News

Actions

Mount Olympus trail reopens, safety project completed earlier than expected

Posted at 8:37 PM, Jul 26, 2014
and last updated 2014-07-26 22:37:14-04

MOUNT OLYMPUS, Utah – Crews and volunteers worked Saturday to improve the safety of a trail on the upper portion of Mount Olympus.

Search and rescue crews have responded to lost and injured hikers in the area in the past, so volunteers built a series of large stacks of rocks, known as cairns, to better define the outline of the trail.

Volunteers also placed vegetative debris along areas where hikers should not go.

Julie Kilgore is a hiking director with the Wasatch Mountain Club, and she said their efforts should help improve safety in the area.

“It’s certainly going to help,” Kilgore said. “I don’t know that it will prevent it 100 percent, but the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department had told us that if they can cut search and rescue in half on this mountain that’ll be good for them.”

The team finished the project ahead of schedule. The upper portion of the trail was expected to be closed Sunday as well, but the trail is now open.