Obscure Trail Monkeys: November 2014

Monday, November 17, 2014

Running across the Great Salt Lake

Chris, Ben, Aaron, Jeff.

by Sam

Unique. "I promise it'll be unique," Aaron said. This run was most definitely unique. I don't think anything will ever match it's uniqueness. No mountain peak. No lofty views. No upness. It was uniquely flat, that is, completely utterly flat. The wind was uniquely strong. And, the water was extremely uniquely cold. Wait, why would we run across the Great Salt Lake in below freezing conditions? Well, I'll tell you.

Map and Stats of the Land Bridge run from Antelope Island to Freemont Island in the Great Salt Lake.

Every so often the water in the Great Salt Lake recedes enough to form a land bridge between Antelope and Freemont Islands. We were expecting to run across this land bridge. Unfortunately, there was enough precipitation in the last storms to leave an inch or two of water. It was about 28 degrees when we started, but the wind was probably about 30 mph coming out of the north chilling the air closer to 20 degrees. Water normally freezes at 32 degrees, however the higher the salt content the lower the freezing temp. becomes. So after about 10 steps in the water our feet were frozen. It was a strange sensation. Ben and I were committed and continued on with high spirits. Matt turned around quickly muttering something about not wanting to lose any toes. Jeff dragged his feet and I heard some new sounds from Chris, moaning and groaning. He was at an all time low. I've never heard such sounds coming from him before. That was unique.

As the night slowly turned to day, clouds and color reflected in the water. It was surreal. We ran on water, on cloud, on land, on sky. If not for gravity's pull we may have lost ourselves among the sky and watery land. Oh, but the wind blew. Sand, dust and cold obscured my vision causing me to often run with eyes closed. No need to fear falling. The ground was utterly flat with no obstructions. Feet like rocks, cold, solid, heavy. Hands freezing now too, as well as face. In fact, everything seems to have frozen from water or wind. Everything exposed and otherwise not, all the appendages, feet, nose, hands, and...

Chris and his eye protection.

Sam, Jeff, and what's left of Aaron's skull.

After what seemed like a lifetime the water ended. Only a few minutes and my feet warmed to a somewhat comfortable temperature. The last few miles to the island only consisted of sand, salt and wind. The trouble with running on flat terrain is that no matter how close you get to your destination it doesn't seem any closer until you're practically there. Had it been warmer we may have gone to summit the high point of the island, but nearly as soon as we arrived we turned back, anxious to be done.

The trip back was slightly better. The wind was more at the back, but not entirely. The water was expected and well, let's face it, just as cold. As we neared the causeway we could see people stopping to look at birds or coyotes. I'm sure the ones who noticed us got a good laugh and a questioning stare. The scenery was unmatched and well, unique. The run was the most miserably, awful, unique thing I've ever done. The company was, as always, fantastic. What more can you ask for from the Wasatch Mountain Wranglers?

Small Freemont Island to the left.

Freemont Island behind Ben and Aaron.

Chris, Aaron, Jeff, Ben, Sam

Aaron made a video that captured the uniqueness of this adventure.

He also picked the perfect music to fit the mood.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Wellsville Traverse

By Steve

My co-workers are hunters. So our conversations of the backcountry cross paths, especially when it comes to routes to certain mountain basins. One of them jokingly asked me this last week to go explore the Wellsville mountain range in order to check out a nice spot for him for next year. He laughed when my reply was a simple, "ok!"

I reached out to Sam and we planned to go the coming Saturday and go hit the 4 main peaks of the Wellsville range. Sam put out an invitation to the Wasatch Mountain Wrangler group, which now has grown to over 1300 people. I had to laugh when no one even responded to the Facebook post. Ha! No one likes Sam!

Borrowing from the description from SummitPost.org,

"The Wellsville Mountains are at the Northern end of the Wasatch Range of Utah lying between Brigham City and the Cache Valley. The Range is basically one high, steep, ridge the entire length. The ridge stays above 8,000 feet for nearly its entire length. They are extremely rugged and are considered by some to be the steepest mountain range in the United States. The range is very narrow, only about 5 miles wide at its widest point, and runs North-South for about 20 miles from the Bear River in the North to Highway 89 in Box Elder Canyon on the South. It also rises from about 4,500 ft. on either side (in less that 5 miles) to an elevation of 9,372 ft. at Box Elder Peak (Bob Stewart Peak on the USGS quad) and 9,356 ft. at Wellsville Cone. The range has no foothills so from either side it appears to be a giant mountainous wall rising directly from the valley floor."

The mountain has claws

Our plan was to hit the 4 main peaks, which include Mitton Peak to the South, Box Elder Peak, The Wellsville Cone, and Mendon Peak to the North. I have to say, the run looked a lot easier on paper than it turned out to be. We found out later that there are two additional sub peaks along the ridge between the Wellsville Cone and Mendon Peak that are usually included in a full traverse of the range, but since the trail goes right beneath Scout Peak and Lookout Point, we weren't overly concerned with hitting those.

The initial climb from Sardine Canyon was easy at first, but quickly became a steeper climb. Not quite Mt Olympus steep, but still a climb. As we approached the ridge, the shrubs decided to come to life and attack our knees. Without the branches everywhere, the trail would be in great shape. It was well built and mostly free of rocks and roots. Reaching the ridge, we turned and bush-whacked our way along something of a trail south to Mitton Peak. For parts of it the shrubs cleared away and we were able to run the rolling ridge towards the peak. I actually found this peak to be quite nice, and I'd include it again in any traverse.

Running south to Mitton

Getting back to the main trail, we made a steep ascent up to Box Elder Peak, before the short drop down to the saddle and back up to the Wellsville cone. This area was somewhat rugged through sparse evergreens, but still quite runnable on the downhill.

Now the fun began. We went down what Cody Draper referred to as "mini hard rock," where the trail made some switch-backs across the almost cliff-like western face of the Cone. Sam and I each had a comical tilt towards the mountain side as we carefully jogged down those. After getting back over the pass below Scout Peak, we were able to pick up the pace as we ran 3 miles over to Mendon Peak. That was ridge running at its finest. A rolling trail over a grassy, long ridge with views of Logan valley, Brigham City, and Tremonton.

Saggy shorts means less bushwhacking on the knees

I can balance on rocks exactly like Aaron Williams

As we reached Mendon Peak, we came across a fellow Wrangler from Logan. Cody Draper (or as I started referring to him, Replacement Chris), was doing a full double traverse which apparently doesn't usually include Mitton Peak. He ended up with 24 miles and 10,000' vert. He ran with us most of the way back, but kept breaking off to hit all the peaks again. Even with that, he kept passing me and Sam on the return trip back to the car. On that note, I should really say that he kept passing ME. Sam had one of his strongest days I've seen him have this year. He's been trying to run without bloks and gels anymore, and instead use mostly TailWind and a little bit of real food. He's also added a little bit of iron supplements. It sure appeared to be working, as he was strong most of the way back. Even after his 5-6 hour wall, I was the biggest thing slowing him down.

Nearly to Mitton Peak.

As we finished, the rain/snow was just starting to hit us and Sam got to watch from safely inside the car as a giant gust of wind and dust pelted me because he refused to unlock the passenger door until I was sufficiently shredded by 70 mph dust. From now on I'm going to join the other 1300 Wranglers who ignore him.