View Benchmark and Mt. Olympus adventure with CraigL:
Craig and I were supposed to run the Pony Express 100 course, but the snow storm we had along the Wasatch Front made that an iffy proposition. We knew there was at least 6 inches on the road out there with more in the forecast, so we decided to just stick close to home and try and adventure run. We wanted to run VB, Olympus and Grandeur without using a car, so it would be about 40ish miles and some really good vert. The forecast was for more snow, so we knew it would be challenging, but it would also be a lot of fun and we would just make the best of whatever we had to deal with.
I met Craig at 4:00 AM and we were on the trail (Ann's-Vintage View) by 4:15. It was windy, cold and snowing and the trail was not tracked out at all. We had to slog through several inches all the way up and it really slowed us down, but we had a great time laughing and chatting. I think that was our slowest ascent of VB ever. The ridge was cold and the snow was deep. It was still dark when we hit the top and we didn't stay long. We ran down to the trailhead and picked up the road where we ran on pavement to the top of Clark's trail. It was still snowing pretty hard up there.
We jumped on the trail to Clark's and after about 100 yards I was flat on my back after hitting some solid ice that was covered by a thin layer of powder. That sucked. On our way to Clark's we ran into some runners and I shouted something like "What are you dumbarses doing out here". It happened to be someone we know, Sam Jewkes and a few friends, so we chatted with them for a few minutes. We ran over to the Corner Canyon road and then down that and jumped on the BST. The conditions were horrible and we were really slow, but still having a great time. The next 3 miles were a total slog and I have never been so ready to get on pavement in my life. We finally made it to Willow Park (mile 13) and I felt like I was at mile 25. The next 9 miles were on the road to the Olympus trailhead. It felt good to get out of the deep snow, but it seemed like we were constantly going uphill and after a few miles I got tired of the constant exhaust and noise from the cars and it was a reminder to me why I run on the trails. It continued to snow on us the rest of the day.
We stopped at the 7-11 on 7200 S. to use the bathroom, but didn't buy anything because our friends MattW and JoshG were meeting us at the Oly trailhead with food and drinks. It was almost another 2 miles to the trailhead and I was really looking forward to some food and a quick rest. We finally made it (mile 22) and the boys had some great snacks and drinks. We had both been pretty wet for a few hours, so just stopping for a few minutes would make us pretty cold and even though I had the heater blowing on me I started to shiver. I downed some Mountain Dew, cookies, chips and some candy and I was ready to tackle Olympus. Josh and Matt would be joining us up to the peak.
This might have been my slowest trip up Olympus ever. Maybe when I was a fat hiker back in the day I was slower, but it sure seemed slow. The trail was packed, but there was a thin layer of fine powdery snow on top of icy snow, so we slipped a lot and it was pretty miserable going up, although we were laughing pretty hard most of the way up. It seemed like it took forever to reach the saddle and on the way up we both knew that Grandeur was out because if time. It had taken us a few hours longer than we hoped because of the weather/snow, but our effort was a lot more than the miles would indicate. The chute leading to the summit was snow covered and icy and it took longer than usual, but we finally made it to the top. There was a pretty thick cloud that had enveloped the mountain, so the views weren't great, but we didn't care.
I thought the descent was going to be horrible, but it ended up being ok. I only slipped and went down once and I was preparing to hit the deck more than a few times. Craig and Matt got out ahead of us and Josh and I ran the entire way back to the cars together chatting about our plans for 2014. I was pretty hammered when we finished and it felt like I had gone 50 miles. I think that was the toughest 29 miles I have ever run, but we had a great time despite the weather. I really want to do this again and throw in Grandeur on dry trails. It would make it so much easier.
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