Jake Crockett

 by Jake Crockett

Welcome Back, and Lake Blanche Spectacular

It has been too long since I last updated the ol’ blog, but who’s complaining? I haven’t missed the occasional blog update at all–I’ve spent most of the last year and a half on my bikes and/or in the mountains. This is one of the two reasons we moved back to Utah (living close to family being the other), and we/I are/am finally adjusting to living here and actually really enjoying it.

Rather than give you a run down of the last 18 months, I thought I would start with this last weekend and move forward with more regular updates. I plan to primarily focus on hiking and biking in and around Utah, eating good food (wherever it may be had), and anything else that suits my fancy.

Moreover, I have not had the easiest time finding websites identifying epic Salt Lake-based hikes suitable for children, so I will try to provide that here given that my most common (and certainly my most enjoyable) ventures are accompanied by my three-and-a-half year old (Logan) and my five-and-a-half year old (Noah). Therefore, I will generally tell you if the hike (or whatever) is doable with kids. Be forewarned, however, that Noah in particular is no slouch when it comes to hiking, so just because my five year old can do a hike without complaint doesn’t mean you’ll have the same experience with your teenager! Anyway, here goes ….

Lake Blanche

Lake Blanche in the Twin Peaks Wilderness, Wasatch Mountains, Utah (at sunset)

I’ve been on a lot of hikes in a lot of different places, from the rainforests of Belize and Honduras, to the French Alps, to the Rocky Mountains, to the Italian Dolomites, to the Tetons, and to the Hocking Hills of Ohio (in no particular order).  I have yet to find any mountains with a combination of spectacular-ness and accessibility even remotely approaching the Wasatch Mountains.  Exhibit A: Lake Blanche in the Twin Peaks Wilderness.  Here are some quick facts:

Getting There: Big Cottonwood Canyon, Mill B South.  This is 4.3 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon (at the bottom of the S-Curve), and a mere 15.5 miles from my driveway. There are actually four Wasatch canyons closer to me than Big Cottonwood–see what I mean by accessible? The trailhead is at the east end of the parking area (it starts as a paved trail next to the restroom) at the bottom of the S-Curve in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  The trail turns to dirt, crosses a bridge over the Mill B South Fork creek, and begins a long ascent with a few flat stretches.

Hiking Distance/Time: 3 miles (almost exactly), one way (this makes it 6 miles round trip). Plan on around 2 hours up, 1.5 back without kids, or 3.5 hours up and 2-2.5 back with kids. My kids like breaks, like throwing rocks and picking up every stick within spitting distance of the trail, etc., so we take our time getting up. At 3.5 hours though, I think we moved at a pretty good clip, and with my 51 pound pack, I was a bit drained at the end. I plan on working on that, as cycling legs don’t necessarily make good sherpa legs.

Elevation Gain: Nearly 3,000 feet (starting at around 6,000 feet and topping out at 9,000 feet)

Difficulty: Strenuous (especially with a 50+ pound pack).  My scale has three levels: weak, moderate, and strenuous, and my scale adjusts based on my feelings the particular day. I imagine I would consider Lake Blanche moderate if I had a simple day pack or if I had summited Mt. Olympus the weekend before (this will be the subject of a later post). But, at nearly 1,000 vertical feet for each mile traveled, the Lake Blanche trail will give your lungs and legs a good workout (take plenty of water).  This is a traditional single-track trail, but with several steep sections and some small bouldering areas.  That said, Noah made it all the way up and down without any help. He’s a tough kid with a motor that doesn’t tire. Logan would have made this hike, but we wouldn’t have been able to finish it before dark. Noah was definitely the youngest kid on the trail–we saw a few kids in the 8-10 year old range and plenty of tweens, and they all seemed to be doing fine (or at least they acted that way when they saw a 5 year old on the trail). Bottom line: if your kids have hiked quite a bit, have good balance, and are somewhat tough, you’ll be fine. If your kids haven’t done much hiking, or if your idea of hiking is walking around the track at the high school, you might want to skip this one for now.

Beauty Quotient: Unsurpassed.  You won’t be wishing the area was more beautiful. Don’t take my word for it–look at my pictures or others on the interwebs.

Solitude Quotient: Reasonable.  There are plenty of secluded places to camp.  The trail was somewhat crowded during our Saturday afternoon return, but it wasn’t bad.

My Take: The Lake Blanche trail is one of the most popular hikes in the Wasatch, and for good reason.  It is close, accessible, and the hike provides unparalleled views. After crossing the creek and hiking through the scrub oak, you will reach beautiful aspen groves with occasional pine, plenty of wildflowers, and beautiful views of waterfalls, the river (which the trail generally follows–more so the lower on the trail you are), and Big Cottonwood Canyon. At the top, you will find the classic Wasatch views–beautiful water, jagged peaks, and even the Great Salt Lake in the distance.

The trail can be somewhat crowded on weekends (our hike up on Friday was pretty calm, but there were many more people on the trail on Saturday afternoon as we made our way down), but when at the top, you will easily find solitude at Lake Blanche, or at one of the other two lakes just a few hundred yards away (Lake Vivian and Lake Florence). There are also plenty of great spots to camp, and plenty of streams from which to drink, but please remember to Leave No Trace. You’re also likely to see a bunch of wildlife (we saw two moose, one of which spent some time in our camp). Enjoy your time at Lake Blanche, and don’t be in a hurry to get back. The billable hour or whatever it is you live for will be waiting for you when you get back ….

Here are a few more pictures of Lake Blanche and its environs:

Sundial Peak is one of the Wasatch Range’s iconic peaks, with good reason.
Lake Blanche with Sundial Peak in the backgroud

Proof the little guy (and his old man) made it
Noah and me at Lake Blanche with Sundial Peak in the background

There is a lot of glacier-carved rock in this area, and it is quite fascinating. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take any real pictures of it. This is the best I have.
Looking toward the Great Salt Lake Valley with glacier-carved rock in the foregound

And finally, a rough map. As usual with Google’s terrain maps, the elevations don’t match the USGS 7.5 minute topo maps, but this will give you a good idea of how to get there.
Screen Shot 2011-08-09 at 11.01.34 PM





in Big Cottonwood Canyon / hikes 0 comments
 by Jake Crockett

Turn on your heartlight

You may have heard that I had what the doctors called a heart attack. So many people have asked “What happened?” that I thought I would take a minute and post the details from beginning to present.

On the evening of Friday, March 19, 2010, I began to feel ill and awoke the next morning unable to move, with a fever of 104. I canceled my ski plans and spent the next three days in bed, during which time I was diagnosed with strep throat. I seem to get strep throat every 12 months or so, but this episode was significantly worse. Once I was no longer contagious, I returned to work and my health continued to improve. I was soon back on my bike trainer and planned a Saturday morning ride.

On Saturday, March 27, 2010, I went on a leisurely 32 mile bike ride–the relatively slow pace dictated by 30 degree predawn temperatures and the fact that I felt I could not catch my breath during the entire ride. I fell asleep on the couch that night but awoke with chest pain when I made my way up to bed around midnight.

The chest pain continued through Sunday afternoon, but at around 1:45 (during testimony meeting at church, which I’ve always found hazardous to one’s health :)), the chest pain became much more pronounced, I began having severe pain in my left shoulder, and I began sweating and having shortness of breath. I quickly made my way home and we headed to an urgent care facility. They performed an ECG and found ST segment elevation (one of the signs of a heart attack), upon which they administered nitroglycerin (not as explosive as movies lead me to believe) and called an ambulance (where they administered more nitro).

The nitro helped, but the ambulance ride did not. It was surreal laying on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance, siren whirring, passing Ali at a red light as she/we made her way to the hospital. I could see the panic in her face, and I hope to never see it again.

Once at the Intermountain Medical Center, they administered further nitroglycerin and performed a number of blood tests. The physician continued to assure me that I was too young to have a heart attack (especially given my health) and that there must be another explanation. Once the blood test results were available showing elevated troponin levels, indicating that the ECG was correct and that I had indeed had a heart attack, the physician continued to tell me how shocking the result was. In the meantime, I was administered a blessing by my clergyman father in which I was assured that there would be no permanent damage to my heart.

The doctors performed an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of my heart), and I was then rushed to the cath lab and the doctors performed an angiography. They found my heart was performing well and that there were no blockages.

I was sent to the Coronary ICU where they continued the blood tests, ECGs, chest x-rays, and other tests. The monitors continued to show elevated ST segments, and they scheduled a CT scan of my chest to see whether there were any blockages in my lungs. There were none, and after 24 hours I was transferred out of the Coronary ICU and into the heart and lung wing of the hospital. At both places, I found I was at least 30 years younger the anyone on either of those two floors, which wasn’t particularly comforting (yet, oddly, at the same time was comforting as I knew I would be the first person out of there and that I could beat any patient on the floor in a foot race around the wing).

The cardiologists came to the conclusion that the strep infection from the week before made its way to my heart causing my heart to become inflamed, which inflammation caused what appeared to be a heart attack, but not in the traditional sense (where the heart suffers from a blockage and begins to die). There was nothing I could have done to prevent this one. They remarked that had I not been in good physical condition and begun strep treatment so quickly, I would have been in much worse shape and could have required surgery. As it is, I was discharged from the hospital 48 hours after I was admitted, feeling much better and with minimal chest pain. The doctors do not believe the damage to my heart will cause any long-term problems, a blessing indeed. A week in bed, some medicine, plenty of the Cosby show on cable should be all the rehab I need.

A few observations:

1. I don’t look forward to getting old. Looking around at my hospital mates was good motivation to live a healthy lifestyle–I think I lowered the average weight on my floor by 100 pounds while I was there. Getting old may be bad, but getting old and falling out of shape is worse.

2. I found it very entertaining that my breakfast while in the Coronary ICU was a waffle and sausage. I haven’t had sausage in about 20 years, and I wasn’t about to start while in the hospital for heart problems!

3. Lunch while in the Coronary ICU was roast beef covered in gravy. Another mind-boggling meal for someone in the heart unit.

4. We undoubtedly have the best family and friends to ever exist. We have been overwhelmed by the number of phone calls, emails, visits, prayers, meal and kid-watching offers, and other outpourings of support. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed and have been much appreciated by my spouse and me. For several hours she (and I) thought that there was a chance that she might be required to raise our three rambunctious boys on her own. Your support during those first 24 hours was appreciated at a level you’ll not soon understand.

5. I’m glad to be on my way to recovery. I’m glad for the able care of skilled physicians who knew how to take care of me (and who knew how to calm my wife’s tattered nerves). I am as blessed a person as I know.

As the great Neil Diamond wrote “Turn on your heartlight, let it shine wherever you go, Let it make a happy glow for all the world to see.” Lame lyrics by a very handsome man, but you’ve turned on your heartlight on our behalf. 🙂 Again, thank you for all of your efforts; we are very grateful to you.

Jake, Ali, and the boys

in personal 14 comments