half enchilada

There was an ulterior motive for the increasingly-longer hikes A did this past summer: training to hike half of the Whole Enchilada MTB trail in October.  (Technically, what I did was somewhere between half and three-quarters, but "Half Enchilada" is easier to say.)  The WE is an iconic Moab MTB trail, starting way up in the La Sal mountains and dropping over 7,000 feet in 28 miles to the Colorado River.  I have always wanted to ride the WE but have come to abandon that dream - there is no way I will ever be a good enough MTBer for it.  But I can [section-]hike it.

At the start

We've actually done a lot of the WE over the years as short day hikes (the Hazard County portion, middle and lower parts of the Porcupine Rim, little bits up by Warner Lake).  What I was fixing to do was to hop on where Hazard County segues to the Kokopelli Trail at the La Sal loop road and then walk to the river; that would leave just the very first part up to Geyser Pass untrodden.  We settled on Tuesday for me to do it, having noticed over the years that Tuesdays seem to be the least busy in Moab; since the WE is a very popular trail, I wanted to be on it with as few MTBers as possible.

UPS

The only problem with waiting until October is that you have to wait for the sun to come up.  About 6:45 a.m. we three got in the truck and drove to the trailhead.  This took 45+ minutes (it was a little further than we remembered it being) so it was light enough when we got there, although the sun hadn't come up over the mountains yet.  I shouldered my pack (fairly heavy with extra water, lots of snacks, a first aid kit, knife, whistle and a long sleeved shirt for sun protection), waved goodbye to H and M, with promises to text my progress, and headed off down the Jimmy Keen connector to the Kokopelli Trail.

LPS

It took a couple of miles for my nerves to calm - I was a little worried about black bears and/or mountain lions, plus I had about eighteen miles ahead of me - but soon I settled into it.  It was cool and quiet, with no one else around and fantastic views.  I was just on JK for a quarter mile, then followed the Kokopelli, which is a kind of boring, rutted 4x4 road in that bit, to the Upper Porcupine single-track.

Castle Valley overlook

Because the WE is such a popular trail, it is very well-signed.  The UPS (and the next section, the Lower Porcupine single -track) is in part of the Sand Flats Recreation Area, so there were a number of exit options to the Sand Flats road, campgrounds/pit toilets and the Raptor Route MTB trails.  I crossed paths with two MTBers on the UPS (hike running total: 3.6 miles) and the LPS but as it was so early, my guess was they had gotten on the trail from one of the campgrounds.

From whence I came

The LPS connects with the Porcupine Rim trail near the Castle Valley overlook (7.5 miles).  This is the last chance to bail out: the Porcupine Rim segment is eleven miles and pretty much the only way out is through.  The first half of the PR is also a combination trail, both MTB as the WE and a 4x4 route.  This bit was probably my least favorite: it was getting hotter and since it's a 4x4 road, it's wide and loose and rocky.

The PR is forever

When the WE and the 4x4 road diverge (12 miles), I felt like it was the home stretch (not quite).  I switched to my long sleeve shirt and kept on walking, now back on single-track.  It was on this segment that I finally started to encounter MTBers (14 miles), making their way down the WE.  The trail goes along the rim of Jackass Canyon, where I got my first glimpse of the Colorado River.  But when the WE turns to follow the cliffs above the river, there are still two miles to go - which was a bit of a mental blow.

First view of the Colorado River

No way out but through, though, so I kept going, drinking my water, getting out of the way of descending MTBers (only thirteen all told) and making it to the end of the WE where H and Milton were waiting for me.  With beer, coconut water and Gatorade!  I ended up walking 17.84 miles in 6 hours and 16 minutes, suffered no blisters (although I was a little worried about that), tried to eat from my snacks (soy curl jerky, Swedish fish, trail mix, fig bars and homemade potato chips) every three miles and made sure to drink water every mile at a minimum.

Finished!

I can see the appeal of a long distance through-hike where your main/only job is to put one foot in front of the other.  I didn't listen to any music or other media, just tromped along quietly for six hours.  I'm really glad I did it and am really glad I trained for it: although my feet and lower back were a little sore, my legs felt fine, even after all that distance.

It's important to hydrate post-exercise

csa wrap up

 Well, anyone who was coming here for the CSA content (lol), I apologize.  I just didn't keep up with it, especially trying to get halfway decent photos - although we did keep up with our CSA boxes as best we could.  Box #13 had a variety of apples, a couple of corn on the cob, some tomatoes, an onion or two, potatoes, an acorn squash, a butternut squash, green peppers and some Anaheim chiles.  We weren't able to pick up #14 so we paused it and instead got two boxes at our last pick-up for the season.  This meant we got two winter squashes (a butternut and a spaghetti), two pie pumpkins, 4 ears of corn, two red onions and lots of potatoes and apples.  

Corn on the cob in mid-October?  The last few ears have been a little starchy and tough, so rather than battle our way through that again, I cut the kernals off the cobs, parcooked them and froze the corn for future use (I haven't had corn chowder in about a million years ...).  I processed about half the apples we've got (we have a LOT of apples) into apple pie filling; I'll do more of that and also some applesauce, which is easier, for the rest as they aren't our favorite apples for eating fresh.  And all those squashes?  Well, just this morning I roasted a pumpkin, an acorn and one of the butternuts - all for Milton.  That boy loves his squash.

Squishy squashes

stalling for time

 I know that there's been a bigger gap than usual here at the ol' blog, but that's because we went to the desert for a few days and now there is SO MUCH LAUNDRY TO DO.  I hope to get something up soon!

falling back on an old favorite

 I didn't have a huge hike planned for this weekend, so on Sunday, after the sun came up enough to brighten the sky, I headed up to Alta to do my new favorite eight mile loop.  It had been over a month since I was up there and the differences were stark.

Aspens aglow

For one, the wildflowers?  Way past peak.  Everything is brown and gold and crispy right now.  I didn't see a single bride or influencer!  As I made my way up to Catherine's Pass through the Albion meadows, it was so cool and quiet.  While there were cars in both the lower and the upper lots, it was so much less crowded.  I saw one trail runner and one hiker on my way up; there were six other hikers at Catherine's Pass when I got there.

Moody scene

It had been a glorious 46 F when I started hiking, which meant I wore some light fleece gloves for the first 1.5 miles until my hands warmed up.  I had to put them on again about halfway down when a light breeze picked up.  It was wonderful being a little bit chilly again after the hot summer we've had.

Definitely past peak (still pretty, I think)

There were a good number of critters out and about with me: lots of those little ground squirrels that look like skinny chipmunks, two different sets of a mule deer doe with nearly-grown twin fauns, and some very chunky pikas who meeped loudly at me as I went traipsing by.

Just before the cutest pika ever started meeping at me

As I came out through the campground (closed), there were definitely more hikers milling about, heading towards Cecret Lake.  It was nothing like it had been in July, though, and I was appreciative of that.  Where were all the people?  It sure seemed like they were heading to Snowbird's Oktoberfest: there's only two weekends left, so if you're looking to get your 'fest on, get going!

Squatchin'

csa box the twelfth

I know that this year was a terrible year for Utah farmers, what with the early warmth that made the fruit trees flower too soon, only to be taken out by two severe cold snaps, plus the very very hot and very very dry summer.  I also enjoy supporting local businesses whenever possible (the smaller the better).  All that being said, I found this past week's CSA box #12 to be a bit underwhelming.  We got a small watermelon, an acorn squash, a couple of ears of corn, a bunch of apples, an onion or two, a green pepper or two and a decent number of (really dirty) potatoes.

The corn we ate right away and while the smaller ear was pretty good, the larger one was subpar.  I chunked up the watermelon and unfortunately it was not as good as the prior week's - a little mushy this time.  The acorn squash I roasted and mashed for Milton (that dog loves his squash) and the apples will be made into apple pie filling for the freezer.  The onions, potatoes and peppers will get eaten, for sure, it just wasn't that exciting a box this time.    

fourteen miles

 If you've got to do fourteen miles, you could do worse than doing it on the Pipeline Trail in SLC's Millcreek Canyon.  If you start at Rattlesnake Gulch and walk to Elbow Fork, it's cake.  (Sort of.  I mean, you're still doing fourteen miles.)

Nice day for a hike

On Saturday, A did just that, leaving the house a smidgen before 7 a.m. and getting to the Rattlesnake Gulch trailhead at quarter after 7.  Traffic was light and there were just a few cars in the trailhead parking lot.  It has literally been since the first year we moved to Utah that I've set foot in Rattlesnake Gulch.  That's how the Pipeline Trail is accessed: .7 miles basically straight up, with loose rock underfoot.  The first mile took me about 24 minutes due to footing and steepness; the second mile was almost eight minutes faster, since I was on Pipeline.  

Looking down on the road below

The temperature started in the 50s and didn't get out of the 60s; it was a mix of sun and clouds and, with the Pipeline Trail being largely shaded, it was quite pleasant for a hike.  Also, once attaining the Pipeline Trail, it is good footing, with a gradual uphill climb to Elbow Fork, with the exception of the steep, switchback-y climb from Church Fork to Burch Hollow.  I made good time, settling in for sub-20 minute miles - mostly around 17-18 minutes.

Leaves - and seasons - changing

I hit the seven mile halfway point just before Elbow Fork.  It seemed silly to turn around in a random spot on the trail, so I continued up to Elbow Fork, noting the changes wrought by this summer's construction.  I swapped out my food wrappers (bagel, fig bar, trail mix) for new food for the downhill (potato chips and Swedish fish) and kept on walking.  Per usual, my feet started hurting a bit around miles 9-10; by the time I was descending Rattlesnake Gulch they were pretty sore.  I finished up with 14.26 miles in 4:37 hours, took my trail shoes off as soon as I could and pounded a beer and a coconut water barefoot in the parking lot.

Snek

I usually do my long hikes on Sundays but picked Saturday for this hike since it was an odd-numbered day, which means off-leash dog day in Millcreek Canyon, which means fewer MTBs on the trail.  I was pretty pleased with this decision, as it would have been VERY annoying to have to step aside for many MTBs over the course of fourteen miles.  Instead, the trails were foot-traffic heavy (not that heavy, actually, I expected it to be much busier than it was) and I entertained myself (no headphones/music) by counting who I met: 40 trail runners, 89 hikers, 45 dogs, 3 MTBs and one rattlesnake (early in the morning, still so cold from the night before that he didn't even lift his head).

csa box the eleventh

 Box #11?  Already?  I mean, I'm ready for summer to be over (way too long and hot) but I'd really like fall to last a long time.  But box #11 means we're almost at the end.  I didn't take a photo this week but this is what we got: a carton of raspberries (kind of squishy but still tasty), a small watermelon, a tomato, some plums (squishy, unfortunately), apples, two red onions, two lemon cucumbers, a couple of ears of corn, some tomatillos, jalapenos and some purple-skinned potatoes.

The corn, berries and melon were all eaten fresh; the watermelon was much better than the last one we got.  I made the tomatillos, an onion and a couple of jalapenos into a chile verde-ish sauce that we ate with rice and beans.  The potatoes got turned into baked potato chips (really good snacks for hiking since they're salty and carby).  And I'm going to quick-pickle those weird little cucumbers, I guess, because I can't think of what else to do with them.

twelve miles

 Another incremental increase to A's hiking: twelve miles on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail on Sunday.  It hadn't cooled off quite as much as I had hoped overnight, with a 7:15 a.m. temperature in the low 70s.  But the sun was still behind the Wasatch mountains, and it was partly cloudy and windy, so conditions were better than they could have been.  The BST is dry and dusty (we need rain) and I pretty much had it to myself from the Hidden Valley Park trailhead to the Corner Canyon trails.

Views of the south valley

At Corner Canyon East Bench trailhead (or thereabouts), I veered off the BST and kept heading up into Corner Canyon on the old dirt road.  The road climbs steadily the whole way for another 2.5ish miles to the Peakview trailhead.  That trailhead parking lot was pretty full: I was starting to see more MTBers at this point.  When the dirt road ended, I still needed some distance to hit my six mile turnaround, so I got on the Hoof-and-Boot trail (hikers/runners and horses only - no bikes).  This was a great trail - at least this portion of it - packed dirt switchbacking through gambel oaks beneath the cloud-covered Lone Peak cirque.  

Hoof and Boot

At 6.1 miles I turned around and went back to the car exactly how I'd gone out.  I saw a couple of wild  turkeys and a red-tailed hawk.  I was trying to be good about eating (a slab of savory zucchini bread, homemade potato chips, a raspberry fig bar and some Swedish fish) and remembered to drink water every mile at a minimum.  There were more folks on the BST for the return - the suspension bridge was actually crowded.  I got back to the car in just over four hours (12.15 miles, 4:08 hours) and was happy to get my trail shoes off, just as a little bit of rain blew through.  No blisters - yay!

Lone Peak in the clouds

literal dog days of summer

On a recent weekend in Moab, we did some dog sitting for a friend.  He and his family had to go out of town for a funeral and asked us if we could watch their seven month old lab-pit mix named Marshmallow.  Of course!  We love dogs!  I mean, it's been decades since we've had a puppy in the house but we're experienced dog owners.

Same size but Marshmellow is WAY beefier

We three went over to their house the night before so Milton and Marshmallow could reacquaint themselves.  Milton met him for the first time in June (when he was MUCH smaller), and they spent the evening chasing each other around the yard.  We had brought Milton over for a second meeting in July (when he was BIGGER) and Milton was not impressed with the size or the energy.  This time, with Marsh as tall as Milt but brawnier, Milton wasn't having any of it.  Marsh wanted to play so badly and was in Milt's face; Milt issued correction after correction (barks and snaps) and the puppy just didn't get it.  An inauspicious start.

Calm in the car

Friday morning we took care of our exercising: H ended up doing a five mile trail run with M (after suffering a flat tire on his road bike just a block from hom) while A did the 10.3 mile Pipe Dream - Hidden Valley - Moab Rim hike (which was a bit of a suffer-fest as I felt dehydrated and drank nearly all my water - which I almost never do.  

Our friends dropped Marshmallow off around 1 and Milton was again unimpressed.  Our neighbor and her dog were home so we introduced them ... and Marshmallow, who had no chill at all, was sharply corrected several times by Moscow.  That night was a little rough too: although crate-trained, the puppy was nervous and cried/whined the entire night.  We all woke up exhausted and Milton couldn't believe that he was stilll with us.

Cutieeee

But it went MUCH better from there.  I took the dogs to Millcreek (Milton off-leash, Marshmallow on-leash) for four mile hikes both Saturday and Sunday mornings.  They were well-behaved in the car and Marsh loved splashing in the creek.  He did get a little out of control wanting to meet other dogs, but since he was leashed, it was easier to manage.  He never chewed anything and only had one accident on the kitchen floor; he calmed down for the second night; and he was just such a sweetie, with full-body tail wags and exuberant snuggles.

BOOP!

When his family picked him up in the early afternoon Sunday, the house seemed bigger and it was very, very quiet.  All three of us (Milton especially) were exhausted - puppies are a LOT!  Sweet, but a lot.

csa boxes the ninth and tenth

 I forgot to take a photo of our ninth box, but we got apples, pears, a small watermelon, three tomatoes, some red potatoes, two ears of corn, purple bell peppers, poblano (or similar) peppers, an onion and a cucumber.  The melon wasn't that good (did I wait too long to cut it? did I not wait long enough? the world will never know).  The corn was eaten right away; the peppers and onion were sauteed up for a vegan sausage meal; the tomatoes and plums were quite good eaten out of hand.

Still getting berries!!

The tenth box had a nice variety.  Green beans, two ears of corn, a cantaloupe, two (!) cartons of raspberries (!!), three bell peppers, two plums, two big tomatoes, a cucumber, assorted chiles, five big apples and an onion.  We ate the beans and corn on the first day - a little late in the season but still edible, if not amazing.  The berries were good, if a little fragile: I ate a third and split the rest for my overnight oats.  The melon is pretty good.  The fridge is starting to fill up with apples so I'm thinking homemade applesauce is in the near future.  And what to do with all those nice chiles ///

twenty-five (years, not miles)

On August 25, we celebrated our twenty-fifth (!)(!!)(!!!) wedding anniverary.  Amazingly, we have been out in Utah for most of our marriage, despite having met, originally lived, and married in Maine.  To celebrate the occasion, we took the day off.

This hawk was entirely unimpressed with us

First order of business was a family hike.  In Millcreek Canyon, the odd-numbered days are the off-leash dog days, so that synced up perfectly.  We didn't want to go anything too long and settled on the Desolation Trail to the Salt Lake overlook.  The last - and first, and only - time we've done this trail was back in July 2011.  After doing it again now, we are kicking ourselves for having left it for so long.  It's a great trail!  About five miles round trip, mostly shaded with mostly packed dirt underfoot, it rises steadily (about 1,200 elevation gain) but never steeply.  

Thirsty work

The fact that we were there early on a random Tuesday morning certainly helped - I suspect this trail is very, very busy on the weekends.  We encountered fewer than five people on our way up; while there were definitely more people heading in as we headed out, it wasn't ever what I'd call busy.

At the overlook

There are lots of picnic tables at the trailhead (also a four-stall outhouse), so we got out our cooler and sat in the shade, having celebratory post-hike beers and recounting some of the last twenty-five years.  We did some more recounting back at home, dragging out the photographs from our wedding (everyone was so young in 2001!).

Holy moly

And then because I decided I didn't want to cook on our anniversary, we three went to the Watershed, the local scruffy dive bar with a big vegan menu and a big dog-friendly patio.  Their misters were going full-blast; the waitresses and the bouncer fawned over Milton; and we enjoyed our vegan buffalo wings and vegan bacon (vegan) cheese (vegan) burger with great relish.  

Smooch!

Here's to the next twenty-five!

csa day: box the eighth

 This was quite a good box in terms of variety, although we had been hoping for another melon as well.  We got three big tomatoes (I am hopeful that we'll get lots of tomatoes this year to make up for the fact that the stone fruits are less plentiful), two ears of corn, two bell peppers, two each of jalapeno and serrano peppers, a good sized onion, a head of garlic, three big pears, one each of cucumber, zucchini and summer squash, a carton of blackberries, a not-too-big eggplant, six apples and three nectarines.

Shop local, eat local

The corn and blackberries were consumed the day we got the box - the berries were pretty soft, so that season is definitely winding down.  I gave the garlic away (I can't tolerate garlic that well so fresh (non-jarred) garlic just doesn't get used).  Two tomatoes and the eggplant were turned into a delicious, creamy pasta sauce for the freezer.  The apples are bagged and in the crisper drawer, possibly to be turned into applesauce; the nectarines are good for fresh-eating.  And the pears that don't get eaten fresh (pears are actually pretty good this year), will be turned into a tasty baked good.

eleven miles

Continuing the quest to see just how far she can go, A did eleven miles on Sunday.  The heat advisory had finally broken (Saturday was spent with H trail running and road riding, A and M walking through Dimple Dell, a tiny touch of weeding, reading, watching the weather and hoping for rain, and some cooking (a quart and a half of enchilada sauce for the freezer and buffalo cauliflower "wings" for dinner, since it was actually cool enough to turn on the oven) and a little bit of rain moved through the Salt Lake Valley.  It topped out low 90s which, after the summer we've been having, was delightful.

Heading south

Since I was running out of long distance options at Alta - without adding in a whole bunch more uphill - H suggested some of his routes from when he was training for the trail marathon.  He had some good options and I decided to drive to Hidden Valley Park trailhead so I could hop on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  There are other places to access the BST but the HVP trailhead is not hard to find and the trail from there south to Corner Canyon has pretty good footing.

Sage

There were only a couple of other vehicles when I pulled into the lot at 6:50 a.m.  Grabbing my bagel, I climbed up (kind of steep, kind of loose) .3 miles to the BST and turned right, heading south.  The last time I was on this portion of the BST was April 2010; I'm guessing it hasn't changed all that much, other than having had lots and lots of people on it, but I sure didn't remember much of it.  One nice thing about this section of the BST is that it stays in the shade well through the morning this time of year.  Another nice thing is that once you get up on the bench, it's pretty level and the path is nice to walk on - mostly packed dirt/sand with some rocky sections.

NO DOG okay okay jeez

From the Hidden Valley trailhead, it's 3.3 miles to Corner Canyon.  Dogs are not allowed on most of the trail because of watershed/private property owned by water companies.  This would have been too long a hike for Milton anyway.  At Corner Canyon, there are maps and outhouses and picnic tables and, as the morning continued on, lots and lots of MTBers.  I can't picture how busy it must be on Saturdays.  There are tons of MTB and mixed-use trails (foot, dog-friendly and equestrian).  I continued out along the BST for a while, then turned off onto a foot-only (Burnham Creek) trail and then a foot and horse (Hoof and Boot) trail for a while.

Didn't have to dodge MTBs here

All this faffing about on little trails messed with my distance plan, however, which had been a solid 5.5 out and back.  I wanted to stay in the shade as much as possible - it was humid from last night's rain but the temperature was nice - and ended up heading back on the BST a little short on distance.  This meant that when I got back to the Hidden Valley connector, I had to continue going north on the BST for about a half mile.  Which isn't that big a deal except: (1) had already done 10+ miles and (2) the trail north was incessantly, steeply up on an old, rocky, loose road.  If I wasn't already sweaty from the slight humidity (I was), I definitely was by the time I'd gone far enough to turn around.

Or here, on the Hoof and Boot Trail

I finished with 11.07 miles in 3:50 hours.  The Bonneville Shoreline Trail is a great resource that I have completely ignored in favor of Little Cottonwood Canyon, Big Cottonwood Canyon and Millcreek Canyon.  It is heavily used, due to its proximity to the city, and it bakes in the afternoon sun.  But at the right time of day, in the right time of year, it's fantastic, with lots of little side quests available.  

Suspension bridge at Bear Canyon

middle (august) management

On a recent, mid-August long weekend in Moab, it was still hot. (It would have been just as hot if we had stayed in SLC for that weekend, dang lingering high pressure/heat advisory.)  But you expect it in Moab: same elevation as SLC but further south.  So we did what we've been doing all summer* which is: getting up before the sun, getting on the trail at sunrise and getting our exercise done well before noon.  On the one hand, you're all WOOHOO I got all my exercise done before noon!  On the other hand, you're like OMG now what do I do, I can't crack a beer yet lol.

We drove down mid-afternoon Thursday so we could take Friday off.  Friday found all three of us on the Pipedream trail: H and M doing a five mile trail run and A doing a seven mile hike.  The fellas left first and we crossed paths as they were heading back.  It was pretty quiet out there.  Then, H did a solo 26-mile road ride on the bike path.  Then there was lunch, reading, catching up with neighbor A and, eventually, beer.

Prickly

Saturday was much like Friday, only not quite.  While H did a six+ mile Pipedream trail run, A and M instead drove to Millcreek for a four mile hike and creek splash.  We saw a trail buddy who gave us a heads-up about fairly recent bear scat in the canyon (bears have been venturing down into Moab from the LaSal mountains since the heat is impacting the vegetation they usually eat this time of year), and Milton got a bunch of dog cookies from a lady at the trail head.  After that, both H (25) and A (21) did a road ride on the bike path.  Then there was lunch, reading and, eventually, beer.

Finally, Sunday found Milton taking a rest day (after an extended neighborhood stroll) and H and A back on their road bikes.  H did 20 miles but A only managed ten, after getting a flat in the same place as her last flat, just south of the Arches NP entrance.  That's only a two-ish mile walk back to Lions Park, though, so I hike-a-biked there (three different cyclists stopped to see if I needed help) while H hied it back to the house to get the truck and the dog and come pick me up.

That was pretty much it.  We got back to the house, cleaned it and ourselves up, stopped in Green River for a delicious Krenshaw melon and were back in Sandy mid-afternoon.

* Seems like forever, really.  This has been such a hot summer - we can't wait to be cold again.  Remind me that I said that when I'm bitching about how cold January is.

csa days: boxes the sixth and seventh

 For as much as our farmers have been struggling this growing season, we CSA folks have been getting some unusual and fun things in our boxes!  Much appreciated!

Our sixth box contained a carton of blackberries (likely the last of the summer), a big head of cauliflower, a cantaloupe, tomatillos (!!), two ears of corn, a couple of chonky pears, two green peppers, a couple of peaches and one apple.  The berries and corn were consumed right away; the melon was chunked up for immediate consumption as well.  The peaches took a couple of days to ripen and the pears took a full week, but were really very good - and this coming from someone who doesn't prefer pears at all.  The tomatillos and peppers (plus a small zucchini and summer squash that were languishing in the crisper drawer) were eventually cooked down into a nicely spicy enchilada sauce for the freezer.  And that giant cauliflower (would rather have broccoli but better than more dang squash) was cut into florets, blanched and frozen for future use.

Psyched about those tomatillos

Box #7 had a couple more peaches (not yet ripe as of this posting), a couple of pears (ditto), a couple of nectarines (tart and sweet), small orange and red bell peppers, larger green peppers (love to get peppers - we use a lot of those), two ears of corn, a teeny zucchini, two tomatoes (!) about fifteen brussels sprouts (!!), another cauliflower, an onion and a cantaloupe.  The melon was cut immediately and eaten (good but it suffered in comparison to the Krenshaw melon we picked up in Green River) and the rest of the fruit was eaten as it ripened.  The corn: eaten day of, and better than the prior week.  The sprouts were blanched and frozen for future use - I'm picturing a big tray of roasted veg this winter.  And my hopes for this smaller cauliflower are to transform it into vegan buffalo wings, if it cools down enough to turn the oven on.  If not: florets, blanched, frozen.

Fun little peppers

ten miles

 Continuing with the incremental increase in distance project, A did ten miles up at Alta on Sunday.  (Saturday was spent with early morning dog walks (A and M), trail runs and bike rides (H), before it got back up to the triple digits.  This excessive heat is getting, well, excessive.  We're over it.)   It was already 80F at the house in the valley when I left to drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon, but a lovely 62F at the Albion base parking lot.  

Chunky whistle-pig

It's getting more difficult to put together the mileage I want to do up at Alta without also dramatically increasing the amount of uphill hiking.  I'm looking to challenge my distance, not elevation.  For this ten miler, I did what I did for the nine miler, with just a couple tweaks: up on Supreme, I decided not to do that half mile on the ridge towards Devil's Castle; when I got out of the campground, I veered right on another access road, which took me up to the top of the Sunnyside lift where I hopped back on the trail to the Catherine's Pass trailhead, before rejoining the regular route down Homerun.  

Past peak, still pretty

When I got to the Albion Meadows gate, I was at 8.4 miles.  It's only .6 miles to the car from that gate, so in order to meet my miles, I walked UP the Summer Road half a mile, before turning around and going back down to finish things up.

See those tiny yellow dots? Those

are the coneflower's actual flowers

There are noticeably fewer folks up hiking than even last week, and hardly any kids.  What there was a lot of this time were marmots.  I stopped to observe a big one and a small one under the Sunnyside lift; when I got up to Catherine's Area and Devil's Castle, I could hear a bunch of them yelling at me; and when I came back down to the CA trailhead, the big one was still there (I'm assuming it was the same one).  I also saw a couple of pikas up under the Castle - they also yelled at me.

Surveying his domain

Hike stats: 10.12 miles, 3:47 hours.  Would have been faster if I hadn't stopped to talk with the marmots.

csa day: box the fifth

 Got some high value stuff in this box (although I was sure we were supposed to get a melon too ...): green beans, sugar snap peas, a couple heads of broccoli, two cartons of blueberries, one carton of blackberries, a red onion, one each of zucchini and summer squash (sigh), big fat peaches, some donut peaches and a couple of ears of corn.

Request to double the berries and

halve the squash (wishful thinking)

As per usual, the corn and green beans got eaten post-haste.  The blackberries too - we snarfed those down quick (they're H's favorite).  The pea pods went to that tofu, rice and ginger sauce recipe; and half the broccoli went to a red pepper, tofu and rice noodle dish with a hoisin-peanut butter sauce.  Some of the blueberries went into morning oatmeal and the rest were snacked on - they were only okay but it's obvious that Maine blueberries are the best blueberries.  And the peaches were delicious just eaten on their own - no need to cook them down into pie filling this time.

nine miles

 After a couple of days respite, even with some scattered rain, SLC was right back up in its nonsense with triple digits for the weekend.  This of course involved getting up with (or before) the sun to do outdoors things (walking, trail-running, road riding, weeding) and then hunkering down indoors with A/C and cold drinks, grumbling all the while.  

Summer is over when fireweed

blooms to the top

But on Sunday, A did her early morning walking up at Alta, this time putting together a nine mile effort.  I pulled into my parking spot around 6:40 a.m., noting 61F and fewer cars than the last time I was up there.  We're now 2-3 weeks past peak wildflowers and that (thankfully) has cut down on the number of photo shoots and looky-loos.  I mean, it's still busy but it's not quite as busy.

Flax (maybe)

Since I was looking to do nine miles, my route was like last time (8 miles) except that I would take the high road to Cecret Lake (adding another .5 miles) and going out and back a little bit up atop Supreme to make the mileage.  After two miles, I'd seen three mule deer, four hummingbirds and one fake "service dog."  No brides, though.  Just over three miles got me to Catherine's Pass and the sky was noticeably smoky - not terrible but definitely a yellow/gray tinge.

New Roka sunglasses (old everything else)

At the top of Supreme, I did a .25 mile out and back on the trail up to Devil's Castle, turning around just when it started to get some exposure.  On my way back, I passed a couple of hikers who were intending to do Devil's Castle; I wished them well and did not at all wish I was going with them.  Five miles found me halfway down Rock N Roll, just before turning off the cat track/dirt road onto the hiking/MTBing trail that goes under the Apron to the lake.  I had to pause for a couple of minutes there under the Apron when a very brave pika ventured within a couple feet of me.  Unfortunately I didn't get a photo - I didn't want to move and startle the little guy - but SO CUTE.  Bigger than a hamster but smaller than a guinea pig, and looking like a cross between a mouse and a rabbit.

Definitely a tinge of smoke

6.2 miles brought me to not-so-Cecret Lake and the hordes of people on its shores and making their way up and down the rocky switchbacks.  It is fantastic that the mountains are so close to the city (that's why we moved here, of course) but I sure do wish some of these folks understood trail etiquette.  I couldn't get out of there fast enough.  Luckily, it was all downhill and I finished up the last miles without incident, getting back to the car with a distance of 9.05 miles and a time of 3:36.  A bottle of Gatorade, a sneaky beer and a packet of trail mix later, there was nothing left to do but go back down into the heat.  Can I put together ten miles next weekend?

Flowers holding on at higher elevations