No trail, no problem

Ogden man nears 500 day hiking goal

OGDEN -- His name is Dennis Petersen, and he is addicted to hiking.

Maybe it's the boredom of retirement, maybe he likes the view from the top or maybe he just needs the exercise.

Regardless of the reason, Petersen is very near his goal of hiking to the top of Malan's Peak on 500 consecutive days.

Through the heat of summer, illness and most notably this winter's deep snow, the 61-year-old has continued his daily march to the top of the mountain. In the end, even Petersen himself isn't quite sure why he is set on the number, 500.

"I've got to finish. I've got to get to the finish line," Petersen said on day No. 481. "500 that's it."

It all started with a conversation with friend Mike Vause who lives near the 27th Street trailhead. Vause told Petersen that some day he was going to hike Malan's peak 365 days straight.

"That put a little seed in my head," Petersen said. "I told him the other day 'This is all your fault.'<2009>"

Petersen started his hikes on Oct. 13, 2006, the day he retired from Hill Air Force Base.

"It was Friday, the 13th," Petersen said. "So I thought well, I'll just go for a hike today. That was Friday, then of course Saturday and Sunday (I hiked). Then I got up Monday morning and thought, what am I going to do today?"

Petersen initially set his goal at 100 straight daily hikes. He was quoted in a previous article in the Standard-Examiner as saying, "Who knows? I might just keep going and climb another 100 days."

Petersen, either out of habit or reluctance to quit, continued to hike and set his goal for 365 days.

Around 200 days, Petersen become ill with an upper respiratory infection. Despite feeling terrible each day, he continued to hike, returning home to go straight to bed until the next day's ascent.

"I don't know how I did it, it was terrible," Petersen said. "I kept thinking, 'you know if you get any sicker, you're going to quit and go to the doctor.'<2009>"

Petersen didn't give up ando day 365. When he reached that goal, a small group of friends was waiting for him with a sign, a picture of him with the dates and a bottle of sparkling cider.

"Where's the hard stuff?" Petersen asked the group jokingly. "I thought I was going to quit then, but no, not me. Once I got to 365, which was hard for me, then 400 was so close to that, I thought, 'ahh ... just keep going.'<2009>"

By then Petersen had met most of the hikers who frequent the trail and several residents near the trailhead and word of his efforts was spreading.

"What number you on? What number you on?" a home owner near the trailhead ask every time they saw each other.

Ogden resident Don Hall regularly hikes in the area and has seen Petersen numerous times.

"I've seen him up here every time I've been up here," Hall said. "Once you get into that deal where you want to set a goal it just becomes an obsession."

Peterson enjoys his brief social interactions with other hikers on the trail.

"I've met some super people," Peterson said. "This is cial scene."

Petersen reached 400 days hiking Malan's Peak in mid-November. Winter storms and cold weather could have provided a convenient excuse for him to quit, but he kept hiking.

"Then I thought, 'well it's winter so let's just keep going,'<2009>" Petersen said.

This winter's consistent storms have not made it easy for him to continue. He guesses the trail is covered in about 5 feet of snow in places.

"Every time I'd watch the news and they'd say another snowstorm coming ... I'd just groan, say a few bad words and think, 'Oh no not again,'<2009>" Petersen said.

Tree branches that were way overhead in summer now required him to duck to pass under.

"The trees aren't hanging down, it's the trail that's coming up," Petersen said.

The hiking is much slower in winter, even using snowshoes. During the summer, on a dry trail, his fastest time is 41 minutes from the trailhead to the summit. Super Bowl Sunday was his slowest day, taking more than 21/2 hours to the summit through the worst conditions he had yet seerail.

"Super Bowl Sunday, that was horrible," Petersen said. "It's hard to believe that it was as deep as it was. That snow was coming down sideways. (I thought) 'oh man, I've gotta do this.'<2009>"

Petersen set short term goals that day, like trying to get to a tree in the distance, then picking another tree and trying to make it there.

"It was snow, this trail wasn't here and I was pushing through it," Petersen said.

Although he has left his previous goals behind him, he believes after reaching 500, he'll finally be satisfied.

"This is such a habit, I don't know how I'm going to quit," Petersen said.

If Petersen keeps up his habit day 500 will be on Feb. 25. He isn't sure exactly what he'll do to celebrate.

"I don't know, take a break," Petersen said. "Maybe I'll reset the odometer and start at one."

The effort has been hard work for Petersen but he believes it was worth it. He is amazed that some people never leave the pavement of town to hike in the mountains when they are so close.

"You've just got to plittle price to get up here," Petersen said. "You don't have to come up here 500 times."