regrouping

 Sssshhhhhhh ... we'll be back soon.  Until then, dreaming of the desert.

Tired enough to sleep in the car

(for about three minutes)

blustery

Another SLC weekend, this time with slightly gnarlier (although not actually gnarly) weather.  Saturday was cool and cloudy, and it had actually rained some Friday night/Saturday morning.  H waited for the roads to dry up and Milton and I did our 3+ mile loop through Dimple Dell.  It was cool, humid and breezy and we didn't see many people; the skies overhead were ominous but we only got sprinkled on just a little right as we were starting out.

The rest of the day was spent at home: although the sun peaked out from time to time, it stayed cool-ish and breezy as a cold front was moving our way.  I made an apple galette (pretty good but also pretty small; will make again though because it's easy and you can use any kind of fruit) and finally succeeded with vegan yachae jeon (Korean vegetable pancakes).  These were really tasty , fairly simple and are good for cleaning out your fridge's veggie drawer.  H liked them too so they'll definitely be made again - the pancake batter helps make them filling and they're packed with veg.  No photos: I am an appallingly bad food photographer.

Moody, broody skies

On Sunday, H and I went to Round Valley and did a 15+ mile MTB ride.  It was quite windy with that dry cold front moving ever closer so there weren't that many other riders out there.  Lots of dog walkers and a number of hikers and trail runners, though, as winds don't impact them quite so much.  It was actually a great morning of riding, blustery gusts notwithstanding.  The much cooler temperatures were fantastic but the [at that point, still] clear skies meant the sun was warm.  Both H and I thought we rode pretty well.  We did Quinn's trailhead double track to Matt's Flat, to Ramble On, to Bourbon Street and Big Easy, to the backside (we haven't been there all summer and they've paved the trail head parking lot AND put in an outhouse!) to Happy Gilmor and Tin Man, down Rambler and then up Rambler, then up PorcUClimb and all the way down Down Dog, then Matt's Flat to the Practice Loop and out.  I really prefer climbing but I thought I rode Down Dog pretty well this time.  

English Pale Ale

It was wicked windy but still sunny when we got home so, after walking Milton and having a quick sandwich, we drove south to Draper to check out the Garage Grill's dog-friendly patio.  Milton wanted to go to a bar, you see.  Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the dry cold front was really moving through: temperatures dropped over 15 degrees in an hour, winds were gusting to 40 m.p.h. and the air in the Salt Lake Valley was full of dust.  Not ideal for patio drinking.  But we each had a beer - Salt Flats Brewing Company NEIPA and an English pale - and Milton got to say hi to another dog so we made the best of it.  We'll go back for sure: their patio is perfect for sunsets (although their menu isn't particularly vegan-friendly AND you do need to order some food if you're drinking).

 

weekend things

 Ever since we adopted Milton, we just haven't been doing as much hiking in the Wasatch Front as we used to do.  Part of this is absolutely because you can't take dogs into Little Cottonwood Canyon or Big Cottonwood Canyon, so that reduces the hiking opportunities if we want to take him with us.  Part of it, however, is because Utah's population has exploded in the last few years and the trailheads are just crazy-crowded on the weekends.  Of course, we're part of the problem, having relocated here ourselves.  But we've been here twelve years and feel slightly superior to all the more recent relocatees. 

Dimple Dell sunflowers

When we don't go hiking, H likes to get out on his road bike and I like to take Milt on long, 3+ mile walks from our house.  A recent loop through Dimple Dell showed us that the sunflowers are flourishing - as are all the little songbirds who feed off the sunflower seeds.

Another thing that Milton likes to do (us too, of course), is go to bars so he can meet people.  H and I really just go for the beers.  Grid City finally has its dog-friendly roof deck - with terrific views of the Wasatch Front - staffed and open during the day on the weekends.  We took our boy up to check it out (he very much did not like the metal stairs but relaxed into baking himself in the sunshine once up there).  Our friends E and K met us there, bringing along two other friends, and we had a great afternoon drinking pale ales and stuffing our faces with bomb vegan bar food.  Milton decided that those scary stairs were worth it because four different people came over to pat him, plus the bartender brought him a bowl of water before we got our beers.

No dogs on the other side of those kegs tho'

We also stopped by E and K's house on the way home so (1) Milton could see all their dogs and (2) K could load us up with a bagful of gorgeous homegrown scotch bonnet peppers.  They're in the freezer now (you can freeze fleshy peppers like scotch bonnets) while I research hot sauce recipes.  H and I tried one and HOLY MOLY THOSE ARE CRAZY HOT.  The heat fades quickly but while it lasts WOW.

Equal parts beautiful and terrifying

On Sunday, we met up with Ted for a Round Valley MTB session.  It was a really nice morning, with good temperatures, blue skies and not much wind.  There weren't very many people out first thing either, which was delightful.  No photos - too busy enjoying the ride.

the usual

 Having learned from experience to avoid final evening holiday traffic (the pinchpoint in Spanish Fork Canyon where northbound goes from two lanes to one), we stayed all day on Monday, getting up wicked early Tuesday to make the drive back to SLC.  That gave Milton and me plenty of time for a Millcreek hike: H dropped us off and then picked us up afterwards, thoughtfully arriving with beers and dog biscuits for some leisurely parking lot apres.  We had the canyon all to ourselves on the outbound trip to the hitching post, met a couple of hikers in the upper canyon and then a few more, with dogs, in the lower part.  Milton also found something dead to roll in so I had to scrub him down with sand in the creek; he didn't love that but it did de-stinkify him for the most part.

Nice morning light

Early fall desert blooms

ventured but not gained

On Saturday, the three of us went to Pritchett Canyon, hoping to find some petroglyphs that we thought were in the area.  We didn't find them but we had a nice hike anyway.  There were a couple of tour vans parked near the entrance with a canyoneering group headed in; later we saw five jeeps and about eight hikers - not nearly the traffic this canyon can get sometimes.

September showers bring fall flowers

There were still lingering puddles from the rain earlier in the week and the desert had gotten very green again.  There were even flowers blooming, which is unusual for September.  We also noticed itty-bitty tiny toads (dime-sized) hopping around - the recent damp must have brought them out as I don't recall ever seeing them before.  The sky was the clearest we've seen in weeks, without a trace of blown-in wildfire smoke.  I found that to be an incredible mood-booster - although just being out in the desert helps too.

Down canyon view

We took a side canyon, climbing up the rockfall so as to leave no trace in the fragile desert soil, and poking around under the cliff walls.  We didn't find what we were looking for but that was really okay.  Milton, who roams far and wide when we are walking on a trail, stuck very close to us the whole time we were off-trail.  Because he's a good boy.

Wonder what that arch is called?

H and Milton got ahead of me on the walk out as I was taking my time, watching lizards and toads, noticing flowers and reveling in the haze-free skies.  But they waited for me to join them before cracking open a beer as Milton finally ate his breakfast in the shade under the truck.  We didn't find what we thought we'd find but we still found a good day.

Hike stats: 7.45 miles; moving 2:41 hours / 2.8 m.p.h.; overall 3;12 / 2.3 m.p.h.; 1,130' elevation

the wheels on the bike go round and round

It was much quieter in Moab over the Labor Day long weekend than we anticipated, not just on the trails but also in town - whether from COVID-19 or construction on I-70 that may have been dissuading the Coloradan hordes - but we appreciated it.  The temperatures were pretty nice too, only reaching up into the low 90s (such a treat after the scorcher of a summer we've had) and cooling off at night too.  We even got out of the California/Oregon wildfire smoke for a while: it was a little hazy on Friday and Sunday but Saturday's skies were a clear blue.  We appreciated that too.

Just finishing my fave section of Whiptail

On Friday, we drove up to Dead Horse Point State Park for a 16.93 mile MTB ride on the Intrepid trails.  Temperatures were quite pleasant and there were only three vehicles in the lot when we showed up.  It had rained heavily on Wednesday and there were still some mud puddles to navigate.  The lingering damp also made the sandy stretches easier to ride.  Neither of us was riding super well but neither of us crashed either, so call it a win.

Riding the line on Circle O

Sunday we went to the Moab Brand Trails.  The parking lot was busy, but there weren't many tours this time and we scarcely saw anyone on the trails, until H's last bit of Lazy-EZ.  We went out through the cow pasture to Rusty Spur, then connected to Bar M, turned off onto Circle O (it's been a while since I rode that one and it showed) and back to Bar M, over the top on the parking lot cut-off and out on Lazy-EZ.  Midway around, H detoured for another Rusty Spur loop (for a total of 14.27 miles) but I kept going, finishing the climb up and the flow down by myself.  I must have been pretty poky, however, because I was barely waiting a minute - hadn't taken my helmet off yet! - back at the truck when H rolled in.

milton appreciation post

 What's that?  A holiday weekend that we spent in Moab so there's all sorts of laundry to get through, not to mention the fact that work is crazy and I need some time to get my act together?  Everyone who is surprised, raise their hand.

So in the interim, here is a blurry shot of Milton, mid-chew on a snack of desert grass.

#donteatgrass

emma ridge revisited

We hiked along Emma Ridge, above Alta, from Grizzly Gulch to Flagstaff, back in 2018.  I'd mentioned to H that I wanted to do it again this summer and so he suggested it for last Saturday.  The smoke is still bad in northern Utah but we're just so tired of being trapped in the house that we figured we'd give it a go anyway.  As it had been a week ago, when I did my Catherine's Pass loop, things were fairly quiet at Alta when we got up there for an 8:00 a.m. start; Snowbird, on the other hand, is in full Oktoberfest mode and was already charging people for parking.

Art shot

This is a steep hike from the moment you leave the parking lot: steep up through the aspens to the dirt road; steep up the old mining roads through Grizzly Gulch; steep up the ridgeline and also extremely steep on either side of the ridge; steep down the bowl at Flagstaff.  I'd forgotten how steep it was but it came back to me very quickly.  Two days later, my quads were still indignant about it. 

Looking down canyon/so smoky

For a while, there were more deer than hikers out there with us.  We ended up seeing six hikers and eight trailrunners, with six of the runners up on the ridge.  I was impressed with the runners as the trail is faint in places, rocky and loose in many others, and there are definite no-fall zones where we were watching our footing very closely.  With Alta far below to our left, Mt. Superior out in front of us and Big Cottonwood Canyon's Silver Fork, Days Fork and Cardiff Fork far below to our right, the views should have been spectacular.  The smoke obscured a lot of it but on a clear day, this is a great trail for scenery.

Smoky looking up-canyon too

As before, we lost the trail at the top of the very steep bowl and had to pick our way down via whatever game trails we could find.  Right before we got to the mining road that would lead us out, H did spot a trail so now we'll have to go back, earlier in the summer when the wildflowers are at their peak, and follow that to see if it gets us back up to the ridge.  We walked out along the old mining road, which brought us out by the Alta town offices.  The Albion parking lots had gotten busier - although not to peak wildflower season levels - and we talked for a quite a while with three trail runners who were returning to their truck after a 9 mile training run.  They were friendly and training for the upcoming Grand Targhee Cirque Series race.

In the mine

This isn't a good trail for beginners as it is challenging in spots - there are plenty of other trails in the area with fewer consequences should something go wrong.  We enjoyed it, though, for the relative solitude in a popular area, for the dramatic scenery and for getting us out of our comfort zone a bit.