Trail work to temporarily close Mount Olympus

SALT LAKE CITY — An iconic Utah hike will lack its scenic payoff this weekend.

The U.S. Forest Service plans to close a portion of the Mount Olympus trail in order to construct new route markers. Salt Lake District Ranger Cathy Kahlow said the work will cover two days.

"We're going to have work crews up there Saturday and Sunday, along with the Wasatch Mountain Club, working to better define the route to the peak," Kahlow said.

Mount Olympus forms one of the most recognizable elements of the Salt Lake skyline, with its imposing north face. The trail to the peak rises roughly 4,000 feet over just three miles. Its final stretch is a steep scramble over rocks, with no one defined trail.

"It's a very steep trail and it's not for the faint at heart," Kahlow said. "When we're done delineating it, we hope people can go back up but be prepared."

The closure will only apply to the final half-mile, from a prominent saddle to the peak proper. The scramble up to the peak isn't as problematic as the reverse. The route down has confused many hikers over the years, leading to numerous search and rescue efforts each summer.

"Things look differently when you come a different way and when you're going down you don't actually always know the way you came up," Kahlow said.

The Forest Service intends to build large cairns, or rock piles. They'll be about the size of a person. Kahlow said natural materials are preferred to man-made signs because the area falls within the Mount Olympus Wilderness Area.

We'll see if this reduces the number of SAR responses up there!!

I did this last year, and I can see why people might have a little trouble locating the route when they begin descending. But at some point you have to realize that you're off course and need to backtrack and figure out the right way, not keep pressing on to ever more dangerous terrain.