Archive for March, 2006
Alright, I have 2 worst trip ever stories and they are in my opinion equally as bad, and being that they occurred on the same mountain I chose to do both of them.
Success Cleaver, Mount Rainier
Success Cleaver is the long ridge coming down in the middle
My boss, two of my friends and myself chose to try to climb Rainier via Success Cleaver the summer before my Senior Year of high school. We were enticed by the “alpineness” of this route since it involves no glacier travel, is really long, and nobody is on it. We planned on taking 4 days to do the route; one for the approach, one for some more approach and the lower half of the route, a day to summit and carry over down Disappointment Cleaver, and then a day to sit around and descend back to paradise.
As we were high on the route, my boss became rather ill, in fact he became violently sick. The altitude was causing him to have a nasty case of Acute Mountain Sickness, which induced an what we think might have been an asthma attack. We stopped for to rest hoping that he would be able to pull through it, but to no avail. When it came to the point when he began coughing up a pick fluid (I don’t know if it was blood or what) it became apparent that he couldn’t go any higher and needed to descend immediately. He was having trouble breathing and because of that, he had no equilibrium or balance and was basically unable to walk without assistance. The 3 of us decided that we needed to take his pack and somehow distribute it between the 3 of us, rope up and begin assisting him down to a lower elevation. This was a major ordeal since success cleaver is steep enough that if a roped team fell, it is unlikely that you could team arrest to stop a fall. It was an arduous task of at times having to plant feet and constantly having to place pickets for protection during the descent. After descending several thousand feet, we eventually camped towards the bottom of the cleaver and waited to see if his condition would improve, which it did, but it was out of the question for him to go any higher. Our summit hopes were gone by then because he couldn’t go up anymore, and if the 3 of us continued to the summit, we would be unable to carry over as planned and I wasn’t about to descend the cleaver again.
The upper mountain from around 10,000 on Success Cleaver
March 31st, 2006
A bit late in coming, but I thought my first post on here would be about a dismal failure on my part. On Saturday, March 25, the Wasatch Mountain Club (specifically Steve and Larry Swanson) hosted the 33rd Annual King’s Peak Ski Run. This is a trip held in late March to attempt to ski to the summit of King’s Peak in a day. The trip is long (~32 miles) and gains around 5,000 feet of elevation. Steve and Larry are older guys and they’ve been doing this for a long time.
Out of 30 people that started the trip at 5 am or before, 7 made the summit of King’s Peak. Round trip took around 16 hours for most of the successful individuals. I became violently ill and turned around with most of the other skiers at Gunsight Pass. When I finally got back to my car, I nursed my swollen feet, drank hot chocolate in the Swanson’s van and tried to sleep while waiting for a friend who had made a summit push. The drive home was perhaps the most exciting part, as we were caught in a storm near Park City and through Parley’s Canyon coming from Evanston. Driving 5-10 mph on I-80 is never fun.
For anyone interested in backcountry skiing, peakbagging and essentially a long slog for bragging rights, I highly recommend trying to make this trip next year.
March 31st, 2006
For a scenic, easy, flat trail high in a beautiful mountain valley, McLeod Trail is a great choice. There are four other trails that split off from this trail. Our group hiked along this snow-packed trail in late March on a bright, warm sunny day and loved it!
It is used year round for walking, horsebackriding, biking, snowshoeing and/or cross-country skiing. Park City does a great job of keeping this trail groomed throughout the winter.
You will pass horses pastures, old barns, cross over bridges and wide open fields. Gaze into crystal clear streams and ice-cold ponds, admire highly unusual art and sculpture out in the middle of no-where and travel along boardwalks. As a bonus, Willow Creek Park is in the middle of it all, complete with restrooms and a playground for the kids.
There are several places to get on this trail. We prefer parking at a small public parking lot across the street from the Big White Barn. Around the barn you will also find part of the White Pine Nordic Ski Track.
To get there from Salt Lake City, take I-80 east-bound to Kimball Junction. Get off at the Kimball Junction exit and head for Park City. You will pass the Olympic Park and The Canyons Ski Resort on the right side of the road on SR 224. Your landmark is the Big White Barn on the RIGHT side of the road about a mile past The Canyons Ski Resort. Slow down as you come closer to the Barn. Get into the middle turning lane on your far left and start looking for the little public parking lot. In the winter it can be harder to find since the snow is piled up around it.
For a short four-mile hike, plan ahead so you can drop off a car at your final destination, which will be the new Redstone Shopping Center near Kimball Junction. The Trail ends at Wild Oats, which makes for a great place to sit outside, relax and eat
By Sheryl McGlochlin, Sheryl’s Hiking Tours
www.crazysheryl.com/hiking
March 28th, 2006
I’m heading down for a short overnight trip to Zion NP, to get out of town and take some good pictures. It’s an Unofficial trip, but please contact me if you’re interested in going. My car can take up to 3 passengers, as long as we’re careful not to bring too much gear.
Here’s the plan:
Wed March 29:
- leave Provo at 4:30 sharp
- drive to Zion NP, probably arrive about 9:30 (after dark)
- camp in the park, at Watchman campground if available
Thursday March 30
- I’ll get up slightly before dawn and head up the Mt Carmel highway. The shuttle doesn’t run until April 1 so you can either come with me, be dropped off at a trail head, or sleep in until I return to camp (anywhere between 9-11 am.)
- I’ll return to camp and collect my gear, then spend the day doing leisurely hikes, probably in Zion’s Canyon. I’m happy to drop anyone off and arrange for a later pickup.
- I load up the car with all passenger and gear by no later than 3:30 and leave Zion’s main unit. About an hour away is Kolob Canyon unit.
- arrive Kolob canyon unit sometime before 5 pm. I will drive all the way to the top of the scenic loop and wait there until the evening light is exhausted, so I can take a variety of photographs. Evening light will probably not die out until 6:45 pm or so. You can hike additional trails in Kolob (it will be colder there, and definitely muddy) or wait with me.
- leave Kolob @ 7 pm, drive back to Provo, arrive about 11 pm.
What you will need to bring:
-your own tent, sleeping bag & pad, tarp
-food, water, snacks
-some money ($5-10 to help pitch in for gas and campground would be appreciated; I do have a Parks Pass to allow free park entry for all in the vehicle), and whatever you like for fast food or snacks on the way down/back
-hiking shoes, pack, sunscreen, sunglasses, jacket. Be aware that Kolob will be windy and quite possibly chilly, and DEFINITELY muddy, if you choose to hike there
-your camera- it will be gorgeous!!
Please contact me ASAP if you are interested in going.
Charlotte Stanford, OAC faculty advisor
office 422-4604
if you can’t get ahold of me at my office, email me: Charlotte_Stanford@byu.edu or call the Humanities office, 422-4448 and they can give you my mobile number. I probably won’t see a blog reply, so call or email. Thanks.
March 27th, 2006
Here’s the idea. Go have a miserable time, and then tell us all about it. Cool, eh? Or, if you have already had a terrible trip, let us know. The whole point of it is to make people say in their heads “boy, I’m sure glad that didn’t happen to me. It sure is entertaining hearing it happen to someone else, though.”
There will be prizes for the winners. Just be sure to categorize your posting into the “Worse Trip Ever” Comp. category upon submission.
March 25th, 2006
Last night I caught the I-need-to-get-out-of-the-house-or-I’m-going-to-go-crazy bug. I called up a few people that i know who like to climb but i couldn’t find anyone who was willing to belay me…uh…I mean, climb with me. So I decided to embark on a spontaneous, home-made triathlon. I started from my apartment and biked three miles to the Quarry Climbing Gym. Once there I warmed up, worked on a V4 in the bouldering room followed by a V5 and then another V4. I then biked the three miles back to my apartment and grabbed my goggles (I meant to bring them with.) After getting those, I biked the 207,990.21 centimeters (I love Google Earth) to the BYU pool and swam a mile (33 laps.) Also, keep in mind that this is the first time I have accomplished such a feat. Once I completed that highlight of my nascent swimming career, I biked the 207,990.21 centimeters (1.29 miles) back to my apartment and I was victorious (placed first overall.)
I don’t know how long it took me to do (I’m not sure if I want to know) but it was my first home-made triathlon. It was a blast. Have you done any sort of creative triathlon? Let me know.
March 25th, 2006
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