trying to stay ahead of it

In an effort to stay ahead of the heat of the day, we got an earlier start on Sunday than we've been doing, getting over to Park City and out on our MTBs a little before 9 a.m.  We could tell that it was warmer than it's been but the temperatures were still fairly pleasant, at least as we were starting out and in the shade.  It's funny the difference an hour or so can make, though.  The shadows were different, changing the contours of the trail.  And there were more animals out and about: in addition to all the marsh birds, ducks and ducklings in the wet section along the rail trail, we spotted a muskrat, happily paddling about and eating reeds; and just before we got to Quinn's Trailhead, I caught a glimpse of an ermine (in his brown/cream summer fur) sitting on top of a fence post before he dove for cover into the tall grass.

Another difference was the dearth of people out on the Round Valley Trails, although whether this was due to the earlier timeframe or the general heat is tough to say.  There seemed to be more trail runners than MTBers out there and there weren't very many runners.  H did have to deal with a couple of clueless newbies who were descending the Sweet Sixteen and didn't get out of his way as he was climbing up, forcing him off into the sagebrush.  Another MTBer, off the side and out of the way, commiserated with him, "Some people have no manners."  That same guy became my cheering section - "Come on, girl, you can do it!" - as I sweated and struggled my way up a couple minutes later.  My legs were still fatigued from Saturday's 11+ mile hike and I had to channel Jens Voigt several times to keep myself moving: Shut up legs!  It must have worked because although I was pretty slow, I rode all but two of the Sweet Sixteen switchbacks and made it up both My Nemesis and the Staircase.

Clawing my way to the top of My Nemesis

We finished up a little after 11 a.m. and hightailed it to our picnic spot.  The sun was intense there, though, and there was no breeze to speak of so we ate our sandwiches, drank one beer and called it a day so as to get out of the heat.  Well, we did make a quick stop in at the little store at Brighton for an ice cream first.  And then we called it a day.