I think Will Gadd's ideas in the following video are what everyone should make as their slogan for life. I'm making it mine.
"People don't stop running because they get old, they get old because they stop running."-unknown
In that vein, Annie and I set out to explore the "unmaintained" trail of the Millcreek Crest, not to be confused with the uber classic Wasatch Crest, or just Crest, that is so popular among runners and bikers. My goal is link as many loops up these canyons as possible, so this was a trail I hadn't done yet. The Millcreek Crest trail links the summits of Mt Aire to Grandeur Peak, and according to the map below, there is a trail of sorts along the ridge. When a trail is "unmaintained" that means there isn't a trail at all. We thought we'd go check it out anyway, looping back to our car via the Pipeline. Easy peasy. Not.
From the saddle below Mt Aire, the trail is an obvious turnoff southwest that climbs up to the ridge. The trail meanders on either side of the ridge, often times decent, sometimes poor, sometimes really faint, and sometimes nonexistent. I guess that's part of the fun. What isn't part of the fun is schwaking in thick brush when you lose the trail, which occured more than 50% of the time. It took us around 3 hours to reach the Grandeur Peak saddle, with the last hour in the dark sans headlamps. That was kinda miserable.
Annie came up with a good definition of hell. Its ridgwacking(shwaking on a ridge) in the cold and darkness without lamps, on loose terrain, with sharp bushes gouging you and bad ankles that roll easily. Annie entered hell on the way down Grandeur as visibility was zero and rolled her ankle badly, creating a long partner assist to get her down to the Millcreek road. I ran down to my parents house from Church Fork to get a shuttle for her as our car was still 5 miles upcanyon at Elbow Fork. We arrived safely back home at 1030, a long journey that I thought would take max 2.5 hours. Once again, my poor estimation skills at work.
Don't bother with this ridge, its not worth your time.
"People don't stop running because they get old, they get old because they stop running."-unknown
In that vein, Annie and I set out to explore the "unmaintained" trail of the Millcreek Crest, not to be confused with the uber classic Wasatch Crest, or just Crest, that is so popular among runners and bikers. My goal is link as many loops up these canyons as possible, so this was a trail I hadn't done yet. The Millcreek Crest trail links the summits of Mt Aire to Grandeur Peak, and according to the map below, there is a trail of sorts along the ridge. When a trail is "unmaintained" that means there isn't a trail at all. We thought we'd go check it out anyway, looping back to our car via the Pipeline. Easy peasy. Not.
 |
| Millcreek Crest is #22 above white word box |
From the saddle below Mt Aire, the trail is an obvious turnoff southwest that climbs up to the ridge. The trail meanders on either side of the ridge, often times decent, sometimes poor, sometimes really faint, and sometimes nonexistent. I guess that's part of the fun. What isn't part of the fun is schwaking in thick brush when you lose the trail, which occured more than 50% of the time. It took us around 3 hours to reach the Grandeur Peak saddle, with the last hour in the dark sans headlamps. That was kinda miserable.
Annie came up with a good definition of hell. Its ridgwacking(shwaking on a ridge) in the cold and darkness without lamps, on loose terrain, with sharp bushes gouging you and bad ankles that roll easily. Annie entered hell on the way down Grandeur as visibility was zero and rolled her ankle badly, creating a long partner assist to get her down to the Millcreek road. I ran down to my parents house from Church Fork to get a shuttle for her as our car was still 5 miles upcanyon at Elbow Fork. We arrived safely back home at 1030, a long journey that I thought would take max 2.5 hours. Once again, my poor estimation skills at work.
Don't bother with this ridge, its not worth your time.
Annie takes another lickin and keeps on ticken. Spence go run good trail fast.
ReplyDelete