Mt Olympus scrambling loop

After months/possibly even years of hemming and hawing about starting a blog, I’ve finally decided to do so, for a couple of reasons:

  Ø  to add more words to the pictures I take, beyond what is possible in facebook picture captions

  Ø  to better share my adventures & pictures with friends and family not on facebook

  Ø  to force myself to better keep track of details of my outings (beyond just pictures), for my own   personal future use

  Ø  to hopefully share beta and inspiration with others (since I have gained A LOT of info and trip ideas from various blogs over the years)

Note – I’ve decided to start my “blogging” with a few of the prominent outings I’ve enjoyed during my summer internship in Ogden UT.

Despite the scorching 90+ degree heat wave we were in, I set out after a short day at the clinic to climb the classic West slabs of Mt. Olympus as well as Geurt’s ridge and descend via the standard trail to form a loop.  Thanks to Chad and Spencer for the beta and inspiration.

I set out from the W slabs TH at approx. 3pm under the glaring sun.  The approach trail and (snow free) couloir went smoothly and I soon found myself switching to rock shoes at the base of the slabs.  It felt a little strange to be starting up a 1600ft face with no rope or partner but I quickly found myself in a zone, deeply enjoying the freedom of moving over low 5^th class terrain, with the occasional 5.4 section, unencumbered by gear, rope mgmt, belays, etc. 

A look down mid-way up the slabs

All too soon, the angle and difficulty of the route diminished towards the top and I quickly scrambled the last little bit to the ridge proper, before switching back to running shoes.  Looking south into Tolcat canyon, I tried to find a break in the cliffs to allow access to Geurt’s ridge.

geurt's ridge

 The descent into Tolcat involved a mix of downclimbing and bushwhacking and took longer than expected.  I then aimed for a prominent vegetated gully bisecting Geurt’s where I found some much needed shade and transitioned back to rock shoes before starting up. 

a look back at the gully I descended into Tolcat

Geurt’s was a mix of steep 4/low 5^th class sections and flatter  3^rd class sections.  It was again a blast to move continuously on solid, exposed rock for 1500+ feet.  I cross the obvious “catwalk” and bypassed/downclimbed the first rappel on climber’s R at approx. 5.4.  

"catwalk" pitch

look back at first rappel - bypass/downclimb at 5.4 on climber's R (looker's L in this photo)

The crux bulge came next, consisting of a short steep section of twin cracks, that felt about 5.5.  I passed the second rappel again on climber’s R at low 5^th and then continued to the summit. 

crux 5.5 bulge with fun twin cracks

stoked but withering under the hot sun  on the summit

Despite being nearly out of water, very dehydrated and terribly thirsty due to the intense heat , I was stoked on the great scrambling/climbing.  I cruised down the standard trail to the junction with the Bonneville shoreline trail, hung a R and looped back to the truck.  Approx. 7mi/4600vert/5:20 car-car at a casual pace. 

Rose: the joy of soloing 3000ft of class 4/low 5^th on solid rock

Thorn: intense heat & not enough water

Bud: the possibilities that soloing opens in the mountains (assuming its at a difficulty sufficiently below your limit)

Thoughts:  either/both of these routes is definitely recommended.  I can’t imagine bring a rope/rack on either route due to the non-sustained nature of the class 5 terrain.  I don’t own approach shoes, thus the combo of running & rock shoes, the bolted belays on the W slabs and the bolts at the 2^nd rap anchor on Geurt’s are ridiculous and unnecessary