Altitudes:
Loafer 10687 ft. (south)
Santaquin 10685 ft. (north)

Details of the trip:
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Started 6:05AM
Reached Santaquin peak at 9:00 AM.
Chased mountain goats up Loafer, and arrived at 10:25 AM.

This was an incredibly enjoyable hike. I was going to write that I highly recommend it, but I say that about all the peaks. As always, be sure to stay on the correct trail if you decide to take the challenge. My friend took a wrong turn on the way down and had us worried for a while. Luckily both routes made it to the road, albeit at different points.

Edit: It turns out that the embed code for flickr slideshows has been causing some odd behavior on my site (disappearing mouse cursor), so I’m providing a link to the album instead: Loafer & Santaquin Peaks.

At 10192 ft (3107 m), Spanish Fork Peak isn’t the highest in the area, but it will certainly give you a good fight. From the main trail-head in Maple Canyon (Mapleton, Utah), the hike starts out with a very rocky trail. It also doesn’t waste much time gaining altitude. After a few miles you will arrive at a small lake, and then head upward again toward the ridge. Spanish Fork Peak is of course a beautiful mountain, and I would strongly recommend these 5.2 miles (10.4 round trip) to anyone who enjoys a good hike.

This particular trip was mine and a good friend’s second attempt to hit the summit. We attempted the year previous (2009), and ended up taking the wrong trail, not noticing a split to the south at the very beginning. We would have likely noticed, were it light outside. After missing the real trail-head, we continued on a fairly well-trodden path that began to make suspicious splits and merges, much like you would see on a cattle trail. But it seemed big enough to be the right trail until we reached a nice grassy saddle which overlooked a valley to the south east of the mountain.

Hey that looks like the peak … only further away than when we started.

From there the trail split off in several unlikely directions, and the ones we tried only ended up going back down, or disappearing completely. In desperation, we bushwhacked it up a steep hill, the ascent requiring the use of all four limbs, only to arrive in a forest full of 8-10 ft. fern plants. Still no trail in sight.

Eye-level in the forest of joyful fern plants.

Having already hiked a good few miles, and after being ruffed up a bit, we decided to head back down, and try again another day. It’s not very fun to be conquered by a mountain, and it’s for this reason that we made Spanish Fork Peak a high priority this year.

Here is a short slide show of photos from this year.

Edit: It turns out that the embed code for flickr slideshows has been causing some odd behavior on my site (disappearing mouse cursor), so I’m providing a link to the album instead: Spanish Fork Peak.

A lot has happened for me in the last month or two. The primary topic of note is the arrival of Penelope. She is unquestionably adorable, but I have also forgotten how much work newborns can be (especially for Heidi).

I’ve also been able to spend a little time outdoors this summer with Kairo and family. I’m hoping to add a photo feed to the sidebar soon (along with other adjustments), so I can share some imagery. Our trusty point-and-shoot camera of 5 years decided to die on us earlier this spring, and I don’t take shopping for electronic gadgets lightly; so long story short, we ended up investing in a digital SLR camera (Nikon D5000), and I have tried to take advantage of the technology.

As far as plans for Peak-Bagging (a long-standing and cherished activity for me), I plan to hit Spanish Fork Peak (this Saturday), and Timpanogos in August. I’m hoping I will find opportunities for other peaks, but I will have to wait and see.

And lastly, on the topic of running, I have a bigger goal for this Summer/Fall. I’m planning to do the Spanish Fork half marathon in September. My hope is that from next year on, I will be doing marathons on a regular basis. I’ve definitely improved my endurance and speed this year by focusing more on tempos, fartleks, and hills. I still have a lot of room to improve on that focus, but the noticeable difference has come immediately.

A good friend of mine recently took some maternity photos of my sweetheart during a lunch break. Without hesitation I will say that he is one of the best photographers I’ve ever seen, and would highly recommend him to anyone looking to have professional-grade photos done for family, engagement and/or weddings. Within the short time we had, Jeremy managed to capture some great photos, some of which you can see in one of his recent blog posts (http://blog.mygrapesoda.com/2010/04/maternity-hk/).

If you are interested in photography, do check out his website, www.mygrapesoda.com. Browse through the photo galleries (and “jmk”). I guarantee you will be impressed.