Mount Ogden summit success

So we finally made our 2012 attempt to summit Mount Ogden and all went well. Wes and I met at Kelly's place before we went and packed everything away and we were on the Beus Canyon trailhead by 9:30. The two of them brought their dogs Luigi and Leia. My initial goal was to be at the top within five hours. The last time Kelly and I attempted this in 2009 we only make it a bit past halfway in almost five hours. I was fatter then, so what can I say?

Shortly after making it through Beus Canyon. Note the colors everywhere. Beautiful.

We made our way through the 2.5 miles of Beus Canyon and it was pretty cold outside. There was still frost on the leaves, which provided a scenic climb through the fern fields. Autumn really is the perfect time to make this hike.

After that, we crossed the creek and went up the south side of the canyon before turning into the next canyon, which I don't know the name of on the other side. We worked through the mountainside 2.7 more miles before cutting back west to go up the traverse to the saddle to Mount Ogden, before finally hitting the saddle itself. Once the towers and helicopter pad at the peak were in sight it made things a little more frustrating because it was deceivingly far away.

Wes in the canyon south of Beus.

Eventually, we hit the road that comes up from the east side at Snowbasin. That road was a bitch. It was easily the hardest part of our ascent. We were all sucking wind the whole way. It was worth it though, because out of nowhere we saw a line of about five mountain goats a few dozen yards ahead of us, seemingly making the exact same climb we were. That was pretty cool.

Mountain goat sighting. Unfortunately, no Goat Man sightings.

Finally, after three hours and 45 minutes we made it to the top. We ate lunch and just relaxed for about 45 minutes before heading back down at 2 p.m sharp. It took us a little longer than I had hoped to get back down, trudging into the parking lot on 46th Street at 4:30 and we were dog tired. Even the actual dogs were dog tired.

I don't know if this road has a name, but it should be dubbed Hell's Climb.

All in all, it was a successful hike. Round trip, including the 45 minutes we took to stop, it took us seven hours from start to finish. Not bad. Novice climbers are expected to take eight to nine hours and we dicked around on the helipad for a while, too. We started at 5,000 feet and finished at the top at 9,500 feet making a total ascent of 4,500 feet. I'm sure I burned a crap-ton of calories.

We made it. Almost four hours later.

Total distance: 13 miles hiking (round trip)

Our route, excluding the crappy climb up the final road.

More photos from the hike ...

Cold weather in the morning. Mid 30s.

Traversing the saddle. Mount Ogden about two mile further on the left.

Texting Jen to tell her we made it up safely. Dunno what Kelly's doing.

The view of Weber and Davis counties from the top. We had a perfect 360 degree view as far as we could see.

The road to Snowbasin and the tram on the left.

Ben Lomond peak off to the north.

It's not what it looks like. Well, maybe it is.

Gangster poses with Morgan County behind us.

Sweaty fat f**k

I hit the Roy Rec Center for a long hike on the treadmill this morning. I set the incline to 7.5 (I think the highest it goes is 11 or 12) and walked at 3.4 miles per hour for a full hour. I gradually increased the incline to 9.0 by the time I was done I was absolutely pouring sweat. Seriously, my shirt was soaked. Those "hikes" feel like they burn more calories than regular runs do. It's kind of gross actually, but oddly, you almost are proud of the sweat while you are in the act of working out. It makes you feel like you are actually doing something good and really pushing yourself. It reminded me of an old episode of Jackass dubbed Sweaty Fat F**ks, where the guys stuffed their oversized clothes with bubble wrap and skateboarded around in them.

My crappy low-resolution camera phone couldn't accurately
capture the vast amounts of sweat I poured into my shirt.

The original Sweaty Fat F**ks. I did my best to imitate them.

After that, I did another full hour of weight training and stretching. I really wanted to work on my upper body, given my recent lack of swimming. It was tough, but I was careful to taper my sets and not overdo it on my shoulders.

Total distance: 3.45 miles running (hiking or whatever)

Swim/treadmill combo

My shoulder has been hurting a little more ever since I started doing push-ups, so I took it back a notch and have focused more on my daily strength exercises. So, today, Kelly and I went for a swim, but didn't do a whole lot. I did a few easy sets in addition to some sprint sets. Before that, I walked on the treadmill at a high incline for about 25 minutes to get my heart going and burn a few extra calories. Not a whole lot to report.

Total distance: 1,000 yards swimming, 1.4 miles on treadmill (up hill)

Long night on the mountain

Wes and I finally went for our overnight camp at the top of Hidden Valley, last night. That hike is always difficult, but with 40-pound packs on, it was an intense workout. For once, I didn't feel guilty for missing a swim. All was well when we got camp set up. The weather was nice, we got a fire going and cooked dinner.

All smiles halfway up the trail. I had no idea about the misery that was in store for me later that night.

However, just before hitting the sack, we walked about 50 yards to a clearing by the rock cairn where we had cell-phone reception so we could call our wives and say good night. It was getting dark and as I was walking, I heard a shuffle near my foot, followed by the dreaded RATTLING sound. I looked down, and sure enough, about a foot away from my shoe was the snake. I immediately jumped back and Wes' dog ran after the snake as we yelled and called for her to come back. Fortunately, no one was hurt. But I was freaked out and retreated to the tent for the night.

Our view from camp, right near where I almost stepped on a rattler a few hours later.

Then it got worse.

I woke up at about 1 a.m. with what might have been the worse headache of my life. I was shaking uncontrollably, sweating profusely and I'm certain I was running a fever. Wes, being the good friend he is, helped me pack up camp a few hours later when I wasn't getting any better. I started vomiting, so we decided to quickly make our way down the mountain in the dead of night, so I could get some medicine/help. It didn't help that my knees were already shaky when we went downhill, plus the rattlesnake scare was still in our heads as we trekked down the trail in the dark. After what seemingly took forever, we made it to the bottom by 4 a.m., and I was home by 4:30 where Jen made me sit in a hot bath after swallowing a handful of ibuprofen. It made a world of difference. After about another hour, I was feeling a little better and I could finally lie down. My own bed never felt so good and I was out. I didn't wake up until 11:30.

I feel fine now, and I'm not quite sure what overtook me last night. Very rarely have I felt so scared. Jen thinks I was severely dehydrated, but I have my doubts, because Wes and I took a ton of water with us. I drank at least two liters before we went to sleep. With a ton of black widows in our garage lately -- where we store our camping gear/sleeping bags -- Jen also thinks I may have been bitten by a spider and that made me sick. Personally, I think I may have gotten food poisoning from dinner. But who knows... It may have soiled me on camping for a little while, but I'm glad to have a good friend in Wes, who didn't mess around and helped me get down the mountain when I felt like death. Jen, as always, was up late at night with me, too, and I am thankful to have the both of them in my life.

Thanks guys...

Hiking with mom

I've been talking about taking my mom on a hike for a few weeks now, and she had some time off work this week, so we went for it today. I didn't want to go on anything too strenuous, that way we could actually enjoy the hike, so I figured Waterfall Canyon was a simple choice.

Mom at the waterfall.

It was nice to chat with her during the way up. The weather was beautiful today and never got terribly hot and it was even borderline cold once we reached the top. The sun hadn't yet peaked up over the cliff inside the canyon, and the mist from the waterfall was cold. It felt great! After we reached the bottom of the trail head, we both pigged out on some Doritos Locos Tacos from Taco Bell. We both love those things. I wonder if it is possible to pass food tastes and preferences down to your offspring genetically. Haha...

Hidden Valley hike with Wes

Wes and I finally tackled the Hidden Valley Trail this morning. He's already been up a few times this year, but we wanted to go up and see if it would be a good spot for an overnight camp. It's graded as a difficult 2.5-mile hike with an elevation change of 2,046 feet and "difficult" it certainly was.

Nice little map of the trail. It's a pretty dramatic elevation increase.

We made it up in fairly good time (about an hour and 20 minutes) and added stones to the rock cairn to mark our reaching of the end of the trail. It was a tough hike, but it was short enough that I think we can certainly haul 50-60 pound packs up there within a few hours to stay overnight. The scenery, as usual, was beautiful and we made it back down within 30 minutes or so. I'm excited to go back up to camp.

Wes and I about half way up the trail, before we reached the valley.

The rock cairn at the end of the trail.

Hiking, getting lost and more hiking

Trying to keep pace with the beautiful weather we've been having over the past few days, Wes, Kelly, Jessica, Jen and I all went for a hike this morning. Well, it started out this morning and ended up lasting longer than three hours. We took an 'alternate' route up Waterfall Canyon and ended up hiking for an hour before we even found the correct trail. By the time we reached the top, Jen and I snapped a few photos and went straight down.

Early in the hike, trying to find the right canyon

Thinking the other three would catch us fairly quickly, we went on without them. Big mistake. Jen and I ended up at the bottom of the 29th Street trail head when our car was parked at the 31st Street trail head. We humped through a golf course before finally running into Wes, Kelly and Jess. Apparently they took a much faster route down. By then, Jen and I were exhausted, so we all met up at Noodles & Company for some chow and went home. All-in-all, it was a nice hike right up until the end when I got lost. By then I was starving and pretty cranky. Hopefully the next hike will be a little less chaotic.

Not a bad little canyon hike, once you find it.

Mock hiking

I wasn't able to make it to the gym today in time for lap swim, so I decided to try something a little different. My knee has been hurting when I run lately, so instead I put the treadmill on a fast walking pace and amped up the incline. I started it out on a 5.0 gradient and gradually worked my way up to 11.0. After 48 minutes, the machine said I covered only 2.75 miles, but I burned 411 calories. I normally burn around 100 calories per mile, so that's a pretty significant increase. And I sure felt it. After the mock hike on the treadmill, I did some shoulder work with free weights to work on my tendinitis issues... you know... strengthening the tendons and all.

After getting all hot and bothered from today's workout, I am pretty excited to "cool off" and hit the pool for an intense swim tomorrow morning.

Total distance: 2.75 miles running (well, kind of)