I completed a mini vision question this weekend. It was a 30 mile hike from SLC to Park City that I have been scheming since moving out here. mrstdaver dropped me off at the trailhead on the east side of SLC at 8 AM Friday morning (about where the shadow meets the corner of a roof left of center in the pic below). Mt Olympus is on the right side of the pic. I crossed the ridge just below the cloud about 2 hours later.
Here’s the view looking back from the ridge.
I intersected the Desolation Trail on the other side and the next several miles lived up to the name as I saw no one for maybe 3 hours. That’s unusual here with 1 million people just minutes away from the trails. The next couple pics are from that section as I approach Mt Raymond from the north and work my way around it and head east. Mt Raymond is the peak in the background just right of the tree in center. You will see it and Gobbler’s Knob (the rounded one left of the tree) from the other side later.
Looking down Big Cottonwood Canyon into SLC. Backside of Mt Olympus on the right.
Looking up Big Cottonwood Canyon. My trail stays to the left of the pic.
There was no water source along the trail between mile 1.5 and mile 15.3 and it was fairly warm that day. I emptied my 3L reservoir a couple miles before reaching a small lake where I drank a liter or so and rested a few minutes before taking on the last 2.4 miles of Day 1. I finally made it to my Day 1 destination, Lake Desolation, at about 5 PM. Drank more water first thing and then began looking for a campsite. There were three other guys there so I chatted them up for a bit. They were friends from Yale that met up here this week and were bouncing around from lake to lake for several days. I set up camp not too far away.
Day 2 started with a short climb up to the Wasatch Crest trail which I followed for about 5 miles before dropping down to a small lake on the other side. Here’s a look at Lake Desolation from the crest and my favorite pic from the trip. You can see Mt Raymond and Gobblers Knob again just right of center.
My first view to the east side of the Wasatch crest.
The crest trail is popular with mountain bikers. Being a Saturday morning they were out in full force. It was kind of nice to actually have some company on the trail for a change. I made it the next lake in a couple hours and had only drank the 1L collapsible bottle I was carrying. I still had the full 3L reservoir so didn’t bother getting any more. As I sat and reworked the moleskin and tape on my feet (blisters were starting to kill me) I saw runner after runner on a trail across the lake where I was headed. It turns out that there was a trail run that day. Our paths intersected for about half a mile and I joined in. There was an aid station around the bend, so I stopped and talked to the volunteers and drank a glass of Powerade before heading on. It turns out that was the last drink I would have until I reached Park City. Another half mile down the trail I tried to get a drink from the reservoir but couldn’t. Thinking maybe the hose was kinked I stopped to check it out. The reservoir was empty. It has has its own compartment in my pack and that wasn’t wet. My sleeping bag at the bottom of the main compartment wasn’t wet. The reservoir didn’t leak when I checked it back at home later. I have no explanation. Where can 3L of water disappear to? I considered going back to the aid station or the lake, but realized that I only had 6 miles to go and all downhill. I run further than that regularly without water so just kept going. The rest of the hike was through a maze of mountain bike trails on the Park City ski resort and went quickly. Here’s a pic looking down at Park City and Deer Valley ski areas.
The Wasatch Brew Pub at noon was our rendezvous and I made it 30 minutes ahead of schedule. I sat down at the bar, dropped my pack on the floor, ordered a beer, and watched the women’s Crossfit games with an older lady downing Mimosas while I waited for mrstdaver to pick me up.