year of hiking

Before we get too deep into ski season, I wanted to recap all the hiking we did this past year.  The idea took hold back in September 2017 when, on our trip to Bryce Canyon National Park with H's parents, we first learned about the Under the Rim trail.  As we read more about it, we decided that we should do it all in one day.  Once that plan was made, we knew we'd need to train for it because walking 23 miles in a day isn't anything we do on a regular basis.

H came up with a training plan with hikes scheduled each weekend, increasing the miles as we moved through the early summer.  We didn't worry too much about elevation, even with the UtR's uphill finish; we just needed to get the miles on our feet.  Some of the trails were ones we'd done before (anything in Big or Little Cottonwood Canyons) and others were new to us (Naturalist Basin, Mid Mountain Trail).  We got rained out one weekend in May and were traveling one weekend in June but other than that we did the work, even when we had weekends away for the Crusher in the Tushar and Great Basin National Park.

The Big Hike was the first weekend in August and after that, we didn't want to slow our roll.  We kept hiking every weekend, and while we weren't quite as obsessive about high mileage, we did try to work in longer hikes because we were eyeing a new goal:  to reach 300 miles before the hiking season ended.  We didn't hit that goal - we got rained out one weekend, plus we needed/wanted to spend time with Milton - but we came close, logging 280.70 miles from the end of April through the mid November.  It doesn't sound like that much said like that but we were weekend-warrioring only for a total of 32 hikes, and we ended up with an average hike length of 8.77 miles / average climbing 2,066'.

I thought it was a fantastic hiking season.  Hiking is probably my favorite activity out of all we do - it's certainly what I'm best at (because it's just walking) - and I really loved getting out there so much, doing the longer trails.  And, with a couple months' distance and lessons learned, H and I think that we wouldn't mind taking another all-in-one-day shot at the Under the Rim trail - but this time in the fall when it's cooler (and with better/saltier foods). 

But that's in the future.  For now, I'm going to bask in our accomplishment from this year, our year of hiking.

and so it begins

Alta's opening day was Friday, November 23rd, and with perfect timing, a lovely storm came in, bringing 15-30" around the mountains of northern Utah, from Wednesday night through Saturday afternoon.  Opening Day is often (during normal snow years) on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and H likes to take that day off to ski.  This year, with Opening Day being on a holiday - the day after Thanksgiving - we opted not to go, figuring that it would be much, much more crowded.  Plus, the ski bus isn't running yet and we don't have snow tires on either vehicle, so we didn't really have a way to get up the canyon.

In line at Collins

So we waited until Sunday, when the storm had moved off, leaving mostly clear skies and chilly temperatures.  Alta's new signs failed to display the current temperatures but we figure it was between 13 - 20 F, enough to make my toes really cold.  At first there wasn't much open - and all of it in the shade - just a couple runs down from the Collins and Wildcat lifts.  Ski patrol was working like crazy to get more open, though, and by noon Sugarloaf was up and running and Ballroom was open as well.  Sunnyside was not running, however, meaning that all the little kids and beginners were fighting for space on the trails with the hotdoggers, bombing down from the top.  Around 1 p.m. we'd had enough of dodging other people and gave up our parking spot to head back home.

The snow was much, much better than either of us expected.  While certain high traffic areas got skied off quickly, the snow was general soft under our skis, without the harsh scratching that you hear when you ski man-made snow.  Sugarloaf in particular was in really good shape.  With another storm moving in later this week, hopefully the good conditions will only get better.

this turkey needs to trot a little faster

In most respects, the 2018 City Creek Cold Turkey was just like the 2017 iteration.  It was mild, overcast and dry, although storms were coming up soon.  With a 35% chance of rain, H and I left Milton at home; in hindsight, we should have brought him since it didn't rain and he would have had fun meeting dogs and people.  

 Obligatory purple fleece pre-race shot

(I have had this fleece since about 1992)

Since this year's event was so similar to last year's, I should have read last year's post for a cue at to what to wear - I was overdressed and awfully warm for the uphill portion.  That, coupled with my under-training, meant bad things for my time.  With two long weekends in Moab in October, I definitely missed out on some hill climbing runs, plus Thanksgiving surprised me by being early this year.  

Oh my heck - go faster!

My legs felt heavy at the beginning and I was absolutely slow on the uphill.  When we reached the turnaround, I could feel a side stitch coming on.  I know this kept my pace down a bit as well.  Once the finish line was in sight, I gave it all I had and managed to pass another young woman right at the end - for what it's worth.  But this year was my worst time BY FAR.  Even though I am not competitive and only do this race for fun/exercise, it was still a little disappointing.

Done for another year

But I cracked my first Thanksgiving beer of the day at 10:30 a.m. when we got home, and that's what really matters!

Race results (and history)
2018: 37:30, 6 out of 16 in age group, 236/642 overall  
2017: 35:59.78, 7 out of 20 in age group, 225/654 overall 
2016:  53:23.51, 4 out of 14 in age group, 159/544 overall, +/-10k 8.4k* distance 
2015:  35:17.18, 6 out of 19 in age group, 186/593 overall 
2014:  34:14:58, 10 out of 26 in age group, 174/656 overall 
2013:  35:44.40, 7 out of 24 in age group, 243/682 overall 
2012:  n/a (Thanksgiving in California) 
2011:  35:41.33, 249/656 overall 
2010:  37:22.76 (course changed due to ice/uphill finish), top half of finishers 
2009:  35:53.32, top half of finishers

solbright

As has become tradition, we did our Solbright (i.e. Solitude + Brighton) hike this past Sunday, after enough snow had fallen to make this our last hike of the calendar year.  Brighton - which had already opened for the season - said it was 11 F in the morning, so we waited a bit for it to warm up; when we got up there, it was much warmer than we expected and we were both over-dressed.

 Signage

Like last year, we started counter-clockwise around Silver Lake, then peeled off onto the Twin Lakes trail.  Although the Silver Lake parking lot was full (as was the Brighton resort lot - packed!), there really weren't many people out there: we passed two groups of four as we climbed up to the dam, and then saw another two at the dam, and then no one else. 

Summit ahead

It had been a few days since the last snowfall so the path was well-trodden up to the dam.  When we continued up past the dam, into Solitude proper, foot traffic had been less heavy but the footing was still okay.  Even as we slogged up the access road on the steep last bit to the top of the Summit chair, it wasn't icy and we could walk in some snow-cat tracks.

That's me, holding hands with H's shadow

As always, it is pretty up at the top of Solitude, with views into Honeycomb Canyon and across Big Cottonwood Canyon to the now-closed Guardsman Pass road.  Any hillsides that were south- or west-facing were pretty much clear of natural snow but the shady spots were holding onto theirs.  We backtracked a little ways and then took the access road down to Lake Solitude.  There were a fair number of squirrel and deer tracks but other than one squirrel who scolded us, this hike was critter-free. 

H with Honeycomb Canyon behind him

We finished by completing the loop around Silver Lake and then (of course) toasted the end of hiking season with parking lot beers.  As we did, some Brighton skiers were showing up after their time on the hill.  We talked with them and everyone seemed pretty stoked to get the ski season started.  That's the best out here: you can finish one season's activity and then head right into the next with no downtime.

No snow across the way

Hike stats:  5:26 miles; 1:49 moving time / 2.9 m.p.h; 2:14 overall time / 2.3 m.p.h.; 1,400' climbing

break in the action

Whoa, there - there's a big hole in this blog!  I have totally dropped the ball on posting: H and I did what is probably our last hike of the season on Sunday, so I will be sharing that; and we're going to do a recap of ALL the hiking we did this year.  We did a lot and I really enjoyed it.  Plus ski season is about to begin.  Woohoo!

Otherwise, we really have taken a bit of a break here in shoulder season, mostly to hang out with Milton.  He is still [camera-shy] doing well, and beginning to relax into his new life a little.  He still hasn't barked and he doesn't know how to play with toys and he's been a very good boy so far - although he has managed to accidentally lock himself into both the t.v. room and the guest bedroom just this week alone.  No harm, no foul.

Stay tuned for a real post coming very soon!

homebodies

I must admit, we haven't been doing much recently.  Oh, we've been doing stuff - like laundry, raking leaves, making homemade soups, baking, taking Milton for walks, hanging out with him and helping him get his bearings - but we haven't been doing stuff.  And since Milton is so very camera-shy, we don't even have new dog photos to share!

The Utah ski areas are getting ready for their opening days, despite there being very little natural snow thus far.  Brighton opened last week (!!) and Snowbasin is planning to open 11/20 (!); Alta is sticking with a day after Thanksgiving opening as yet.  So we are slowing moving in that direction.  I did get new ski boots (finally) and now need to see if they fit my skis or if I need to take them all in to the shop to get adjusted.  We tried a couple of times to pick up our Alta season passes but due to print malfunctions, we're going to have to make the drive up to Alta to pick them up.  That's okay: it'll be good to see how much snow they actually have.  H will no doubt ski Opening Day but I am not making any such commitment until I know more about the conditions.

Until then, it's hanging out at home with the dog.

so we did this

You may have noticed that the Monday and Tuesday of our last trip to Moab seemed a little light on activities.  That's because we spent Monday late afternoon/early evening and Tuesday with our new dog.  His name is Milton, he's a rescue and here's his story - as far as we know it.

Barry is the one in the upper right corner

When we were in Moab the first time in October, we checked in to the motel and found a whole bunch of office dogs.  There was Jasper and Lumen, both owned by young women who work for the Kokopelli organization, Ladybug, a bite-y puppy up for adoption, and Barry, a quiet young dog, rescued from a local reservation, also up for adoption.  When H sat down on the floor to give Barry some pats, he [Barry] just leaned in close and stared straight into H's eyes, intently and intensely.  We saw Barry again on our last night as he was leaving the motel office with Katy, the motel owner and founder/head of Underdog Animal Rescue and Rehab; Barry didn't do well with the ruckus out at the dog ranch, so she was fostering him at her house with her own dogs.  Over the years of staying at the Kokopelli Lodge, we've talked dogs with Katy and she asked us again if we'd gotten one yet.  We said no, not yet, and then H, half-kidding, added that we were coming back to Moab in three weeks and we'd see if Barry was still available then.

His go-to move

Three weeks later, the night before we left SLC for Moab, I got an email from Katy saying that Barry was still looking for a home and, if we wanted, she would connect us with his current foster mom Amy for a meet-and-greet.  Monday evening we walked to Amy's house after our early dinner at the Moab Brewery.  She lives not too far from Milt's Stop N' Eat and as soon as we showed up, she offered us beers as we sat in her garden with her and Barry.  She was calling him "Chester," although he showed no name recognition to either name at that point.  He was sweet and calm, going from person to person looking for belly-rubs, and at one point climbing into H's lap.  Amy told us all she knew about him and, even though she'd only had him a week, it was clear that she was very, very fond of him.  She couldn't keep him due to family commitments and she was sad about that.  She liked and trusted us, however, and after an hour or so, we were walking back to the motel with Barry/Chester on a leash and a big bag of dog food in H's arms.

One of the young women working at the motel, Jules (Lumen's mom), also works for the dog rescue and as soon as she saw us, she recognized Barry.  She got us his paperwork and gave him his last vaccination and lo and behold, we had a dog again.  We sat out front of the motel room until after dark, walking him around the block several times, and then he slept on the bed with us, soundly, all through the night.

The boys

In the morning, we stopped by the MOAB Brand Trails.  The reason I walked while H got on his MTB was so I could wear the dog out a bit in advance of our four hour drive home.  Amy and Katy had both told us that the only issue with Barry/Chester was that he was nervous in the car.  He didn't pant or cry or whine; he just drooled like crazy, like opening a faucet levels of wet.  He and I walked (and he nearly pulled my arm out of its socket); H rode; we hung out and had parking lot beers; and then we drove home.  Barry/Chester sat in front with us, mostly on my lap, and when he relaxed enough to lie down, the drool wasn't bad.  But when he stood up to see out the windows ... wow, that was a lot of drool.  We soaked two towels and a washcloth but made it home safely.

The boys at Glenwild

We've now had him for two weeks and so far, he's been great.  After much, much, much discussion, we renamed him Milton, as a connection to Moab and tribute to his foster mom.  We're all figuring out the routine; we are able to leave him alone in the house while we are at work.  He is calm and sweet and a bit needy; he'd rather have affection than food, which I've never had in a dog before.  His go-to move is to sit down and put a paw up so you can scratch his chest.  He is friendly and interested in the people and dogs we meet; everyone is amazed that he's so polite.  He's still a good sleeper and, hilariously, stands up around 8 p.m., when we are watching t.v., stares at us for a moment and then walks into the bedroom because it's time for bed.

Ears up!

The first weekend we had him was rainy, so we didn't do much.  This past weekend, we drove to Park City (only one towel drool-drenched) to walk the Glenwild trails [4.40 miles, 660' climbing, 1:37 hours total].  It was sunny, breezy and cool and we saw a number of MTBers, walkers and trail runners, many with dogs.  Afterwards, we stopped by the Park City Brewery taproom.  Their patio is dog-friendly although the inside room is not, but they had the bay door open and we were able to sit at a picnic table with Milton.  He was very well-behaved, neither impatient nor begging, watching the goings-on with wary interest.  We all got a little chilled - it is November, after all - but we were pleased that he did so well.  He's a good boy, little Milton is.  We're awfully glad to have him with us - four years is a long time to be dog-less.

Keeping an eye (and ear) on things at the brewery

seems like we just got here

Ah Tuesday.  Our last day in Moab yet again.  Even the skies had clouded up, as if to make our departure easier.  In no great hurry, we strolled through town to Moab's food truck park, hoping that the Moab Kitchen truck would be there.  It wasn't - I must have misread its Instagram post - and we didn't feel like going in anywhere for a full sit-down, so breakfast was PB&J on pretzel bagels back at the motel.

We packed up and, as has become our tradition, drove out to the MOAB Brand Trails for one more go-round.  I decided to take a walk rather than ride, so H did two circuits of Rusty Spur/Bar M loop while I just did half of the Bar M.  As you can see from the ride stats below, H goes much faster when he doesn't have to wait for me.

And there go the LaSals

Afterwards, we bundled up against the increasing clouds and had our parking lot beers, watching the LaSal mountains slowly become hidden by the weather.  When it started to sprinkle on us, we knew it was time to go.  And go we did, getting back to Salt Lake City before 5 p.m., with reports of snow accumulations in the Wasatch Front pinging on our phones.  Looks like we got to the desert just in time - seems like ski season is raring to go!

Ride stats:  18.67 miles; 1:29 hours; 12.59 m.p.h. (avg.) and 22.0 m.p.h. (max)

much better views than last time

We were up at 7 a.m. Monday morning, but lollygagged around a bit because it was dark and chilly to start.  After gassing up the truck and picking up coffee and more water, we drove to Dead Horse Point State Park.  When we were here earlier in the month, it was entirely socked in with clouds (and rain); this time you could see the red cliffs and white rim and river canyons below.  It was partly cloudy, cool and pleasant and seemed like a good morning for a MTB ride.  Cars started coming in as we ate our parking lot breakfast and got ready to ride - one guy got out on the trails ahead of us.

 The Kokopelli Lodge, nee the Atomic Motel

We did the Big Chief loop on the park's Intrepid trail system (older trails, east side of the park road) and didn't see anybody.  The trails were in pretty good shape - very few puddles and only one muddy spot - but you could see where some people had gone off trail in the wet, leaving tire marks in sensitive areas.  It made us sad that people can't respect the trails - we try so hard to leave no trace ourselves.

I need a less dorky helmet

We crossed the park road and did some of the newer trails: Crossroads to Whiptail to Twisted Tree.  I felt like I was riding these trails as well or better than I ever have, probably because the recent wet weather packed down the sand.  (I still hike-a-biked most of Twisted Tree, however.)  We saw six people on these trails but not until we were heading back out, so we were able to concentrate more on our riding and less on avoiding other riders.  Back at the parking lot, we had beers and snacks and watched the local ravens doing barrel rolls, cackling with glee.  It was also pretty good people-watching: I was surprised at the number of people, although far fewer than in peak season. 

Parking lot snacks

We headed back to the motel to clean up and, with our tummies growling, decided on an early dinner/late lunch at the Moab Brewery.  We've decided that we prefer going there on Mondays as opposed to Fridays, as we used to do, because lots more locals are around then, meaning interesting bar conversations.  We found a couple of the guys we'd talked with last time and were treated to photos of some beautiful handmade tables and benches that one of them has been making, using local stone and tamarisk wood.

Ride stats:  16.57 miles; 2:02 hours; 8.15 m.p.h. average speed; 16.6 m.p.h. max speed

no ponchos required

Sunday morning it was not raining when we got up!  In fact, the sky was wonderfully clear, which boded well for our intended hike, the Murphy Loop.  We stopped for c-store coffee on our way out of town and drove up to Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky District.  We got to the Murphy trailhead before 9 a.m., spent a little time getting our gear together and having PB&Js for breakfast and got onto the trail itself at about 9:15.

 Snow-capped mountains

We'd done this trail once before, in November 2016.  After the trail splits from the shorter overlook hike to Murphy Point, it follows a well-established trail/cairns to the edge of the mesa, then drops over 850 feet via a steep, exposed trail with switchbacks, stone stairs and a solid little bridge.  It's really not that bad, though, and feels less steep and exposed than Gooseberry.  We were in the shade from the cliffs the whole way down but stopped at the start of the loop (left through the wash, right across the hogback) to put on some sunscreen.  We had seen desert bighorn sheep poops on the trail but unfortunately didn't see any actual sheep as we scanned the cliffs behind us.

It's a mini-Goblin Valley!

Like we had done before, we took the hogback as the outbound trail.  It doesn't matter which way you go, but if you go out through the wash, there's a very steep hill to climb up when you get to the White Rim Road.  Out across the hogback was such a gentle slope that it doesn't seem like you're gaining elevation, even though you are.  It was a spectacular morning, clear, sunny and cool, and we didn't have to share it with anyone other than ravens and lizards.

Starting down the cliff face

We turned left at the White Rim Road, following it past the primitive campsites, down that big hill and to the wash.  We followed the wash back up to the bottom of the cliff, then cruised back up (a 33 minute climb).  We saw two hikers on the road and another two in the wash; even though it's really not that difficult a hike, the distance (10+ miles) and the descent/ascent on the cliff tend to ward off the masses.  There were a couple more hikers coming out across the top of the mesa but that was it - not a bad crowd for a national park.

Very sturdy bridge (but no handrails)

After snacks and beers in the parking lot, we went back to the Kokopelli to clean up, then walked to Woody's.  While we were there, we talked with a very nice couple from Chicago who were experiencing Moab for the first time.  They had hiked part of the Lathrop Trail (also from the Island in the Sky mesa, Canyonlands National Park) and after they showed us their photos of a big cat's footprint (mountain lion or bobcat) and actual desert bighorn sheep, we vowed that we would knock that one off one day.

Moon set

We tried a couple of places for dinner but, dissuaded by the people waiting, ended up back at Zax's for veggie pizza again.  This time, we sat with Tom, a New Hampshire transplant whom we'd met on our last trip down to Moab, and we watched the Red Sox game with him.  Fun to hear that northern New England accent out in the Utah desert!

That ain't no bighorn sheep

Heading back up the wash

Hike stats:  10.56 miles; 3:43 moving time / 2.8 m.p.h.; 4:31 overall time / 2.4 m.p.h.; 1,550' climbing.

road to redemption

Earlier this month, when we were in Moab, it rained every day and for most of those days, all day.  We were determined to redeem ourselves and actually experience some southern Utah desert-like weather, so we went back, driving down Saturday morning.  We left around 7 a.m., which meant that the traffic on I-15 through the Utah Valley wasn't too terrible for a change.

 Loki steals the truck

We got to the Moab Brand Trails at 10:30 a.m. and the sun was out!  As we puttered around, getting ready to ride, a woman parked next to us; her sweet rescue dog Loki made himself right at home by climbing into our truck and curling up on the driver's side floor.  Two circuits of Rusty Spur/Bar M loop were in order and, as usual, we pretty much had those trails to ourselves, despite the 60-odd cars in the parking lot.  We had post-ride peanut butter and banana sandwiches with our beers afterwards, chatting with Loki's mom and surveying the parking lot scene.

Cattle guard

At 3 p.m., we checked into the Kokopelli motel, got cleaned up and walked (not in the rain) to Woody's for beers.  The bartender not only recognized us but remembered our beer order - we felt like we were taking the first steps to becoming locals!

Yay MTBing!

We strolled over to Zax's for an early dinner - veggie pizza and part of a World Series game - and then were back at the motel for cocktails on the patio.  With it so late in the year, we were bundled up pretty well and sitting in the dark, but it still felt like the right thing to do.

Yay beer!

Ride stats:  16.42 miles; 1:30 hours; 10.9 avg. m.p.h.; 23.2 m.p.h. H's max speed

we went back (to moab)

This post is going to have to serve as a little placeholder: we went back to Moab for another long weekend, hoping to fare a little better than we did earlier in the month.  In between dealing with all the laundry and switching over closets and gear to winter stuff, I'll get some posts up soon.  In the meantime, it looked more like this on this go-round:

From our 2014 trip to the Needles District 

of Canyonlands National Park

(more current photos ahead)