Somehow years ago I got into my head that it was cool to run repeats of high peaks. I do recall probably in 2004, seeing a guy run up and down Mount Timpanogos twice in a day. I was very impressed. But he only went up to the saddle and back twice, not the summit. I convinced myself that this was not quite right, that you needed to go from trailhead to summit and back, then repeat.
My crazy repeats started on Timpanogos, first two, then three, then four, and finally five summits on August 18-19, 2006. I’m still waiting for someone to break that record, or even tie it, but it still stands nearly ten years later. It seems like every month I meet someone and the conversation starts, “Are you the guy who…” I think, “oh no, here it comes again.” I get embarrassed and reply, “Yes, I’m that guy.”
I like repeats because they are on a consistent trail. You return to your car every few hours to resupply and continue on. It also is a tough mental exercise that seems to help develop mental strength to continue on in races when I face trials.
My hope is that I have helped inspire others to do repeats. Many others have done repeats on Mount Timpanogos. Recently repeats seem common on Grandeur Peak above Salt Lake City, including an amazing Quint Grandeur accomplished by Jennilyn Eaton, up its steep west face. In 2015, Ben Woolsey climbed to the top of the Y (one mile, 1,000 feet) at least ten times in a day, and did 100 climbs in a matter of a few weeks. During that year he climbed to the top of the block Y above Provo 500 times.
Some of the crazy repeats I have accomplished include:
- Quint Mount Timpanogos
- Double Kings Peak (accomplished three times)
- Quad Lake Mountain
- Quad Y mountain
Today, I did another one. I ran up and down Squaw Peak above Provo, Utah four times. Each round trip involves about 7.4 miles and 2,800 feet of climbing. Squaw Peak is named after a Ute Indian, Big Elk’s wife, who died in the canyon after a battle with early Utah pioneer settlers in 1850.
I started my crazy repeats at about 2:30 a.m. with some canyon headwinds blowing. I knew storms would likely blow in around noon, so I hoped to get in 4-5 summits before the rain messed up the trail. It was all quiet with just one other car parked in the Rock Canyon trailhead. I had only been up to the top of Squaw Peak one other time a few years ago and it was by accident. I ran up Rock Canyon in the dark, took a wrong turn, and soon found myself at the top. So I roughly knew what to expect.
The first 1.7 miles runs up the Rock Canyon trail. It indeed is rocky, but the trail is mostly covered with small rocks. The Rock Canyon creek was roaring down the canyon as snow melted up above. I made five stream crossings on bridges before taking the left turn onto the Squaw Peak Trail. From there, the trail is more narrow and smooth, but quite steep without switch-backs. It had rained the previous afternoon, but things dried out nicely and the trail was about perfect – moist and soft. There were just a couple short muddy sections to get around. The temperature was nice a cool, but not too cold, in the 40s.
In the dark, with my green light, the going was a bit slow, but I pushed a consistent, comfortable pace up the slopes of the peak. City lights appeared below at about mile 2.8 that were impressive and cast light up on all the mountain slopes. There were a few nice flatter sections along the way where I could push the pace.
I reached to top at 1:21, rather slow but solid. I didn’t dally, turned around and had a fun fast run back down, arriving back at the trailhead at 2:06. I stopped for about twelve minutes, refueling and making adjustments. At about 4:45 a.m. I was back on the trail. For my second trip it felt like my legs were nicely warmed up and my energy higher. I was pleased with my pace. The 100-mile race from last Friday didn’t seem to affect me, I had pretty much fully recovered. This time I reached the top in 1:24. Dawn had arrived and I turned off my light. On the way down I ran into several groups of hikers and runners making their way up. My second round-trip was 2:10, just four minutes slower than the first trip.
I only stayed in the car for six minutes this time, anxious to get going on the third trip. This trip was funny because some of the hikers and runners detected that I was doing repeats. “Going up again?” “Yes, this is my third trip,” was my reply as I ran past, leaving them to have that thought rattle around in their minds. I reached the top for the third time in 1:22, another solid climb. The third round trip was 2:12.
My break between trips 3 and 4 was only five minutes. Trips 1-3 were fun. Trip 4 was work. On the way up I considered if I would go for five. A couple guys coming down called out, “Is this four?” I sheepishly replied, “Yes.” A couple guys on this trip recognized me and said they read my blog. With about a mile to go up, a clap of thunder roared and my stress level went up. I looked at the sky and down into the valleys. There would be no avoiding it, rain would hit me. Now, I decided. I would stop at four trips. As I approached the final climb to the top, sleet began to fall. I reached the top this time in a slow 1:31. On the way down I was greeted by Brandon Wickes, from Mapleton, who said he ran a couple 100-milers that I also ran earlier in the year.
The sleet really started to come down hard. It would hit the trail, quickly melt, and the trail turned into a muddy “slip-and-slide.” Trickles of water started to cascade down the middle of the trail. I slowed my pace carefully. I didn’t want to fall, but I still did fall twice and got my backside and hands all muddy. The run down was slow but once on the Rock Canyon trail, I could pick up the speed.
With a couple hundred yards to go, a voice called out down ahead. It was Craig Lloyd. It was great to see him. I stopped for a minute and talked with my good running friend. I joked that I needed to get into climbing shape and that I was easing into it by running a Quad Squaw Peak.
I reached the trailhead, after a slow fourth trip of 2:32. In total, my Quad Squaw Peak, including rests, took me 9:25. I was still short of 50K, so I decided to run another 1.7 miles to reach that distance. Brandon was heading back up to do double. I considered briefly if I should continue for a 5th trip, but that trail above was probably still slick and the clouds to the south looked like another storm was on the way. I was happy to finish with four. I had climbed about 11,500 feet in those 31 miles (50K).
