shadow lake

We headed back to Park City Sunday morning - for people who really hate driving through Parley's Canyon on I-80, we have been doing it a lot lately - getting out of the drifting wildfire smoke and meeting P for a hike.  Our goal was Shadow Lake, tucked under the Jupiter chair lift, way in the back of PCMR.  We had told P that the last time we did this hike, it was over twelve miles.  He was undeterred.

Mom: nom nom nom

Baby: nom nom nom

Skies were clear and temperatures were cool, but not cool enough for gloves or arm warmers, as we left the parking lot around 8 a.m.  As we walked down the road past the golf course to the Silver Star trailhead, we stopped to watch a moose and her calf contentedly browsing among the landscaping.  They were completely unconcerned about us. 

Gorgeous trail

We hopped on the Armstrong trail, thinking that it was the trail we took last fall.  It wasn't - that was Dawn's Trail - and it ended up taking us way out of the resort boundaries, to Canyons territory.  We didn't really care, though, because the Armstrong trail is one of the nicest - if not the nicest - hiking trails we've ever been on.  It is a multi-use trail (MTB uphill only; all other traffic two-way), with no rocks or roots, firmly packed dirt and long switchbacks.  We were climbing the whole way but it scarcely felt like it.

Oh my heck: here comes autumn!

At the top of the climb, we turned left onto the Mid-Mountain trail, which took us under the Quicksilver gondola that links PCMR and Canyons.  At the next junction, we turned right, following Spiro/Powerline straight up the drainage, past the Thaynes mine to little Shadow Lake.  No wildlife other than birds and a few MTBers, but after the morning's moose, we couldn't complain.

Mining ruin

After a short snack break, we started our return trip, walking down the access road to the Thaynes mine.  PCMR is riddled with trails and we had choices on the way out, picking the Mid-Mountain to Crescent Mine Grade to the front of the resort.  We encountered lots more MTBers at this point: some kicking ass and riding uphill, others taking the easier way of just downhilling after a chair lift ride.

On the shore of Shadow Lake

From there, we lost a lot of elevation descending Eagle with its many, many switchbacks, then a short stint on Spiro brought us back to the Silver Spur trailhead.  It was warmer down at the base in the sun, but there was a gentle breeze that kept it from getting too hot as we re-hydrated in the parking lot.  It was pretty busy there, midday, with lots and lots of bikers coming and going, heading to the trails or out on the roads.  And why not?  Those PCMR trails are an awful lot of fun, on foot or on wheels.

Cruisin' down the trail

Hike stats:  13.60 miles; 4:22 moving time; 3.1 m.p.h moving average; 5:15 total time; 2.6 m.p.h. overall average; 2,300 feet of climbing