More Hiking Stupidity

MORE HIKING STUPIDITY

My journey up the mountain behind our home wasn’t just about bees and wasps.

Another surprise of the hike was on one of the crags that line the ridgeline. It was one of the topmost and had a large flat area where you could stand and look out over the entire Utah Valley, and even see some of Juab County. Just next to the edge of the outcropping I noticed a small brown circle which looked out of place in the natural setting.

After I looked closer, I could see that it was a penny. I picked it up and looked closely at the date. It was from the 1940's, and for all I knew, had been left there by some past hiker fifty years before me. I thought a second about leaving it there for some future hiker, but it was too irresistible to pass by. I only wished I had a new penny in my pocket to replace it.

To tell you how unprepared I was, I had taken a baggie full of ice and drank the water as it melted, and soon was out of water. Fortunately this was June, and as I climbed higher I found patches of snow where I could renew my water supply.

The really idiotic thing about this whole adventure is that no one knew where I was going. I hadn't left a note saying where I was, so if I got hurt there would be no rescue party. I had on the wrong shoes, and I hadn't brought enough water. But still I climbed on, because “it was there”.

I have always wondered about that phrase and mountains. We climb it because it is there. But I can tell you that it really is true. I kept climbing because there was more mountain in front of me.

Farther up the mountain I finally came to the first of the ridge tops of the mountains. From here it would be easy walking across the ridges from mountain to mountain, and at the top of each mountain there seemed to be another mountain which was just a little higher. If you are going to climb that far, you might as well reach the mountaintop. I knew I had to start down pretty soon to beat darkness before I got to the bottom. So I went to the second tallest mountain which was next to Buckley, I think. It probably would have taken another thirty minutes to go to that other peak, but I decided not to press my luck and started down.

The hike down was not the same path I followed up, since I had climbed a few small cliffs which were not higher than ten feet. I had fallen ten feet enough to not worry about falling that far, but I didn't want to be falling down then on purpose.

So, on at least two of the parts of the downhill journey I found myself faced with two decisions. Slide down the rock slide or walk through the thick underbrush.

My shoes had almost completely fallen apart by this time. The soles were flapping from the uppers, and they threatened to come completely apart at any minute. When I got home later that day I simply threw them away. They were totally thrashed.

Sliding down a rock slide on purpose is very fun, but I strongly caution anyone who hasn't survived at least twenty-five mishaps like I have, not to try this at home. The loose rocks had made a five- foot slope of small pebbles and stones. They were loose enough that as you stepped onto them, they would slide under your feet and you would actually be surfing the rocks. I had to be careful I didn't get going too fast, and from my skiing experience, I knew when and how to slow up and then when to stop. My ankles did get banged up by a couple of larger rocks, but I have never experienced anything like that since.

I made it back and immediately collapsed into bed. I had been hiking for seven hours, and had gone from about forty-five hundred feet elevation where my house is to about eleven thousand feet at the top of the mountain and then back down again. I don't know how many miles I hiked that day, but I had hiked over two miles straight up and down. I once tried to figure it out on a topographical map, and it seemed like it was about eleven miles total.

I slept for about fifteen hours straight and woke up about noon the next day. The family was away, so there was no one around to complain about how foolish I had been or how late I was sleeping.

Stupid? Yes. A great adventure? Absolutely.

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