EDIT: Still working on adding all the links. Here's the full album for now. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v66/raumien/Utah/
Yesterday I felt like climbing the highest mountain I could find, so I did. I put an MP3 player, a flashlight, binoculars, some knives, long sleeve shirt and bandana, two protein bars, two bottles of water, two cameras and my little sparrow journal in my backpack and took off. Here is the full album of photos.
I walked through town to buy those water bottles and scope out mountains. I walked up some hills through residential areas and came across a road that winded upwards into a construction zone. Here is the view of town from there. The paths were clear and very easy to traverse. They ascended quickly at first which was tiring but got me where I wanted, which is as high as I could get. I achieved views like this after a short while.
I reached the top of the mountain pretty quickly. After walking through some patches of trees and watching people on the ski lifts I came to the peak and then realized, there are taller mountains than mine. So off I went in search of more adventure. The terrain was pretty easy except for a few steeper parts, but the sun was a bitch.
During the first half of the trails on mountain 1 I saw a family and one biker. Upon reaching the ascent towards mountain 2 there were no other foot marks than mine. It felt good to go somewhere that people rarely venture to. After a little more walking mountain 1 was looking small and distant. I continued following the paths which led to an interesting variety of flowers (1 2 3 4). The view was getting rather spectacular at this point.
Got tired of sticking to the paths. I wanted more interesting terrain and I didn't want to wind around the mountain all day, I wanted to get to the top. So I went this way and then saw this when I got to the top. I looked around and aw what looked like a good spot to travel to, being nice and tall compared to the surrounding area. Everything was moving so far away, I loved it. When I got to the top I found some animals (1 2) and a few storage sheds, one with a supplies box that had axes, shovels etc. Thought about borrowing an axe to build a fire with but decided I wouldn't need to make one. At this point that first mountain, which seemed so big at first, was laughably small. I was surrounded by majestic scenes (1 2). Looking around at how long the shadows were getting I knew I was running out of light. It was either go back and catch the lift to town or go higher and camp out for the night. Enough is never enough, especially when you see an even taller mountain.
The large hills were lightly populated with deer, but not much else in the way of wildlife was noted. Passing through I saw a small bunker sort of structure and briefly considered staying there for the night. Decided to pass, I was set on getting to the peak of mountain 3. It's funny comparing the view I originally had when I set out to ones like this or this.
When I got to the top of the mountain the first thing I did was take pictures at the summit. Looking at mountain 1 and 2 was laughable from here. Then I checked out my room for the night, a Mountain Patrol shack. After getting settled I put on my headphones, listened to Six Organs Of Admittance some and thought deeply about many things, which was my original intention once reaching my destination. The sunset was stunning from up there. Night had come shortly after I reached the peak of mountain 3. I layed on the couch and talked to some friends and looked at the moon, trying to feel sleepy. Took a while but I got there eventually.
I slept for a few hours in my shack, waking around 1:30 am. At this point I had about 3/4 a bottle of water left and 3/4 a protein bar. I took another bite and drank some water, then thought about what to do. I could tell I wouldn't be falling back asleep, and I felt plenty rested, so leaving seemed like a good option. Originally I wanted to leave early in the morning and catch a ski lift to save time, but that didn't happen. The air was cold at first but got warmer as I descended. In retrospect I'm glad I left when I did, I avoided walking in the hot sun again that way. The moon was nearly full and above head, providing me with plenty of light to see most the way, with my flashlight helping in the dark areas. It was very strange walking down a mountain alone at 2am, it was very still and quiet. Watching the cars and city lights below was fun. Eventually I ate all my food and I was rationing water carefully, since going without water is much more difficult than going without food. I was taking a small drink every 20-30 minutes. I took a long winding construction road called King Road I believe. Saw some more deer on ledges looking down at me, and at one point saw what looked like a giant hedgehog. No idea what it was, it ran off before I could tell. I walked on the same road for at least an hour, winding back and forth watching the lights from town come closer and closer. When I finally got back to town it felt very surreal. The town was completely dead, no one was out. I had about a mouthful of water left. Not bad considering I had packed my bag intending to come home the night before rather than this morning, and on the way up was consuming my food and water under that mentality as well. Otherwise I could of rationed even more.
The trip up took me about 6 or 7 hours, but a lot of that was spent sightseeing, taking photos, going up multiple mountains etc. Coming down only took 3 hours, despite taking a path I wasn't at all familiar with, and in the dark to boot. Navigation was easy in the area, I only took one wrong turn which isn't bad considering the situation. I reached town around 5 am and promptly went to a water spicket on the side of a house, filled a bottle of water, chugged it, then filled it again. Quite delicious. Spent another 30 minutes walking to my hotel, which I found without any trouble, then promptly made a pizza and drank a bunch of juice.
Between tons of skating and my multiple day hike I should be pretty beat. Still want more though. It's nice being young.
Yesterday I felt like climbing the highest mountain I could find, so I did. I put an MP3 player, a flashlight, binoculars, some knives, long sleeve shirt and bandana, two protein bars, two bottles of water, two cameras and my little sparrow journal in my backpack and took off. Here is the full album of photos.
I walked through town to buy those water bottles and scope out mountains. I walked up some hills through residential areas and came across a road that winded upwards into a construction zone. Here is the view of town from there. The paths were clear and very easy to traverse. They ascended quickly at first which was tiring but got me where I wanted, which is as high as I could get. I achieved views like this after a short while.
I reached the top of the mountain pretty quickly. After walking through some patches of trees and watching people on the ski lifts I came to the peak and then realized, there are taller mountains than mine. So off I went in search of more adventure. The terrain was pretty easy except for a few steeper parts, but the sun was a bitch.
During the first half of the trails on mountain 1 I saw a family and one biker. Upon reaching the ascent towards mountain 2 there were no other foot marks than mine. It felt good to go somewhere that people rarely venture to. After a little more walking mountain 1 was looking small and distant. I continued following the paths which led to an interesting variety of flowers (1 2 3 4). The view was getting rather spectacular at this point.
Got tired of sticking to the paths. I wanted more interesting terrain and I didn't want to wind around the mountain all day, I wanted to get to the top. So I went this way and then saw this when I got to the top. I looked around and aw what looked like a good spot to travel to, being nice and tall compared to the surrounding area. Everything was moving so far away, I loved it. When I got to the top I found some animals (1 2) and a few storage sheds, one with a supplies box that had axes, shovels etc. Thought about borrowing an axe to build a fire with but decided I wouldn't need to make one. At this point that first mountain, which seemed so big at first, was laughably small. I was surrounded by majestic scenes (1 2). Looking around at how long the shadows were getting I knew I was running out of light. It was either go back and catch the lift to town or go higher and camp out for the night. Enough is never enough, especially when you see an even taller mountain.
The large hills were lightly populated with deer, but not much else in the way of wildlife was noted. Passing through I saw a small bunker sort of structure and briefly considered staying there for the night. Decided to pass, I was set on getting to the peak of mountain 3. It's funny comparing the view I originally had when I set out to ones like this or this.
When I got to the top of the mountain the first thing I did was take pictures at the summit. Looking at mountain 1 and 2 was laughable from here. Then I checked out my room for the night, a Mountain Patrol shack. After getting settled I put on my headphones, listened to Six Organs Of Admittance some and thought deeply about many things, which was my original intention once reaching my destination. The sunset was stunning from up there. Night had come shortly after I reached the peak of mountain 3. I layed on the couch and talked to some friends and looked at the moon, trying to feel sleepy. Took a while but I got there eventually.
I slept for a few hours in my shack, waking around 1:30 am. At this point I had about 3/4 a bottle of water left and 3/4 a protein bar. I took another bite and drank some water, then thought about what to do. I could tell I wouldn't be falling back asleep, and I felt plenty rested, so leaving seemed like a good option. Originally I wanted to leave early in the morning and catch a ski lift to save time, but that didn't happen. The air was cold at first but got warmer as I descended. In retrospect I'm glad I left when I did, I avoided walking in the hot sun again that way. The moon was nearly full and above head, providing me with plenty of light to see most the way, with my flashlight helping in the dark areas. It was very strange walking down a mountain alone at 2am, it was very still and quiet. Watching the cars and city lights below was fun. Eventually I ate all my food and I was rationing water carefully, since going without water is much more difficult than going without food. I was taking a small drink every 20-30 minutes. I took a long winding construction road called King Road I believe. Saw some more deer on ledges looking down at me, and at one point saw what looked like a giant hedgehog. No idea what it was, it ran off before I could tell. I walked on the same road for at least an hour, winding back and forth watching the lights from town come closer and closer. When I finally got back to town it felt very surreal. The town was completely dead, no one was out. I had about a mouthful of water left. Not bad considering I had packed my bag intending to come home the night before rather than this morning, and on the way up was consuming my food and water under that mentality as well. Otherwise I could of rationed even more.
The trip up took me about 6 or 7 hours, but a lot of that was spent sightseeing, taking photos, going up multiple mountains etc. Coming down only took 3 hours, despite taking a path I wasn't at all familiar with, and in the dark to boot. Navigation was easy in the area, I only took one wrong turn which isn't bad considering the situation. I reached town around 5 am and promptly went to a water spicket on the side of a house, filled a bottle of water, chugged it, then filled it again. Quite delicious. Spent another 30 minutes walking to my hotel, which I found without any trouble, then promptly made a pizza and drank a bunch of juice.
Between tons of skating and my multiple day hike I should be pretty beat. Still want more though. It's nice being young.
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