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Thread: The WURL on 9/3/16

  1. #1
    Moderator jman's Avatar
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    The WURL on 9/3/16

    April of this year I came across a blogpost for the WURL (Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Linkup) and immediately fell in love with it. 34 miles of ridge-hiking (more like 22+ miles), 18,000+ feet elevation gain, and summiting 22 peaks, all on the Little Cottonwood Ridgeline.

    And this Saturday, September 3rd, will be my friend Elynn and I's attempt and defeating this beat. Our goal is under 24 hours.

    Since April, we have summited a dozen or so of these peaks and stashed water at these summits. Water and food stashing is a necessity for this hike. There is NO water along the ridgeline in September.

    We have 4 locations. They are at the following: Twin Peaks, near Cardiff Pass (or Pole-Line Pass), Hidden Peak (which is the tram at Snowbird), and the saddle right before the last 1/2 mile to the summit of the Pfeifferhorn.

    The plan is to start at Ferguson Canyon at 2am and work our way to Twin Peaks and follow the ridge line until we Dromedary and have breakfast there. We will continue on and fill up our water at the Cardiff Pass. Continue on and hit a few more summits and work our way around to the tram and have lunch with a few family members and friends. This will be our longest break. We plan on some pizza, change of socks, foot and back rubs, and probably a 20-30min nap. Afterwards, we will press on until the saddle near the Pfeifferhorn and fill up our last 3 liters of water there, along with having dinner. We have freeze dried meals and will packing a small stove to boil the water at that spot. We will leave the cooking gear in a alcove and come up another week to retrieve it. Again, press on around 4-5pm and scramble up to Lone Peak where we will find exfil to Upper Bells Reservoir. From there it is a "easy" 5 mile hike back to the our waiting car and friends. Hopefully ending before 2am. If not...that's okay too.

    We are experienced with Ferguson up to Twin Peaks, Cardiff Pass, Devils Castle Traverse, Pfeifferhorn, Thunder Peak, Lone Peak, and the exit slope and Bells canyon. The areas where we haven't figured out (but have some good intel) or experienced yet is from Dromedary to Superior, and then from Devil's Castle to Hidden Peak, and the Baldys.

    There is no "defined" trail as it is ridge-scrambling and rock-hopping for the most part.

    Elynn and I have been running in our down time and we will ready for this beast of a hike. The only concern of mine is me being a Type 1 Diabetic. I have been for 19 years now (I'm 32) and making sure my blood-sugars are stable is what will define my endurance level.

    We are both no strangers to long hikes or long days. I have been canyoneering for the past 15 years with some canyons reaching 16+ hours. I have been hiking smaller hikes and trails ever since I was in HS, and so when I saw this hike - I HAD to do it. And who knows what is ahead! I'm not Jared Campbell (the guy who designed the line and made it popular) but each hike and peak-bagging gets easier and easier!


    Anyway, I will be reposting this Sunday and giving a full TR with pics.


    PS - if any of you are near the ridges in Little Cottonwood sometime on Saturday and you see two young people hiking and looking beat-up and sun scorched - that would be us! Say hi!
    ●Canyoneering 'Canyon Conditions' @ www.candition.com
    ●Hiking Treks (my younger brother's website): hiking guides @ www.thetrekplanner.com
    "He who walks on the edge...will eventually fall."
    "There are two ways to die in the desert - dehydration and drowning." -overhearing a Park Ranger at Capitol Reef N.P.
    "...the first law of gear-dynamics: gear is like a gas - it will expand to fit the available space." -Wortman, Outside magazine.
    "SEND IT, BRO!!"

  2. Likes whansen, Sandstone Addiction liked this post
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  4. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by jman View Post
    The areas where we haven't figured out (but have some good intel) or experienced yet is from Dromedary to Superior, and then from Devil's Castle to Hidden Peak, and the Baldys.
    Both "interesting" terrain.

    You'll be hitting Devil's Castle from the east then traversing to the west. I think its a little harder in that direction as the climb down into the notch off the bigger, eastern sub-summit is kinda tricky to find the easiest spot. Its damn exposed. Be careful and find good handholds. Scrambly to get to the true summit but once you're across the big gap on the summit ridges, it can be loose but it shouldn't be hard. Post a pic of the distinctive summit!

    Good luck!

  5. #3
    Moderator jman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian in SLC View Post
    Both "interesting" terrain.

    You'll be hitting Devil's Castle from the east then traversing to the west. I think its a little harder in that direction as the climb down into the notch off the bigger, eastern sub-summit is kinda tricky to find the easiest spot. Its damn exposed. Be careful and find good handholds. Scrambly to get to the true summit but once you're across the big gap on the summit ridges, it can be loose but it shouldn't be hard. Post a pic of the distinctive summit!

    Good luck!
    Thanks Brian!

    You are right, we did all 3 summits from the west to east direction a few months ago. We didn't think it was too bad. Exposed indeed though! But we are anxious from east to west though. Still scary!

    One nice crossover from canyoneering into hiking/mountaineering is all of the down-climbing and exposure experience. That will prove useful here.

    I'll have pics of every summit and will have some good ones to share here. :)





    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    ●Canyoneering 'Canyon Conditions' @ www.candition.com
    ●Hiking Treks (my younger brother's website): hiking guides @ www.thetrekplanner.com
    "He who walks on the edge...will eventually fall."
    "There are two ways to die in the desert - dehydration and drowning." -overhearing a Park Ranger at Capitol Reef N.P.
    "...the first law of gear-dynamics: gear is like a gas - it will expand to fit the available space." -Wortman, Outside magazine.
    "SEND IT, BRO!!"

  6. Likes whansen liked this post
  7. #4
    I hope Jman doesn't mind me posting this but you can follow his WURL attempt live at the link below which I think is really cool.

    https://locatoweb.com/map/single/181381546

    I stumbled on to the link about an hour into his attempt and have been checking on his progress about every hour.

    7.5 hours in and they are on the summit of Twin Peaks, which I think is the most physically demanding part of the WURL.

  8. #5
    We need an update as it appears the cell phone battery died coming off Dromadory.

  9. #6
    WURL is a beast! Often underestimated. I admire all who complete and attempt. If that live map is accurate they were pacing at roughly a 50 hour finish. Best wishes!

  10. #7
    Moderator jman's Avatar
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    The WURL on 9/3/16

    Sorry guys. Sorry for the delay. I've been a bit busy!

    And yes battery died right at dromedary.

    We stopped right before Monte Christo and Superior (scaryyy and very sketchy) due to intense rain and hail. It rained on us about 5 times but no lightning for about 20mins each time.

    Those rocks were sketchy when wet!!! And talk about exposed.

    A TR will be coming soon though. Don't worry.

    Oh, and we were able to continue on though later and get just past devils castle.

    So while we definitely didn't do the WURL in one go, in two weeks we are going to finish the last ridge line. 12 miles.

    And holy cow! The WURL is definitely designed for runners. And not just runners runners but ultra runners and ironman people. It is brutal!

    It is very underestimated. And we have planning for it since April! And we are faster than your normal hiker too.

    Jared Campbell (the line designer) is a beast. 16 hours!! That's incredible.


    The WURL for the "fast hiker" is probably looking at 24-36 hrs of actual hiking time. Like us.

    These other people HAD to run the approach, middle section and exit out of Bell canyon. There is no way they hiked it like we did with those types of time. We rested for less than 30mins on Saturday for 12hours. 5 mins here and 5 mins there.

    Crazy stuff! But really incredible though.

    And thanks Shane. I don't mind at all.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    ●Canyoneering 'Canyon Conditions' @ www.candition.com
    ●Hiking Treks (my younger brother's website): hiking guides @ www.thetrekplanner.com
    "He who walks on the edge...will eventually fall."
    "There are two ways to die in the desert - dehydration and drowning." -overhearing a Park Ranger at Capitol Reef N.P.
    "...the first law of gear-dynamics: gear is like a gas - it will expand to fit the available space." -Wortman, Outside magazine.
    "SEND IT, BRO!!"

  11. Likes whansen, 2065toyota liked this post
  12. #8
    I will say that following your progress in real-time was pretty dang cool, at least while the battery lasted.

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