Another fine trail running adventure has come and gone.  We had good weather with the clouds and rain holding off any big dumps while on the mountain.  Everyone had a great day of flowers and scenery.  Some of the usual crowd was off on a Wasatch work day, some were out at Hardrock, and some were injured.  So a smaller but enthusiastic group made up the participants this year.  Stan Crane came by early in the morning to offer moral support and our dear friend Mike Shaffer came up and helped man the aid station at Mill D and then drove up to Guardsman Pass to do an aid station there.  Joan Moellmer came by to check on the runners.  She was doing some work at the family cabin nearby.  You have Stan Crane to thank for cutting off a bunch of logs in the Days Fork trail and the cairns up on Clayton Peak and also the V notch cut in the top of those big logs across the Snake Creek Pass to Dog Lake trail.  Destructo Man keeps the trails buzzing with trail maintenance so a great big thanks, Stan.
     The winner, Jeff, started his push about half way through taking the lead over from Grizz, then kept  the lead for good.  Jeff had also finished first at the Timpanogas 50 K last week.  Congratulations Jeff.  Dan was second followed by gnarly Grizz. Prince Many Dots and Hunt were next to finish under six hours.  The others were close behind.  Charlie and Evelyn brought a terrific bean dip and the crowd chowed down on it along with watermelon and drinks.  Jane and Paul had started 1 hour and 1 minute earlier than the rest and this year they never got passed despite being stalled by a moose who wanted the same trail (guess who gets the right-of-way in this situation).  Evelyn had a great time on the first part of the course on her gradual re-entry into trail running after a busted ankle.  I always adds to my enjoyment to have some company as I wait around up at the finish for the runners to come in.  Thanks for the company, Evelyn.
     Mike Shaffer dropped down to Brighton after the last runners left Guardsman  and joined the group as we sat around with cold drinks waiting for runners to show.  Occassionally, cars would drive by and ask for directions to the wedding which was really funny since we were not really "dressed" for a wedding reception.   Some cars would ask for directions to the Lake Mary trail and when I would describe the 3 trails/roads going there, they would look confused and want to know which was the "best" one to take.  If I can't keep runners from getting lost at these runs, I knew I wouldn't have a prayer with amateur hikers.
      While we were sitting around, an occassional ground squirrel would come out of the willows and grab any stray food on the ground.  Chubby little guys.  Trying out for the squirrel football team, looked like to me.
As for me, I had a long but excellent run on the Friday the 13th.  The only odd thing that happened to me was a coyote ran across the road on my drive up to Brighton.  Fat and sassy with an attitude it looked like.  I put up a few yellow ribbons and use it as sort of a tune up for Wasatch.   I really like the views with 8 or 9 lakes visable from the trails. I missed a lot of you at  this years run.  Ya all come next time. The scenery is great. Clayton Peak is a $@#&!!$#@ but the other mountains send their good tidings.  The flowers are dynamite on the ridges this time of year and the Native American Paintbrush can't be beat.
Gorilla