Trip Report: Training for WURL
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Training for WURL By Frank Bouchard |
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| HIKE | 08/15/2026 | EXT |
| Participants: Frank B, Kerry R, Eric, H, Chris M, Joslin H, Jimmy S, Eileen T, and Ray D. The Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Linkup: An insane circumnavigation of Little Cottonwood canyon packing a ridiculous amount of mileage and vertical gain. Even among the fierce mountaineers of the WMC, few are prepared for this herculean feat. But I wanted to see what we could do. After posting, I immediately got some gung-ho hardy hikers convinced they were going to conquer the full route. As the date got closer, enthusiasm turned to nervousness and everyone admitted they were only going to cover a section. The purpose of the activity was not so much to do the whole WURL but rather to set a baseline for future attempts. Plus club policy technically does not allow class-5 unroped climbing, so the seven of us started at Cardiff Pass at 5 am, skipping the first ten rugged miles. That still left many many hours of some of the Wasatch's most crushing terrain. We scrambled, boulder-hoped, smeared, and stemmed along jagged rocks surrounded by endless spectacular views. Ray and his crew of four met up with us late morning and accompanied the group through the toughest section of Devil's Castle. At Hidden Peak, we met up with my parents who took the Snowbird Tram up to deliver a critical resupply. At that point, most of the group ended their hike with a free tram ride down. Three of us (myself, Kerry, and Eric) continued on. We got through most of the Bullion Divide before descending into White Pine basin just past Red Baldy and hiking the trail down under the setting sun. We covered 20 miles and 9,000 feet of vertical gain over 15 hours. My goal is to return and get farther next year. |
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