It was Labor Day yesterday, and Rebecca and I took advantage of the opportunity to hike up Mt. Olympus. We have done it before, and the last time I recall thinking we should have gotten an earlier start. Yesterday I was wishing the same thing, as the mid-morning sun began creeping over the ridge and stealing the precious west-side shade. It is a beautiful climb with a nice pay-off at the end, and perhaps better in the spring when the river is flowing.
But Olympus is also a grueling and relentless hike, climbing nearly 5000 vertical feet in about three miles. After a series of steady switchbacks on the bottom third, the trail heads straight up. A lot of people give up and turn back, sometimes at the river. Some stop at the saddle, which is a nice place to picnic. But the real crown is to clambor up the rocks to the summit, where on a clear day you can see Idaho and Wyoming to the north, and Utah Lake to the south.
Just as I was taking in the panoramic views and exulting in having endured to the end I saw a family beginning their descent, with a three-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl each making the hike. Uh ... so much for being a manly man.
I have learned through my years on this earth that whenever you let your ego soar it is only a matter of time before it crash lands.
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