Big to Small Combo: Mt. Olympus, Mt. Grandeur (with loop run), Mt. Wire
We almost did this lsat year, but instead did five laps on Mt. Wire the day after Thanksgiving. Scott and I wanted to take a day to do something big, so we combined three Wasatch Front peaks into one big day of stairmaster hiking and descent running.
Big to small. First up: Mt. Olympus. We met about 6:10 AM and Scott left his vehicle on a neighborhood street nearby. After we both had windows smashed last week at Wire trailhead, we consider it a necessity to park out of the way to not be victimized again. I drove us to a spot about half mile away from the Olympus trailhead, then we jogged back and began our hike up. It was a very cold morning but we soon warmed. Both of us are very familiar with the trail so it was just an easy, enjoyable morning hike up. There is packed snow on the upper half of the mountain. Scott attached micro-spikes to his shoes, while I had to go without. Wasn't too bad. Summit in about 2 hours of moving time and about 2:20 overall; not bad for adding half mile extra and going at a leisurely pace, including breaks to move some organic product.
On the summit, it became obvious we were on the mountain on one of the best days of the month. Clear and sunny, no wind. Toot sweet! On the descent, just below the summit, we came close to a fambly of goats. These guys didn't run off quickly like most other goats I have seen up on high peaks. We continued down quickly, then after Tolcat stream it became a steady trail run to the bottom.
Next up: Grandeur by the West ridge, but first it was breakfast time. We were both jonesing for some McDonalds breakfast but we missed the 10:30 AM cutoff time. Scott craved grease and he got it in a large-ass value meal. With free Coke glass! We again parked on a residential street near the trailhead, then got started up the West ridge. Slower now. An hour and a half to the summit of Grandeur. Normally, we can butt it up this mountain in 1:05 to 1:10, but with fast food in the belly and Olympus on our legs, we did alright.
The big run of the day would be the route from Grandeur summit down to Pipeline to the canyon road and back to the car at the trailhead. Must be about 7 miles. I think we both felt pretty good, although getting tired, throuh this run.
Back at the car, we were both hammered. I was pleased to hear Scott say let's go to Mt. Wire. Holy crap we were really gonna do it. Smooth up in ya! Over near the Zoo now, we again parked half mile away up in front of some homes. We ran down the hill, then started the trail up to Mt. Wire. We both can get up to the summit in about 40 minutes, no problem. Not on this day. We took it easy, getting passed by fresh hikers who probably thought we looked pathetic. It was a grind, but Wire is so short that it was a short grind. Summit at sunset. Nice. On the descent I was "singing" at the top of my lungs to More Than A Feeling, not caring who could hear. I think we made a good run on the descent, and of course we ran it in the last half mile to the cars.
The stats: 23 miles, 8:30 hours of moving time, 10,575 of vertical climb.
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