Signing off for a few days to catch a plane to SLC and head into the mountains. Trip itinerary looks to be: Day 1, warm-up climb on Mount Olympus, a 9,026-foot peak visible from downtown Salt Lake on the front of the Wasatch Range; Day 2, a newspaper assignment in the desert west of the Great Salt Lake (details forthcoming and top secret at this time); Day 3, a drive northeast to the state’s Uinta Mountains for an attempt at Kings Peak, the highest point in the state at 13,528 feet.

If the weather is good — this is a strange time of year to be mountaineering — the plan is to start the trek into Kings, a 28-mile roundtrip, in the late afternoon and then hike with headlamps as need be to make it to Dollar Lake, the halfway point, or even a bit further. We’ll then bivy a few hours sleep, get up with the sunrise, and bust it for the summit.

A long downhill hike then back to Dollar Lake and finally onto the car by late afternoon/early evening the next day will finish the quick climb off.

That’s the ideal scenario, anyway.

Will report on the trip in a few days after I come back out of the mountains. . .