#rutssuck

It seemed like forever since we'd been on our MTBs (even though we only took one weekend off) so we were anxiously eyeing the mountaintrails.org maps to see if the trails were dry after the last storm.  Even then, we didn't believe it when they said Round Valley was full of snow and mud; those are lower elevation trails, mostly exposed, and the last week had been sunny and dry.  We were determined to go - but we waited until temperatures got up into the 50s, which meant we started riding around 11 a.m.

Dry trails in the sunshine

We try to be very careful with trails if they are wet because #rutssuck; having started riding in New England, we know how badly trails can get torn up when people ride through mud.  Our Round Valley route on Saturday was a new one, as we kept to the dry trails, rerouting when necessary.

If it sticks to your heels or your wheels, turn around

We started on Hat Trick/Fast Pitch (the jeep roads out of Quinn's Trailhead), then Matt's Flatt to Seventy 101 to PorcUClimb.  PorcUClimb had a couple of muddy patches where the gambel oaks kept things shady, so we got off our MTBs and carried them across to dry dirt.  After the climb, we intended to descend on Down Dog.  That trail was closed (per photo above) because it was too wet so we went down Nowhere Elks instead.  From there, we got on Valderroad, did the Practice Loop, then took Rambler to Ramble On.  The Staircase portion of Ramble On was the worst of the muddy bits but we were able to walk around the soft spots.  Then it was Rusty Spur to the paved bike path, to the North Round Valley trailhead where we picked up Happy Gilmor and Tin Man.  When we got to Rademan Ridge after finishing Tin Man, someone told us that that side of Rambler (a/k/a the Sagebrush Switchbacks, to us) was also closed.  So we descended from the ridge and picked up Round Valley Express (long hill to climb) to Cami's.  After that, we just jumped back on Matt's Flat to Ability Way and back to the truck.

Afterwards, at the Park City Brewery, we had a nice time talking with beertender Becky.  We knew she was originally from Massachusetts but this afternoon we learned that she was a sternman - excuse me, sternchick - for a commercial lobsterman out of Scituate during the summers of 2016 and 2017.  She went through her phone and showed us all sorts of photos she'd taken of the crazy-clawed lobsters she'd seen.  For our part, even though neither of us has worked on a commercial lobster boat, we both helped my dad haul traps when he had a recreational license and knew enough about New England fisheries to hold our own in the conversation.  It was a fun discussion and one neither she nor we expected we'd be having that day.

Ride stats:  15.33 miles