Free Time on Mt. Olympus

Yesterday while I was out for my walk/jog, I found myself looking up at Mt. Olympus and thinking I'd like to climb it. And then I realized, why not?

I sent out a last-minute e-mail to friends, but nobody was available with such little advance notice.

I decided I might prefer to do it alone anyway so I could go as far or as short as I wanted.  I was a teeny bit nervous I might meet a murderer at the top who might push me off a cliff, but Dan assured me the trail was well-travelled and I'd be perfectly safe. Didn't think about snakes until Nicholas told me to take a picture if I saw one.

This morning I was so excited I woke up before my alarm went off. It's so fun to have something new to do! After I got the kids off to school I set out.

My goal was to hike for 2 hours and I made it for 2:20 before my legs were DYING and my achilles tendon was getting sore and I was afraid I'd stress it too much and compromise my future exercise plans.  The first hour was great but challenging. The second hour was very difficult and I had to stand and rest every minute of steep hiking. It is super steep!!!  

One of the best parts of the day were the people I met. It's kind of cool to think we all decided to hike Mt. Olympus today--it's kind of bonding.

One lady was about 60 and her age showed. I was so impressed she was hiking because it wasn't easy.

An Asian woman was doing Tai Chi near a tree overlooking the valley.

Two young guys came jogging down past me.

One man with hiking poles passed me on the way up and it looked like he was wearing ankle weights! I couldn't believe that someone would need the added challenge!  Then he passed me coming down as I was still going up. We chatted a minute and I asked him about his "ankle weights." He said they were actually special fabric protecting his ankles from snakes because he'd seen so many this year! (Great!)

A girl about my age hiked past as I was having lunch. I was a bit disappointed because I would have liked to talk and walk together.  She never passed me again so she must have made it to the top!

The next man was coming down as I was resting on the way up. He commented that the weather was nicer today than yesterday when he hiked up! He said he hikes Mt. Oly 50 - 70 times a year and it takes him about an hour and half. But he runs up. (He was wearing every day Adidas tennis shoes with no socks!) He stopped and chatted and told me he'd hiked Atacacuengo (best guess) in Argentina and made it to the top which is pretty rare.  We chatted for quite a while and he told me all about the second time he tried the hike in Argentina with a friend and the friend got sick so they couldn't make it.

Finally, I met Otis as I was resting on the way down. Otis walked to Mt. Olympus from West Valley. He's racing the Wasatch 100 next week so he's trying to put in a lot of miles but not have it be too rigorous. He'd started early in the morning and was planning on walking until 10:00 p.m.  It was his 18th 100 and he's done 50 - 60 marathons. Said he screwed up his life when he was younger and doesn't have a wife or kids so runs instead.

Like I said, very interesting people! (Mom, you would have loved it!)

I felt great coming down and can't wait to try it again!
You know it's going to eat at me until I get to the top!