Winter Hikes with Microspikes. Jan. 2022 Edition

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Grandeur Peak. 5.9 miles. 2,356 ft elevation gain. Date hike: Jan. 17, 2022

To celebrate MLK Day, Leti, Rob, and I ventured up Grandeur Peak. I gave this hike four out of five snowflakes. It's a relatively friendly trail. But, at the end, you think you should already be there, and then you have to keep climbing a lot. There is a false summit. Mentally annoying in my opinion, even though I am sure there is a life lesson here.

Grandeur Peak is the perfect trail for the winter for a few reasons. One, the trail is packed down because it is so popular. Two, no snakes in the winter. Three, it has great views for not going very many miles up.  The above picture is not Grandeur Peak. Rather, it is taken from Grandeur Peak. How pleasant. 

The three of us hit the trail a little after 11. We decided not to go early because we didn't want to freeze. We should have just left early because when you hike uphill in the snow, you really don't need layers (unless you are hiking Everest). I ditched gloves on the way up because my hands were sweating.

This hike has a relatively nice grade until you get to almost the top. And then, it tries to kill you. So, as we hiked a long, various and sundry topics were discussed. When we got to the part that is not the top, but should be, we didn't say much. Just tried to breathe. I kept thinking about the benefits of an oxygen tank. I tried to keep up with Leti. It was indeed pointless. When we were almost to the top, there was a trailrunner coming down. No spikes. Just good ole running shoes. I think this may have been the same guy who did the trail twice and therefore passed us twice. Personally, I think he is little crazed. I digress.

The top looking away from SLC was beautiful. As demonstarted: 

The top looking into Salt Lake was not beautiful. As demonstrated: 
Would you look at that air quality? Yes, there's a city down there. I live in that, which is probably why I have lung problems. 

We tried to look away from that. Just depressing. Here we are happy to be at the top: 
Me, Rob, Letizia.


Some are photogenic. 

Some are not. What was I doing in that picture?    

We were the only ones at the top, which was nice. We didn't stay long because it was cold. And, at some point, you should head back to the car. Going down was easier for Leti and I because of our spikes. Rob had yak tracks, which didn't work super well going down. But, we made it. A good time was had by all. 

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