Trip Report: Spanish Fork Peak 2013

One day while using Google Maps for something else, I happened to spot a marking for “Spanish Fork Peak.” It caught my attention, I looked into it, and Dan and I decided to hike it this last week. Coming across it on the map turned out to be sweet serendipity, as the summit trail has definitely risen on my list of favorites. The hike is rather difficult, and isn’t terribly popular, but the trailhead is easy to access, the views are fantastic, and it’s overall a very rewarding hike. The information about the trail is fairly limited on the net, so hopefully I can fill in gaps for those interested.

The trailhead is just a couple miles up the canyon from Mapleton, UT. Head east on 400 N, into the canyon, until you reach Whitings Campground. The trailhead is at the end of the campground, with free parking and a bathroom for hikers. We started the trail at 7:30AM to some great weather.

The trail appears to continue forward; you need to go right onto that log bridge you can see.

The trail starts very wide and gravelly, possibly a service road, and only about 1/3 of a mile in you need to turn right off this road to continue towards the summit(I don’t know where the service road continues to). This isn’t obvious, to the point where I considered us somewhat lucky that we didn’t miss it. As long as you keep an eye out, you should spot it: there’s a log bridge over a stream and a sign indicating the trail is 5 miles from that point.

From here you might just start to get discouraged. After a fairly flat beginning, the trail starts to go up, in a big way. Dan and I are both very active hikers, and this first uphill left us pretty strained. Don’t give up, though; this is probably the most challenging part. There are other plenty steep stretches, but none as long.

Who turned the steep up?!

As you make it past the first struggle, you’ll end up in some fairly thick vegetation. Online sources had me convinced the entire trail was about the same steepness(which made that first bit even harder to get through), but you’ll see that isn’t entirely true. The middle section actually has some up and down, though mostly up. You’ll see a poor campsite or two, some places where animals have clearly been resting, some heavily wooded areas.

On that note, you would not be amiss bringing a machete on this hike…we wish we had. There are a few portions where the branches or weeds surrounding the trail were very thick and obtrusive. The trail doesn’t ever really disappear, but there are a couple times where you’ll start to question it with how thick the vegetation is. This is not a popular hike. We saw more signs of wildlife than human life, which, unless you count a couple fire pits,  included an older woman and her dog near the trailhead(who I highly doubt summited) and a couple tents a bit off the trail.

Eventually you’ll come to a valley with a small pond. I suppose this could disappear at some points in the season, depending on how dry the year is, but you’ll likely still see some signs of a small body of water as you come downhill for a short portion. Then you’ll head back up into a massive field of yellow flowers(assuming you go around this time of year), then into a huge canyon bowl. We started to wonder where the heck the trail went off to at this point…it looked like there was nowhere to go but up! But sure enough, the trail sneaks onto a gravelly set of steep switchbacks, which is probably the second most difficult portion of the hike.

As you finish off the switchbacks you’ll be greeted with a great view of Utah Valley from the saddle. At this point you can go right(north) on a trail, but it only leads to a lower peak. We choose try it out anyway for some reason, deciding we were “hipster hikers.” It was a short trail and we got a small taste of the glory to come. However, you’ll probably just want to start left(south) right away to achieve the summit. Word of caution at this point!!

Take the more prominent trail on the right at the saddle, unless you want to feel at one with the mountain goats.

Choose the right! We continued our hipster trend and decided to try out both paths here…I drew the short stick. I think the trail on the left that I took is used by mountain goats more often than people, based on how stupidly steep it is. It was a bit faster than the trail that Dan took(it travels directly over a smaller hill between you and the summit, rather than around it, like the trail on the right), but I’d submit overall not worth it. 

Once you get to where the two trails meet up at a trail marker, you’ve got a short steep run to the top, where a huge cairn and A-frame type structure await you. For the record, there is a register, but there weren’t any pens/pencils in it…make due preparations! Otherwise enjoy the summit. You can see Timp to the north, Nebo to the south, much of Utah Valley to the west, and loads of mountains to the east.

Nothing more satisfying…

…than the summit lunch.

We decided to trail run our way down. Both Dan and I are also regular runners, and it was a lot of fun. If you choose the same method, just make sure to pay lots of attention to your footwork. Lots of side-steps during steeper portions, and careful steps with rocks around. Your knees will likely start to feel some wear and tear, and your ankles are at risk of some serious injury. Taking the right precautions, you can enjoy some sweet parkour-like action and some good cardio.

Spanish Fork Peak trail is, we decided, definitely “not yo mamma’s hike.” Ascending about 4,600ft over 5.5 miles gives an average 16% grade, making this a fairly tough combination of length and steepness. We were at the trailhead by 7:30AM and were driving away by 1:45PM, for a total of 6 hours. Now, this is sort of a skewed time…we took the trail very quickly, and ran the entire way down(3 hours up, 1.5 down). However, we also decided to hit the side peak, and may or may not have taken a 1.5 hour siesta at the summit. So, balancing things out, I’d guess 6-7 hours is about how long you should expect this fantastic summit hike to take you.

Trip Report: Mt. Olympus Peak 2013

After sharing my Timp experience and love of hiking, another friend and I made plans to summit Mt. Olympus in Salt Lake. Olympus is unique to most hikes I’ve done in that it’s right next to the city…the trailhead is a couple minutes off the freeway, at 5789 Wasatch Boulevard. It’s also exceptionally short horizontally…but exceptionally steep vertically.

We met at the trailhead just after 8AM and started climbing. The first stretch gets you warm right away, with fairly steep steps for a few dozen meters. As you get to the top of Pete’s Rock(a tall, prominent rock that you could rock climb from the trailhead), you’ll likely see a little trash and a small fire site…and then realize you took one of many, many alternate or false trails along this summit hike.

“Clearly I need to continue the trail to the left.” You’d be wrong. The trail continues on the right, up the rocks. One of many poorly marked trail forks on the road to Olympus.

We continued past the small hang out site on the trail, but thankfully, we quickly thought there was something wrong about continuing downhill. I climbed up Pete’s Rock a ways and saw the summit trail continue uphill once you climb up the rocks there. This is something you have to pay attention to on this hike: there are several spots where an alternate trail(apparently leading to the Bonneville Shoreline, most of which are marked with a small sign) or a false trail branches from the main one. The latter of which are typically not marked at all(except maybe a couple rocks on the trail that don’t help deter much, as you may, or may not, have spotted in the above photo), usually aren’t very good paths, and take you a bit further, but ultimately lead back to the main trail. If you think the trail suddenly became pretty poor, there’s a chance you’ve taken one of these. 

After the initial steep steps, the trail becomes pretty mild for a while on some switchbacks. Starting this early makes almost the entire ascent shaded, as the sun hasn’t come up over the west side of the mountain yet(the picture above was taken as we descended). You’ll go probably around 2 miles in these sort of conditions. After about that length, one member of our group decided his back had had enough, and chose a shady spot on the side of the trail to wait. He choose a great spot.

Shortly after we continued, Olympus became a true beast. Let there be no mistake: Olympus is a rigorous peak to summit. For probably another mile we went up a steep incline(probably averaging around 30%) in thick vegetation until we reached a sort of saddle. The trail levels out for a short while, you’ll see a few small camp/fire sites and a fantastic view directly ahead.

Views from the saddle are already getting good.

The trail continues left, and doesn’t get easier….from here on out, you’re bouldering/climbing to the summit. There were a few cairns to mark the way, but none extremely helpful(we added a couple). After you start heading north at the saddle, you’ll continue north and somewhat east until the summit. There’s never a point where you’re truly rock climbing on a level 5 wall, but you will be using your hands and pulling yourself up much of the way, like a giant staircase to the top.

We weren’t expecting such a rock face to have to scramble up!

At the very top you’re almost exclusively hiking on large boulders, and there will be a few registry notebooks in a mailbox for you to sign. We were able to summit just around noon, to great weather. No wind, no clouds, and not too hot. We enjoyed some lunch and the views before descending. The views cover Salt Lake Valley, some smaller mountain ranges to the north, and some other taller summits to the south.

Can you spot our little friend?

Any hike tends to be fairly abusive on the legs on the way down, but that was especially true for Olympus. Creeping down the boulders at the top wasn’t too bad, but that mile or so of steep, rocky trails downward required careful attention to footwork to make sure there were no ankle or knee injuries. We met up with our friend about halfway down and took the rest of the fairly mild trek down. We were in bright sun for most of the descent, and it was starting to get hot at this point. We all ran out of water, but only when we were nearly done(I think most of us brought a typical 2 liter camelbak). Few things match the feeling of reaching the top….and bottom….of a good summit hike.

Mt. Olympus is roughly 3.75 miles both ways, for about a 7.5 mile/12 kilometer round trip. This is, for it’s short distance, a very difficult hike, averaging a 21% grade. In comparison, Timpanogos averages 11%, and Nebo 15%; the three peak hikes cover similar heights over widely different stretches. I find the time to ascent vs. the time to descent for most hikes is much closer than I would think, but Olympus took almost twice as long to climb than to return(just under 4 hours compared to just over 2). We began at about 8:10AM, summited at 12:05, began climbing down around 12:30, and reached the parking lot near 2:45, for a total of just less than 7 hours. Cell service was strong the whole trip.

The views weren’t quite what King’s Peak or Mt. Nebo offer, but Olympus has advantages in the proximity of it’s trailhead and as a great workout in less of a time commitment. The path isn’t as clear as I’d have liked in some places, but still isn’t difficult to follow. With the steepness and climbing portions near the end, inexperienced hikers, kids, and maybe even some dogs may have a hard time reaching the summit. The parking closes between 10PM and 6AM, and the hike is pretty short, but there were spots where I imagine you could camp at the saddle if you wished.

Trip Report: Mt. Timpanogos Peak 2013

A few weeks ago my buddy Dan mentioned wanting to camp/summit Timp, so we set a date and did it last week. Timp is easily the most popular summit hike in Utah; you’re likely to see many other groups along the trail literally any time, day or night. Some try to get the sunset, some the sunrise, and everything in-between.

We went for the, hike at night, camp, and try for the sunset method. There’s more than one trail that leads to the summit…one in American Fork canyon(the Timpooneke trail), and one through Provo canyon(begins in Aspen Grove campground). I’m sure there are differences between them, but I’ve only done Timpooneke(as odd as that name sounds…I can’t even pronounce it), and won’t try to compare them until I have done both.

The trailhead is easy to get to, find your way into American Fork canyon(you’ll have to pay I think $6 to enter the National Park) and look for signs leading to it. There’s a decent size parking lot with a water fountain and bathroom. From trailhead to summit, you’re looking at about 8 miles up…should you go directly there. We did not. There were four of us + dog in our group, but another friend decided to join in last minute. Despite us pleading with him to take the the Timpooneke trail as we did, he chose to go through Provo canyon, saying something about making it faster. This did not make things faster for us.

We got a bit of a late start, hitting the trail at about 8:15PM, camping packs in tow. We’d hoped to camp in the valley portion of the hike. It’s about 6 miles in, plenty of open, flat spaces, and where many camp for the night. However, with our 5th party member approaching from the other direction, we agreed to meet up at Emerald Lake. Emerald is in sort of a basin at a higher ridgeline than the rest of the valley, and at the base of Utah’s only true glacier. As you enter the valley, you’ll see a wooden sign indicating that you should continue south if you wish to go to the lake(the summit is directly south of you at this point; however, the trail to get there goes west). This is where things were less fun for us….we could’ve camped right there in the valley had our 5th taken our advice of trail, but continuing to Emerald lake consisted of about another hour and half of hiking, up a rocky trail, detouring east from the direct trail to the summit. Not fun, and not recommended.

I understand that it’s a tricky trail, but you can come down from the summit towards Emerald Lake. This trail crosses the glacier and I’ve heard can be very fun. However, we were told going up that way isn’t feasible. So we headed east about a mile out of our way to camp at night, and had to double back that distance west to the summit trail in the morning. Moral of the story: if you’re planning on camping partway up, take Provo canyon for Emerald Lake, and American Fork canyon to just camp in the valley.

Other tips: camping in a full moon, while handy in some ways(taking the unfamiliar and rocky trail towards Emerald at night was much easier with how much light there was), isn’t conducive to sleeping. Nor is a dog that chooses defense mode, instead of sleep, at night. We found that restraining him did calm him down, but only discovered this about half an hour before we intended to get up anyway.

After only a few hours of sleep(we reached our decided spot by about 1:00AM and got up at about 4:30AM), we headed back towards the valley and the summit trail. Coming from Emerald Lake you’ll take a much rockier path almost directly uphill to the ‘saddle,’ which is a lower point with still rather great views. It’s also terribly windy and cold this early in the morning. We miscalculated the sunrise time (around 6:15), and ended up in the saddle as it was the most picture-worthy. For 3 of 5 of us, the road ended there. Our 5th was pooped and said he needed to get to work anyway; another was feeling pain in his ankles/legs from previous injuries, and another started to get breathing problems from the elevation and cold(I realize this makes the trip sound like a major survival struggle…it’s not. There may have been a bit of lack of preparation/training/experience in some members of our group, however, and camping added to the difficulty overall, I believe). After grabbing some pictures and food(and dropping off our heaviest camping gear in a rather dangerous spot), Dan and I continued to the summit, accompanied only by his dog Jake.

Approaching the summit, facing north. On the right side above Dan’s head is the summit; hidden behind that far below is Emerald Lake and the glacier(not visible); in the center below is the valley; and below on the left is the saddle(not visible, though you can see the trail leading to it when zoomed).

We reached the summit from the saddle in only about 20 minutes. It was overcast at this point, the wind got worse, and it was very cold. But we signed the ledger and chilled in the small shelter that was somehow erected up there. One guy even gave us some pre-cooked bacon he’d brought along. I’d show you the picture of Dan and I we had taken, but we made some positioning oversights, and it ended up looking very much like some creepy engagement photo.

We returned to our remaining two friends and started down. We hoped that leaving our packs off the trail while we hiked the summit would be nice, but we made things a bit difficult…the steepness of the spot we choose resulted in Dan getting his hand smashed by a rock that came down as I climbed up. We otherwise remained injury free on the trip down, however, besides some sore hips and ankles. As usual, the descent tends to just wear into your joints as you move downward.

I’d say Timp is overall a moderate difficulty hike, but it is important to be properly prepared. Of course, lots of water and some good food, but bug spray, sunscreen, jackets, some first aid, etc, can all come in handy. Dan was grateful Nicole had brought along some band aids after his hand met that rock.

The direct trip is about 7.5 miles both ways(close to 15 total), but I think we ran our ascent close to 9 or so with the detour from the Timpooneke trail to Emerald Lake. From the Timpooneke trailhead to Emerald Lake took us about 4.5 hours; Emerald Lake to the summit around 3, and after meeting our friends at the saddle to the base took about 4 hours. This was with a decent but not excessive number of breaks.

Update 8/5/13:
I’ve been thinking of how hike difficulty might better be represented, and decided a figure that represents both the horizontal and vertical distance traveled is informative. Sometimes on hilly highways the ‘grade’ is given as a percentage. For example, on a 6% grade highway, for every 100 feet you travel horizontally, you travel 6 feet vertically.
The Timpanooke trail is about 7.5 miles, or 39,600 feet from trailhead to summit horizontally. The trailhead is at 7,360ft above sea level, and the peak at 11,752(disclaimer: the internet sources I found on these numbers varied a trivial amount). Ascending 11,752 – 7,360 = 4,392ft vertically over 39,600ft horizontally gives 4,392/39,600 = 0.11, or an average 11% grade. This certainly isn’t the steepest hike around, and some very steep portions (upwards of 30%, from what I understand) are balanced out with some flat portions towards the beginning and in the valley. In comparison, Mt. Nebo averages a 16% grade, and Mt. Olympus almost 21%.

PS. I also hiked Timp in 2012, but rather than go over anything in detail again, I’ll just say a few things I learned from that experience: don’t start the hike even as late as 8:30AM, give yourself a little preparation/training, and for goodness sake, wear sunscreen.