Hike Blogging, Mount Olympus, Wasatch-Cache National Forest

Although I lost all the pictures of my last hike in the Great Hard Drive Meltdown of '06, I'm still going to post this report for those unsuspecting souls who might try this hike.

Mount Olympus is a large block of Paleozoic sedimentary rock that has been thrust upwards onto its side. As a result, it's very steep with the north face being almost vertical. The peak is 9,026 feet above sea level and is quite prominent on the skyline. Like Grandeur Peak, the easy accessibility and views it provides make this a popular hike.

But certainly not an easy one. I knew it would be steep -- the trail goes from 5,100 feet elevation at the trail head to over 9,000 in just 3.5 miles. But I didn't know it would be so rugged; the last half of the trail is steeper and rockier than the first half, and the last few hundred yards require some low-intensity rock-climbing.

Also, there are rattlesnakes in the brush near the trail. We know this because one of the leashless dogs belonging to a stupid Russian lady and her daughter who were hiking just in front of us found a rattlesnake and naturally got bit on the nose. Whether or not they made it down in time to save him I do not know.

Not a bad hike, but not my favorite one, either. Even though I don't have pictures of it, I don't think I'll do it again anytime soon. Instead, I'll save my energies for the most popular hike in Utah: Mount Timpanogos. I'll be doing it this weekend.