Wednesday, April 14, 2010

We have had 14 weeks so far in 2010 and so far I have climbed 13 peaks, so I am really happy about that. I am on pace to reach my goal of climbing 52 (one for each week of the year) peaks in 2010. I am tentatively planning on climbing Wire/Red Butte/Van Cott tomorrow morning before work with craig, so that will put me well over where I need to be.

April has been a really good month for me so far. I have done some really fun runs and hikes and my body feels really good.

On 3/28 I took Shyla (my dog) on her first summit climb while the rest of the family slept in. We climbed West Mountain, which is the peak south of Utah Lake, and it is west of Payson. It was a really steep hike with only a few switchbacks the whole way. Shyla did great, and when we ran into a herd of sheep on the saddle I was able to keep her under control.

On 4/2 I hiked to the summit of View Benchmark above Draper after work, and then the next day I climbed Mt. Wire (Big Beacon) with Matt Ricks and Matt Van Horn. This has become my standard training hike for 2010. It is a great peak to climb if you only have a few hours. It is steep and has a great view. It was my 4th time on top and my third time this year. It was very cold and windy that day, and we all got blasted by the wind. I beat Matt V. to the top by about 15 minutes and I went numb waiting for him. I hid behind an electrical box on the summit tower and it was the only thing that kept the wind at bay and made it possible for me to wait.

4/9- Craig and I went on the best hike/run of the year so far on the Bonneville Shoreline trail from 11700 S. off of Wasatch Blvd, all the way to corner canyon, then up and over View Benchmark and South Mountain. It was a half marathon distance for me and a full for Craig with 4500 feet of elevation gain and about 3000 feet of loss, and I still managed to get into work on time. You can read the trip report here:
http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/611869/The-long-road-to-View-Benchmark.html