Mount Olympus

     Friday was the day for our big hike up Mount Olympus. This mountain is known around the region because of its spectacular view of the Salt Lake Valley. The Wasatch Mountains rise steeply from the Salt Lake Valley floor. The trail up Olympus is less than four miles long, but it is very steep and difficult. The trailhead is in Sandy and easily accessible, so it has been climbed by many, many people, but for the majority of people this is a super difficult hike. Shannon’s Dad climbed to the top while on his mission here many years ago and always talks about how awesome it was. We decided that this was the year to finally do it so we could see what all the fuss was about. We made sure to do a little training beforehand as Shannon said we had to make it all the way to the summit and back the first try because she was not going to give her Dad something to trash talk about.

     We hit the trail in the late morning with the best weather we had encountered all week. It was sunny and warm with no chance of rain. I was expecting a tough day, but still figured we could go up and back in a few hours and still have time to do something else in the afternoon. I respected the climb, but still underestimated what we were getting into.

First part of the trail was steep, but scenic on a beautiful morning.

Two minutes into the hike and the view of the valley is already getting better.

Downtown Salt Lake City in the distance

     It is uphill from the first step. The first mile was a steady climb, but fairly smooth other than a few stairs. You quickly rise above the valley floor and get some goods views of the surrounding golf course and of the entire Salt Lake City area. For some reason my right knee was hurting as soon as we began. I never have knees issues, so I don’t know where this came from, but it almost made me turn around after only ten minutes of hiking. I started focusing on my mechanics and the pain plateaued. As long as it didn’t get worse I was good with carrying on, but I didn't want to push to much as we had a lot of hiking planned for the following week of our trip.

     After half a mile, the gradient backs down to a normal uphill hike. You begin to walk around into a canyon. Once at the back of the canyon, you begin to get into more trees and reach a stream crossing at 1.8 miles. From that point on it is as hard as any physical thing I have ever done. The terrain is steep and relentless with switchbacks to start, then it goes straight up the mountain over huge rocks and ledges. It was like doing lunges for a solid mile. I actually got into a great rhythm in this section and pulled ahead of Shannon as it was just easier to go at my pace. And my knee didn't hurt with that walking pattern. This section tests you mentally as you are getting tired, it is super hard and you are under trees which keep you from being able to see how close you are to the top. We also started to come into snow on the trail, remaining from earlier in the week. Once you pop out of the trees, you reach the saddle of the mountain at 3.0 miles. This is the part of the of the mountain between the two peaks. You get views on both sides, but more climbing remains if you want to make it to the top. We stopped here for lunch and talked with some other hikers. There were quite a few people out on the trail today, including two people who were trail running to the saddle and back. Crazies.

Rest break at an overlook about halfway up

Looking east from the saddle

     Only about half of the people that hike up go beyond the saddle. It gets even harder to get to the peak. The final half mile to the tip top is steep and goes over exposed rocks. You are literally rock climbing in places. If I hadn't seen other people going up ahead of us, I would not have thought any of this was a trail.

     We took our time going up the main route. There were plenty of side trails, but the main trail seemed the safest with less exposure and minimal jumping needed to get to the next rock. We had to jump up to an overhead ledge at one point, and did a little butt-scooting over some dig drops several times before we reached the top. After seeing this trail, I am really surprised that there aren't more injuries on this mountain.

     When you get to the top, all the effort is more than worth it. You have amazing views in all directions from the peak at 9,030 feet. The Salt Lake Valley is to the west, and there are more mountains north, south and east. You can literally sit on the tip of this peak of Mount Olympus, and also go to the most western point and feel like you are on the edge of the mountain. It drops away so steeply that you feel like you are hanging right over the edge of the valley. Most of the areas up top are not narrow, but it still made my legs a little weak at times walking near the edge as the perspective is just crazy. The valley is 4,800 feet below, but at times appears to be one step away.

Coming up to the peak

Props to these kids for hiking up this monster. They loved the views.

Looking north

Mountain to the east

Southwest over the valley

Northwest view

     It took us three hours of moving time and about four hours total to get to the top. We spent a good half hour up there, then started back down with a group of guys we met at the top. I was really worried about getting Shannon down. She is scared of heights and going down has always been difficult for her. This was definitely going to be the toughest test of her fear. She got onto the back of the guys in front of us and just did what they did. She was nervous, but had some confidence after seeing them make it down each tough section that came along. I was proud of her for overcoming her fears. It helped that the group we followed were nice and they talked to us as we descended this top section. Some of the people we talked to along the trail had hiked this several times before and said they usually see rattlesnakes on the top section, but we didn't see any.

Going down

     The snow was melting when we made it back to the saddle, making the steep, wooded section wet and muddy. That slowed us down a lot. Hiking down a steep slope is no faster than going up, so we didn't make up much time. We took several breaks along the way and just enjoyed the trail the most we could. We descended only about 10 minutes faster than we climbed, giving us a total of just under six hours for 6.8 miles. Our toes were blistered from the steep descent and both of us had sore knees at the bottom, but fortunately my knee soreness was different than the pain I started with. I have no idea what made the knee hurt at the start, but it only lasted about two miles and then it was gone. I am very thankful for my new boots as I don't think my feet would have survived these steep slopes in my normal shoes or the work boots I have hiked in before. Counting breaks and sightseeing time at the top, we were on the mountain for nearly eight hours. So much for doing something later in the day. Even if we had time, I sure didn't feel like doing anything else today except eating a good dinner and propping my legs up on the back of a couch.

Getting some fall colors from this overlook on the way down

Video: Panning around on one of the lower overlooks

     Mount Olympus was the best hike I have ever done. If you want a killer view and like a good challenge to push yourself, do Olympus. I hope to do it again in the future as it was just that awesome. Shannon and I will never forget the experience we had together on that mountain, and those are the kinds of memories we like to make together.