tacos, beer and bikes

Oh, wow, Pow Mow - what nice MTB trails you have!

On Saturday, we ventured further afield than we have for a while, making the trek all the way up to
Powder Mountain in Eden to check out their MTB trails.  Their trail system is fairly new: begun, I believe, in 2015 and trail construction is ongoing.  We hadn't been to PowMow since 2013, which is actually the only time we've been to PowMow.  Although the resort is definitely changing with new development, it still has an isolated, old fashioned feel which I hope it holds onto as long as possible.

Part of what makes Powder Mountain unique is that it is a ski mountain in reverse: all the lodges and parking are at the top of the mountain.  This means that at the end of the day, whether you are skiing or MTBing, it's an uphill finish.  Something to keep in mind.

Paper Airplane feature (which I did not ride)

We parked at the Hidden Lake lodge and I poked my head into the rental shop to grab a trail map.  The kid working there recommended the 6.33 mile Brim Trail loop, as well as Paper Airplane and Baggage Claim as connectors.  He said most people drove out to the Brim Trail trailhead but we opted to leave the truck at the lodge and ride out to the Brim Trail.  See above re uphill finishes.

Although the trails are fairly well marked with flap poles, it's a little confusing to find the trails from the parking lot.  We rode out of the lot and back down the paved road just a little ways, before turning left (more pavement) where we found the start of Paper Airplane.  The first thing we noticed about this trail: a lot of down.  It was a little loose and rocky, in part because they do some of the high school MTB racing there which can really take a toll on the trails.  We passed the Paper Airplane feature - so cool! - and continued on down the 13+ switchbacks of Baggage Claim.  At one point, H's tires slid in the dusty dirt and he nimbly unclipped and jumped over the handlebars to land on his feet.

The Brim Trail is fantastic

At the bottom of Baggage Claim, we hopped on the Brim Trail which is, without a doubt, one of the nicest trails I've ridden.  It was a little dusty but not too loose, with reasonable climbing and not many rocks, crossing through aspen glades, open meadows and pine forests.  In the summertime, the flowers in the meadows are likely spectacular.  There was a breeze going the whole time and since we were riding at around 8,800+ feet, the temperature was very, very pleasant.  Super-nice riding.

What else could you possibly need?

Since I was going pretty slowly (panting for breath at the elevation), I suggested to H that he go on ahead around the loop.  I figured he could do the loop twice, lapping me, and then we could ride back up Baggage Claim and Paper Airplane together.  He took off and I continued on, happy at my own pace.  I got a little lost towards the end of the loop where it comes out onto Bobcat Ridge (?): the trail had turned to a jeep road and the meadow was crisscrossed with unmarked jeep roads.  I finally figured it out when I saw other riders, following them back to the Brim Trail trailhead parking lot. 

I finally found the connector to Baggage Claim and Paper Airplane on the far side of the lot and then began the slog back up to Hidden Lake lodge.  All that down we had at the start had to be gone back up now and the sustained climbing coupled with the loose dirt and rocks did me in.  I ended up pushing my MTB up most of the way.  What I thought was weird was that H wasn't coming up behind me.  He hadn't lapped me on the loop so I knew he wasn't ahead of me - I couldn't figure out where he was.

H covered a lot of ground

H had gotten lost too, in nearly the same spot I did.  He did the loop the first time but never found the trailhead parking lot, going off-trail through a meadow to reconnect with the Brim Trail for the second loop.  After the second go-round, he tried Doctor's Dozen in the hopes that it would bring him back to where he wanted to go.  But it didn't, leading him down way too far, which necessitated a brutal climb on the loose dirt access road back up to Hidden Lake lodge.  When he got up there and I wasn't there, his heart sank because he really didn't want to have to go down again to look for me.  Luckily, I got to the parking lot just then, saving him from any more climbing.

We cleaned up and then headed into the lodge for beer and tacos at Tacos, Beer & Bikes!, on their last day of the season (the MTB trails will stay open but the lodge is closing to switch over to winter operations).  We each had a beer and incredibly tasty jackfruit tacos with a homemade pineapple-sriracha salsa.  Delicious!!  It was a terrific day and I would guess we'd be back next summer for more tacos, beer and bikes when it's all so good.

H's ride stats:  20.62 miles with 2,100' climbing

ski guests, day 3: powder mountain

C had mentioned that he really wanted to go check out Powder Mountain and we were happy to oblige on Monday, despite the fact that it still hadn't snowed and there wasn't going to be any powder.  It was just the five of us - me, H, C, A and W - who piled into H's truck for the 1.5 hour drive north from SLC, through Ogden Canyon, past Snowbasin (which W said he'd like to try on a future visit) and tiny Wolf Mountain.  Powder Mountain is unusual in that the road up to the resort takes you to the top of the mountain: the lodges and parking lots are at the top, and you ski down to the chairlifts.  And you'd damn well better get the last chair up and out when they close at 4:30 p.m. or you are in a real fix.

Road trip!

When we first drove up to Pow Mow, our reaction was underwhelmed.  It was tiny and very old and didn't seem like much.  The main lodge had a funky little ski bar downstairs (the Powder Keg, to be visited later) and a warm, rustic cafeteria upstairs with big tables and benches for putting boots on.  Things were already looking up, and even better was that H and I got locals-only midweek discounts on our tickets.  Outside, we stepped into our skis and stared at the trail map, entirely unsure of where to begin.  We followed some folks down to the Timberline lift, a creaky-looking fixed triple and rode that up.  At the top, one of the Pow Mow powder guides latched onto us when A mentioned it was our first time here.  Normally chatty Chuck gets hired to take folks around the resort to the best powder stashes; since there's wasn't any, he didn't have anything better to do than give us a little tour.  He took off, without waiting to see if any of us could keep up, and led us on some groomers to the Hidden Lake Express high-speed quad, then rode that up with us, talking with pride about his home mountain.  When we mentioned that we'd like to ski something other than groomers, Chuck thought about it and then told us where he thought the best snow would be: we'd want something untracked, because anything ungroomed and tracked out had frozen into icy ruts, and out a ways so the scant two inches that had fallen would be pristine.  He told us where to go and what to look for and then took off.  We never saw Chuck again but we'd sure hire him as a powder guide when we go back.

To get to Chuck's recommended area, we skied down a cat track from Hidden Lake Lodge, then took the Sunrise poma lift up to Sunrise Ridge (8,890'), then hiked way out along the ridge over Cobabe Canyon.  From there, we dropped in wherever we saw fit because the drainage at the bottom of Cobabe is a nicely graded (but very long) groomed run-out that returns you to the base of the Paradise quad.  Chuck was absolutely right: the snow in there was smooth and untouched, low angle so you could keep your speed but not be going so fast that you couldn't avoid the trees.  It was beautiful, skiing in the aspen groves.  Those slopes would be difficult on deep powder days but for what we had to work with, it was perfect.  We perfected our tucks on the run-out, rode the scarily high and steep Paradise quad up, then skied down to the base of the Hidden Lake lift and did it again.  We weren't making many runs but we were putting a lot of miles in and we were definitely skiing the best ungroomed stuff available.

Riding (and not falling off) the poma lift

Lunch was at the Hidden Lake Lodge.  The food was mediocre, the lodge chilly and not that charming, but the staff were super-friendly and on a nice day, it would have had great views.  We kept going after lunch, doing our same loop and occasionally venturing into other territory ... which encouraged us to go back to that same loop.  W broke one of his fancy telemark bindings mid-afternoon and decided to go check out the Powder Keg; A and I skied a few more runs and then joined him.  C and H finished out the day - and made it back up the chair before it closed - and we all enjoyed a pitcher of PBR before piling back into the truck for the trip home.

Which way do we go?

We all agreed that despite the terrible snow conditions, we loved Powder Mountain.  We liked its low key, old-fashioned charm.  We liked Chuck, who was also old-fashioned in that we were guessing he was in his early 70s.  And we really wanted to come back after a big ol' storm to see what the resort's 7,000 skiable acres (including cat skiing) are all about.  Pow Mow for the win!