What a day! Climbed Ibapah Peak with my friend Greg. Ibapah is about 50 miles south of Wendover and is the highest peak in Juab county at over 12,000 feet. It took us over 4 hours to get to the trailhead and we started hiking just after 9:00 AM. Greg has not been on a peak in almost 18 years. He has been on a diet for the last two weeks and lost over 15 lbs and says he needs to lose about 30 more. He hasn't been exercising at all, so hauling him up this beast would certainly be a challenge.
The peak climbs about 6k in elevation and there are very few switch backs. We had to go pretty slow and take a lot of breaks, but it was fun and we had a great time. About 400 verticle feet and a 1/4 mile from the top Greg hit the wall and could not get his heart rate down. He was having some minor chest pains and said he couldn't go anymore, so after a rest break he was feeling a little better and he wanted me to go on without him, so I quickly climbed the remaining 400 to tag the summit. The view was AMAZING and I made a quick descent back to the saddle where Greg was waiting for me.
He was feeling much better and the hike back to the trailhead took us 3.5 hours, while the hike to the summit took around 7. I was proud of Greg for pushing as hard as he did and he couldn't stop talking about how much he loved the experience, so it was a successful day for sure. We didn't see another soul all day and the remote solitude was incredible. | 