Mt. Olympus Winter Ascent

Once again, my roommates and I were unsure on the location of our next hike set for Sunday January 31st, 2016.  The original thought was to hike up to Desolation Lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  But after some discussion, we settled for Mt. Olympus instead, favoring the opportunity for scenic views. We left our apartment around 10:45 am, arriving at the trail ahead just after 11 am.  After last weekend's struggle (see "Little Black Mountain Winter Ascent" for more details), I made sure to bring all the required gear possible.  For this trip, I brought a shocking cap, two pairs of pants, an ice ax, three layers, gloves, etc. Compared to my roommates gear, I overestimated how much gear would be required.

Mt. Olympus is one of the most popular hikes in the Wasatch Range due to its proximity to the SLC Valley.  On a typical summer day, hundreds of people are likely climbing the mountain.  However, on Jan 31st, there were approximately 10-15 hikers on the mountain.  The Mt. Olympus summit can be reached via the Mount Olympus Trail, a Class 3 route which climbs around 4200 feet in a distance of 3.5 miles.

Looking across the SLC Valley from Stage one.

The hike can be split into three general stages.  Stage one occupies the trail ahead to Tolcat Creek 1.5 miles from the start.  Stage 2 occupies the Tolcat Creek to the saddle just below the summit and climbs ~ 2300 feet in around 1.5 miles.  Stage 2 in my opinion is the most difficult portion of the hike due to the large elevation gain in a respectively small distance traveled.  Stage 3 occupies the portion of the trail from the saddle to the summit.  Stage 3 has a few class 3 sections were some scrambling is required to make the summit.

Looking up towards stage two.

During the first hour of the hike, my roommates and I made quick time through stage one.  Once we started stage two, our paced slowed as the snow depth increased to around 2-3 feet. Although the trail was tracked down, the snow was still slippery and our micro spikes (Weech and I - Sean apparently doesn't need them anymore) came in handy.  I put my poles away and took out my ice ax as the slope angle increases to around 30-35 degrees.  Although the ice ax was not completely necessary, I wanted to gain practice handling the ax.  The first half of stage two switch backs up the terrain shown in the middle of the picture above.  The second half of stage two takes place in a narrow canyon below two large spines on Mt. Olympus's southern and northern faces. 

After about one hour of carefully hiking through step terrain up the narrow canyon, our roommates and I finally reached the saddle around 1:45 pm.  The snow was deep with around 5 feet of snow on the ground.  We enjoyed a quick snack break while enjoying the scenery. Some storm clouds from the south were slowing moving our way so we decided to make our summit push rather quickly. 

Looking towards Twin Peaks (left-center) and Lone Peak (right).

From the saddle to the top of Mt. Olympus requires another 700 feet of elevation gain with periods of steep terrain.  Slope angles are between 40-45 degrees during this portion of the hike.  The trail follows a narrow chute between small N-S ridge lines to the summit with another half mile of climbing required. 

Looking from the saddle to the summit.

Trail conditions were rather slippery in a few spots.  A few portions of the stage 3 had a layer of ice underneath a thin layer of snow located were scrambling was required.  Sean and Weech lead the way while I took the portion slowly behind them.  I found myself using my ice ax frequently during this stage of the hike for stability.  The ax proved itself valuable during the brief ice sections were footing was challenging.  After around 25 minutes of climbing through class 3 snow conditions, my roommates and I had reached the summit safely. 

Trail from the saddle to the summit.

By the time we had reached the summit, clouds were beginning to surround us with light snow starting to fall.  After a few minutes we started our descent taking stage three with care.  After we successfully completely the icy sections, we were able to safely slide down the snow back to the saddle.
 

Summit of Olympus looking north.

From the saddle we made quick time by sliding on our backsides through the majority of stage two.  Sliding was a blast as we covered hundreds of feet through tree-lines areas surrounded by freshly fallen powder.  Stopping ourselves was easy and safe as all we had to do was run into the steep snow bank lining the trail.  I did; however, bump against a relatively sharp rock on the way down which did little or no damage, just a minor bruise on the backside.  Fog rolled in on the way down with visibility dropping to a few hundred feet at times, but finding and keeping the trail was not an issue. 

All and all, the hike was a blast.  We made it back to the trail head by around 4:15 pm.  Thus the hike took us just over 5 hours to complete.  A fairly fast time considering the conditions at hand. 

Stats:

Distance ~ 7 miles

Elevation gain ~ 4200 feet

Time ~ 4:15 

Peak Elevation: 9,026 feet

Little Black Mountain Winter Ascent

On January, 23rd, 2015 my usual hiking group consisting of my roommates, Weech and Sean, and my brother Tyler, decided to try a winter ascent up Little Black Mountain located to the NE above the University of Utah.  Little Black Mountain's summit is just above 8,000 ft and is the highest summit available to hike just beyond the University of Utah's campus.  In the past, I have hiked Little Black Mountain twice, once during the spring and once during the fall season.  The hike to the summit from around the University Hospital area is long with around 12 miles in round-trip distance required. However, this hike allows for rewarding views year round.  In previous hikes, I have been lucky enough to see a variety of wildlife, including deer, hawks, and elk.

We left for Little Black Mountain around 9:00 am in the morning.  The hope was to possibly get back in time for the Gymnastics meet against Oregon State University set to start at ~ 3:00 pm.  In my attempt to rush out of the door, I decided not to bring my winter-time hiking jacket. Looking outside, skies were partly sunny with temperatures in the mid-upper 30s.  Thus, I decided I wouldn't need to bring a jacket, a poor decision I would regret later on.

The first portion of the hike takes place on the BST (Bonneville Shoreline Trail) going up Dry Creek.  Dry Creek sits between Mt. Van Cott and the ridge line separating Twin Peaks and Little Black Mountain.  After about one mile or so, our group had to make a decision.  Do we continue on the BST towards Twin Peaks or do we take a short-cut and make the ridge line towards Little Black Mountain?  We decided to take the short-cut towards the ridge line as it saves travel distance and time.  The "short-cut" continues up dry creek until a point where the small canyon becomes to narrow to continue where hikers are forced to turn left to continue up towards the ridge.  Usually the left turn is fairly obvious, but our group was led astray by a multitude of elk trails.  We ended up prematurely turning left to head up towards the ridge following what we thought was a human trial, but was actually just one of the elk trails.  We didn't realize we had taken the wrong trail until we had already climbed up around 200 feet or so.

Looking towards the Cottonwoods

Nevertheless, we pressed on making our own trail up the south facing slope towards the ridge line.  Tyler and I strapped on our snowshoes and broke the trail up the steep south facing slope.  Even with snowshoes Tyler and I were sinking down about 4-5" while Sean and Weech post-holed another 3-4".  After about 30-45 minutes of sluggish climbing through the wet snow, we finally made the ridge line between Twin Peaks and Little Black Mountain.

Ridge line between Twin Peaks and Little Black Moutain

By the time we had reached the ridge line, weather conditions had deteriorated.  Clouds filled the ski with breezy winds around 15-20 mph coming out of the southwest.  Conditions became chilly on the exposed ridge line.  Even though I had the proper snow climbing equipment, snowshoes, snow boots, etc. I lacked the proper attire for breezy winds.  Sean was generous enough to loan me his wind breaker.  Without the wind breaker, I would have been forced to turn around.  We continued up the ridge towards Little Black Mountain for around another 1.5 miles before our group hit the wall.  We did not have the proper equipment required to hike to the summit given the conditions.  The breezy winds and approaching precipitation to our west forced us to head back down to the University.

Looking up City Creek Canyon towards Grandview Peak

Even though we did not reach the summit, the hike was not a total loss.  We were able to witness a herd of roughly 20-30 elk moving through the surrounding terrain below.  The views towards the Cottonwoods, Oquirrh Mountains, and the GSL were also rewarding.  Overall, I gained a further respect for climbing Little Black Mountain during the winter.  Before we left, I felt fairly confident in our chances for a quick summit.  I am sure we will be back to finish what we started.

Looking down the ridge line towards the SLC Valley

Stats

Distance: 7.8 miles

Peak Elevation: 6850'

Elevation Gain: ~ 2,000