Signing off for a few days to catch a plane to SLC and head into the mountains. Trip itinerary looks to be: Day 1, warm-up climb on Mount Olympus, a 9,026-foot peak visible from downtown Salt Lake on the front of the Wasatch Range; Day 2, a newspaper assignment in the desert west of the Great Salt Lake (details forthcoming and top secret at this time); Day 3, a drive northeast to the state’s Uinta Mountains for an attempt at Kings Peak, the highest point in the state at 13,528 feet.
Kings Peak is on the right
If the weather is good — this is a strange time of year to be mountaineering — the plan is to start the trek into Kings, a 28-mile roundtrip, in the late afternoon and then hike with headlamps as need be to make it to Dollar Lake, the halfway point, or even a bit further. We’ll then bivy a few hours sleep, get up with the sunrise, and bust it for the summit.
A long downhill hike then back to Dollar Lake and finally onto the car by late afternoon/early evening the next day will finish the quick climb off.
That’s the ideal scenario, anyway.
Will report on the trip in a few days after I come back out of the mountains. . .
