DAY 3 – Tag the Top, Return to Camp 1 Midnight came quickly. The rain had stopped and the sky looked clear in those early morning hours. Headlamps bounced around in the dark as we each got ready to go, silently hoping for the kind of weather needed to safely summit today. 4ish miles each…
Category: Mountaineering
My Favorite Route to Deseret Peak
May has been a busy month for me, all consumed by a garden project I’m working on for my wife. I volunteered to do it to save a few bucks but had no idea it would cost me a fortune in time! As a result, I’ve missed out on a lot of mountaineering adventures this…
Timp from Everest Ridge
This year’s Six Pack of Peaks Challenge for Utah wasn’t announced until late March. Before then, I honestly didn’t think this would continue for Utah again in 2022. I was sure it died a quick death after its inaugural year. From what I can tell, this challenge didn’t get much participation despite how many people…
2021 Year in Review
2021 was a great year for getting some hiking goals done! I wasn’t so much about reaching a specific mileage tally or total elevation gain this time. Instead, my focus was more about knocking off a few big things from my list. My biggest goal for the year was to get all lower 48 states…
Mount Whitney: Summit via the Mountaineers Route
DAY 4: From Standstill to Summit Push When we got up the next morning, the rain had stopped but the sky had turned gray and moody again. The real concern came from the only other group up there that day—three rock climbers planning to do the East Buttress. Somehow, they’d gotten word from the ranger…
White Baldy from the Kirkham Route
Still pretty new to mountaineering, I jumped all over an opportunity to get more crampon experience from a Spring ascent of White Baldy. This invite also allowed me to knock off another Wasatch 11er, so I was super stoked to do this! Our adventure started from the Silver Lake Trailhead above Tibble Fork. The first…
Cold Fusion Couloir to North Timpanogos
I look forward to the season between winter snowshoeing and summer hiking…when avalanche risk is minimal, skies are blue, temps are mild and adventure is high! This spring brought some adventurous fun up Mt. Olympus from Neff’s Canyon and now Cold Fusion to North Timpanogos. Seeing Timp from my house every day, I’ve wanted to…
Mt. Olympus from Neff’s Canyon
Mt. Olympus is a Wasatch Front favorite, on par with Granduer Peak or Squaw Peak in this collection of challenges selected for Utah’s inaugural Six-Pack. As for me with all three of these peaks, I’ve already done each several times by now and wasn’t too interested in doing any of them again the “standard” way……
Deseret Peak via Temple Couloir
When I did Deseret Peak from the Twin Couloirs two weeks ago, I saw another route to do before the snow completely melts away. I knew if this didn’t happen before May rolled out, it would be too late and there was no way I wanted to wait until next year. So yesterday was the…
Deseret Peak from the Twin Couloirs
There is a small window of time in the Spring where the snow is just right and the weather conditions are ideal for some pretty awesome hiking. I also couldn’t wait to use the new mountaineering gear I got for Christmas for the first time. It was the perfect day to summit Deseret Peak from the…