alpine lakes and bristlecones and glaciers

We were up at 6 a.m. (local time) on Saturday, too early for breakfast at Kerouac's or coffee at the town coffee cart (Baker has a coffee cart?!!) or even the Great Basin National Park's visitors' centers to be open.

Ranching exhibit just outside the park

 So we just drove into the park - there is currently no entry fee for the park - to do some reconnoitering.  We checked out the lower campgrounds, saw lots of mule deer, wild turkeys and marmots, then headed up the scenic drive to Wheeler Peak Campground, elevation 9,980 feet.

GBNP rises out of the valley

We got to the Bristlecone trailhead around 8:30, and after a quick breakfast of PB&J, started out on the trail to the Alpine Lakes.  This is a moderate trail with only slight elevation gain, although since it starts around 10,000 feet, people may notice the elevation.  There were only a few people out there with us as we stopped first at Stella Lake and then Teresa, but we did see lots more deer, none of whom were very concerned with us.

Entrance sign.  Pretty chill.

After the lakes, we connected with the interpretive trail through the ancient bristlecone pine grove.  When I say "ancient," I mean it: some of these tough, gnarled trees were more than 3,000 years old - and still alive.  These amazing trees are among the oldest living things on the planet and they are stunning.

Stella!

We continued on past the bristlecones, following the trail out to Nevada's last remaining glacier.  When the trail ended at the "rock glacier," the moraine left behind as the ice glacier retreated, we scrambled up for another 45 minutes or so to reach the actual snow field.  It's pretty small now and people believe that it will have entirely melted within twenty years.  But it's still there now, underneath the soaring rock cliffs.

This tree was born between 3,100 and 3,300 years ago.  Still alive

The weather changed as we headed back out, thunder rolling and echoing around the cirque but just a few drops of rain making it down to us.  Back at the parking lot, we put together some lunch, then met Maisie, a border collie from Park City, and her human parents, and spent some time chatting with them.

That tree: 3,200 years old.  Still alive.

We drove out of the park and back to Baker, where we were able to buy a propane canister in the town's tiny grocery store/bar/restaurant-that-isn't-Kerouac's - in my haste to pack the car, I had forgotten the propane for the camp stove.  Once resupplied, we cleaned up and had beers on the motel courtyard, talking with other guests (one of whom was one of the founders of Ski Utah!), watching the baby swallows in their nest above the door to our room and laughing as the motel's hairless cats explored our room.

The glacier, up under the cliffs

Dinner was again at Kerouac's, which was less busy than it had been the night before.  We talked with the owners and some of the other patrons.  This time we each had pizzas (mine had eggplant, roasted garlic and zucchini; H's had fennel, rosemary and olives) and I had a nice glass of rose.  Bedtime came early: we had to hunt down a campsite on the morrow.

H on the glacier

Hike stats:  hike time 2:58 hours (4:13 total time with lots of stopping and taking photos); 6.93 miles; 2.3 m.p.h moving average; 1,650 feet of elevation.

weekend adventure: great basin national park

A friend of mine from work told me about Great Basin National Park early on after H and I had moved to Utah and I was all, "Where's that?"  [Answer: Baker, Nevada]  Then, last summer, another work friend mentioned that she had gone there and camped, and also stayed at a funky little motel with an attached restaurant in Baker.  Camping?  Hiking?  Funky motel in the middle of nowhere?  SIGN US UP.  In January, I made reservations for two July nights at the motel ... and then we really didn't think about it until the week before we were supposed to go.

Long, straight and nothing out there

Cut to last Friday afternoon as we threw clothing, food and camping supplies into the car - I had at least managed to organize everything enough that we just had to load up on Friday - and we were on the road at 4.  We took I-15 south to Nephi; then  Utah 6 to little Delta, Utah (established in 1907).  We continued on U.S. 50, a/k/a "The Loneliest Road in America" (so-named by LIFE magazine in 1986), straight on through the desert.  It was hot and there was scarcely any traffic and we had 360-degree views.

Welcome to Nevada!

We arrived in tiny Baker, Nevada (2010 population: 68 hardy souls) around 6:45 p.m. and checked into the Stargazer Motel.  This place is also tiny, with only seven rooms, very funky and owned by a brave young couple from NYC who bought it last year after discovering it on a vacation road trip.  The mother-in-law runs the motel office; two llasa apso dogs and two hairless Sphinx cats have the run of the place.

That's pretty much Main Street, Baker

The motel is open year-round but its connected restaurant, Kerouac's, closes for the winter (and also on Tuesdays).  That joint was jumpin', busy with guests and very friendly staff.  We went in for dinner at 7:15 p.m., sitting at the amazing bar and being impressed with the menu.  It was small - burgers, pizzas, salads - but everything was fresh and could be vegan-ized or made gluten-free.  One of the owners used to be a wine/spirits rep in New York City and the wine and cocktail list showed the depth of his interest - it would have been impressive in SLC but out here in the Nevada sticks?  Truly incredible.

My dream bar, right there

The bartender (itinerent, living out of his RV and finding a new job every winter/summer season) was challenging himself to prepare a new cocktail every day of the season.  This evening is was a Watermelon Smash with vodka, fresh watermelon, fresh cherries, homegrown fresh basil and mint).  I had one and it tasted like summertime; H had a Nevada pale ale.  The food was terrific too: H had a scratch-made veggie burger with avocado and hand-cut fries, while I went with small plates of almonds and olives, scrumptious fried brussels sprouts and some fries.  H even liked the brussels sprouts and he usually hates brussels sprouts!

After dinner, we walked around Baker just a bit (there's not much to walk around).  It had rained just a little, cooling things off, so we sat in the courtyard for a beer before bed.  As it stood, our Nevada adventure was off to a strong start.

Courtyard for rooms 1-4

big john flat

Sunday morning started off clear, cool and sunny - and we were sure that any Crusher riders still in the area were shaking their heads and thinking, "Why couldn't we have had this weather for the race?"  We slept in (until 7:30!), packed up and headed down the canyon, just a little way to the Big John Flat Road (a/k/a FR123).  The tallest peak in the Tushar range - Delano Peak - is accessible from there and that was our goal.

Well, that's pretty

Starting out with a gentle bushwhack

We drove out on Big John Flat Road about 4.2 miles, a winding dirt road still in pretty good shape even after the weekend's deluges.  We got past the Big John Flat meadow campsites (and added them to our list for future stays) before we were confronted with some ruts and a small stream coming down the middle of the road.  Since we were in the car and not the truck, we opted to find a parking spot nearby and just walk the half mile to where the trail was supposed to start.

Old fence posts

That's as far as we got: summit-adjacent-ish

I should call it a "trail" because while there are several route options up Delano, there is no official trail.  We were planning on the Griffith Creek Route and the information we'd found instructed us to start from the creek and "bushwhack uphill [to] the grassy slopes," following the ridge up to the 12,169 foot summit.

Not convinced that we were friendly

The walking was pretty easy - mostly grass, a little rock and we even found a faint trail up on the ridge - but I was struggling mightily with the altitude.  I was very frustrated by this because I've gone higher before with no ill effects (Timpanogos is 11,752' and I've climbed that twice with no altitude issues).  In hindsight, I think I was dehydrated since I drank very little water during the day on Saturday.  As a result, I was very, very slow.  I'm sure I could have eventually made it but the clouds started building up around 11:30 a.m. and after the weather we had witnessed over the last couple of days, the last thing we wanted was to be out on a ridgeline in a storm.

He cleans up good post-hike

We retraced our steps and the descent went very quickly.  When we got back to the road, we spotted another trail that stayed protected in the woods so we walked it for a while, greeting the various range cows and calves who stared at us as we passed.  We got our mileage in, returned to the car for lunch and beers and then our Beaver weekend was over, with nothing left to do but head back to Salt Lake City.  I was (am) very disappointed with my hiking performance but will just have to let it go - until next time we volunteer for the Crusher and I can have another whack at bagging Delano Peak.

We'll be back!

Hike stats:  5.01 miles; 2:30 total time; 2.5 m.p.h. avg. hiking speed; 1,691' feet of climbing; 11,553' max. elevation

race day

Even though we didn't actually get a hike in on Saturday, we were on our feet for a good nine hours.  Instead of driving from our condo up to the finish at the Skyline Lodge at Eagle Point Resort, we decided to walk the approximate one mile distance - which just so happens to be the final climb of the Crusher and which is also and decidedly uphill.  When we got up there, we were assigned to the Drop-Bag Tent by race ops boss Jason (whom we decided is quite possibly the happiest person we have ever met).  Last year, this tent was the Hospitality Tent, where racers were able to eat after finishing, and the drop bags were laid out on the ground for pick-up.  When it started raining last year, there was a mad rush to bring the bags under the tent; this year, looking at the weather forecast, the race organizers decided to just start out with the drop bags under the tent and on the tables, to keep them dry.

Setting up

We were given free rein to set up the tables and chairs as we thought best, and when the trucks brought the drop bags up from the start, after the racers had headed off, we off-loaded the bags and organized them.  When the food truck arrived, we snarfed down some free rice and veggies quickly because once the first finishers arrived a little after noon, we were busy for the rest of the afternoon: connecting the finished riders with their drop bags, answering questions, emptying garbage barrels, picking up trash.  Sometimes we saw a cycling heading our way on their bike and, by noting their race number, were able to hand them their bag before they even asked for it.  Sometimes a racer was so exhausted from the ride that when we asked for their number, they gave us the wrong one or simply looked at us blankly before trudging back to their bike to see what the number was.  I am happy to report that every rider who showed up at our tent was reunited with their correct bag.

Drop-bags galore

The weather was challenging and the race received the dubious distinction of being the wettest Crusher ever (to date).  Unlike last year, when it was triple digits down in the valleys and in the 50s up at the finish, this time it was cool and wet for the whole day.  The earliest finishers avoided the worst of it out on the course but the slower riders had to deal with a lot of rain and, at some point, marble-sized hail.  Up where we were at the finish, it started drizzling at 9 and raining at 9:30.  It cleared up for a couple of hours for about 11-1 and then the storm settled in from about 2 p.m. on.  Our tent got very crowded at that point, with racers eating and trying to change into slightly drier clothes.  Some of the riders were really cold and the Skyline Lodge ended up starting a fire in their bar fireplace to help folks warm up.

In between storms

The riders were all extremely appreciative of us volunteers, from the older amateurs to the young hotshot pros.  One guy helped me pull a full garbage bag out of the barrel.  Two racers recognized me and thanked me - again - for letting them borrow my reading glasses the night before.  We talked with riders from all over, including Arkansas, Wisconsin, Virginia, Oregon, California, Colorado and Italy.  Some of them shook their heads, swearing "never again," while others couldn't stop talking about their experience out on the course.  H, of course, could empathize.  H was especially stoked to talk to Caroline Gleich, mountaineering chick/wicked awesome skier/legend (if someone so young can be called a legend yet).

The huddled masses

When it was all over, when the last rider crossed the finish line, when all the racers had been bundled onto the shuttle buses and taken off the mountain, we broke down our tables and chairs and finished cleaning up our area.  Since it was still pouring rain, Tiffany, the very nice volunteer coordinator (and wife of the race organizer), gave us a ride back to our condo and gave us two 12-packs of Epic IPA - the Epic rep had loaded all the event's leftover beer into her car.  This was the first time we've finished a weekend with more (and better) beer than when we started! When we got inside the condo, we turned the heat on again.

Volunteer swag!

crushing it a different way

Last year, H rode the Crusher in the Tushar, an excellent and brutal dirt/pavement bike race with over 10,000 feet of climbing spread out over 70 miles.  He did awesome but when the opportunity came around to sign up for the 2018 edition, he thought not.  Instead, we offered ourselves up as volunteers.  Thus, we took last Friday off and drove down to Beaver, Utah.

Caught in the trenches with a mouthful of granola bar

We left early and got down there with plenty of time to take a hike before our first work session, so we drove up to Eagle Point Resort to check out the trails there.  After a quick chat with the guys in the MTB shop at the Skyline Lodge (where the Crusher's finish line would be on Saturday), we got our boots on the ground around 10:25 a.m.  The trail was lovely, with soft, packed dirt underfoot and easy switchbacks across the intermediate ski trails.  We did have to cross a newly-dug trench numerous times; the ski resort is putting in snow-making after last year's disastrous season in which they were only open for six weeks due to lack of natural snow.

Under the Monarch triple

It was cool and pleasant, with a mix of sun and clouds, and we put together a nice, easy hike, doing the whole Monarch Loop trail, plus side jaunts to the Old Shack and out to the Tushar Ridge trail (which deserves further exploration).  Hike stats:  5.92 miles; 1,034' of climbing; total time 2:19 with an average trip speed of 2.5 m.p.h.  We finished up at 1:00 p.m. and just as we finished changing and cleaning up (and downing our lunch), a big storm rolled in, bringing heavy rain and hail.

The Old Shack

We drove back down the canyon and out of the storm - it was 50s F at the summit and 80s in town, although it began raining in Beaver a little before 3 and continued throughout the afternoon and into the evening - for our volunteer organizational meeting for the race.  Our assigned job was to greet the racers as they arrived, getting them to sign their waivers before they could pick up their race packets.

Inside the shack

This went from 3-8 p.m. and went amazingly quickly.  There were over 600 riders signed up for the Crusher and most of them checked in that evening.  Aside from getting the waivers signed, H and I answered questions (Where can I go for dinner tonight? Where can I park for the race?  Where is the start line?) and advised riders to bring rain jackets with them for the race.  I also offered up my reading glasses to any who needed them - there were about 100 riders in the Men 50-59 age group - and three took me up on the offer.

On the Tushar Ridge trail

The packet pick-up closed right on time and by 8:15 p.m. we were heading back up the canyon to the ski resort where we had rented a condo.  There was heavy equipment out on the road, trying to clear off the sand and gravel that had washed onto the pavement from the storm.  When we got up there, it was 53 F and, believe it or not for mid July in Utah, we turned the heat on in the condo for the night.

pretty high mileage

Continuing our quest to up our hiking miles, we headed back to Park City - again! - early Sunday morning.  Our goal: eighteen miles.  Our route: an out-and-back starting at the northern end of the Mid Mountain Trail, a 20+ mile singletrack from Deer Valley to Canyons, sitting at about 8,000 feet. 

Glowing sunrise due to drifting wildfire smoke

It was H's idea to start from the northern terminus and walk south, figuring that the traffic might be a bit lighter there along the popular, multi-use (hikers, MTBers and horses) trail.  We were the first to park at the Bear Hollow Drive trailhead, heading up Rob's Trail to connect with the Mid Mountain Trail.  

Here's the sun

We weren't sure how chilly it would be that early at that elevation but it really wasn't cold at all; I didn't need my arm warmers at all and had stuffed my gloves into my pack less than twenty minutes in.  It would end up being 90F by the time we were done with our hike - which is quite hot for Park City.

Canyons ski trails

H's instincts about the trail use were spot-on.  We didn't see anyone - other than the partridges that kept exploding out of the underbrush and scaring us - for hours. 

Super Condor Express

The trail is fantastic: mostly packed dirt with only a few rocky sections.  The direction we were going was a gradual uphill, with great switchbacks, keeping it MTB-friendly, all the way to Canyons' Super Condor Express chair.  Then we started descending, past Alpine Lake and the top of the Sun Peak Express chair, through the Red Pine Lodge area and out of Canyons property.  It did not go unnoticed that every foot down meant that same foot up on the return.

Last vestiges of snow, insulated by all that dirt

At 9.00 miles on the GPS, we stopped.  It was shaded, with a bench by a dry creek, and we had some snacks and refilled our water.  Although the hiking had not been a lot of work since there weren't any steep sections, we were hot and very sweaty.  Now all we had to do was go back.  What's funny is that all photos were taken during the first half of the hike.  We were on cruise control to finish the back nine. 

Speedy (for us)!

When we got back to Red Pine Lodge, the lifts were running and there were tourists milling about.  We encountered MTBers then on the section of the trail north of Red Pine Lodge, heading both north and south, but everyone was super-friendly and considerate.  We outdistanced the few hikers heading our direction and even passed one MTBer!  He was clearly a tourist and suffering from the elevation.

Nine down, nine to go

Things got busy when we got back to Rob's Trail for the final descent, with lots of casual hikers, with kids and dogs, getting in our way.  At this point, we were ready to be done.  Both of us had numerous hot spots and/or blisters on both feet - which was weird because that didn't happen at Ben Lomond, which is only two miles shorter - and my left knee was sore.

It was thus with both a sense of relief and a sense of accomplishment when we finally got back to the car, where dry socks and cold beer awaited us.  The question had been, could we do eighteen miles?  The answer was most definitely yes. 

Hike stats:  18.00 miles; hiking time 5 hrs. 51 min. at 3.1 m.p.h.; total time 6 hrs. 37 min., with avg. speed of 2.7 m.p.h.; 2,237 feet of climbing

can't complain

We got up a bit earlier on Saturday for MTBing than we've been doing recently because the northern Utah temperatures have shot right up to the HOT-HOT-HOT level.  Perhaps because I had to get moving sooner than I liked, I told H that I wasn't in the mood to make any decision about any of the trails we rode and that he had to pick everything. Of course, that went about as well as you might expect: when he decided that we should ride up a lot, including My Nemesis (Former), PorcUclimb and both sides of Rambler - up the Sweet Sixteen side as well as the Sagebrush Switchbacks side - I couldn't complain because I had abdicated my ability to give input.

Rounding a corner (not quickly)

I jest, really.  There wasn't anything to complain about.  I like to climb and was actually riding fairly well, even making it up one of the Sixteen corners that I often bail out on, as well as a couple of spots on the Sagebrush Switchbacks side that regularly give me trouble.  Even though it was warmer in Park City than it has been, there was still a light breeze keeping things stirring for the most part.

We did just over fifteen miles when H's chain started to make ominous grinding noises.  Rather than risk damaging his bike, we rode/coasted out, cleaned up at the truck and headed back to Salt Lake City to watch a World Cup game (Croatia vs. Russia) at A Bar Named Sue.  Croatia won, the beer was cold and the hand-cut fries were delicious.  Can't complain about any of that either.

riding on the fourth of july

When the Fourth of July falls smack dab in the middle of the week, there's not a whole lot you can do with it.  It's a "school night," so we knew there wouldn't be any late night revelry a la the Real Salt Lake home game, and we didn't plan to take any time off around the holiday.  Plus, the cooler-than-normal temperatures that northern Utah has had since last Friday have departed and Wednesday was ushering in some serious heat.  So we went MTBing over in Park City.

Smoke from the Dollar Ridge wildfire

We didn't really know what to expect crowd-wise but thought that it might be busy with folks taking advantage of the midweek free day.  I guess other people like parades more than we do, however, because there was hardly anyone at Round Valley and we thoroughly enjoyed the dearth of other riders on the trails.  We didn't get riding until close to 10 a.m., at which point it was 72 F, warmer than recent rides but still not that bad, all things considered.  We could see smoke from the Dollar Ridge wildfire off in the distance: the heat, bone-dry conditions and gusty winds surely weren't helping that situation.

Riding the dry and dusty trails

Despite deciding to turn back on the Rambler switchbacks up to Rademan Ridge (someone had gotten hurt and there were paramedics attending her, having gotten in on dirt bikes and ATVs), we put together a nice 15+ mile course with plenty of climbing (up My Nemesis, PorcUclimb, Kari's and High Side, the Sagebrush Switchback portion of Rambler, etc.).  PorcUclimb continues to be my hero trail but I also went up the Staircase without issue, despite some continuing fatigue in my legs from Sunday's hike, and descended Rusty Shovel better than I had on Saturday.  H had his fastest overall speed for the ride of the season and I feel like I'm riding pretty good (for me).  When I get new tires - my current treads are rather worn - maybe I'll be brave enough to try another trail system.