the o.g.

I was a bit stiff on Sunday after my downhill race.  But MTBing uses totally different muscles so off we went to Park City to try to shake some of the cobwebs loose.  H suggested that we go old school and do the original route that we put together; I thought that sounded great.

So we started out on some double-track from Quinn's Trailhead (Hat Trick, Matt's Flat); down the re-routed trail towards Cove Trailhead and then up the new "My Nemesis" (our name) and down Round Valley Express.  We turned off that and went up "Hammerhead" (our name for the crazy-steep hill).  We varied from the original route here, doing a P-Dog loop (up PorcUClimb and down Down Dog), then out Matt's Flat to the Practice Loop and then out Rambler.  From there, we climbed the "Sweet Sixteen" corners of Rambler, went up and over the top and then down the "Sagebrush Switchbacks" on the backside.

My nemesis (former)

Then it was out Round Valley Express with a short jaunt on the paved bike path before hopping back on the dirt at Ramble On.  We rode past the old car and up the three steps of the "Staircase" to connect again with Rambler.  From there, it was all downhill, back to the truck, with a total distance of just over 17 miles.

It was another gorgeous day for riding: a little warmer than last Sunday but not too hot.  It wasn't windy and it really wasn't very crowded.  These days are gifts!

it's all downhill from here

After a couple of years off, during which they changed the course to a 10k with much more uphill at the end, I signed up for the 2019 Crack of Dawn 8k - back to its original course - for my sixth attempt.  To be honest, my training had not been what it should have been; I really didn't start running much until into June, due to travel and injury.  And probably also some laziness - I just don't like running that much!

I never seem to pick up my feet

My work friend N agreed to run it with me and H (and Milton) drove us up to the winter gate of Millcreek Canyon for the 6:30 a.m. start.  This is usually a small race as I understand the Forest Service only allows for 150 runners, but there were far fewer than 150 when the metaphorical gun went off.

The course starts just above Log Haven and goes all the way down Millcreek Canyon, turning left at Wasatch Boulevard for a short uphill to finish at the Olympus Hills shopping center.  I actually felt pretty good for most of it but that slight uphill to the end is always a slap in the face.  Even though that was my second slowest time, I still felt good about it, especially considering how little I had trained.  I was a bit wiped out for the rest of the day (which seems like a waste of a day) but next year I'll be the youngest in my age group.  I may just have to try it again.

Milton greeted me at the finish

Race results
2019:  6/15 age group finish; 28/76 overall finish; time: 44:02.58 (altho' I thought the clock read 43 something as I crossed the finish line)
2016:  5/18 age group finish; 34/115 overall finish; time: 39:55.96
2015:  8/23 age group finish; 59/175 overall finish; time: 41:24.02
2014:  5/23 age group finish; 65/174 overall finish; time 40:53.07
2012:  5/12 age group finish; 61/126 overall finish; time 44:15.11
2011:  6/15 age group finish; 45/106 overall finish; time 41:09.75

about as nice as you could want

For the first time in what seems like ages, it was sunny when we rode at Round Valley.  I didn't even have to wear long sleeves!  We got up and got going, not super early but enough to get ourselves over to Park City before mid-morning.  It was a gorgeous day - sunny but not hot - and we were surprised that the parking lot wasn't fuller than it was.

Rusty Shovel

Not ones to look in the mouths of gift horses, we hopped on our MTBs.  Passing mid-week rain showers had tamped down the dust somewhat and the trails were in good shape.  After warming up around the Ability Center, we cut over to the north side to climb Happy Gilmor and Tin Man.  I really like those climbs: although there is a lot of up, none of it is particularly steep so you can just fall into a rhythm and crank your way to the top.

From Rademan Ridge, we went down Rambler, across Round Valley Express and back up Rambler via the sagebrush switchbacks, where I got passed by a sixteen year old kid and managed not to take it personally.  Then we did more climbing (yay climbing!): up PorcUClimb, down Down Dog and back up PorcUClimb again.

Rambler

To finish out the ride (which would end up being around seventeen miles, my longest of the summer), we went down Rusty Shovel and then back to Quinn's trailhead via Rambler - or Ramble On, whichever one has the climb with the three stair-steps.  At the truck for beers and snacks (since the Park City Brewery still hasn't reopened a tap room), the sun was strong but still pleasant.  Truly about as nice a day for MTBing as you could ask for.

blustery at brighton

It's not really fair when it's clear and sunny and hot all week and then Saturday rolls around and it's overcast and cool with a chance of rain.  It wasn't actively raining, however, so we figured it was worth risking a quickie hike up at Brighton, just to get some exercise and get out of the house.

There's still snow in them thar hills

We hadn't realized that it was the first weekend of the Wasatch Wildflower Festival and thus were a little surprised to see so many cars at Brighton on such a gloomy day.  The clouds certainly weren't keeping the crowds away and the guided hikes were lining up right on schedule.  We upped our pace to get ahead of folks, cruising quickly through the lower part of the ski area to the turn-off for Clayton Peak.  Once on that trail, we didn't see anyone else until we were headed back down.

Brave little flowers

To be honest, this year's wildflower festival was a little short on the wildflowers due to the cool spring and the lingering snowpack.  We saw just a few hardy blossoms in the lower meadows and once we got up higher, there was still a good amount of snow in the pine forests.  The ephemeral creeks were cranking, rushing their way down the mountains to join up with Big Cottonwood Creek.

On the ridge, Clayton Peak behind me

We had to route-find a little bit on our way up to the ridge, due to the snow in the woods.  Once up on the saddle, it proved blustery and cold.  Even though the trail up to Clayton looked clear, we weren't really dressed for the chilly temperatures; one really doesn't expect cold weather in Utah in mid-July.

Still impressive tree wells

When we got back down to the main trail, there were literally hordes of people coming down from the lakes.  We couldn't get out of there fast enough and eventually found respite at the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon in a pitcher of Epic Session IPA at the Hog Wallow.  The older we get, the less we like crowds - but we'll always like beer.

Hike stats: 4.5 miles; moving 1:52 and 2.4 m.p.h. / overall 2:20 and 1.9 m.p.h.; 1,150 feet of elevation

wrapping up the weekend

There was just enough time for a quick walk with Milton Sunday morning before we had to pack up and head back home.  After the morning constitutional on the bike path, through neighborhoods and past the Moab Youth Garden Project, we went up the Sand Flats road to walk out to the Millcreek overlook that we'd discovered in January.

Wonderful hand-painted garden signs

We were out for about an hour, and early enough that we were in the shade for most of it.  We had the place to ourselves on the way out and then saw three hikers and four dogs on our way back.  We also saw a gorgeous grey and yellow coyote dash across the trail and down into the gully.  Well, Milton didn't see it, which was probably good, all things considered.

Millcreek

again the la sals, again steep

Even though the Mann's Peak attempt wasn't a complete success peak-bagging-wise, it was pleasant enough up in the La Sals to go back for round two on Saturday, this time with the dog.  With a 7:30 a.m. start, we pulled into the Warner Lake day-use parking lot around 8:05 a.m.   Milton did pretty well with the car ride: he drooled like crazy, especially once we got onto the dirt road and I put the windows down, but he didn't get sick.  Yay!

Pretty aspen-shaded trail

A short summit hike was the plan today, with the option for a longer exploration depending on trail conditions: Gold Knob, and then possibly into Miners Basin.  After starting gently up through lovely, sun-dappled aspen meadows, the trail went up steeply, alongside a full stream.  At the top of the the gully was a trail junction: left to Gold Knob and right to Mountain View.  These National Forest trails are all signed well so you know which way to go; they often don't include mileage, however, and I wish they did because we might have tacked a Mountain View out and back onto the end of the morning's hike.

Castle Valley and the Porcupine Rim, etc.

We went left, up long and fairly steep switchbacks that wound through more aspens.  It was here that we stepped off the trail to let a group of horse-packing cowboys go by.  Their Australian cattle dog, Rooster, stopped to say hello to Milton.  At the second trail junction, we turned left again to cross the ridge and climb more steep switchbacks up to the summit of Gold Knob (11,048 feet).  Milton appreciated the snow on its eastern face.

M taking in the view

The views from the summit are absolutely spectacular.  To the north, we could see Castle Valley, the Porcupine Rim, the Colorado River, Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.  It was a little hazy but still stunning.  We spent a decent amount of time up there since we had it to ourselves, having snacks and enjoying the cool breezes.  A lot of the time, we get to a summit, eat a granola bar, snap a couple pictures and then head back down.  This time, we took the time to enjoy the peak.

Views to the south are good too

When the snacks were all gone, we retraced our steps back down to the saddle, then continued eastwards, hoping to explore Miners Basin a bit.  As we crossed over the ridge to the steep, eastern-facing, pine-forested slope, We found a sign for the trail (below) but the trail itself was buried under at least five feet of snow.  Since the hiking trails out here don't tend to use blazes, there was no way to know where the trail went and turned around, putting a pin in Miners Basin for next time.

Trail?  If you say so ...

The mosquitoes (!!) came out a bit as we went back the way we came but as long as we kept moving, it was okay, and as soon as we came out of the pine woods, they disappeared entirely.  Back at the campground, we took Milton out to Warner Lake to see if he wanted to wade (he didn't).  After parking lot beers, and talking with other hikers and their dogs, we descended back into the heat of the Moab valley - Milton drooling all the way.

the la sals are steep

Generally speaking, folks who live in Utah don't go to Moab in the summertime, unless they are full-time residents.  It's just so darn hot - better to leave it to the tourists (like we were, the first time I ever went to Moab on one of our exploratory trips before we moved).  On the one hand, it isn't nearly as crowded as it is in spring and fall.  On the other hand, it's just so darn hot.

So we went to Moab over the Fourth of July, making it a long (and hot) weekend.

Warner Lake (pretty but not much of a lake)

The best thing to do to beat the heat is go up into the mountains, just like we do in northern Utah.  The La Sal mountains top out over 11,000 feet above sea level, towering over the town which sits at 4,026 feet.  Up in the La Sals, it is green and cool and remarkably wet, especially with all the snow this winter.  There are even mosquitoes (!) although they are slow and not particularly ferocious - coast of Maine salt water skeeters they ain't.

Pleasant walking here

We had driven down Wednesday after work, and then didn't do much on the holiday itself, so by Friday I was antsy to hike.  We drove ten miles up the paved La Sal loop road, and then another five miles up the dirt access road to the Warner Lake Campground where there is a day-use parking area in addition to some great-looking campsites.  My thought was to attempt Mann's Peak by taking the Dry Fork trail up to the saddle and then seeing how things looked.  Starting temperature at 8:30 a.m. was 48 F.  I even wished for my gloves for about twenty minutes.

Avalanche debris in Dry Fork

The first part of the trail, from the campground to the Dry Fork/Burro Pass junction, was full of gorgeous wildflowers, cool aspen groves and full creeks.  The trail was easy to follow and comfortable to walk; you do need to keep an eye out for MTBers cruising down the Whole Enchilada trail, heading for the Colorado River 20+ miles away.  At the junction, we went left on the much fainter Dry Fork trail.  It follows a drainage with no many switchbacks, so it was fairly steep and rocky.  Soon, we had to pick our way through avalanche debris obscuring the trail: aspens (and larch?) snapped off shoulder-high.

What a bear does in the woods

There was also quite a lot of snow filling the drainage and we lost the trail after following footsteps for a while that petered out.  While we were milling around trying to pick the trail up again, we saw bear scat.  Lots of bear scat.  It was enough to give up Mann's Peak for the day - and I do think we weren't far from the saddle - and retrace our steps, whacking our hiking poles together now and again, just to be safe.

Back at the campground, it was still too early to quit so we did a side trip down (down down down) the Trans-Mountain Trail to the Oowah Lake campground (eleven sites, no water, $5/night).  This trail was very steep.  On the return (up up up), I got a rude awakening as to how out of hiking shape my legs still are.

New gaiters and new scratches

With both short hikes, the mileage was around eight miles (forgot the GPS), certainly enough to merit a beer in the still-shady parking lot.  Temperature at 1:30 p.m.:  71 F, which was amazing.  And which made for a bit of a shock when we got back to town where it was 96 F.  We had a plan for that, however, which involved a clean-up, a quick siesta, and a couple of cold beers at Woody's.

snowpack

The northern Utah snowpack this year was quite good.  Its life was prolonged as well due to the cold and cloudy spring we had, keeping the snow around long enough for Snowbird to claim the title of "longest ski season" this year.  H and I did our own record keeping this year.  Here is photographic evidence of Alta's snow.

Mid-March 

Early April

Mid-April

Same shed, June 29

Early April 

Mid-April

June 29

blustery, part II

H and Milton washed our MTBs Saturday afternoon.  It is possible that this jinxed us for our Park City ride on Sunday.

Milton is very helpful

It had clouded up overnight Saturday, so it was still warmish when we got up.  With that in mind, I didn't bother to put a fleece in my bag when H and I packed up for a Round Valley MTB ride.  We also didn't have to wait until noon for it to warm up enough to ride, as we did last weekend.  We rolled into the Quinn's Trailhead parking lot around 10 a.m. and it was about as full as we've seen it.  This would change.

Gathering clouds

We started out by riding to Rademan Ridge (trail runners, hikers and dogs, a few MTBers), then riding down the ridge and descending Rambler to the jeep road.  As we climbed the Sagebrush Switchbacks (a/k/a Rambler), it start to rain.  H and I had a disagreement about how much rain there was: he said sprinkles; I said a light rain, definitely more than sprinkles.  It made for pleasant climbing temperatures but as the rain continued, the trails got wetter and my new-ish tires, still with fairly robust treads, started picking up dirt/mud.  At the pass, we switched over and climbed PorcUClimb, then descended the ridge a little bit and picked up Rambler again, to descend the top half of what we call the Sweet Sixteen.  We both rode that section well, no doubt because we were sure we weren't going to meet any riders coming up.  What with the rain and all.

Not really that clean anymore

When we had gotten over to the Practice Loop area, I tapped out.  I was getting chilled and my treads were caked with mud.  I went back to the truck, to wipe off the mud and change into dry clothes, while H did another four miles.  As soon as he got back, the rain stopped.  We had our little post-ride picnic (sandwiches and beer) at a covered picnic table and then hopped into the truck.  For the second weekend in a row, and on June 30th no less, we drove back to SLC with the heat on.

off-season alta tour

Our northern Utah hiking season has gotten to a slow start this year.  The spring was so wet and cold, and the snowpack has lingered for so long, that it's been challenging to get out into the Wasatch.  If we liked snowshoeing, that would have been different - there's been lots of snowshoeing to be had.  Putting our boots on dirt, however, that's been more difficult to come by.

Gunsight still skiable

We had to get out there, though, so on Saturday we left Milton to guard the house (no dogs allowed in Little Cottonwood Canyon, not even in cars) and drove up to Alta.  We weren't sure how long we'd be out since we weren't sure how much snow would be up there.  As it turned out, there's still quite a lot.

Heading up Rollercoaster

The day was gorgeous and largely cloud-free, as you can see from the photos.  I ended up misjudging my sunscreen application: I usually don't put SPF 50 on my lower legs when I'm hiking since they don't get the exposure my arms and face do.  But with the sun reflecting off the snow, I ended up getting a little bit sunburned on my calves and shins (and a sock tanline too - the horror!).  So, lesson learned.

These funky ridges were only about a foot high

We hiked from Albion Base to Alf's, starting on the Summer Road and then switching to the summer trail up through Sunnyside.  At Alf's, we intended to follow the dirt access road up the switchbacks through East Greely.  With all the snow, however, we missed the road's turn and instead just followed the groomed trails up Rollercoaster and Devil's Elbow.  These blue trails are steep when you're hiking straight up them, by the way.

Skier and split-boarder, heading down

After a stop at the still-iced-in Cecret Lake, we continued under the Sugarloaf chair and went up Devil's Way (also steep) to the top of the Collins lift.  Here we met a couple of dudes who we'd seen earlier, skiing down through lower Devil's Castle to the lake.  They skinned up to the top of Collins, then took their skins off and headed down the front side of Collins.  We ended up seeing over a dozen people out skinning and/or skiing.  There is still so much snow that you can ski top to bottom if you're willing to do the hike.

Grizzly Gulch drying out across the canyon

We followed their tracks down to Wildcat base, down Mambo, under the angle station (the only bare spot on the run) and down through Corkscrew.  It was easy hiking because we could glissade a little, and even ran a bit, the snow offering nice cushioning on our joints.  At Wildcat base, we turned right and followed the creek up to the newly redone Snowpine Lodge, where we could scramble back up to our car.  It wasn't a long hike but it was a pretty one.  And it confirmed our suspicions that, with the lingering snowpack, Alta's summer looks to be a short one this year.

Hike stats:  4.75 miles; 1,730 feet of elevation; moving 1:59 hours / 2.4 m.p.h.; overall 2:38 / 1.8 m.p.h.