Summit junkie!

Took the fam on an afternoon hike today. I had a few peaks in mind, but we didn't have time for much. We were on our way to the Big Baldy trailhead in Pleasant Grove, but the majority of the kids wanted to go to View Benchmark again, so we turned the car around and went up there. It was HOT.

I ran ahead a lot with the dog, and then I would go back and meet up with the kids. Most of the hills I went up 2-3 times while I waited for them, but it was fun, although I totally wore Shyla out. The heat was killing her.

Made it to the summit in about 40 minutes and the kids played for a while. They found some horny toads and had fun catching and letting them go. The only thing that made my son stop talking about them was falling asleep a few minutes ago (5 hours later). He wants me to take him back up there to sleep over with the toads. ha.

The hike back was fun and we were all hot when we got back to the car, and enjoyed the cold Poweraid in the cooler. It was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I went to the gym tonight with Kristina after the kids were in bed. We both had a great lifting session and my arms/chest are worked. I did a new tricep exercise that was awesome and I'll be adding it to my routine.

I had a fun trail run with Jun on the Dimple Dell Rec trail (also known as The Gully). We did this during our lunch break and the weather was near perfect when we started the trail across from Bell Canyon.

The first 3 miles were easy and fun running on a really good trail. I forgot my trail runners, so I was in my Asics running shoes, which felt great and were ok for this trail. When we turned around at 13th East the fun began with a bushwhack to avoid the river, which had come over the trail. My right foot got wet, but nothing serious. After a few minutes of 'Whacking' we found our way to the trail. The only problem was the uphill started to hurt my knee as soon as I started going up. The same issue from Sapper Joe. After struggling for a mile we stopped and Jun had me stretch it out, which actually helped a lot.

I was really taking it easy after the knee pain, and it did feel tight the rest of the way. We had some excellent conversation and both had a blast.

I'm going to do a fairly technical alpine climb tomorrow, and I am really excited. I'll be climbing the Grunge Couloir on North Timpanogos, which is one of the steepest chutes in the Wasatch. My book "The Chuting Gallery" says it is number 3 on the list. What makes this climb even more fun is the fact that there are portions that are like a funnel, getting really narrow. Normally this wouldn't be too much of a worry, but this chute is also known for it's rotten rock that frequently makes deposits of loose rock down the chute. I really like the way the book puts it "The sides are lined with towering, rotting rock walls that send down a constant barrage of buzzing missles." Yes, I'll be wearing a helmet.

I had an incredible morning climbing the Grunge Couloir on North Timpanogos. This is the chute that goes right up the middle of the two North summits on Timp on the back (East side) of the mountain. The route has about 6K elevation gain, and is definitely one of the most sketchy climbs in the Wasatch, but it was tons of fun. The couloir (chute) is about 1200 feet straight up on steep (up to 62 degrees) snow, and there are plenty of hazards to keep your attention.

 The main concern is rock fall. While we were in the chute we saw at least 200 rocks tumbling down at a high rate of speed. Now most of these were small, but if they hit you it would not be good. There is a main runnel with two smaller runnels that funnel the majority of the rock fall right down the chute, so we had to make sure to stay away from them as much as possible, although at times they were unavoidable. The scariest section by far is where the walls of the chute become very narrow (Probably 5-7 feet) and all of the rock fall goes right through that funnel, so you have to cross your fingers and move fast. It was definitely an adrenaline rush, and luckily we made it through without a single rock coming down on us, which is amazing since we saw several before and after.

At the top of the chute the slope is very steep and you have to work your way out trying to avoid some massive cornices. My heart was pumping hard for sure. It took us just over an hour to get through the couloir and then it was a short easy climb to the summit of North Timp. After that we had a super fun glissade on our butts of almost 3000 feet down the Cold Fusion Couloir.

We had an early morning start, meeting at 4:00 AM, and I got just over 2.5 hours of sleep. I am pretty tired. I will post some pics of the climb in the next day or two.

I won't be running today because I need to give my knees a break. I will be working my abs/core later though.

Here are a few pics from our climb up the Grunge Couloir from yesterday:

Matt and Dustin looking at our route on the way back down. North Timp is the two peaks on the right, and the Grunge goes right up between them.

This is me heading up to the Grunge. You can see our route right through the two peaks.

This is Matt on our way up the couloir

In the Grunge Couloir. Notice all of the rock fall.

Dustin and Matt on the summit of North Timp.

Last night I worked my abs for 30 minutes and then I got up ealry this morning to lift at the gym. I had a really good session for 40 minutes working my upper body. I did lose a pound this week and that means I am down two pounds in the last few weeks. That isn't normal for me at all. Have a great weekend everyone.

I wanted to hit the trails for some miles, but the weather was crappy, so I settled for 4 on the TM instead. Yawn.