party on the mountain

It was a spectacular day a week ago Sunday, with clear skies but thoroughly enjoyable temperatures - high 70s, which is unusual for this time of year - and we wanted to take advantage of that gift of weather.  In fact, all of us wanted to take advantage of it: we loaded up the car with hiking gear, tailgating supplies and Milton and then drove north, about an hour, to Snowbasin.

The desert dog meets the mountains

Snowbasin is so great in the summertime (winters too, of course - anyplace that hosted the Olympic downhill courses is awesome by default).  It's not a watershed, so dogs are allowed; it is gorgeous; you can hike or MTB or take gondola rides or hang around the base area (their new mini-golf course looks quite tempting); and on summer Sundays, they have free concerts.  Andy Frasco and the U.N. were the headliners for Sunday.  We've seen them a couple of times before and they're fantastic.  Snowbasin's Blues, Brews & BBQ shows are free although you can't bring coolers in.  There are lots of beer tents and food available for purchase; they also look the other way for moderate tailgating in the parking lot.

Taking a break

We got up there noon-ish and people were pouring in.  There are usually three acts, starting at 12:15, 2:15 and 4:15 respectively.  We wanted to get our hike on first, so we wended our way through the crowds to the Snowbasin trail (hiking/MTBing) behind the Grizzly Center at the base area.  We hiked for a couple of hours, putting together a loop of the Snowbasin trail (#12), the Green Pond trail (#11) and then a stretch on some of the ski area's access roads.  Most of the Green Pond trail is shaded, which was nice; even as temperate as it was, the sun is still strong.  We saw a number of MTBers but the trails were really not that crowded.

Crashed out

When we got back to the car after our hike, the parking lots were well on their way to filling up.  We camped out for a while, to change clothes, eat some lunch and drink some beers.  Milton took this opportunity to totally crash - he pretty much passed out on H's jacket in the shade.  It wasn't so much that the hike was so strenuous - he's done seven mile hikes with us before and this certainly wasn't that - it was the fact that we'd given him some Dramamine that morning to combat his car sickness.  He was perky and psyched for the hike.  He just crashed for a while when it was done and then, after his nap, he was ready to party.

Believe it or not, there's a huge party going on here

Around 4 p.m., we went up to the base area for Andy Frasco's set.  It was mobbed - so many people and so many dogs.  Everyone was on a leash (the dogs, I mean) and very well-behaved.  Milton met lots and lots of dogs and quite a few people too.  He even scammed extra treats from the nice Snowbasin lady at the venue entrance.

There's the party!

The band played for two hours without a break.  They were great, and great fun.  Folks were camped out all over the lawn and there was a huge group dancing down front by the stage.  It was about as excellent a day as you could ask for: gorgeous weather, good people-watching, fun music, good local beers, dogs everywhere.  There's no doubt that Snowbasin throws an excellent party.

wicked fun

Here's the thing: I really, really dislike the current [catchphrase/saying/???], "Sunday Funday."  It makes me twitch, like the word "moist" or fingernails on a chalkboard.  And yet this past Sunday was so much fun!  Here's what went down.

Looking waaaay down from the Needles trail

On summer Sundays, Snowbasin has "Blues, Brews & BBQ" which is pretty much what it sounds like - live music, beer and cooking out on the lawn at the base area.  We hadn't gone up for any yet because Snowbasin is a bit of a drive from our house but this time we didn't want to miss it since Andy Frasco & the U.N. were playing.  We'd seen them a few years ago at Snowbird and knew it would be a party; we thought we'd go up a little early and get a hike in first.

There really are a bunch of switchbacks in there

We got up to the resort and on the trail around 1:00 p.m.  The crowd was already gathering on the lawn for the opening acts but we had to put some miles on our legs before joining them.  The hike was the same one we did back in September 2015: about six miles of uphill and then a welcome ride down on the tram.  It seemed pretty hot as we started out, grinding our way up the Needles trail.  The ambient temperature was mid- to high 80s but the sun was strong and it didn't take long to get sweated up.

The scenery is pretty nice up at Snowbasin

The Needles trail (MTB/hiking) parallels an access road for a ways so we stayed on the road.  It was exposed (actually, pretty much the whole hike is exposed) but by staying off the singletrack, we were able to avoid some MTBers.  When the road faded away, Needles continued on (and up) as dusty singletrack, quite steep in some sections and also fairly rocky underfoot.  I always forget how rocky the Snowbasin trails are until I'm back on them.  We started to encounter more MTBers at this point: the long Needles trail is popular with folks who have taken the tram up with their bikes.  Since we were walking uphill and the bikers were all coming downhill, we were able to see them coming and step off the trail for them with no surprises.

View to the east down the cirque

We came off the Needles trail for a number of switchbacks on the Becker and Diamond trails, which gained us quite a bit of elevation before we rejoined the Needles trail for the final push to the top.  When we got to the lodge, we ducked inside to get more water and then did the quick (twelve minutes) push to the top of the cirque for 360-degree views.  We had seen very few people on our hike up so sharing the cirque trail with people - clean people, some wearing sundresses and sandals, who had ridden up on the tram - was a bit of a shock. 

H, atop the ridge

After that, the only thing left to do was walk back down to the Needles lodge and hop on the tram for a quick ride down to the base.  The party was in full swing but we went straight to the car to change out of our very sweaty hiking duds and pound sandwiches and a couple of beers.  It was a good thing we did - because you could go broke at this shindig buying beer!  Lots of people had prepurchased giant steins which apparently gave you a bit of a break on the price of the beers.  We didn't have those steins, however, and were shocked to learn that a tiny cup of IPA was $6.00!  You could get large cans of crap beer (PBR, Budweiser, etc.) for a mere $7.00 too.  I didn't even bother to check out what the food prices were but I can't imagine they were any more reasonable.

Xena keeps H's foot warm

One fantastic thing about Snowbasin is that dogs are allowed since it isn't a watershed.  And there were dogs everywhere!  Mutts, chihuahuas, golden retrievers, labs, standard poodles, basset hounds, beagles, a massive Great Dane, Rhodesian ridgebacks, Boston terriers ... it was wonderful to be around - and get to pat - all these good dogs.  We struck up a conversation with a guy because of his beautiful young German shepherd; he and H ended up talking for quite some time about skiing, mostly.

Terrible picture of the massive crowd - there were tons of people there

The show itself was fantastic and so much fun, especially once Andy Frasco and his band came up on stage.  Frasco is a talented showman who is skilled at working the crowd, plus he is very generous with his musicians and kept inviting guys from the prior acts to join them on stage.  At one point, there were over sixteen musicians up there, jamming away: drummers, pianists, three guitarists, a bassist, two trumpeters, two saxophone players.  They all just looked like they were having a great time too, as Andy Frasco kept crowd-surfing and passing beers around.  After playing for nearly three hours, they closed with the Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)" with a crowd of kids on stage and the whole crowd shouting every lyric along with the band.  So fun.  We will make a point of seeing them again if they come back next summer.

The map of the hike can be found at this earlier post.  It took us about three hours and was right around six miles, plus the two on the tram ride down.  (That hike would be much less pleasant if you were to have to walk downhill too.)  Wicked fun day.

summertime stuff

Since we've been mixing things up a bit lately (i.e., still hiking and MTBing but varying the days and start times), we though we'd see what MTBing at Round Valley would be like on a Saturday morning.  We did the same early start (up at 6 a.m.), noticing less traffic on the interstate than there had been July 3rd but more than there would have been on a Sunday morning at that time.  The bike path was not in heavy use and the cool (59 F) temperatures were great.  When we got to the Quinn's Trailhead, however, we were shocked to find it full of cars, even without any Little League or soccer games going on at that time.

Park City Trail Series runners

As we got out on the trails, we started seeing race route signs and, soon enough, started seeing lots and lots of folks out there trail-running.  We learned that it was the second race of the Park City Trail Series, a progressive series of trail races throughout the summer, apparently all out on the Round Valley trails.  The first one was a 5K in June; this one was a 10K; there's a 15K in August and the series finishes up in September with a half marathon.  It looked like a lot of fun.  We timed our ride quite well with all those runners too, since part of the course was up the sagebrush switchbacks of Rambler; if we'd been coming down as they were going up, it would have been a bit of a nightmare.  But instead we largely had the trails to ourselves.  The recent midweek rain had packed the dust and sand down a bit and with fresh legs I climbed My Nemesis, Sweet Sixteen and the Staircase pretty well.

Pretty sure my helmet is on crooked

There was someone hanging out in our regular picnic spot on the Guardsman Pass road so we drove over to Brighton and set up our cooler and chairs in the parking lot there.  The afternoon was spent back at home, watching le Tour de France and the running of the bulls in Pamplona.  We rallied, though, and went up to the Snowbird Cool Air Concert Series to see the Young Dubliners.  I'm a little embarrassed to say that neither H nor I were familiar with the band ... but a whole lot of other people were and the crowd on the plaza deck was way bigger than any other we've seen for these free concerts.  It was a lovely evening with good music and great people-watching - Snowbird's first Dirtybird obstacle race had been that day and there were lots of muddy participants limping around with grins and beers - and just an excellent summer day all the way around.

trifecta

Summer-ish weather is desperately clinging to northern Utah (but due to change in just a couple days) and we went out on Saturday to take full advantage, heading up Little Cottonwood Canyon to hike up to the Maybird Lakes.  We'd done the Red Pine Lake and White Pine Lake hikes earlier this summer; Maybird would be the third of those three major hikes out of the same trail head.  We got up there early enough (before 10 a.m.) to get one of the last parking spots in the lot but late enough that the sun was up, warming it enough that I didn't have to wear my gloves for too long.  We'd only done this Maybird Lakes hike once before: just over a year ago, after an early snowstorm that left us hiking in six inches of snow for most of the hike.  This time, we crossed thin patches of snow but our boots stayed dry.

More moose!

We started right off on a good note, finding a herd of at least five moose browsing in the aspens just a quarter-mile into the hike.  There was a good sized male with antlers, several cows and a teenager or two.  They were completely unconcerned as we and several other hikers paused to take their pictures.  We continued up the trail, passing people on the old mining road to the Red Pine/White Pine intersection as well as on the Red Pine trail.  Once we turned off Red Pine, we still were in the company of a few other hikers although the Maybird Gulch trail is not nearly as popular as Red Pine and White Pine.

One of these days, Pfeifferhorn ...

Without the snow cover, the trail was easy to follow (steep and rocky in places but not the steepest or rockiest we've encountered by any means), and we climbed steadily until we reached the three little lakes.  They were pretty low and we could see lots of deer tracks on the muddy shores.  The Pfeifferhorn loomed above the steep talus slopes surrounding the lakes; under the sunny skies we made a mental note that we'd need to climb it one of these days.

One of the Maybird Lakes

The trail head to the White Pine, Red Pine and Maybird lakes is such a popular spot.  We saw tons of people as we descended, both coming up and going down and with a whole range of preparedness and skill level.  We did not, however, see any more moose - they had probably tired of people gawking at them and moved off further into the brush to continue their browsing.  After changing into dry clothes at the car, we continued up the canyon to Snowbird to take advantage of their Customer Appreciation Days (free tram ride with food donation to the Utah Food Bank or $3 donation to Wasatch Adaptive Sports).  We weren't the only ones with that idea - there were approximately a zillion people up there, all in line for the tram - but we were pretty much the only ones who took post-hike beers and snacks to the top of the tram for consumption atop Hidden Peak.  It was likely one of the last beautiful days of the fall and it was nice to see folks out enjoying it.

The last of the aspens

2013 tour of utah - stage 5

Stage 5 (8/10/13), Snowbasin to Snowbird, 113 miles, 10, 611 foot elevation gain.  Saturday morning we had a little time before we wanted to go up to Snowbird to watch the finish of Stage 5, so H was able to do a road ride and I went for a run from the house - I haven't been doing many hills since I restarted running after ski season and I must have looked like I was suffering terribly because every single runner/dog-walker/cyclist that I saw gave me a big grin and a wave.

After we got cleaned up, we made some sandwiches and tossed some PBRs in the cooler, heading up to Snowbird around 12:30 p.m.  They were going to close the road for the race at 2 p.m. and people were already lining the road at Tanners Flat and pouring into the resort parking lots.  We cruised through the vendor tents, picking up a few more stickers for our theoretical beer fridge, before scoring a picnic table on the Snowbird deck for our lunch.  We chatted for a while with a local guy who'd come up to pick up his Snowbird pass and check out the bike race, then went back to the race area, finding spots on the fence across from the Jumbotron.  We couldn't see the finish line live but we could see it on the screen and we would end up getting a great view of the cyclists as they charged down the alley.

Chris Horner taking the stage from Tommy D.

Stage 5 is really brutal.  It started at Snowbasin, descending through Mountain Green to East Canyon reservoir, then over to Park City and up and over Guardsman's Pass to descend all the way down Big Cottonwood Canyon for the first time in ToU history.  The route then turned up Wasatch Boulevard to Little Cottonwood Canyon and the grueling slog up-up-up to Snowbird.  A couple of cyclists led over the pass and through the descent, only to blow up on the climb up Wasatch Boulevard; the GC leader, young Lachlan Morton held onto his yellow jersey until they started climbing up LCC and then he too blew up.

Stage podium

At this point, Tommy Danielson, who had been supporting Lachlan, realized that he had a shot and just went for it.  Chris Horner jumped on Tommy's back wheel and stayed there all the way up.  They were neck and neck as they turned into Entry 2 and the straightaway to the finish line but Horner's legs were just that much less tired and he jumped ahead of Tommy D. right at the end in front of all the cheering fans.  (Horner did have the good graces to give Tommy credit for pulling him all the way up the canyon in the post-race interview.)

Stage 5 jersey winners (buncha skinny guys)

Stage podium:  Chris Horner (RadioShack/US), Tommy Danielson (Garmin-Sharp/US), Yannick Eijissen (BMC/Belgium).  General classification:  Chris Horner, Tommy D., Lucas Euser.

a little more hiking, a little more biking

Our Saturday and Sunday were largely similar to our Thursday and Friday.  I went back up to Alta for my Catherine's loop while H did another road ride.  It was cooler, although humid up the canyon because of all rain (and the flash flood damage on the sides of Little Cottonwood Canyon road was impressive).  There were not as many people hiking around in Albion Basin as there had been on the 4th and I only passed 14 people on my way up to Catherine's Pass.  The wildflowers are really coming on strong now: the lupine were just about at their peak and the columbine seemed to have popped up all over since just a couple days prior.

Moose crossing

I was on my way down, cruising down the wide path that meanders under the Sunnyside chairlift, when I came upon a group of people standing and taking photographs off to the left: a mother and (large) baby moose were a ways off the trail, enjoying the lush summertime greenery.  We watched them for a while and then, as they moved off, so did we.  But the trail curved around to the left and the moose were heading off to the right, so we all stopped and waited for them to cross the trail and move away.  The moose took their time doing so, not in any hurry because the vegetation was so delicious.  As always, it was a nice treat, getting to see these massive critters up so close.  (My photos are mediocre at best because I only had my phone and you just don't want to get too close to moose.)

The moose are loose in Sunnyside

For something different, I suggested that we go up to Snowbasin for MTBing on Sunday.  Like the last time we did this, the weather was perfect: sunny and 70s.  We did the same foothills trails we did before - Needles, Green Pond Loop, Last Chance - again opting not to take the gondola up and ride the downhill trails, which put too much pressure on the hands and wrists, and which tend to be terrifying.  The Snowbasin trails are just beautiful and while I still struggle on the rocks (and Snowbasin is a lot more rocky than Round Valley), I didn't fall over once - a huge improvement from the 6+ crashes in 2011.

Getting ready to hit the trails at Snowbasin

The only issue came when H, riding ahead of me, missed the Green Pond Loop cutoff, continuing up the jeep road; I was pushing my bike up the hill and saw the trail sign, and took the trail.  I figured he was just up ahead of me and kept going, cursing at the rocky parts and enjoying dirt parts.  I was in the woods, almost at the pond when H finally called me, worried, wondering where I was, saying: "I'm back at the truck - where are you?" We figured out where he'd missed the trail and I sat down under a tree to wait for him to get back out to me.

The oldest continuously-operating bar

west of the Mississippi

Although Snowbasin was having a cookout and live music that afternoon, we headed over to the Shooting Star Saloon in Huntsville. It's been under new ownership for a couple of years now and while the menu and decor haven't changed, they're now open seven days a week.  There were a number of other customers in the place - bikers, young couples, older folks - and we sat at the bar, devouring burgers and beers.  And that's how you do a mellow long holiday weekend from your home, outdoors as much as you can, on two feet and two wheels whenever possible.

xterra national championships

The XTERRA National Championships are up at Snowbasin Resort this weekend, with the triathlon USA finals Saturday and the trail run national finals on Sunday.  We often watch the XTERRA tri series on television and decided to head north to see the race in person today.  (Because Lance Armstrong recently decided that he wanted to do this race, a lot of other people went too, who might not normally have gone to the event.)  Snowbasin is, as always, a gorgeous venue and today was no exception, with a mix of sun and thin clouds and red foliage dotting the mountainside.  The temperatures were pleasant: low 60s in the morning and warming up to high 70s in the afternoon - pretty good conditions for a race.

The swim portion of the triathlon was down in Pineview Reservoir: a 1.5 km swim broken up into two 750-m laps with no running in between.  After the swim, the racers jumped on their mountain bikes - because, unlike the Ironman series, for example, XTERRA is not on pavement and both the bike and the run are on trails - for the 28 km climb from the reservoir to Snowbasin, a 3,400 foot elevation change.  After the bike, the athletes switch to their running shoes and head out on the 9.8 km trail run, across the ski trails and through the woods, with another 700 feet of climbing.

Lance heading out on the run

We opted to skip the swim portion and drove straight to Snowbasin,  We snagged a spot on the fence at the bike-to-run transition area, right by the run exit, and were able to easily see all the pro leaders, including Dan Hugo and Conrad Stoltz (So. Africa), Nico Lebrun (France) and Josiah Middaugh and Lance (USA) for the men, and Melanie McQuaid (Canada) for the women.  Lance's transition was a little slower than the other guys (understandably, since they do this regularly throughout the year) and Josiah had to walk the last mile of the bike segment because of a shredded rear tire.

Women's event podium

After the leaders and a good portion of the amateur sports came through the transition, we moved up the hill under the gondola to watch them finish the run.  The final fifty meters to the finish was lined with cheering spectators and the racers slapped high fives as they came down the last stretch, except for Lance who seemed to be struggling slightly.  For the event, Nico Lebrun came in first for the men, with Dan Hugo, Josiah Middaugh, Conrad Stoltz and Lance rounding out the top five; Melanie McQuaid took first for the women, and Lesley Paterson (Scotland) took second, then Danelle Kabush (Canada), Kelley Cullen (USA) and Emma Garrard (USA).

Men's season podium: Stoltz took the season;

Lebrun (to his right) won the event

Snowbasin put on a great event with burgers, BBQ and beer, vendors, gondola rides and live bluegrass music to keep everyone entertained and involved.  It's apparently a tough course - in a post-race interview, when asked if he had fun today, Lance deadpanned "No" - but the athletes seem to like it and XTERRA will be back again next year, having chosen Utah for its finals home.

bruised and battered but unbowed

On Sunday we threw the MTBs in the truck and drove up to Snowbasin.  It's been ages since we've been up there - probably since we skied there in March 2010.  As we pulled into the parking lot, I realized that I'd forgotten how gorgeous it is up there.  It definitely wins the prize for being the best looking ski resort in the summer season, with the lush green trails running up to the cliffs high overhead, plus the lodges are so beautiful and well-kept that you feel like you're in a luxury hotel, not a ski lodge.  The temperature was perfect too: a balmy 71 under bright blue skies.

Idyllic spot for a MTB ride

Snowbasin has a lot going on the summertime: gondola rides and mid-mountain dining, disc golf, cookouts and free concerts, hiking and MTBing trails.  You don't have to pay to ride their trails (only if you want to take your bike up on the lift) and there's even a regularly scheduled shuttlebus to bring you back to the main lodge if you end up at the bottom of one trail, far down the access road.  We picked up a trail map and determined that the green trails would be best for me: lower Needles, Last Chance Trail and the Green Pond Loop, all winding up and down through the rolling hills beneath the peaks.

Foot down but upright, so call it a win

The trails here are awesome - which is not to say that I didn't struggle, because I did, on the switchbacks and on the hills where the trail surface was rocky.  I've learned that a big part of my problem is just going too slowly up (or down) the rocky bits and then just falling over, unable to get my feet uncleated in time.  I stopping counting the fall-overs after six and while I'm scratched up pretty good now and will have some spectacular bruises later, I didn't really get hurt.  Plus I'm sort of used to falling over now and am not afraid of it any more.  H had a couple of fall-overs too - going too slowly because he was waiting for me - and gouged his right shin pretty well.  After that I told him it was okay if he rode ahead at his own pace as long as he'd wait for me at the trail junctions.  (I have a whistle in case I fall and get hurt and need him to come back for me.)

Poor H's leg!

But let me get back to how awesome the Snowbasin singletrack is!  None of what we rode was ever too steep; much of the trail surface was lovely hard-pack which is a dream to ride on; and the views are phenomenal, both east over the rolling green hills and west to the cliffs towering over the ski resort.  H in particular did great, riding up and down and over absolutely everything ... except one bridge that was just pallets stapled together.  In all, we rode for 2 hours 40 minutes - well, that was my time, as H could have finished up 25 minutes sooner had he not been waiting for me.

View to the west 

After we got back to the truck and changed out of our dirty, sweaty, bloody MTBing clothes, we sauntered on over to the Snowbasin patio where there was a barbecue (bacon cheeseburger and pulled pork sandwich) and beer (Uinta Cutthroat pale ale) for purchase and consumption with a live band, Shades of Grey.  We sat under an umbrella, eating, drinking and listening, surrounded by tons of other like-minded folks out enjoying the day.  It was an outstanding finish to an outstanding day - and, coupled with our hike to White Pine Lake the day before, an outstanding weekend all the way around.  We just love it out here!

P.S.  While we listened to the band, we used H's phone to watch the last twenty minutes of the US v. Japan women's World Cup final.  What a heartbreaker!