was to be our first giant get together with the whole group.  At first I was pretty hesitant to go, since I usually prefer to be a background kind of guy.  But after only a few minutes, I was very glad I had come.  In the end, counting spouses, the attendance was somewhere around 100-150 people, and all these dirty, stinky trail runners were dressed in their finest.

The atmosphere was fantastic.  The food was delicious, and everyone was chatting as though this was a group of lifelong friends.  There was a drawing with prizes donated by local companies and race directors that were of significant worth, and there were awards for the best Wranglers.  As the awards were given out, it became quite clear that the recipients of the awards had garnered a lot of respect from this group, and even became a little emotional as Matt Van Horn received the "Most Inspirational Wrangler" award.  So basically, what I expected to be a somewhat socially awkward  night out with running friends turned out to be one of the best nights out I've had in a long time.  And it turned out to be an even better one for Sam.

Summit Monkey on Dromendary, after completing the Triple Traverse.

As Craig said a few words about the person receiving the "Peak Bagger" award, I couldn't help but wonder if Sam was going to win.  This award was supposed to go the guy or gal who had an unquenchable thirst for new and great summits.  And I knew Sam fit this bill better than most.  This is a dude who loves summits.  All summer long, he climbed each and every summit he could find.  He summits one peak, and while standing there snapping a picture of his monkey (sounds kind of dirty), he looks around and figures out where to go next.  This year he hit most major peaks in Utah County, Salt Lake County, Davis County, Weber County, The Wellsville Ridge, The Stansbury Ridge, and a handful in Logan and even out of state.  Always up for the next and great challenge.  I gave out a loud cheer as they called his name.  Only a few minutes later, Sam's raffle ticket got drawn for a free entry to one of Matt Gunn's ultimate adventure races.  He certainly deserves it as much as anyone in that room.

But lest anyone think I'm getting all mushy about my best friend of 20 years, let me even things out a bit.  He comments too much on Facebook, tells awful "I'll show you a..." jokes that don't make any sense, and farts in his sleep (I've shared way too many tents with this guy).  Whew.  I feel better now.

But enough of stupid Sam and back to the Wasatch Mountain Wranglers.  Craig and co has done a great job organizing this group and it's amazing to see how close they have become.  It was truly a night to remember. Those who missed out, really missed out.

On Mt. Si near Seattle, WA. Mt. Rainier in the background.

Video complilation by Aaron Williams