24 Sep ->  Looking for a little change in my running places today, I ended up running from the University Hospital northwest to the Shriners Hospital and then to the Salt Lake Cemetery.  This seems odd, probably, but the roads in the cemetery are usually clear of cars and it is a peaceful way to put in a few miles.  My fathers parents are both buried there along with some great uncles & aunts.  The big problem of the day was the stupid smoke, very thick coming from the designated burn area gone out of control between Cascade Springs and Soldier Hollow west of Heber Valley.   You would think by now that this sort of thing would not be allowed to happen but what can we do.  They must enjoy the bad publicity.  Also, in the Tribune this morning, some trail motorcyclist took the Wasatch 100 to task for trashing up the trails by tying ribbons and leaving cups on the trail after an aid station.  Doesn't this guy ever look at the trail he just tore up in climbing those trails with his sports vehicle? The ribbons and cups have been picked up last weekend before this letter but the scars from motorcycles last many years.

15 Sep -> Ran out in Draper in Corner Canyon about 7 miles but instead of heading east I  ran to the west on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  They still haven't connected to Corner Canyon.  A new housing developement wipped out the trail along the Traverse Mountains where it used to connect.  The fall colors are nice with the Big Tooth Maples changing to oranges and reds.  I saw a lot of nice rocks.  Ankle busters.  The roots are especially aggravating.  Saw one deer and one other runner.  Watched three turkey buzzards circling up in Corner Canyon.  Not my time yet, thank goodness.  Windy and hot at times.  My socks got really dirty.  Corner Canyon has poison Ivy along the stream.  If you go there, keep a careful eye out.  My favorite treat is a Met Rx bar called Double Chocolate Indulgence, a pretty palatable bar, considering.  One of those puppies gets you a long way.

8 Sep -> Wasatch is now over for the year.  Karl Meltzer and Betsy Nye take the Grand Puma Guy and Gal crowns for 2003.  Congratulations to all the starters and volunteers for the year. This year I stayed at the Homestead Lodge Sunday night with wife and 2 kids.  It was fun.  Monday morning I woke up and took off for a 4 mile run backwards on the course pulling ribbons.  When I tired of that, I turned north at the Wasatch Mountain State Park building and fishing pond.  I ran a 2 mile loop that used to be part of the Midway 50 Miler in the late 80's (25 loops).  Then I ran back to the Homestead.  Lots of memories flooded the old brain circuits while I was out looking over the cool mountain scenery with a hint of fall colors starting in the Mountain Maples.  My old buddy Stephen Utley was alive last year and feeling well enough to drive annoying ribbon / glow stick marking crews around the course.  Those were great times.  We drove back to Sandy via Brighton in a drizzling rainstorm.  I enjoyed the 44 degrees temperature (F) up on Guardsman Pass.  A cold front hit big time.  Back to the hustle and bustle of the city, sigh.

6 Sep -> Wasatch 100 today.  Last night I was up on the start of the course in the dark checking to make sure the Webb Canyon bridge got repaired.  It did, so I didn't need the plywood, hammer, & nails I lugged up there.  Oh well, better safe than sorry.  Today I swept the course from the Sheds to Bountiful B.  The course was very dusty and hot.  I pulled ribbons on the way to Bountiful B and then returned to my car I left at the Sheds.  I'm beat.
Tonight I am babysitting and enjoying logging onto the Wasatch 100 web site and checking the runner status.  It looks like Karl Meltzer has the lead checking out of Pole Line at 10:12pm.  More later.

2 Sep -> I'm on vacation for 2 weeks, so I have had a bit of fun.  I ran the first part of the Wasatch 100  - nice trails.  When I crossed the Webb Canyon bridge, I measured the hole in the bridge.  The Wasatch Committee will have to deal with that.  It is 4 feet wide and 12 inches across, so you could get your leg down in that one.  Then my 7 year old son and I went fishing in the Unitahs.  Temperatures in the mid 60's was terrific and the fishing was good.  We caught an Arctic Grayling - weird looking fish. Plus we caught a few Brook trout to eat, my favorite.  The limit is like 8 since they have so many up there.  Yesterday I ran at Hillcrest High School and did intervals (1/8th miles X 10 repeats) with a 1/8 mile walk/jog in-between.  I managed to get my turtle legs to pick it up until I was running a 51 to 53 second time which is faster than I have been running in a long while. Naturally, I took a nice nap after that workout.  Today I drove down to Draper and started at 12550 South and 2000 East heading up the Upper Corner Canyon Road.  I turned left at the Aqueduct Road (0.34 miles).  At 1.07 miles, I went east on the Bonneville Shoreline Access Trail and at 1.33 miles I turned left and took the Trail of the Eagle.  I went past all the trails they have been working on until I got to a Current Bush ridge trail  at mile 3.47 and turned around.  I was closer to the top than I have been but I still haven't got to the top of that mountain.  Clouds blocked the sun a bit.  Nice. Ran out of time but enjoyed myself and ate a few Chokecherries (very, very tart) at the turnaround spot.  Drove home, cleaned up, and drove downtown to rehearse with the Utah Symphony Chorus.  They are singing the Damnation of Faust by Berlioz.  What a hoot!  "Boy gets depressed, boy begs devil to help him have some fun, devil introduces him to girl, boy and girl have a swell time until girl kills her mother, boy saves girl (it was his poison after all), devil gets boy (takes him to Hell)."  Sung in French.   Oui!  Nice tunes.

29 Aug - Trail hike from Mill D to Desolation Lake and back.  Stan Crane and I took some water up to the Desolation Aid Station for the Wasatch 100.  Saw 4 moose, 3 cows and a bull.  Ate Service berries and Rose Hips on the way up and down.   Rained hard on us for about 20 minutes.  On the way down, found a geocache.  Interesting.  Stan has over 280 of them so far.

20 Aug - Got a little break from the weather this week.  Temperatures were down in the high 80's at least until today.  The Fell Run trail by Red Butte Canyon was hot.  My pace was a slow slog along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail through  the dry yellow grass. Scenic, though.  Hey, saw a tarantula today!  Probably heading for the air conditioning in the Huntsman Cancer Institute?   Their new hospital on the north side is nearly done.

16 Aug - Dry and dusty.  The trail to Rock Springs was very rocky, very dry, and very dusty.  Still, it was pretty pleasant walking up the trail though the Aspen  picking and sampling an occassional Red Current.  Tart. I unclogged part of the pipe feeding the springs.  Hope it lasts.  The water flow wasn't terrific but steady.  You can get a good drink of water in a minute or two  of filling a bottle.  I went out to Serenity Point.  This was my last run I did with Stephen Utley last year, so I paid my respects.  It was a pretty nice feeling to be there with those memories but I sure miss his company.   The lightning spooked me off the mountain.  As I was coming down to the old Mill Canyon aid station, I ran into Reyn Gallagher, John Moellmer, and Dana Miller.  They were all getting in one last ultra before Wasatch.  I gave Reyn and John a ride back to Brighton.  Naturally, we had to tell Reyn the story of how Bob Pence (the Horse) wadded up a chocolate Power Bar (into a doggy doo looking thing) and snuck it down the back of his shorts and then at to top of Cardiff Pass on our long run, he whipped it out of his shorts and took a bite out of the poop-like log.  John and I just laughed and laughed till ours sides hurt.   Oddly enough, when I got home, the Horse had mailed me an article from the Sacramento Bee about Norm  and Helen Klein and their big cactus garden.  How weird is that?

9 Aug - I was on my way to Desolation Lake and nearly there when I ran into Carter Williams and Nick Bassett. Nice to see runners.  I had my fill of mtn.bikers by then.  Just for the record, of the 28 that came down the trail at me, only 6 stopped for me and let me pass (I was carrying a big backpack).  Not too good a percentage.  Extra curses to the fellow who ran his bike into me as if I wasn't even there.  I didn't let it ruin my day but it took awhile to get over being surly.  The Black Capped Chickadees helped a lot.  Mama and baby moose were a treat.  Saw two big bucks with antlers still in velvet.  Saw some cat  tracks.  No toenails. Medium size. Had a group of turkey vultures check me out.  Must of smelled ripe.  Just enough rain has fallen to keep the dust down.  So far, so good.  Hope we get a little more rain.

7 Aug - Did my 3-park-run.  Crescent, Iron Mesa, Willow parks. Two miles each.  Drive to each and loose momentum, then get your inertia going again.  Ugh, oooffff.   Character builder, really.  Listened to the latest Harry Potter book on tape while I am doing this.  Visions of using a wand and apparating between each park to keep my momentum ran through my mind.  Best part of the run?  Why, when I get back, pick a big juicy tomato from my garden and replenish my electrolytes and fluids with a little salt on the tomato and ice water on the side.

3 Aug - It is cooler today, finally.  I have been running in 100 plus degree temperatures on the Red Butte Fell Run and whew, what a fiery furnace!  The air quality has been marginal, too, with fires up in Farmington / Centerville adding junk to the already sub-standard air.  Did you see the article on Salt Lake City in the latest Runners World?  The one with the headline stating "Trail Running Capitol of the World?"  Snork, chortle.... where do these journalists get their imagination.  Do you think the local government cares two cents about trail running?  If they did, we wouldn't be struggling to complete the Bonneville Shoreline Trail or the Jordan River Parkway.  The local commissions have all sold out to big money from private landholders.  Grumble, grumble.

20 July - Hotter than blazes out there even at 9,000 feet.  Ugh!.  So, yesterday I rode my bike on the Jordan River Trail (at least I create a cool little breeze pedaling).  Latest piece of asphalt is from 7200 South  to about 8500 South curving from the Jordan river about 1100 North to 700 North and ending.  There is no connection south from there yet.  Hope for rain soon,  this weather is a killer. Dog days indeed!

15  July - Well, back to some sort of normal days.  I spent 4 out of the last 7 days up at Brighton working on the Brighton Marathon course and measuring the new Lake Mary trail connection from the trailhead by Molly Greens (Brighton Aid Station). It is about 1.17 miles to Lake Mary versus 1.11 miles on the old trail.  It was fun up there once I started pretreating with OFF@ sunscreen and Bug repellent.  The flowers were great.  The big advantange at this time of the year is the cooler temperatures.   Trails are getting dusty.  Biker traffic on the Crest Trail is outrageous.  Way too many people to enjoy being on foot.  So, time to go a little cross country and into the Wilderness areas and leave the bikers behind.  You really can't find many places anymore that provide the solitude we used to find.

5 July - I left the Brighton upper parking lot on the Lake Mary trail and was severly attacked by swarms of mosquitos.   By the time I broke out repellent, I had been bitten a dozen times.   I took the Twin Lake cutoff and checked out the trail to Twin Lakes.  Looks good.  Only one tree across the trail.  Twin Lakes Pass is a great place to stop and tie your shoes and eat white corn Tostitos.  The view down Grizzly gulch and Little Cottonwood Canyon is superb.  I dropped down the gulch and turned left for the cut-off trail to the Albion Basin road.  Back up to Catherine Pass and down to Brighton.  Trails are in great condition.  Flowers are bursting out all over:  Bluebells, Columbine, Buttercups, Forget-Me-Nots (stickems), Geraniums, Red Owl Clover and more.  I met Darren A., Ken J., Pat M. and Dale H. all touring the trails.  Fun day.   Only found one place I could step on the snow on the trail.  Stan C. (Destructo Man) has been out building cairns on the Brighton Marathon course. Thanks Stan!

3 July - Spent 3 days in the Uintahs with the Garney family.  Did one walk and one short run and fished a lot.
The snow is up high there and not a lot of it.  Mosquitoes were out in force.   Speaking of bugs, the flies are starting to hatch big time up on the trails.  Time to get out the repellent.

25 June - Snow fell above 9,000 feet over the last 3 days plus a wicked hailstorm hit my yard in Sandy and tore the leaves off my vegetable garden plants.  Ouch!  This will be the third time I've replanted.  The first time an unexpected  late frost nipped them.  The temperatures really plummeted and the high in Salt Lake area was high 50's and low 60's.  Bumped into Ted Heal at the Red Butte area and ran in the rain a little.  Monday was a real downpour out at Willow Park.  Wednesday I spent some time up at the Lambs Canyon area and the trails are soft and looking pretty good.  A few trees down here and there.   Running on the old railway bed is terrific - at least until the renegade 4 wheelers get in there and destroy the tread again.  I didn't see any wolf tracks so they probably haven't quite made it down this far south (not sure I will be able to definitely identify them anyway, truth be known) but I have seen recent evidence of bear in this area.  There are lots of moose sign and coyote, too.  I haven't seen any mountain lion tracks this year but the usual bobcat tracks are there along with racoon and fox.
Three years ago, there were half a dozen dead deer in one area just past the Parleys Creek crossing. None this year.  Beavers keep getting in the area, though, and really take the trees down when they do.

21 June - Ran up to the Salt Lake Overlook from Box Elder Picnic grounds in Millcreek Canyon.  Nice & cool & rainy. Surprise! A bit chilly, even.  Two trees down on the way up.  The trail reminded me of a few spectacular falls and blood-letting the Striders have had over the years at the Desolation Marathon.  Both Mike Shaffer and Stephen Utley, Wasatch Hall of Fame nominees, had taken some hits stumbling on roots on the way down from Mount Raymond.  Their spirit was strong with me.
Wasatch 100 trails -> well,  runners will have their excitement level raised this year.  Wolves have been sighted in the Francis Peak Radar Tower section, mile 13 of the course.  Bears have also been getting into campers things in the Bountiful Peak area.   What with the earlier report of Mountain Lions in peoples back yards in the foothills, I guess it will Lions, and Wolfies, and Bears, oh my!

12 June - I parked at the trailhead up Millcreek Canyon just east on the main road past the Terrace Picnic area and the Birch Hollow Trailhead.  The gate is closed until July 1st.  I ran up the road to Elbow Fork and came back on the Pipeline Trail.  Running that trail reminded me of Stephen Utley who once organized a trail marathon that started at Big Mountain and ran on the Wasatch 100 course to Elbow Fork, then went down the Pipeline Trail to Church Fork and a picnic area.  It was a swell run.  It was a run we meant to do once a year but other things kept getting in our way.    I saw lots of Beardtongue or Blue Penstemon (Penstemon cyannathus), Wild Onion (Allium acuminatum), and Bluebells (Mertensia sp.).  While I'm thinking about road closures, the road going to East Canyon and Big Mountain is open but they are paving it this week from the Little Dell gate to the pass.  The fees up Millcreek are still $2.25 and the annual pass is $22.00.  I went on an even day and dog owners are supposed to keep their dogs on leashes.   Having been bitten last year, I was hoping not to see dogs loose but alas.  Seems like some dog owners disobey the rules. Mountain bikers coming down canyon are running full throttle hitting 30 to 50 miles an hour depending on the bike and for that reason staying on the south side of the road going uphill or downhill is the safest place to be.
ps -----also saw a Thamnophis (garter snake).  Not sure which species this local snake is .

10 June - After someone shot a bullet through our passenger window 6/2/03 while we stopped at a light in Sandy, 9400 South 300 East, Catherine and I have been on edge.  No one seriously hurt, thank goodness.  Stephen B. Utley died the next day. The grief is powerful and painful.  Our poor buddy was in such pain at the end.  Broke my heart to see him suffer so.  He was a terrific guy with so much energy.  I will post more on him when I can get my poor brain functioning again.  The Moellmers, the McFarlands, a gal named Tawni and I sang at his funeral with Lauren Hill accompanist on the piano.  One of the hardest things I have done.  The song was "The Test" by Janice Perry.  A real tear jerker.  Tough to keep from crying while performing.  Today, I finally got enough energy to go see some trails and ended up doing the climb from Lambs Canyon to Bear Bottom Pass.
Ken Jensen passed me just before the top.  He was headed for the Pipeline Trail and his home at the mouth of Millcreek.  It was cool, a little damp, and no snow at all.  The trail was in great condition.  There were about 5 trees down across the trail.  Ken reports trails open from Big Water to Brighton with maybe one small patch of snow to step in.  The purple Wisteria up there near the top was in full bloom and quite lovely.  From all the reports, it looks like the only snow left would be above Bountiful (they got more than we did) especially north of the Francis Peak radar towers and between Brighton and Point Supreme/Catherine Pass.

2 June - Low back spasms have kept me on flat lands the last two weeks.  Reports are that Bear Bottom Pass up Lambs is open &  mostly clear of snow up the trail from Lambs Canyon.  With Salt Lake hitting close to 100 degrees F the last few days, the runoff is powerful and will be short lived.  Most of the snow is above 9,000 feet now and leaving fast.  "Stay cool & don't drool." (a Cranism from Pancake Stan).

21 May - Temperatures are heading up into the 80's this week.  It won't be long until the trails are open up on the Great Western Trail.  Work has sucked up all my time this week. 138 hours in 10 days straght. Ugh. No time to run. I hope you are having better luck than I.

8  May -> Wet, very wet.  Lots of rain wherever I went to run.  Lots of mud.   Lots of wind.  This drought is murder!

28 Apr ->  Drove up to Lambs Canyon after work and took a trail "tool" north along the Wasatch 100 trail.  Snow on the north side of the mountains looks like it 6,800 feet.  Lookout Peak has a little snow on it on the south side and it is 9,000 feet.  The trail was in good shape.  I cut one tree off the trail, moved some heavy rocks that had slide off the mountain side onto the trail, and I reconstructed about 10 feet of trail where Jim Knight hurt his hand while falling during the Wasatch 100 last year.  The Beaver crossing was a little soggy.  Temperatures were nice (mid-60's).   If you are looking for a Wasatch 100  type run, you could start at Lambs and run to Bald Mountain before running into snow and then back, maybe 18 or 20 miles.

24 Apr ->  The Arrowleaf Sunflowers are just starting out now and popping up all over the hillside near the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  The trails have been good even with the rain we have had.  They are drying out much faster.   I took a wild trip over the Traverse Mountains south of Draper.  Up on the Widowmaker Hill ridge, you can see Utah Lake, the Great Salt Lake, Mount Nebo, the Oquirrh Mountains, etc.  What a great view and the cars on I-15 look like ants.   Had to scramble on all fours to get up that hill.  Sort of like Chinscrapper.  The Bonneville Shoreline Trail hooks into the ridge trail or you can take the Draper City trail right behind the homes east of the Hang Glider park.  Good running out there.  I did about 5 miles &  headed home to mow the lawn and get ready to sing Beshazzar's Feast with the Utah Symphony & Chorus.  Keep your shins clear of the brush and have fun trail dancing.  Later.

15 Apr ->  Warm weekend.  Now it is wet and cold.  Typical spring weather.  I have to pack both trail and road shoes, never knowing which I will use after work.

7 Apr -> Back from the Grand Canyon now and feeling great about the run.  What an exciting adventure!  I feel very fortunate to have seen this trail.  I will put a seperate write up on it under results.  I hope to hear from the Bonneville Shoreline trail participants soon, too.  I awoke this morning to snow again down here in the valley.  It has been such a rare event this year, that it comes as a surprise.  Obviously trails will be wet so running will be winter type conditions.  Expect muddy, wet, icy trails.  Jordan River pavement looks inviting until we get a couple of sunny warm days or a tour of Corner Canyon on their sandy soil trails.

2 Apr >  I had a day off from work, so I went out to Draper and headed east up the Eagle Trail Steve Kissel has been working on for a  few years.  I went up about 1500 feet, somewhere around the 7500 foot level and started getting into too much snow.  A big storm looked like it was brewing and the wind was howling so I turned around and gave my quads a great workout in preparation for the Nankoweap trail.  On the way down, a Peregrine Falcon sailed along the ridge looking for some breakfast.  Good thing I'm not small and furry.  Just large and furry.

1 Apr ->  Well, I ran the Bonneville Shoreline Trail this week and it was dry and wonderful.  AND guess what?
Well, all the Mountain Bikers I met were courteous and real ladies and gentlemen.   Ha, ha.  April Fool's!   I had the usual luck with them.  60 to 70% were great and the others were a little rude.   Runners aren't perfect angels either so I tried to keep my mouth in check.  I climbed over Mt. Vancott from the west ascent and down the south side.  Pretty good trail these days compared to what it used to be.  I think it is about 4.5 miles looping around like that with about 1300 feet of climb.  I spotted two Kestrel Hawks hovering in the wind looking for a rodent to pounce on.  Then I saw five Turkey Buzzards circling the ridge I was on as I hiked all the way to the top.  Maybe I was going so slow they hung around for some easy pickin's.   Creepy looking bald heads with a hungry attitude.  Ugh, they make maggots look handsome.  Good luck to all running the Bonneville Shoreline trail this weekend.  I have been trying for 3 years to get down to the Nankoweap on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.  This week is it.   Hot dang!

26 Mar -> Had a bright idea (happens once in awhile).  Got in a 4 mile run in the morning on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail above the University Health Sciences /Huntsman Cancer Institute just before the heavy rain and snow hit.   I'm brilliant!  The trails were in really good condition up until then.  Last Saturday, I ran 11 miles out in Corner Canyon.  Troy Olson and Brother-In-Law were coming back from a run and I met them as I was going out.  Troy was giving his dog a workout.  We discussed trails and complained about the damage to the bike trail on the west side of  canyon.  It was windy but pretty good conditions.  I have not had one day out there this year  where I couldn't run on trails mostly devoid of snow.  Sick!   There is so much building going on out there, the scenery is disappearing fast.  The trail going east out of Corner Canyon flats splits into two trails (bike trail going east and the old road going southeast) that climbs up to Upper Corner Canyon road is still pretty muddy and chewed up.  The bike trail is very muddy and still snow covered at this time.  The Aqueduct trail is good and the Lower and Corner Canyon roads are always a good bet.  The grass is growing, the Storksbill Geranium is  blooming  on the hillsides, and the trees are starting to bud out.  Spring  is a coming.   Another run I took a few days later was the 1 mile loop on pavement up at Iron Mesa park (1700 East 8600 South)  It has a big hill in it.  This run happened right after heavy rain so it was a
WORM RUN.  The best way to do a worm run is to keep your eyes up off the trail so you don't see how many worms you are going to step on.   Icccckkkkkk!

11 Mar -> It rained quite heavily in the valley last night and snowed above 5700 feet.  THIS MEANS MUD!   Okay all you ducks, break out your old running shoes for the mud attacks.  Try not to sprain a groin or something.  I did get to run in Saturday afternoons rain storm which started out nice and light and a lot of fun but by the time I got half way on my hour run, I aborted the mission.  I could barely see anything  with the wind blasting into my face (wearing glasses).  Horizontal rain, what a concept.  I got wet, wet, wet!  Next time, I'm throwing an extra pair of contacts and a rain coat into my bag.  Happy "slip sliding away" out there.  Run barefooted if you're brave!   Heh, heh.....

8 Mar-> Almost 60 degrees, sunny, warm. Bikers in massive amounts hit the trails around Red Butte Canyon. Nice weather.  I did a little trail work on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  No one but me will notice but that is okay.  Our Strider troops who went to Old Pueblo for their 50 miler were terrific (see Wastd Newsletter).  Ruth Zollinger ran a minute faster than last year and won again in under 9 hours.  Way to go Ruthie!  I admire all who went down very much.  Grizz, who was 56 seconds over 11 hours  says temperatures were cool and the Arizona Desert Rats were freezing. ( He allowed as how he had to put his shirt on a couple of times.:)

1 Mar ->  Snow today! Surprise.  I trotted 4 miles on the Willowpark paved trails (Wasatch Blvd. & about 11000 South) yesterday in sunshine but it was chilly and I was fully dressed.  A cute Asian couple was walking the reverse of my running loop and they were getting a big kick out of guessing where they would see me again.   I wonder if they had money on it?   I was barely managing 10 minute miles on the 0.75 mile loop with a bit of hill on one side that was tough to get up and over.  I used to eat these tough hills for breakfast but now I find my "digestion" requires a much slower 'trudge' approach.  Forward progress - it is a good thing.  I noticed the trail is still blocked on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail above the park.  I was really hoping to get a good sustainable trail run from Little Cottonwood Canyon to Corner Canyon or farther.  Sigh. So, I'm tending kids this morning and hoping the snow stops before I go out.  If it doesn't, I'll be pulling my snowshoes out.

25 Feb ->  Now it feels like winter to me.  Cold temps, 4 inches of snow to shovel this morning from driveway out in Sandy and a chill in the air.  Brrrrrr!  I had a cold run yesterday in Crestwood Park.  Today I'm a wimp and skipped running.  I applaud any who did brave the elements.  Now that Mr. Winter is back, perhaps I'll get enthusiastic about tromping around in the snow on my snowshoes or skate skis.
The Jordan River Parkway was selected as one of the 10 most endangered landscapes in America yesterday.   Better hurry and run on it before it becomes bulldozed for homes.  Open space is departing rapidly.
Corner Canyon is getting harder to run on without having to run through the housing areas. I ran a half marathon route last Saturday and I lost another bit of trail to a housing project going in.  I hope they reconnect the Bonneville Shoreline Trail out there when they are done.
Speaking of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  The BST Marathon April 5th will start at 8 a.m. instead of 7 a.m.
As Pancake Man says, "Stay cool, don't drool."  See you out on the trails.

20 Feb ->  It is just glorious running in T-shirt and shorts, light gloves, if early in the day.  Sunny.  Wow.  What a deal.  Of course, we need moisture, but may as well enjoy the party before the summer dust bowl strikes. The Jordan River Parkway managers announced in the paper they would be putting in an underpass for foot /bike traffic at Winchester Park (about 6200 South) which will be really great.  On the sad side, in the area just south of there, the new homes are going to be coming right up the trail so, probably another ugly fence to look at instead of fields.  Sigh!   On another note, rumor has it, the Forest Service budget is so tight this year, there won't be any money for work with volunteers for trail maintenance and trail building.  Guess we will have to organize our own.

9 Feb -> Winter running prevails but Saturday was nearly 40 degrees F and very sunny.  A splendid day for a run on the Jordan River trail which has the great advantage of not sharing your running with automobiles.  The trails are mostly dry except for a few bridges and shady spots.  You do need to watch out for ice in places.  I ran into Roger and Jill as they were finishing up a half marathon.  That was really fun and I went on to finish a 5 miler. The sun just sizzled off the river water in places.  I took Miles for a walk on Sunday the following day.  We saw and heard Red Winged Blackbirds, Red Shafted Flickers, Robins, Starlings, American Kestrils, hundreds of Mallard ducks, and some Cliff Swallows.   The Bonneville Shoreline Trail is packed with snow and icy in the north or shady areas, it can be muddy where the sun hits onto it.  Mountain Dell has been good for cross country skiiing and the Wasatch course has been good for snowshoeing.

3 Feb - Saturday was warm and windy, great for running.  Sunday brought the return of winter as a storm blasted through heading south with  lots of heavy wet snow in the Salt Lake Valley.  Time to drag out the snowshoes and ski gear.