Mount Olympus - January 17, 2022

scatman

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If you are going to give me a three day weekend then hopefully I will be out hiking on two of those days. I decided to hit Mount Olympus today since I didn't get to do it on Saturday. Once again, it was a beautiful day above the inversion layer even though it did cloud over during the day.

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25 degrees at the trailhead

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Part of the new segment of trail just off the trailhead - human stairs now instead ones built for a
giant.

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And some nice stone steps on the new section

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Lone Peak

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I call this Glove in a Shrub.

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Sunrise on the northern Oquirrhs across the inversion

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Lots of funky clouds today

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West ridge of Olympus above and to the left

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Tolcats Canyon

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The southern Oquirrhs

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This is a first, elk scat on the Mount Olympus Trail near the stream in Tolcats

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Snow packed trail now

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Aargh! My left knee wasn't liking this.

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The guy who just passed me, did the trail to the top twice.

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Ridge on the south side of the trail.

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My old friend the shark fin

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More Oquirrhs. They looked beautiful across the valley

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The south summit of Mount Olympus

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Snowshoe Rabbit at the saddle. :D

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Looking across Heugh's Canyon

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Southern end of the valley

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Scramble time

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Lone Peak again

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View to the northwest with Fray Peak just sticking out of the haze in the upper right

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The summit

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Broads Fork Twin Peaks along with many others

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Grandeur, where Katie and I were two days ago

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Closeup of Grandeur Peak

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View to the northeast

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These two were shooting a promotional video on the summit. The lady was filming and the guy was reading from a script. The first
two times he said while reading, "10,000 foot Mount Olympus!" Before he did his third take, I told him that Mount Olympus was only
9,000 feet above sea level. He looked at me and said 10,000, 9,000, 8,000 and then shrugged his shoulders. Hmm....................

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The sun through the clouds

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45 degrees on the summit. The north summit of Mount Olympus beyond my daypack.

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Pretty treacherous heading off the summit because the snow had softened up a bit and it is steep

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A flying insect back at the saddle

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More elk scat! :thumbsup:

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And some hair?

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The small stream in Tolcats Canyon

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About to hit the inversion layer. :(

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Last of the snow

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More neat clouds and juniper trees.

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Definitely back in it now.

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Back at the trailhead.

So as I was making my way down on Suicide Hill (the hill where you climb out of Tolcats Canyon) I ran into three college aged kids, I think. I asked them how they were doing as they approached me, and the first guy said, "I could be doing better if I had some spikes." I noticed that they all three were wearing sneakers, and the last one was wearing a pair of Converse. You know the kind that they used to play basketball in 60 years ago. And also none of them were carrying any water.

I asked, "Are you going to the summit?"

They said, "Yes." And then they started asking me questions about what lay ahead of them. I told them a steep trail that is icy, and an 800 foot scramble after you get to the saddle. They replied that this was going to be "Epic." I wished them luck and continued down.

Now if ever there was a search and rescue waiting to happen, it was these three. Unbelievable!

Oh, and I let them know that if they were successful in their attempt, @Ugly would have a home cooked meal ready for them at his house. So if three desperados show up at your place, you can blame me for it. :D


The End.
 
Last edited:
Well they haven't shown yet, and I have this big pot of kinda chicken and dumplings, kinda broccoli and cauliflower cheese soup all raring to go!

IMG_0943 Copy.JPG

Just sneakers though, eek.

I was stuck working today, but for a few minutes the sun came out, so I got out for a break. But now you have two good summits within a few days. Nice work.
You should not undersell the 9k feet. You should have told those people it feels like at least 11k.
 
Nice hike! Your encounter with the sneaker wearing college kids sounds similar to this:

Town of Keene Essex County Wilderness Search: On Nov. 25 at 4:50 p.m., Ray Brook Dispatch received a call from Essex County about three hikers on the summit of Mount Marcy requesting a ride off the mountain. The hikers were wearing regular sneakers and complaining of frozen feet with at least eight inches of snow near the peak. Rangers Black and Evans responded. The hikers could not read a map properly, making it more difficult for Rangers to pinpoint their location. At 9:52 p.m., Rangers reached the hikers and helped them to Marcy Dam and then to their vehicle. Resources were clear at 10:36 p.m.
 
Well they haven't shown yet, and I have this big pot of kinda chicken and dumplings, kinda broccoli and cauliflower cheese soup all raring to go!

View attachment 106480

Just sneakers though, eek.

I was stuck working today, but for a few minutes the sun came out, so I got out for a break. But now you have two good summits within a few days. Nice work.
You should not undersell the 9k feet. You should have told those people it feels like at least 11k.

Hey, if they aren't there by 9:00 pm, call out the rescue team. :)
 
Nice hike! Your encounter with the sneaker wearing college kids sounds similar to this:

Town of Keene Essex County Wilderness Search: On Nov. 25 at 4:50 p.m., Ray Brook Dispatch received a call from Essex County about three hikers on the summit of Mount Marcy requesting a ride off the mountain. The hikers were wearing regular sneakers and complaining of frozen feet with at least eight inches of snow near the peak. Rangers Black and Evans responded. The hikers could not read a map properly, making it more difficult for Rangers to pinpoint their location. At 9:52 p.m., Rangers reached the hikers and helped them to Marcy Dam and then to their vehicle. Resources were clear at 10:36 p.m.

These jokers didn't even have a map. :(
 
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