Striding along ->
September 14 ->  Wasatch was sure hot on Saturday, even at the start according to Bob Henderson who finished another tough run under 30 hours.   Karl Meltzer had an outstanding day winning in the second fastest time ever.  Tim Spence was second in a sub 24 hour race with Dave Hunt close behind, just 50 yards at one point.  Ruth Zollinger had a good race coming in as second woman behind Krissy Moehl Sybrowsky who went under 24 hours by about 10 minutes. 131 finishers out of 230 who started.  Tough run! 
After being out all day driving Paul Hart up to Brighton and Bev and Grizz Randall to Pot Bottom, I helped Paul finish off the marking between the Plunge and Pot Bottom.  Just as I drove off, Karl came into Pot Bottom aid station at 11:45pm and left immediately.  Very fast indeed. 
Today, I went to Homestead and took ribbons & glowsticks off the trail from the finish to the top of Lime Canyon and down the Crest Road.  Joan Moellmer (happy birthday Joan!) had taken them off that lower area about the last 2 miles or so already so it was easy going for awhile.  The Big Tooth Mountain Maple trees
are the reddest, orangest, most brilliant colors I have seen since 1993.  Wow, what a gorgeous scene hiking  under the colorful canopies of maples.  I came down a different trail just to get in some different territory. 
At times I was running on a carpet of fallen maple  and / or aspen leaves.  Cool temperatures made it a great run to start the fall running season.
August 18 -> 10/5 To You
If you haven't been running on the Jordan River Trail  for awhile, I take pleasure informing you that the two work projects in Murray are done.  The hiker/biker underpass that goes under  Winchester Avenue about 6200 South  is complete and they even extended the trail along the east side of the parking lot so you don't have to go through the parking lot to get through the gate.  The remodeling of the trail is done about 5200 South where they had it all dug up.  I started at the trail head at 7800 South in Midvale and ran north for 5 miles and back using my run 10 minutes, walk 5 minutes plan.  It took just under 2 hours.  It was very nice to go under that Winchester Road rather than trying to dash across when there was a break in traffic.  Much safer.   I hope to be up on trails the rest of the month until Wasatch is done.  See you out there. 
August 12 -> Drapers Bonneville Shoreline Trail
It seems strange to me how Draper can exterminate over 100 miles of trails from the building of thousands of homes and a huge golf course directly on top of those trails and then make pitifully little effort to restore a few trails and maintain the ones they have.  Case in point is the Bonneville Shoreline trail that runs along the east and south of the area.  It has been many years now and they still have not completed the BST in either direction.  The trail on the east is in good shape are far as it goes except once it hits the Upper Corner Canyon road, it ends.  It has access problems, too.  The south trail is overgrown with brush and is very hard to find .  There are no trail head parking areas.  The trail ends and becomes sidewalks in several places and crosses roads (never a good thing).  Today I explored the newest trails being built on the Traverse Mountain south of a gated community and it isn't finished by any means.  Still, any trail is better than none.  The ones I went on today seem to be built specifically for mountain biking but they will need to work hard to get them in shape for biking and  they are built right above and below a lot of homes.  Too close for me.  Sad, really, to see the puny amount of trails done poorly and compare it to the old far away memories of miles and miles of trails.  But perhaps ten years from now the future million residents in Draper will decide they need some trails that are user friendly and put the pressure on to get them. 
July 29 -> Sigh, finally got the car fixed today.  In the meantime, had to do some creative trail running, since I had to hang around home.  Primarily, this consisted of running on the side of the road on dirt, gravel  whenever I could find some. I made it to Iron Mesa Park one day and ran on the paved trails.  I hoofed it to Hillcrest High School and ran on their soft track.  I ran a six minute mile there! (Well, okay,  I stopped after 1/8th of a mile at that pace knowing if I went any further,  I would go into a melt-down.) I ran the 3.35 miles to the auto shop and picked up my 1990 Mazda MPV as a usual running day except it was on 7th East instead of some nice trail somewhere.  Running around cars again reminds me why I prefer trails and parks. 
July 26 -> Biking to Work
The community has asked we skip driving to work one day a week to cut down on pollution.  Normally, I ignore these requests (you can bet the local government won't be participating in this) but since my car broke its timing belt on the way home last Wednesday, I decided to take the bus to work and also bike to work.
On Saturday, I got out my mountain bike with the road tires on it and rode 14.4 miles to work in 68 minutes and returned home in 57, 12.6 mph uphill and 15.4 mph downhill or an average of 14 miles per hour for the two trips.  In my triathalon days on my rode bike with the 1 inch tires, I could maybe do 22 to 25 mph.  I noticed that day in France, Lance Armstrong rode 34.2 miles in 66.8 minutes.  In other words, the guy rode 20 miles more than me in about the same amount of time, and probably on steeper hills.  That is simply amazing.  As I stood up on my pedals to power up the smaller hills northward on 1300 East, I'm sure I was feeling powerful and studly but to think Lance would be going over 30 miles per hour, more than twice as fast as me, whew, well, it just keeps a gorilla properly humble!
July 17 ->  SIX LAKES TRAIL RUN
 I took a few hours to do a short loop starting up at Brighton.  You might like this one. Starting at the trail head to Lake Mary, I trudged up the gravel path and dirt road.  I must say, the flowers were glorious and still  haven't peaked yet.  I met lots of folks on the way up and enjoyed viewing Lake Mary full of water.  Just past Lake Martha and swinging past the corner that looks down on Dog Lake, Karl Meltzer trotted rapidly on by.  He had to drop out at Hardrock (throwing up blood really takes it out of you).  Just past Lake Catherine, Ken Jensen and Derek Blaylock came on by.  They, like Karl, were doing a trail dancing dress rehearsal for the last section of Wasatch.  You'd never know they both broke 4 hours and 30 minutes the week before at the Brighton Marathon. When I got to Catherine Pass, I turned right and began the easy descent to Albion Basin.  The Arnica Sunflowers were so numerous, you could see yellow patches of them miles away.  When I arrived at the road that goes up to the Cecret Lake trailhead, I turned right and ran 0.9 miles down the smooth packed gravel  road.  The trail going up to Grizzly Gulch begins just in front of the first "cabin" on the right side of the road, a rather steep trail through the sunflower, lupine, penstemon, paintbrush flower field. This is a little over half way on this loop that is about 8.5 miles.  Climbing up Grizzly Gulch is steep at times but taking a moment to look behind you out at the incredible rock colors of Mount Superior and others makes it well worth your effort.  At Twin Lakes Pass, you get to look down on a full Twin Lakes and at Clayton Peak off to the east.   I dropped down to the Majestic Lift and slipped over to the north towards Silver Lake.  Two young bull moose were grazing in the flowery field by the lift as I ran by.  Awesome.  After a quick run by Silver Lake (the sixth on the loop unless you run up to Cecret Lake), I ran back to the Lake Mary trail head.  It took just a little over 3 hours for me, so plan on a couple of hours for you faster trail dancers.  If you wanted to extend this loop, you could do the Cecret Lake out-and-back and drop down to Lake Solitude, around the corner, and come up the Silver Lake trail to Twin Lakes dam and go back over to the Lake Mary trail and down to the parking lot.   I think you get about 25 K in that larger extension.  I hope you get to see the moose.
June 26 ->  Wasatch Front 100 miler trail work project:  Goal -> Rebuild the "Dive". 
Excellent!  The trail work party putting in switch backs on the Dive on the East Ridge Trail (east side of Mill Canyon Peak) was a big success.  The trail is now guaranteed to be much easier on the quads, at least until erosion and motorcycles chew up the trail again.  I am so sore from digging up roots & rocks with the palosky, I don't think I could dig a dandelion today after yesterdays work.  We had a crew of 33 that hiked from Mill Canyon (former aid station) 2.25 miles up to just past Serenity Point.  The crew started just as the trail descends past trees into a bowl and levels off.  The crew worked hard from 9am until about 2:30am with a break for lunch.   There is now a new trail all the way to the bottom.  It was a good bit of work.  Of course, there is always more trail work to be done.  For today, at least, I can stretch out on the bed, relax, and nurse my wounds.   Misson accomplished. Thanks to all of you who participate in trail work.  High fives all around!
June 15 ->  Most of the trails of the Wasatch Front 100 Miler are open except for those up around 10,000 feet.  Still snow pack there.  Wally and the Gorilla ran from Big Mountain to Lambs today and it is a real flower fest.  Terrific patches of Penstemon, Larkspur, Lupine, Arrowleaf Sunflower, Mules S., Big Leaf S., Paintbrush, Sego Lilly and many more varieties just to mention a few.  Fantastic display.  The rocks were as nasty as always but the trails were still moist for the most part and  the scenic views wonderful.  We trimmed brush for all but the last part of the run.  Colds drinks waiting at the car and a great day for trail dancing.  One Turkey Buzzard and one Red Tail Hawk spotted.
May 31-> Went camping this weekend with my family and the Moellmers in Capitol Reef National Park.  Had a terrific time wading in Sulfur Creek and running up and around Cohab Canyon.  Spendid trails to run. Greg Moellmer did the old Robert Parker Memorial while his Dad hooved it to Navajo Knob and back.  Joan did Cohab Canyon, too, a great park with something for everyone.   Anyone ever seen a marmot up a tree?  Thought I had seen everything.  We also had some pretty tame Chuckars which hunted on the grassy lawns looking for those stray Cocoa Puffs my daughter dropped from her package.
May - 26 -> Ran on the Jordan River Trail starting at 9840 Shields Lane and about 800 West where there is a trailhead just south of the bridge over the Jordan River.  You can run about 2 1/2 miles south and back for a 5 miler.  One of the advantages of this section is the Equestian trail available on the west side of the paved trail as you run south to 10600 South where you run under the highway.  The Equestrian trail switches to the east side and becomes mostly dirt, gravel, and weeds.  The north half of the trail is wood chips mainly.  I usually run out on the paved trail and back on the Equestrian trail. 
Just as a side light to my fly adventures this month, I note a story from 1865:  "Billiard champion Louis Fox was playing a big money match in upstate New York when a fly landed on his cue ball.  Unable to shoo the fly away, Fox miscued, lost the game, fled the hall in shame, junmped into the river, and drowned."  .....from the Stupid History of the Human Race by Bob Fenster.  Well, flies can be dangerous, thats all I am saying. 
May 24 -> Zombie Flies!  Aaaaggghhhhh!
 Last Friday night I spent a few hours visiting with my daughter and 3 grandsons down in Southern Utah.  We drove out to Sandhollow Lake south of Hurricane.  After having a little picnic and the sun started to do down, I went on a short hike along the beach and up on some rocks.  A  hatch of flies, Mayflies I think, came out on the beach area.  I was wearing a black t-shirt and noticed a bunch of them landing on me and trying to fly up my nostrils.  Iccck!  After I stopped, I looked down at my shirt.  There were ghostly pale white empty carcasses of the flies that had landed on me.   The creepy things were like husks or skins that had been shed and I was used to provide a foundation for the flies to get rid of their excess body parts.  Zombie flies, indeed.  Insert screams here. 
May 17 -> Deer Fly Assaults Trail Runner! 
The Deer Fly in question bit the Gorilla on the back of the right arm at noon today causing agonizing pain and the fly received a swat that snuffed out its life.  Sadly, the runner overbalanced on a rock he was standing on and fell down the hillside several feet tearing skin off both shins, the right knee, and smashed his right pinkie between two rocks as he was windmilling his arms while trying to cushion his fall.   Rumor has it the runner is consulting Phil Lowry, Attorney (if the attorney  will stop laughing long enough), intending on filing a law suit against the Deer Fly Freedoom Association.  Meanwhile, the Gorilla said, "Dang, this is kind of early to start wearing bug repellent. Why couldn't I have tangled with something relatively safe, like a rattlesnake or Mtn. Biker or something?"
May 13-> The following is a trip report from Phil Lowry, our adventurous trail-tail writer who descended on the Grand Canyon recently:  "Three forces of nature combined in my favor in May: a court hearing in Cedar City, an unusually cold storm, and the opening of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  After my hearing on May 12, I headed down to the NR campground and slept in the 35-degree night.  The next morning saw 27 degrees at the North Kaibab trailhead, which was fine for shorts, a Patagonia shell, and gloves and balaclava.

            The initial plan was to do a “shorty” doublecross on the Kaibabs, but I have always had a monkey on my back for never having been able to do the “mega” double (North Kaibab/Bright Angel) in under 12 hours.  Today was a good day to try, if my back would just hold up (I only started running again in March after a 5-month layoff).

            I started at 0255, and made it to the Supai tunnel in 20:30—could I hold the pace? Almost—Phantom Ranch came and went in 2:45, and I touched the sign at the BA trailhead in 5:11.  A good split.  The weather was dead calm and cool, with 50s in the gorge on the outbound, and 60s on the return trip.  The Rio was running cold and deep green.  Two bagels and a lemonade were the fare when I blew into Phantom the second time in just over 7 hours, doing my best to take advantage of the severely restricted mule traffic and new sections of repaired trail (woo-hoo!).  I had enough cushion to make sub 12 if the wheels just stayed on.  Lots of jerky and corn nuts for salt, drank like pig.  The beavers have nuked the trail right above The Box—now you have to go all the way around on a beat-out trail.  Lots of Indian Paintbrush and globe mallows about, and, as always, the smell of the desert brought me back to my scouting days in the Phoenix area.  Two Mexican Collared lizards, a BIG coachwhip, two chuckawallas, several hummingbirds, and billions and billions of no-name lizards.   Green grass was the rule above 5,000 feet.  No rattlesnakes!!

  Aikens weren’t selling lemonade, but the water at their cabin was good. More fluid at Supai.  The wheels stayed on and I popped out of the ditch in 11:32.  47 miles.  A good day."..........     P.L.  
Thanks for the report Phil.  By the way, that is "Native American" Paintbrush.   Wouldn't want you to get in trouble like I did in Zion Nat'l Park with the Politically Correct Patrol.

10 May - > Millcreek Canyon was windy Monday night when I drove up to where the gate is closed (until July 1).  The smell of dog poo-poo was strong or was that the Great Salt Lake?  I went up the road about 4 miles.  About 3/4th of a mile past Elbow Fork is where I started to run into patches of snow on the road, probably about 7,000 feet in elevation.  When I turned around, I cam back to Elbow Fork and then down the Pipeline trail which is is great shape. The temperature was dropping and I was glad to be out of the wind.  Tough on the eyeballs. 
29 April -> After a slow 4 mile run in Iron Mesa Park (1 mile loop x 4 times in about 45 minutes), cold freezing, weather, brrrrr!! I received a note from Paul Hart.  He has a very tough age group down in Mt.Pleasant (50 to 59) and has to compete with Creighton King (you old timers will remember this name).  Paul ran a 24:55 in a 4 mile race down in Mt. Pleasant only to be out down by Creighton who ran a very fast 21:36.  The good news -  it put Paul in 2nd place overall even though he was second in his age group.  High fives to the old men!
25 April -> Last Friday I got the time and the itch to lace up the trail shoes and prance on down south from Sandy to Draper and run in the Corner Canyon area.  It was a fantastic day for trail running.   The leaves on the Oak and Maple trees were new and that joyful spring green color.  Oregon Grapes, Astragalas, Forget-Me-Nots, and Indian Paint Brush (oh, forgive me,  North American Native Persons Paint Brush) were  in blossom.  I was delighted to bump into two other Striders, Colleen and Ellen, who ran part of the route I was running along the Aqueduct Road and up into the northeastern part of Corner Canyon.  We crossed little streams about a half dozen times I think.  It was peaceful and quiet on the trails.  What a splendid day.  Thanks Ellen and Colleen for running the "cross-country" sections to humor me. 
***Saturday I headed with my son to Draper Park and measured the new asphalt trail around the park.  If you ran 10 loops, you would run 6.34 miles (0.634 miles/loop).  Keep this in mind for the winter (assuming the trail will be cleared of snow). Since there is a trail connecting the south and north sides of the outer loop, the park trail could be run as a figure-eight boosting the mileage to 0.88 miles. 
18 April ->  I got sick after the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Marathon and wasn't able to run for about 2 weeks.  Lot of GI symptoms and a very bad sore thoat.  I was finally able to go running and now feel like I am starting all over.  Of course, I am so slow that it won't take long to get back to my 11 to 12 minute miles on pavement.  Yesterday I pushed a Baby Jogger with son in it for 6 miles.  Saw lots of birds down by the Jordan River through Thanksgiving Point.  Last night it rained like crazy.  Probably won't appease the doom and gloom weather forecasters much,though.  They are probably waiting for mudslides or something and then they might say, "Well, it has been a little damp."
4 April ->  Hi Irv:
"I left Salt Lake City on Thursday morning and drove to Mt. Pleasant and
picked up Paul.  We shopped in Ephrim and then drove (in honor of Cindy)
through Minifield (?) to visit her home town.  Since that road leaves US89,
we continued on dirt roads south until we came out at Redmond.  Paul
mentioned that "Real Salt" is mined there, so we went and visited the mine.  
The general manager met us and gave us his full attention, describing
operations, showing a video, and giving us samples of product and raw rock.  
Unfortunately, they don't have mine tours anymore.  Liability, I guess.
From there we drove to Kanab and spent the night.  The next morning we drove
East on 89 until about 1/2 way to Page and then took a cut-off road to
eventually join 89A near the Saddle Mountain junction.  However, while on
the way, we did some hiking into really neat areas and saw part of the
Pariah Canyon area.  After our hike was over we were headed to 89A when a
huge rainstorm came and turned the road to sloppy mud.  We really had
trouble with my jeep in 4X4.  I don't want to think about the folks in cars
we saw on the road.  They may still be there.
Friday night was at the Red Feather near the South Rim.  The next morning we
took an early bus (they now serve Hermit Rest and Hopi Point with 4:30 AM
buses) and rode out to Hermit Rest.  The canyon was really shrouded in fog,
but as we got to Hermit the fog had lifted and we started down the Dripping
Springs/Boucher/Hermit trail in early morning partly cloudy conditions.  
Really beautiful!  The weather forcaster predicted 80% chance of rain and 2
inches of snow that day.  We really got partly cloudy to clear with no
precipitation.  Paul always chastises me for believing the reports.
We had a ball, following the Boucher all the way to the Tonto platform and
then back up the Hermit trail.  We took our time and did the loop in about
10.5 hours.  We discussed plants, gelology, and every other thing we had on
our minds. 

When we got back to the trailhead, there were Park Police swarming over the
place with CAR-15 automatic rifles.  Seems a drunk was threatening people
and the police were there to find and arrest him.  They sure freaked some of
the tourists.  Hadn't seen a CAR-15 since Vietnam, but didn't ask to look at
it.  Smart move, huh?
Breakfast Sunday was at the El Tovar and was completed with a condor fly-by,
right up close and personal. The drive home was eating, drinking, & listening to
uplifting spiritual programs on the radio Sunday morning and afternoon."
John
**************************************************
4 Apr -> The Blue, The Purple, and the Yellow
Yesterday I ran the Bonneville Shoreline Trail coming in DFL for the men.   I averaged about 3 miles an hour for the 27 miles (bonus miles by returning to my car after the first loop).  I was ill prepared for serious hills.  What on earth was I thinking?  I should have done a couple of trips up a steep hill, like Mt. Vancott, and got those hip muscles ready for war.  Boy, am I sore today.  It looks like a little biking is in order. 
Karl Meltzer ran a sensational 4:01 a few minutes off his course record.  Very impressive. 
I enjoyed the scenery, the good weather, the Blue For-Get-Me-Not flowers.  The purple Geraniums, the Sweet Vetch, Astragalas,  were very nice.  The yellow flowers were outstanding: Glacial Lillies, Oregon Grape, Rock Geraniums, and especially the Arrow Leaf Sunflowers were amazing.  Spring Beauties up on Black Mountain were appealing.
There were a few gusts of wind that nearly blew my 195 pounds flat on my behind.  Thanks again to Dan, John, and all the aid station volunteers.  Glad I started 1 1/2 hours early as did Cynthia Daniels.  I find Cynthia a very inspiring runner.  She finished DFL for the women.  It takes a lot of physical and mental effort to run a marathon.  It takes even more for a 9 hour marathon on trails.  Way to go Cynthia!  High Fives all around!!

21 Mar ->  Happy first day of spring.  The Bonneville Shoreline Trail above the University of Utah and Salt Lake City is in great shape right now.  The only downside is the very large number of Mountain bikers.  Well, live and let live.  There are just too many to handle, so I have taken to giving them the right-of-way most of the time now and try to get to a wide area we can both pass on before they get to me.  I'm so slow these days, it really isn't much of a bother.  There are only a few patches of snow  in Dry Creek and the trail is in excellent shape.  I spent an hour kicking some rocks off the trail and looking menacingly at some overhanging brush on the trail.  There are lots of hikers out with dogs on the trail.  One of them had 3 really cute puppies.  I got slobbered on big time.  Cute dogs but wet, very wet.  The Huntsman Cancer Institute Hospital addition will soon be open and I see more traffic up on the hill already from that complex.  I see a few Storksbill Geraniums with tiny purple flowers popping up in the grassy hillside.  Some of the trees are working on budding out.  A couple of new  Badgers are construction there "homes" by the trail edges.  Sigh............. It sure feels good to be out on the dirt again.

15 Mar -> Just got back from the Mystic Sands Hurricane Mystery Run #5 originally started by Stephen B. Utley.
Paul Hart and I ran the full 21 to 22 miles.  About 10 to 11 miles was put in by John and Joan Moellmer and Kathie Utley.  Also Steve and Tonya (friends of Paul's - sorry, don't have last names) put in 10 miles plus. Weather was terrific, a bit on the warm side - 75 degrees.  Slightly windy.  Wonderful to get the old tootsies in real trail dirt again. While most of this was on the biking trails: JEM and Gould Trails, we only saw 9 bikers during the 6 hrs and 55 minutes we took to run the full loop.  Lots of walking and  looking around.  The scenery all around the area was spectacular to say the least.  The Pine Mountains out northwest were covered in Snow.  The carved domes of Zion National Park was off to the north.  The Goosberries were east and south with Molly's Nipple to the south and southwest.  We could also seen Sand Mountain and had great views of the Virgin River with some volcanic lava flows - black rocks.  I did get a tight left calf from running these wavy up and down bike trails but otherwise had a great time getting reacquainted with Mr. Sun and the mystical sands of Hurricane.
11 Mar -> Trail glory strikes!   Had the day off, so I drove out to Corner Canyon in Draper.  It was sensational trail running with  hardly any snow on the ground if you stay north and east of the main Corner Canyon area. 
I ran on my new trail running parallel  &  west of the Upper Corner Canyon road and east of the Aqueduct road.  True, it is more like a deer trail than a proper running trail but it was dirt!  It has ups and downs and rocks and grass and brush and sandy mud and birds and deer tracks.  Fantastic.  If you are looking for a place to run to get in shape for the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Marathon April 3rd, look no farther.  Come on out and investigate the truly runnable trails and dirt roads.  Well worth the drive.
10 Mar ->  I have been running the Bonneville Shoreline - Red Butte Trails this week.  Here is the report as of Wednesday 3/10 afternoon:  I estimate 30% of the trails are dry on the lower trail north of Red Butte Canyon road, 30% muddy or a trench full water, and 40% snowpack.  South of Red Butte Canyon, the trails are mostly snowpacked with slushy snow predominating except in the shady areas where it can get icy. The snow is up to two feet deep in Dry Creek and soft to icy depending on sun exposure.  I think this could improve to 70%, 15%, 15%
respectively if we had 3 more good days of sunshine for the Bonneville portion of trails.  Wear those "old mud shoes" and be careful on the snow (bad footing). 
ps  ---  ran into a Mountain Lion kill of a young buck deer, mostly eaten but a few strips of flesh and hide left that the Magpies were fighting over.  Kind of gives you an urge to look behind you as you go through the brush. 
6 Mar ->  Still lots of snow storms around.  No bare trails to run yet on the hillsides.  Just snowy, nasty ice trails.  I have been running on the Orson Porter Rockwell Trail out in Draper.  That is paved and clear of snow .  On my run out on the Jordan River Trail, I bumped into Lee Johnson who is getting ready for the the Salt Lake Marathon.  I enjoyed watching some White Crowned Sparrrows in a clump of brush chase each other around.  I got my winter speed work and ran 3/4 of a mile in 6:06.   Felt like 4 mimute miles.  Cross country skiing up at Mountain Dell is getting wet and slushy. 
21 Feb -> After 2 months of small 3 to 5 mile runs, I was delighted to find the Jordan River Parkway trail was 95% clear of snow and very good running.  I put in 14 miles today and a few of those miles were faster than 10 minute miles, whoa, speed demon at play.  I have had few days I could run that fast since the January 1 Turfens 30 K.
I started at 8500 South and 700 West, ran north to 4800 South (about 6.5) miles, cut east a few feet to the Maverick Station and bought a small water and Salted Nut Bar.  I ate and drank slowly as I made my way north awhile and turned back returning to Arrowhead Park, Winchester Park, Gardner Village, and back to the start.   Word to the wise:  Watch out for very mucky trails between 5400 South and 4800 South.  They have torn into the trails in that area to put in new sewer and water lines.  What a muddy mess!  Again, there are lots of geese around loafing on the grass or in nearby farmers fields.  You can expect lots of Robins, Starlings, Mallard Ducks, and an occassional Kestrel (Sparrow Hawk).   Lots of runners out there on a Saturday. 
10 Feb ->  Ran 5 mile at Iron Mesa in the morning today.  Cold, snow covered trails but plowed (poorly plowed but plowed).  Yesterday I ran 3 miles at the Jordan River trail starting at 8500 South and 700 West heading north.  It was terrible except I saw lots of Canadian Geese.  The footing was pathetic.  Very bumpy and icy. 
19 Jan ->  SNOWPARKS GRANDSLAM
Feeling  jealous of those 100 mile grandslam runners?  Got cabin fever blues you can't shake?  Well, try a Grand Slam of your own.  Here is my "minimum" grandslam done today in 2 1/2 hours, includes driving.   Ran slow about 2 miles in each park for a total of 8 miles, had to walk some on the bad parts.  Gets tougher with each park due to inertia - a body at rest (driving the car to the next park at least) wants to stay at rest.
Union Park -7360 S 700 E (a 2/3 mile flat loop - horrible conditions in the north west side), snowpacked, poorly plowed.  Awful parking lot -> bumpy, ice packed and hazardous. No scenery, lots of broken tree branches down.
Crestwood Park - 7485 S 1700 E (a 1.025 mile loop course on packed snow, access is about 1/8th mile away by the swimming pool parking lot yellow gate)  fairly flat, woodsy, scenic.  Watch out for fiesty dogs on the loose.
Flat Iron Mesa Park - 8600 S 1700 E (a full mile loop - 2/3 mile on top and another 1/3 mile extension if you run down the big hill around the ball field and back up) - 2/3 of the paved trail is free of ice and packed snow.
Willow Park - 11600 S 2772 East (the outside loop is 1 K (0.62 miles) - scenic, close against the mountain, snowpacked but plowed trail.  One small climb up on the east side and descent on the south side.
16 Jan -> The worst snow packed trails in 10 years above the University Hospital and north and south of Red Butte Canyon.  Pretty much walking only.  Uggghhhh.  Cold and miserable and the rotten inversion to deal with.  Other than that, I had a good time.  The best running is over on the road between the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and Shriners Hospital.  Paved.  Anyone ready for spring?  Been cycling indoors way too much already.
10 Jan 04 -> Wanting a place to run in the sunshine and a bit of warmth, I loaded up the car with my Skate Ski equipment and drove the 17 miles from my home in Sandy to Mountain Dell Golf Course.  The place was packed with sledders and skiers.   I did the 7 k loop and dragged my carcas up the hill at the end.  Brother, that first trip is tough.  I had to rest every 50 yards on the hills and my arches got cramps (I think the orthotic insoles they  made for me specifically for the boots are too restrictive).  Saw one moose.   The sun was very bright and the temperatures were in the upper 30's near the snow which was very nice and deep.  Good snow for skiing. After I recovered a bit and drove down the hill, I drove up to the East Canyon Road and Emmigration Canyon Road Junction.  After parking off to the side, I ran east to the end of the road where it is blocked off.  Now it was in the mid to upper 40 degrees F.  I wore a long sleeve micro fiber shirt and shorts, no gloves, no head band.  I soon had to roll up my sleeves.  Very warm. Very nice.  This is a great place to run.  If you run up to the pass at Little Mountain and back and do the out and back east to the closed gate by the Little Dell Reservoir, it is about 5 miles.  You can really keep that nasty  seasonal affective disorder away by spending the day in sunshine instead of staying in the cold, dreary old Salt Lake Valley. 
Iron Mesa Park (1700 E. 8600 S.) -> has a 2/3rd mile loop that isn't too bad for running.  The lower 1/3 mile loop has a lot of traffic from sleds and inner tubes. 
Jordan River Parkway -> Pretty bad running from Gardner Village going north to Murray with thick ice and rough footing.  The trail going north is better.  Murray usually plows their trails so you could try there. 
Corner Canyon ->  according to Troy Olson, this is good snow shoe country right now. 
30 Dec -> Today I went out to Willow Park west of Lehi near the Jorrdan River to run on the Jordan River Trail.  I was gathering information about the conditions out there since the Turfens 30 K is scheduled to begin at 9am on January 1, 2004, out by the Jordan River outlet from Utah Lake near Saratoga Springs.  There is 2 to 4 inches of snow on the ground and the temperatures were in the mid 30's about noon.  The leg muscles, calves in particular, got more of a workout than usual running through the snow.  The trail is usually plowed but they must have the plows working somewhere else.  I think if the runners slow down on the thicker parts of snow and walk a little more, they will be able to complete 18 miles of the course. This will probably take a bit more than 4 hours.  The last 200 yards of the first stretch on this out and back course is dug up and possibly not worth doing (just turn around at the barricade).   I'm still planning on stashing water and goodies out at mile 6 (about mile 12 on the way back) and mile 9 of the course .  My shoes got very wet on the 6 miles I did.  I saw two Peregrine Falcons and  a few skunk tracks.
There wasn't much wind to be bothered with.  It was much warmer than my run yesterday at Iron Mesa Park where I was constantly cold from the wind.  I had to run in the parking lot most of the time because the trail was covered with up to 3 feet of snow in drifts. 
20 Dec -> Wow!  What a day I had.  I started at the trailhead to the Jordan River Trailway at 1500 North and a few miles west of Lehi's main drag (off of Exit 285 and I - 15).  I ran north first and the wind was very cold.  I was feeling slightly underdressed even though I had two caprolene(sp) tops and a windbreaker and polar fleece mittens and headband.  Just after getting up the hill and heading towrds the narrowes, I saw a "Road Closed" sign.  It turns out that there is construction just before the end (or just after the start if you are running north to south).  They are digging a big hole right were the trail runs.  There is a way to bypass the mess if you don't mind a little mud, ice, and dirt.  I was freezing until I turned around and headed south.  Then, I had to strip to short sleeve top and shorts tying the long pants and extra clothes around my waist.  I no longer needed the mittens and headband.    I met David Blaylock on my way back.   There were lots of bikes on the trail  on my way back.   I ran to my car, got a drink and ran to Willow Park and back.  All told, about 12 miles.   Pretty slow, lots of walking and I took about 3 hours.  Tons of birds to watch: Magpies, Robins, Starlings, Brewers Blackbirds, Black capped Sparrows, Oregon Juncos, Mallard ducks and some others I couldn't get close to, a few hawks in the distance and one Perigrine Falcon.  Lots of neat mountains in the distance for scenery: Lone Peak, Timpanogas, Mount Nebo, Oquirrh Mountains, Traverse and Onion Mountains.  One weasel was stealth personified as it scampered away.  One fox sat in a grassy field with only his ears twitching above the grass.  Lots of cows, lots of horses.  Temperature 10 degrees warmer than anything in the Salt Lake Valley and no inversion, good clean air. 
19 Dec ->  Happy Holidays to all.  Hope your running has been better than my last few weeks.  I'm still recovering from a head cold, to a mild flu, back to a head cold.  I did spend a few hours out in Corner Canyon and found a new "glorified deer trail" suitable for running which begins across the road from where the Bonneville Shoreline Trail ends when it meets the Upper Corner Canyon road.  It runs all the way into the east section of Corner Canyon.  It intersects a road about 1/2 mile and then if you know where to go, it reconnects.  I bet I'm the only dude in the valley who has run it.   Who wants to be number 2?  Anyone? 
Red Butte Canyon area was good trail running this week.  Morning is the best because the trail is frozen.  Evenings are softer except it is muddy in sections.  Still a good treat, however.  I will be skate skiing at Mountain Dell as soon as the big snows hit, so it is nice to have a short reprieve.
30 Nov -> Message from Jill Bohney & Roger Adams:
"It worked. The Thanksgiving new snow and great people must have inspired us
all to "get out". We went into labor on Saturday and had Garrett J. Adams on
Sunday, 11/30 at 9:48 am. He's a beautiful pink boy weighing 6 lbs 15 oz and
is 19 inches long. We're home now trying to adjust to each other's schedule."
29 Nov -> The Menace of "HoNuts"
Today I ended up in Draper to run the Corner Canyon Eagle Trail 10 K (don't look this up, I made it up for a loop trail run that ends up climbing part of the Eagle Trail about half way). I parked at the Equestrian Center and ran up the stream side trail to the south.  I added a couple of "bonus" miles looking at some other trails while I was out there.  One of the odd things that ends up on trails this time of year with a little snow are "HoNuts".   This is my name for the compressed snow nuggets horses kick out of their hooves.  When a horse still has a HoNut in its hoof and steps on another, if the two flat sides combine under compression, you get a double HoNut!  I saw two of them today! Needless to say, these can be hazardous to run on.  You can really slip off those suckers and land on your rump.   I like to kick these off the trail pretending I, the world famous soccer player, 'Prodo of the Shire',  am breaking loose for a shot on goal.  The announcer speaks, "He kicks. He scores!"  Yes, glory and fame are mine once again.  Sigh.  You are only as good as your last goal shot, however, so the search continues for more HoNuts and the pursuit of adventure.  The Corner Canyon area had about an inch of snow on the trails.   Some of the southern exposed trails were already clear of snow.  Have you seen the bright colored maples still hanging onto their leaves this year?  Mean old Mr. Weather sent a sudden early arctic cold front freezing the Big Tooth Maples and the Dwarf Mountain Maples before they could drop their leaves.  The oaks are bare except for an odd scattering of brown leaves.  The poplars (cottonwoods) are also bare.  The maples on the other hand, are a reddish brown to orange color and still hanging onto leaves that are normally gone.  They are a wonderful contrast in color against the white snow.  Very scenic.  There is a late bow hunt going on out there.  If the sight of blood with deer hairs mixed in on the trail bothers you, well, perhaps you should wait for the next snowfall.  The only thing I saw moving was Magpies and Bow Hunters.   I had a great run and once again admired the rocks and wondered if I could propagate them on the Wasatch 100 trails.  Arrrgghhhh.
25 Nov -> In the last note, I mentioned Dimple Dell and its new wood chip trails.  When it is freezing outside, they aren't as terrible to run.  Just a thought.

                     N U T R I T I O N
Runner's World columnist Liz Applegate
Emmaus, Pennsylvania (UW) - The top endurance food an athlete can eat is ... salmon.
That's more or less the conclusion of Dr. Liz Applegate, nutrition columnist for Runner's World magazine. While describing herself as a "big proponent" of a varied diet, she says salmon ranks No. 1 on her top ten list of foods for runners.
"As far as I'm concerned, salmon is the king of seafood," she writes.
"It's an outstanding source of omega-3 fats, which cut the risk of heart disease, boost the immune system, and protect against inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and psoriasis. Salmon also gets high marks for protein and vitamin B12.
"But what about the high mercury levels in some seafood? No need to worry about salmon. You can safely eat several servings of salmon each week without fear of excess mercury. So grill or bake it, add it to a soup base with chunked vegetables for a delicious seafood gumbo, or use canned salmon in sandwiches, casseroles, or even quesadillas."
Her other picks in order are: 2. soy burgers, 3. oranges, 4. raisin bran, 5. non-fat yogurt, 6. almonds, 7, canned refried beans, 8. energy bars, 9. salad greens and 10. tea.
WASATCH ALPINE STRIDERS TOP TEN NUTRITION FOODS**:
1. GU   2. Pizza  3.  Chili Verde  4.  Chocolate chips or M&M's  5.  Tacos   6.  Homemade Fries  7.  Sting cheese  8.  Snickers  9.  Sugar wafers   10.  Corn Chips
** (Please note: the webmaster is not responsible for validating the scientific correctness of this list.)
21 Nov -> New wood chip trail
Dimple Dell has been undergoing some swift changes this week.  This is the part west of 700 East at about 10000 South.   Sandy bulldozers reconfigured the stream bed earlier and this week they laid down a very wide road of wood chips in the gully.  Right now it is good for walking but forget running or biking - aggghhhh.  The chips are a foot deep and loose.   Whew, tough slogging along.  Makes the sand that used to be in there a downright pleasant memory.   It is really quite a mess right now.   Hopefully it will get better as the days go by.  Looking on the bright side, oh wait, guess there isn't any right now.  It may take awhile to find one.
14 Nov -> " What you are speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you are saying "  - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I used the above quote by Emerson to propel myself out on the Red Butte Fell Run loop that is part of the Blessing Way 20 K coming up Thanksgiving morning.  I was wimpering a bit to myself about the unfairness of Daylight Savings time stealing an hour of daylight from me for the winter and leaving me scare chance of running in the daylight.  But, I bucked up after reading this and told myself to quite being such a wimp.  So, I got dressed in my car and trotted out on to the trails which were very soft and nice from all the moisture.  With winter coming, I just have to make these workouts happen and not let the day pass me by.  As a last resort, I have a loop in my neighborhood under the street lights to fall back on in case work just drags me down and keeps me late.  My main operating principle these last 26 years is this:  "Rather than watch someone else, go do the sport."  This does not apply to team sports, mind you.  Or golf, for that matter.  Tiger and Anika do that so much better than the rest of us.  Art in motion. Trail runner, I do trails.  What I am speaks loudly and drowns out the foul weather blahs (well, that is the theory, anyway).
13 Nov -> Post Grand Canyon
Last weekend was spent in one of the most amazing places on earth, the Grand Canyon.  I have gone there every fall starting in 1988.  After my 10th Double Crossing, I have been seeing all of the delightful places out of the Corridor Trail.  I still have lots to see.  This year I went down the Waldron trail, connected with the Hermit Trail, took a turn west out on the Boucher / Dripping Springs trail and circled all the way back through the Pinyon Pine / Ponderosa Pine Forest south of the West Rim area.  I also visited the New Hance trail head briefly. Plus I got some bonus miles doing an out and back on the Bright Angel trail.  Today was a bit of a let down since I didn't get off work in time to run in the daylight and ran in the dark on the Jordan River trail.  At least it wasn't raining.  The pavement was wet.  For some reason the Mallard ducks threw a fit every time I came within 60 yards of their territory on the river where they were gathered.  Must be some secret mating ritual going on.
5 Nov -> The Green, the Red, and the White
Jumpin' Jinglebells!  I have run 5 days in a row and it snowed while I ran each and every day.  It is only early November! And the temperatures, brrrrrrrrr! This is starting out to be quite a winter.  Since we jumped right from summer directly into winter, getting used to this snow stuff is taking some time.  I have been underdressed twice and overdressed twice thinking it was colder than it really was for running.  Monday I made it half way up Mt. Vancott before I ran out of running time.  The visibility was about 150 feet.  Some trail runner had gone up the south side and came down the west face.  Size 11 foot by the looks of it, so probably male.  Tuesday & Wednesday I repeated the above run climbing higher each day.  There was much better visibility and more snow.  As I stood on the lower peaks around 6,100 feet, I enjoyed the Christmas decorated scene below me, green, red, and white.  Red for the red bricks of the University Hospital, green for the windows of the Huntsman Center, and white for the snow and trim on the buildings.  Also, the Squaw Bushes (sorry, I mean North American repressed female Indian bushes) had very colorful leaves poking out of the heavy snowfall.  A nice Christmas color: green, red, and white.  Well, Happy Holidays, already!
1 Nov -> FOR THE BIRDS:  Drove to 9840 South (Shields Lane) & 1300 West, turned east and drove to the trail head just south of the bridge crossing the Jordan River.  I had hoped to run on dirt trails today but it hasn't stopped snowing.  Sheesh!  So, I ran on the Jordan River Trail.  By the time I was done, I bet I saw nearly a thousand birds.  Over a hundred Mallard ducks, a couple of dozen Canadian Geese, hundreds of Robins, dozens of House Finches, and huge swarms of Starlings filled the bushes and trees as I ran along.  The cold weather is obviously an aphrodisiac to them.   Also, I saw 3 different hawks, Red Shafted Flickers, a few Magpies, and a hen pheasant.  A cold wind greeted me as I turned around and ran back north.  Sadly, vandals have been at work tearing down signs and busting things up on the trail.  Senseless.  This section of the Jordan River trail gives you the option of running asphalt or running on the Equestrian trail.  The trail runs south about 1 1/4 miles and goes under 10600 South  finishing about 2 1/2 miles just past a kids fishing pond where the trail dead ends.
30 Oct -> Today it is snowing in Sandy, Utah, where I live.  Yesterday I was running on the Jordan River Trail in 70 degree weather and sunshine.  Amazing change.  Boy, do we need the moisture.  All the trails have been very dusty and the brush very, very dry in the Salt Lake Valley area.   So, it is no surprise we had new fires in the Farmington Canyon area, mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, and Springville this last week.   I was not surprised about the California fires, either, but the extent of damage is shocking.  Sad state of affairs.  Doug Carriger, retired firefighter from California, who moved to Cedar City, always told me I wouldn't believe how dangerous the fires were.  I'm convinced now.
  The only change on the Jordan River trail I have to report is the trail at 12600 South in Draper that runs under the new bridge is nearly complete.  They haven't paved it yet but it will be soon.
  Time to go through the running clothes and put the winter running clothes at the top.  Seeing all this snow makes me want to go down in the basement and wax my skate ski's. Woo Hoo!
   Next week, short hikes up Mt. Vancott in preparation for the ups and downs of the Grand Canyon.
16 Oct  ->  I have run in Millcreek Canyon, Corner Canyon, Dimple Dell, Red Butte Canyon lately. Pretty much all over the east side of the Salt Lake Valley from 4500 feet to 7000 feet.  It is still dusty but the cooler weather has been nice.  In Dimple Dell I had a run-in with a flock of Magpies.  I know, I know, how on earth could I take any guff from the critters?  Well, see I happened on them just after some horses dumped some of their fresh green "meadow muffins" on the trail - steamy hot.   Seems like there is quite the competition to be the first Magpie to bust open the horse poop and dig out the flavored seeds.  Anyway, I interfered with the competition and got chased out of their territory with a lot of squawking and disgruntled bird barking.  Foul tempers! (Pun intended).   Saw a tarantula up on the Red Butte trails.  Beautiful but creepy looking.  Saw another mountain biker bite the dust up there (a gal in a red bandana).  She got a flat just as she went over some rocks and overcorrected.  Went off the trail but didn't hurt anything.  Talk about language! @#!&!&%! She would put a veteran Marine Drill Sargent to shame. I hustled down the trail to avoid scorch marks.
I really like the yellow grass waving in the wind and the back lighting from the evening sun this time of year.  Running on the leaves is a real plus.  Wish I could 4 or 5 months of this October type weather.
4 Oct ->  I drove down to Hurricane in southern Utah and my family stayed with Kathie Utley for a few days.  While Kathie and son Nate  were running the St. George Marathon, I slept in, and then went out in the middle of the day for a 3 hour trail run.  I started at the Hurricane Canal Trail Head.  Instead of heading north east on the trail by the fence, I  went south east  on the paved road a hundred yards and then started up a jeep road for the Gloud Rim Trail.  The road climbs for 1.7 miles.  At 2.25 miles, it heads south on a trail primarily for mountain bikers but it sure isn't used very often.  I  found the trail running once I got up on the plateau and off the road absolutely exceptional .  Soft dirt, little sand, and spectacular desert scenery makes for a pleasant day..  I didn't see a soul out there all day. It was just me and the jackrabbits.  About 10 minutes shy of 2 hours, I turned around and ran back a little faster while slurping down  water and eating some pretzels.  The views overlooking Hurricane on the way back were terrific and I was wonderfully rewarded with each bend of the trail. Temperature was in the mid 80's and there was no wind.  What a delightful day.  My St. George Marathon Cop-Out run was terrific.  I rewarded myself with a  big salad, potatoes, and meat that night at the Utley dinner and watched our victorious marathoners having a hard time walking around.  The Hurricane Canal Trail system is just begging for a return.  Mystery Run #5 -> March 2004 anyone? The full loop will be about 21 or 22 miles.  Water can be cached at strategic points.