return northward

Whew! I had a bit of posting fatigue there for a minute.  When we got back to SLC, the amount of dirty laundry was truly staggering.  But we persevered and, one week later, were back out on the trails, this time in northern Utah.

MTB trails were a bit dusty

Saturday we went to Round Valley where Quinn's Trailhead was packed for some reason.  We ended up parking in the further lot - where the severed deer leg was (?!) - which was not even an inconvenience and kept us away from people a bit.  Despite how crowded the parking lot was, the trails were not that bad - I have no idea why. 

We have so many of these green, down-Millcreek-Canyon shots

We did a 15.44 mile ride which seemed mostly to consist of climbing: we did that bit of Matt's Flat (?) that I used to call My Nemesis but which has now almost totally be re-routed and is much easier to ride, plus PorcUClimb once or twice, plus Happy Gilmore and Tin Man (all up), plus something else I can't remember now.  H was riding well; I was doing okay but was squirrelly on the chunky bits.  Nothing new there.

Sunday was off-leash day in Millcreek Canyon.  Milton hadn't climbed Grandeur Peak yet (it has been since 2018 since we've done it, when we starting to train for the Big Hike) so that was our destination.  We got there less early than I thought we should but since SLC had a curfew that weekend, it wasn't that busy yet.  And it was early enough in the season that there was lots of water on the lower section of the trail for Milton to splash in and drink, although I did carry plenty of water for the upper portion for him.

Pretty green for a high desert

Every time.  Every dang time we hike in Millcreek Canyon I forget - and then quickly remember - how dang steep it is.  It's a much narrower canyon than Big and Little Cottonwood, so even with switchbacks, the trails are really steep - and to be honest, Millcreek Canyon trails don't much believe in switchbacks.

Peaking early

We passed a few people on our way up, shared the summit with just a handful of folks, and then passed a fair number of hikers going up as we were going down.  Despite it being off-leash day there wasn't an overabundance of dogs either, but Milton politely said hello and kept his focus, only stopping to play with a big, friendly Australian shepherd who wanted a game of chase.

The roadside parking was full by the time we got back to the car (6.29 miles RT), as were most of the big trailhead lots we scoped out for our lunch.  We finally found a sunny spot at a less-busy picnic area and pulled in to change out of sweaty hiking duds and have some snacks.  It was nice to be back on the trails in northern Utah but it still feels weird to be sharing them with people after our solitudinous spring.