Third times the charm. After 2 failed attempts at the so-called Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Linkup or (WURL) I finally completed the journey. For pictures from the second 1/2 of the successfull WURL click here. My camera didn’t work for the first 1/2.
I estimate it to be ~34 miles with ~21,000 ft of vertical gain and ~21,000 ft of vertical loss, on everything from good trail up to 5.7 with most of the terrain being roughly class 3 boulder hopping. On August 7th, 2004, I started at 2:00 AM and finished that night at 11:30 PM for a total time of ~21.5 hrs. Despite the relatively large amount of time I’ve spent in Bells Canyon, I still got lost trying to short cut across the upper Bells Canyon Valley and ended up doing about 1.5 hrs of the most heinous bush-whacking/stream-hiking of my life. Note that my course in the map below (easier to see in the large version) shows that I was just barely off-course. If you are going to attempt the WURL, make sure you have the last part dialed. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me for other info.
Click here for information from my second attempt.
[...] Update: I returned on August 7, 2004 and completed the journey, story here. [...]
By: WURL - Attempt # 2 « Jared Campbell’s Blog on June 29, 2008
at 4:51 pm
Jared: Your crazy runs/climbs/etc. inspired my friend and me to attempt the WURL a couple weeks back. Needless to say it kicked our trash. We made it to Devil’s Castle and called it quits. You are the man. Just the first half of the ridge was killer, let alone the next half. We did it in 12 hours. I’m always checking your blog to see what I can aspire to next.
By: Spencer Weiler on October 7, 2008
at 3:39 pm
Hi Spencer,
Thanks for the kind words! I enjoy hearing people talk about the WURL and even more, when they get psyched and try it. I love the wasatch and feel that the WURL is really one of the most classic linkups in the range. I hope you and your buddy are able to give it another go and hopefully push through to the end. It took me 3 attempts before I finished it, so don’t give up.
You’d be the second person(s) to complete it as far as I am aware. If you have a write-up or pictures you’d like to share from your recent attempt, I’d love to see them.
Thanks,
Jared
By: Jared on October 7, 2008
at 5:23 pm
[...] Wasatch has got my ridge-hiking synapses firing again. Several years ago I did what I called the WURL(Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Linkup), an incredible circumnavigation of Little Cottonwood. Well, I [...]
By: Dreaming…. « Jared Campbell’s Blog on January 25, 2009
at 11:02 pm
Where is the 5.7 on the traverse?
By: Tristan Higbee on July 17, 2009
at 12:32 pm
Hi Tristin,
On Upper Bells peak there is some nice steep granite that I downclimbed. There were some old pitons. I think you could easily avoid it though….
Jared
By: Jared Campbell on July 17, 2009
at 4:14 pm
My friend peter read your blog and told me about the WURL or we called it the Horseshoe traverse but whatever. I trained a bit this summer and did the thing on Sep. 7th. My time was 17:48 min. I had a great time thank you for establishing such a great ridge travers.
By: Nik Berry on September 15, 2009
at 10:37 pm