The Big "O" At 60

[scatman]

Well, one of my "to-dos" for 2025 was to hike Mount Olympus at least twice this year, since I only managed it once in 2024. So on Saturday, the 31st of May, I started out early and made my way to the summit - the south summit that is. The last time that I hiked Olympus was with my son last July, about a week short of my 60th birthday, so I wanted to see if I could get it done at 60.

When I arrived at the Mount Olympus Trailhead at 5:58 am, there were only 3 parking spots left and they were all on the north end of the lot. I thought, "Man, there are a lot of people here this early in the morning." I think it turned out to be the busiest I have ever seen the Olympus trail before. We are going through a warm spell here in Salt Lake the last few days, and I think it was supposed to reach 92 on Saturday, so I assumed not too many people would want to brave the heat on Olympus, but turns out that I was wrong.

The hike was a slow go for me. I'm three weeks out from my knee scope so I took it easy as not to overdue it. I'm pretty sure everyone parked in that parking lot passed me on the way up. I kept thinking that I'd ask @Bob why everyone was passing me, but I was sure he'd respond, "because your old and slow!"

Anyway, I made it to the top, ate my lunch, took a bunch of pictures, and then headed back down in the heat. On my way up, I lost my lens cap for my camera, but I was lucky enough to find on my way back down.

I used the Canon Rebel T4i on this hike as I continue my rotation through my cameras. The T4i was released in 2013.

Some shots of my hike:


I drove the Jeep on this one.


At lower elevations the broadleaf penstemon was common


Sunrise on Lone Peak and north and south Thunder Mountains


Common yarrow


Sunrise on Broads Fork Twin Peaks


Spider milkweed


Juniper berries




Mule-ears were plentiful along the trail


Rounding the corner into Tolecats Canyon


Zoomed in on the "Blister Hill" portion of the hike with the Arete to the south


Fireweed


Mountain ninebark


Stream in Tolecats


Miners lettuce


The shadow of Olympus looking down Tolecats Canyon


Larkspur



Western wallflower



Woodland star


Trail up "Blister Hill"


Corn lilies?


Choke cherry


Sorry @regehr , but this was the best I could do. Someone left this sign along the trail as a warning to others.


Western waterleaf



From just above "Blister Hill" to the saddle the trail is steep and rocky


Glacier lilies. I only saw two of these plants along the trail.


Nearing the saddle


View up at the summit of Mount Olympus from the saddle. I stopped at the saddle for a few minutes because I could hear
@TractorDoc 's voice in my head saying that it was time to apply some sunscreen. I also ate a couple of fig newtons to get me
to the top.


North and South Thunder Mountains viewed from the saddle


View down into the valley from the saddle



1st scramble section


2nd scramble section


Last little scramble to the summit


View of the north summit of Mount Olympus, with the Dude Benchmark in the distance. I liked this shot.


For @Ugly , the Pfeifferhorn and UPWOP, that from the head of Maybird Gulch


L-R Dromedary Peak, Sunrise Peak, Jepson's Folly, and Broads Fork Twin Peaks


View of downtown SLC through rocks on the summit of Olympus


Summit shot


And this one is for @Rockskipper . Welcome back! You're therapist might survive this one.


The Canon T4i - notice no lens cap.






Extra wide angle shots from the summit


Lizard on the summit as I begin to head down


Triangle (Hobbs) Peak to the east of Olympus


This guy was interesting, he had started at 6:00 pm on Friday and had summited
Olympus four times in 17 hours. I chatted with him as he passed me by on the way
down the first scramble section.


Pretty!


Broads Fork Twin Peaks, across Big Cottonwood Canyon


Spring beauties


My wife tells me that this is a Western Wood Peewee - located at the top of a tree on the saddle


Goosefoot violet


Heading down, getting close to rounding back into Tolecats Canyon


A look back up from whence I came


Stonecrop


Spreading fleabane


Back at Tolecats


Looking down Tolecats


About to leave Tolecats


Mount Olympus Trail


Another favorite shot of the hike. Lone Peak is in the distance. Not sure if the large rock in the foreground has a name.


Back at Pete's Rock


Woodland rose in the shade of some scrub oak


Back at the Jeep


Mount Olympus from the Walmart parking lot where I stopped and got some grapefruit juice for my wife on my way home.





Saturday night was Beer Night, so I had just enough time to get home, splash off my face, change cycling caps and then head to
Desert Edge Brewery to meet friends and coworkers for some food and drink. I had the nachos (not as good as the Porcupine
nachos) and a Latter Day Stout on nitro. After the Latter Day, I then finished off the nachos with a Conspiracy Russian Imperail Stout
which was really good.


The End.

 

[Rockskipper]

And this one is for @Rockskipper . Welcome back! You're therapist might survive this one.

Thanks, Scatty. As for my therapist, he refused to see me after that, so I have to therapize myself. I don't know how effective it is, but it is cheaper.

 

[TractorDoc]

I could hear
@TractorDoc 's voice in my head saying that it was time to apply some sunscreen.

No sense in having sunburn on beer night.

Well done! I think you'll be ready for anything @Bob is going to throw at you this year.

 

[The Trout Whisperer]

As always, I love your trip reports and especially the pictures so we can vicariously hike the hike with you. I too know about that having a few more days on this earth thing turning 66 a few days earlier than you turned 60 good thing about it is I’m down about 20 pounds from last year And hopefully I can go another 10-15pounds more. I want to go on one of the more scat man like hikes backpacks so I have to get my weight down instead of the pack weight down.. it’ll be nice to go into the back country with an overall weight of 235 with the pack. As always, great trip report.

 

[The Trout Whisperer]

️️️️️️️

 

[Big Sky Boiler]

Very cool report and great photos. Thanks for sharing. I’d be curious to know the total distance and elevation gain on that hike, if you happen to know.

 

[SteveR]

Nice report and it's been great seeing all the wildflowers, and that you continue to mend.
You're Still A Young Man

 

[scatman]

Well done! I think you'll be ready for anything @Bob is going to throw at you this year.

Not sure about that. @Bob 's always got something up his sleeve.

 

[scatman]

Very cool report and great photos. Thanks for sharing. I’d be curious to know the total distance and elevation gain on that hike, if you happen to know.

Thanks.

The total distance is roughly 6.9 miles, and the approximate elevation gain is 4,211 feet.

 

[scatman]

Nice report and it's been great seeing all the wildflowers, and that you continue to mend.
You're Still A Young Man

Thanks. Love that tune! The knee did pretty well on Olympus, so that is encouraging. I'm not sure exactly how much my day pack weighed, but I had three Nalgene bottles (1 frozen), one 32oz Powerade, a tripod, my camera and lens, an additional lens, my lunch, my small drybag full of essentials, long sleeved shirt, and a wide brimmed hat, so the pack wasn't exactly light. I'm confident that I'll be fine backpacking next month.

 

[Pringles]

Thanks for the enjoyable trip report. I especially enjoyed the pictures of the flowers, and not the picture of the rattlesnake sign. That’s the thing of nightmares for me. I’m glad you achieved your goal. I assume you’ll be going again sometime this year?