Striding Along - Trail tales & other stuff
MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone.
23 Dec -> Got a little note from Phil dated 12/20/05: "Dave Hunt and I went around Maple Mountain (just south of “Y” Mountain) on the Utah Ten Peaks 50 K course on snowshoes this morning.  Lots of distant rifle crack sounds as we collapsed the snowpack beneath us—nasty avalanche conditions.  We stayed off the steeps and exited via Slate Canyon as the sun lit up Maple Flat Butte from the East above us. Winter can suck, but it can be OK, too."   Phillip Lowry
16 Dec -> Looking for a good place to run?  Trail running spots have shrunk down to running in the valley.  The Jordan River Parkway trail out in Midvale has been packed snow.  They don't plow it in this part of the valley.  Murray does, I think.  Crestwood Park about 8400 South 1700 East has a nice 1.05 mile loop of packed snow.  The better running is at parks that plow their paved trails.   The Sandy Parkway trail south of  9800 South and about 200 West  has plowed trails.   The Draper Orson Porter Parkway trail is plowed and the Draper Park at 1300 East and about 12500 South is plowed (0.64 miles around the outer loop).  Hidden Valley at 11600 South and Wasatch Blvd. is 0.62 miles around the outer loop and is plowed.  Flat Iron Mesa Park (1750 East and 8600 South) is plowed.  Watch out for the construction on the south side of the park where they are putting in new irrigation pipes.  The flat loop on top of the park is listed as 2/3 of a mile but is actually 0.63 miles.  Up north, the Bonneville Shoreline trail is packed in quite a few places above the University and over towards City Creek Canyon which is probably the best running available at that end of the valley.  It is very cold still, so all these trails won't change much until we get a substantial thaw or storm to change things.  I sometimes run in Dimple Dell but they are doing construction on the 7th east underpass area at 10400 South and that makes it difficult for me so I use the nearby Sandy Parkway trail instead.  Time to break out my skate skies and snowshoes, I suppose.  
ps - the Jordan River Parkway trail in Utah Valley is plowed between Willow Park and the bridge at the north end of the Thanksgiving Point golf course.  It was about 5 degrees warmer there than in the Salt Lake Valley yesterday. 
18 Nov-> Draper trail waltz:  The building of new homes in Draper is immense.  Slowly, but like a jugernaught,  homes encroach upon the trails and the open spaces.  On the positive side of news to report, I am pleased to let all you trail runners know the Bonneville Shoreline Trail has been extended from its connection with the Upper Corner Canyon Road  all the way to Corner Canyon flats (just north and below the Silica Pit).  It is a brand new trail, very soft right now and I was first to trail dance on it  (2 bike tracks but now trail shoe tracks).  After the BST drops to the Upper Corner Canyon road, you just straight across the road and onto a pull off that connects with this new trail heading south and on the west side of Upper Corner Canyon Road.  It eventually drops onto the Aqueduct Road and after going south on that road for a 100 yards, it cuts off right (west) and drops to north side of Corner Canyon creek.  You can see the white slash of the Silica Pit from the trail end.  From Corner Canyon flats, there are several ways to go west and up through the neighborhood homes (huge homes) to the connection with the BST that travels westward below Potato Hill and the Traverse mountains and eventually connects to the Hang Gliding Park.
16 Nov ->  Nice to see Grizz and Prince Many Dots out on the Red Butte trails at noon today.  Chilly day, though.  Brrrr....
Received another very nice note from Phil Lowry and he reports on yet another unique adventure in the Grand Canyon.
"No redemption for my pathetic time last week, but I retuned to the Big Ditch to run in the mist and then see rainbow after rainbow light up the inner gorge.  The water is off at Supai and Cottonwood (!), a rude surprise, but Bruce Aiken has his spigot on at his home at Roaring Springs (saved my butt).  He is retiring, by the way, and it will be sad to see him go.  I was going to say hi, but no one was home.  Microbursts raged in the morning, then wind, then drizzle, then sun, then overcast.  It was a wonderful contrast to the typical bluebird Canyon day.  On my way down a ranger asked me how far I was going.  I told him the North Rim, and he kindly suggested it was a bit much and that it was closed etc. etc., and I then told him that my car was there and I needed to get back.  The light went on in his mind, and he smiled and said, You look like you're having a good time.   I spent an hour taking pictures, and could tell in any event that a PR was not going to happen.  Especially exhilarating was climbing out with an overcast moonlit sky and a red light to preserve night vision.  It was like perpetual twilight.  12:49."  Phil Lowry
8 Nov -> " The valley leads to a a hill and the hill leads to a valley which leads to another hill and that leads to a valley and so it goes at Wasatch.  Comfort leads to pain, pain dissipates and comfort remains until pain returns. Wasatch has so many highs and lows, the only constant is change." From a journal entry the Gorilla penned long ago.    Last Saturday I ran 18 terrific miles in exactly 5 hours in Draper on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail with some improvised connections.  I was very pleased to see the southern BST has had major construction to connect  the trail all the way from the homes west of Corner Canyon to the Hang Gliding Park.  The views and trail conditions were excellent.  I especially liked the downhill parts.  I quote Kelly D. Wason here, "When you weigh as much as I do, the downhills are glorious!"  As the autumn leaves crunched beneath my feet, I felt lighter than an elephant (which is unusual for me).
Steve Baugh sent me this link to the American Discovery Trail.  Very interesting.  Worth a peek:   www.discoverytrail.org
4  Nov -> Spent the last two days running from and back to my car repair shop (McNeils, just past 10600 South on 700 East) as my running effort (about 4 miles one way from my house if I go by way of 10th east first).  Man, I sure am glad I don't run roads very often.
The cars make it difficult and dangerous.   It is my pleasure to hear from Phil Lowry once in awhile and he found himself yearning for a good whooping from the Grand Canyon and spent a loooonnnngggg  time in the Big Ditch.  Read on, friends and thanks Phil:
                                          Grand Canyon Apotheosis________________________________________________________
"Blaaahhh!  Running two 100-milers in two weeks DOES leave side effects.  Finished the Bear 100 right after Wasatch, and a little bit after got the gambu for three weeks!  Then I got a flu shot, but thought that wouldn't trip me up as I headed to the Big Ditch for a stab at my doublecross PR of 11:32 (North Kaibab Bright Angel North Kaibab).  Had a 24-hour window and grabbed it right after Halloween; got to the trailhead at 7:00 am, and down I went.  Smashed my PR split to Phantom (2:29), convinced I would let er rip, sub-11:00!  But crawled up to the South Rim in 5:10 split with my heart racing at 110% of normal (sign of viral infection), had lost all my gains, and my legs were DEAD on the way down at Indian Garden.  Wasn t really having fun now.  Enjoyed seeing leaves on the Cottonwoods at Phantom, but now I was 10 minutes behind PR pace.  Ah, whuss, suck it up, follow the spirit of Many Dots, run to the North!  Two bagels and two Lemmes later and it was still no good.  Just power hiked out, heart rate no higher than 115, and slow as a slug.  Got a good picture of a sundog from Cottonwood Camp. Green slime in the lungs and nose yecccchh!  Not this slow in the ditch since 1994.  Switched on my red LED light and listened to a Napoleonic war novel on ye olde MP3 all the way up past Aikens (he was painting; saw him through the window of his abode), though the leafless oaks and aspen, out in 12:43.  Bahh!  I'll have ye, dirty ditch, in May, I will!  No chocolate for a month!"    Phil Lowry
31 Oct -> Happy Halloween and boo!  Just returned from Grand Canyon where another fun adventure took place.  Duane and Kathie Schmutz, Paul Hart, John Moellmer, and Richard Stum did a  single crossing on Friday.  The rain on the rims most of the day had little impact on the trails below.  Side trips to Ribbon Falls, ascent up South Kaibab, across to Indian Gardens made about 29 miles for John, Paul, and Richard.  Kathie and Duane came up Bright Angel.  Irv and Catherine went down the Tanner Trail and turned around after a short trip to see what the area was like.  Fantastic views.  Saturday, Joan and John Moellmer and neighbor Kate Rockwood, Irv and Catherine Nielsen, Paul Hart and Richard Stum explored the trail from Hermits Rest trailhead to Dripping Springs and on the way back, the male trail dancers went up the Waldron Trail.  Up on top, John and Richard then went cross-country back to Hermits Rest and Irv and Paul took the Wells road back to Bright Angel.  We all had a terrific day and got to bed at a descent hour well fed.  Met Cindy Andrus and Bryan Howard at Bright Angel Lodge. They had gone to Ribbon Falls and back up Bright Angel. On my trip this year, I was surprised to see several Kaibab Squirrels. That doesn't usually happen.  Also, under the category of unusual,  Paul Hart had an encounter with Mr. Tree branch in the dark on Friday night after he walked up on top of the south rim, went almost under a pinion pine tree and got a 4 cm cut on his head that needed staples at the local clinic plus a tetanus shot.  Ouch!  Sure didn't slow him down, though.  The breakfast was very good at El Tovar again.  Yummmmmmm!
15 Oct -> Bumped into Stan Crane at Iron Mesa, me finishing a 2 mile walk/run, and '39geezer hunting down another GeoCache.
He found it while I watched but it was a tricky one.  The day before, I had a scare running in Dimple Dell.  First, a Homeless person has persisted in living just east of 700 East down in a tent, always makes you look around, secondly, ran into 2 packs of wild dogs (3 in one group, 4 in another).  I was able to persuade the one really nasty mutt to leave me alone by crawling into a thick batch of brush. Whew! I fear for little toddlers who get in there away from their parents.  Thirdly, I passed a dozen Jordan Valley High School sluffers who were hunkered down in the Russian Olive trees smoking pot and regular cigs.  The recreational use of drugs was never something that interested me and  I mistrust anyone involved in it ever since my high school best friends got me fired when they stole beer out of the store I clerked at while they had me distracted in another part of the store.  I think I have forgiven them but as you see, I haven't forgotten about it.  I still wonder if  I had been able to keep that job, I might have skipped enlisting in the Navy and would have gone to college right out of high scool instead.  Well, the past is history, as you know.  Things worked out eventually but I did have to make new friends who were less likely to ruin my life.  But that is a whole new story.  Kudos to loyal friends!  May you  have many.
10 0ct-> The week was quite a treat or trick depending on how you look at it.   I have completed remeasuring the Brighton Marathon which was originally routed down Mill F to Solitude and north up to Brighton.  After all that construction started,  we went to Guardsman Pass from Scotts instead and by way of Bloods Lake and up to the Clayton Peak ridge, then to Dog Lake, and down to Brighton.  Then the Girls Scouts kicked us out of their territory and now we have to use the ridge trail from Guardsman Pass instead.  I have thought the Brighton course was about 25 miles with these "reroutes" over the years.  To my surprise, it is short! Since we made such a drastic change with the course this year due to snow, we ended up  running the reverse direction and bypassing both Clayton Peak and Silver Lake.  I decided to remeasure some parts.  My first section, the Clayton on Peak section turned out to be very close, I got 5.22 miles from the parking lot area we start at to Scotts Pass if you go via Clayton Peak.  3.45 miles if you straight to the pass via the paved road.  I had measured 5.44 miles via Clayton, originally,  but I think that was with the old trail and to a picnic area across the stream. Still, pretty close, especially since I used the new trail that they just built going up to Lake Mary.  The measurement that came up really short to my surprise, the distance from Mill D to the finish using the Silver Lake section was about 1 1/3 miles shorter than I had estimated.  I remeasured the trail from Mill D and also measured the Silver Lake trail we used this year.  From Days Fork to the finish via Silver Lake is 9.19 miles.  I had estimated 10.5 miles. Somehow in my original measurements using my old 4 foot circumference wheel, the distance ended up much longer.  Was it a math error or a mechanical problem?  I don't know, I have lost the original numbers.   So, all you Brighton Marathon lovers,  your run last year was only 23.90 miles.  This year (short course) was 21.48 miles.  Interesting, too, was my Garmin Forerunner 201GPS watch consistently measured 0.06 miles shorter than my Rollatape 6 foot circumference measuring wheel calibrated for trails. GPS signals don't make it through a lot of trees and through mountains.  That surprise mileage conclusion was the trick of the week although running in the rain on Saturday was tricky, too, and I got really soaked despite wearing my heavy duty poncho.  Qute a storm.  FATBOY -  Today was the day to rerun my 8 Parks Run.  Instead of 2 miles at each park, I decided to run 1 mile and run all the way at each park.  I took my Garmin GPS watch (quite accurate down here in the valley) and started at the Jordan River Trail in Midvale and ran 1 mile in 11:05. I drove to FMS Park, as I call it, due to a Flour Mill Stone at the base of their flag pole located at 7300 South and 700 East.  I ran a 9:38. Next I went to Iron Mesa Park (8600 S. 1700 E) and ran a 9:17.  A short drive north and I arrived at Crestwood Park (packed dirt and pea gravel) where I slowed to a 9:37.  A longer drive to Hidden Valley Park and I dropped my mile time to 9:09.  I was pretty much wasted at this time, so I cut out 2 parks and dropped down to Storm Mountain Park at 11400 S. 1700 E. and ran 3 loops on their 1/3 mile paved trail for a closing 8:30 time which felt much faster but at my age, it feels as hard as the 6 minute miles I used to do.  I did have one incident that left me laughing hard at myself.  At Iron Mesa, I sometimes bump into some real characters.  Today was such a day.  I passed one fellow about my age but who outweighed me by 50 pounds and my ample belly must have made him think I was a kindred spirit since he had a belly bulging out quite nicely.   He said as I went by, " Keep moving it , fatboy!" as if to encourage us both to loose a little weight.  I laughed about that for quite awhile and had a tougher time finishing the mile but just managed to make it 1 mile and stop my watch, get in my car, and drive away chuckling to myself.  Elapsed time for 6 parks (6 miles) was 58:15.  Speedy for me these days.   Maybe I will get in 8 parks or more next time.   Hope to see you out there and remember, keep moving it, fatboys.  Happy trails. 
5 Oct ->  This is a swell time to run the trails around Red Butte Canyon.  Fall colors are everywhere and the grass has a golden yellow hue.  The temperatures are often "bracing" (defined here as 'less sweaty").  The trails are less busy. All in all, a very nice adventure awaits for the October trail dancer.  Sifting through my email brought this adventure from a"wild and crazy " team led by Phil Lowry who took a trip up Timpanogas mountain for some "bracing" times. 
"There are times when we sit in our comfortable homes in the Valley and look at the raging winds and snow in our beloved mountains and wonder  "I wonder what it's like up there right now?"  Tired of asking and not getting any answers, I invited fellow Wasatch veteran Dave Hunt to join me on an early morning jaunt up Timpanogos on October 4.  The Digital forecast said a big cold front would pass at six o'clock in the morning, with massive quantities of snow to follow.  We left at 330 in the morning in an arrogant attempt to beat the odds, and all went well until we were about 300 feet below the summit.  All of a sudden snow came screaming horizontally through the skies accompanied by 60 and 70 mph winds that threatened to blow us into the rocks.  We struggled up to the summit, flashlights flitting about like Spielberg beams, and took shelter in the hunt, where the ink to sign the register barely ran.  The 0.70 miles back down to the ridge to get us on to the calm, East side of the mountain was an adventure.  The snow was blowing so hard we could not keep our eyes open.  Even though this was my 301st summit of the mountain, I actually got off the trail in a couple of places because I just could not open my eyes.  When we finally got to the east side of the mountain and its relative calm, we frolicked in the fact that we were alive and dancing through the freshly fallen snow all the way down to 8000 feet.  I would have preferred to just run 100 miles."  Phil Lowry
27 Sep-> The Desolation Marathon is over for another year.  About 3 dozen participated and a couple of dozen completed the full marathon.  Good luck to those going to St. George for the road marathon.
            The Heavens Wept ->     Wait a minute, it isn't Saturday, St. George Marathon weekend.
Why is it raining?  But I get ahead of myself.   I had the day off and an early dental check-up.  So, I headed up to Mill D trailhead in Big Cottonwood and took the option to go up Days Fork and hopefully would make it to the top of Silver Fork and the ridge looking down on Alta.  A couple of hours later, I was eyeballing the gorgeous yellow aspens down Little Cottonwood Canyon.  Now, I came prepared for rain but didn't get much going up.  Then the clouds split and Mama Nature (or was that me crying for my mama) burst forth with a lightning storm from out of nowhere.  Aaaaggghhhh!  Get me out of here.  I made a mad dash for Days Fork and felt very lucky to make it off the mountain with only a sore hip when I slipped in the mud and pulled a muscle.   Really got frozen in the torrential downpour.
Brrrr!!  Mr. Moose was on the trail on the way down but luckily went up into the trees and off the trail.  Since it rained so hard on Tuesday before St. George, maybe we will get a break and sunshine will prevail for this weekend.  That would be nifty!  By the way, leaf color in the canyons are just astounding. Go trail dance on a few leaves for me.
12 Sep ->  Wasatch weekend.  Cooler weather prevailed and we upped our finish rate to 66 percent.  Karl Meltzer was in the zone this year and took back his course record with a vengence.  It was a very exciting moment in the dark at 43 minutes past midnight when he came in.   A lot happened after that that I am too tired to talk about.  Maybe more later.   I went out Monday morning for a couple of hours in the dark and carried back a bunch of ribbons, glowsticks, and fresh apples from the tree close to the Blue Boar Inn.  Yum.   I also gobbled up some Service Berries that had dried naturally on the bushes.  The Native Americans in this area had once dried these and pounded them into a paste and mixed it with dried vensison.  They called it Pemmican.  The USA's first sports food.  I didn't know I would be foraging for food for breakfast.  Next year, maybe I'll run south from Homestead and catch some fish from Deer Creek Reservoir. 
      I suppose the most poignant moment was a private one.  I pulled down a ribbon I had put at the top of a tall bush / small tree from 4 years ago and remembered Stephen Utley standing there with a bemused expression and a prophecy, "You will have to take that one down yourself, Irv, no one else is stupid enough to retrieve it."   He was right.  Runner dummy #2 or #3  on his list, I guess.   It was mostly white with a little red left in the middle where it had been covered by other layers of tape.   As I stood there reflecting on the tape and the newly recovered memory of Stephen, the sun peaked out in the east above the mountains and below a few clouds and a new day broke through the veil between his new world and my old one.   The sky gradually turned a colorful blend of yellow and pink and my red and white ribbon slipped into my bag.  I danced down the trail a tear in my eye, a lump in my throat, and the dawn of a new attempt at a trail dancers daily peace and happiness. 
     On a lighter note: Dana Miller (Mud & Guts) was at the Homestead walking along with 4 plastic patio chairs in his arms and walking rather slowly since he dropped out at Big Water at the Wasatch this year.  I joked as he was going by, "Man, we are getting so old now, we need to carry chairs on our runs."  Dana laughed at my lame humor and kidded back, "Thats not a bad idea, Gorilla.  I bet a small portable chair hooked on the back,  like a backpack over the rear, would indeed come in handy on my 100 milers from now on." Chuckle.
Happy trails and kudos to all the great Wasatch participants this year whether they ran and finished, dnf'd, crewed, paced, put up glow sticks or ribbons or both,  or voluntered at the aid stations.
27 Aug ->  Don't smoke the grass!  As I have stumbled along the Red Butte trails above the University of  Utah Hospital, I could not help make the observation that the grass is much higher this year.  You might be saying, "Well, duh!" at the point but I don't get out as much as I used to and I must not have been running where the grass grows until it turned golden yellow and lost its "sneeze appeal".  I hope your grass burns are minor and here is hoping we get enough rain to keep the fire danger low.  Play a few more rain drums please.
18 Aug ->  Pancake Stan has been working on the 100 mile trail up at Lambs.  Stan is way ahead of the the crowd in Geo-caching.  He has nearly a 1,000 finds to his credit and created many caches himself.  My friend Steve Baugh went back east on a buisness trip and while there took in the Jay Mountain Marathon.  Here are some of his thoughts on this unique event:
"This is the toughest "marathon" I've ever done.  The race director thought it was closer to 29 miles.  We had mud the whole way off and on.  Mostly on.  One guy lost his shoes in the first mile.  He and a couple of friends were fishing through the mud to try and find them.  I literally had mud up to the middle of my calf in many places.  Jay Peak was a pretty good climb.  Three miles up and three miles down.  I needed hill training as I huffed and puffed all the way up.  The down killed me worse than the up because I had a sore knee from the Park City Marathon and it was steep downhill running for 2 to 3 miles.  The brakes were on the whole time and my knee was shot at the bottom at only 12 miles into the race.  We later had a 100 yards of steep sand dunes to climb over too (I don't know how they found those in Vermont).  We had three different sections where we were in the river for a long time (there was poison ivy on both sides of the banks on one of them).  I estimate a mile each time, but who knows.  The water was usually from mid calf to knee, but sometimes up to our waste and we had several little waterfalls to negotiate.  The rocks were slippery so I fell several times in the river.  I also fell once on dry trail tripping on a root and a couple of times in knee deep mud.  The river crossing with the rope (water up to our neck and over our heads) was fun and refreshing.  I got into the 20 mile checkpoint shortly after that and they told me I only had 2 minutes to get out of there or they would pull me from the race because of a cut off that none of us runners were aware of.  I quickly left and managed to finish in over 10 hours.  I feel fortunate in having made that cutoff time at 20 miles because several runners were pulled.  I had to walk much of the last half because of my bad knee.  I was one of the last to make an official finish, but it looked like 240 out of 300 finished (counting the 1/2 marathon and full marathon).  A guy I was with near the end had a deep gash in his leg, had broken his thumb (one of the checkpoints had splinted it) and he had run into a wasps nest.  It was his 100th marathon and also his slowest.  It was a beautiful course and quite fun and challenging.  I really enjoyed it when I was in the river.  I always made up time and passed a lot of people then.  The race director had a few bushwhacking sections on the course as well.  He marked the course really well with pink flagging tape, but during the bushwhacking, we were following the tape through thick trees (with eye poking branches) and brush where there was no trail.  Even with the good marking, it was a little confusing in some places, but it was an adventure I was good in the river and through the bushwhacking, but was bad in about everything else. Anyway, it was definately an experience I'll never forget."   Steve Baugh
8 Aug -> Mill D trailhead to Desolation Lake and back  is about 7.8  miles.   Being a monday, the traffic was light.  I ran into 10 mountain bikers total, 3 hikers and 1 trail runner.  If you do this on a Saturday, you can expect to see over 10 times that much.  The trail is very dusty thanks to the mountain bikers who are loving-the-trail to death.  This is not a complaint, just an observation since I first did this section of trail 43 years ago and mountain bikers didn't start dominating this trail until the last 15 years of that time period.  Only one of the bikers yielded the trail to me.  This is what I have come to expect and try to live with.  I was successful in keeping my thoughts on the delights of the trail and not on resentment.  A very fine day it was, with clouds and a few drops of rain.  The lush foliage is still there, the flowers are amazing, but we could use some goodly amounts of rain.   The lake is still full and the pond on the west side is nearly full, too.  The spring just before the hump into the lake basin is running strong and is delicious!  A doe and a fawn  and I nearly collided on my return trip.  Thump, thump.  "Bambi," I called.  But alas, he wouldn't speak to me.
30 Jul -> The Battle of Mill Canyon:
The work day at Mill Canyon Peak to consolidate the work already done clearing trees from the Plunge and rebuilding the trail south of the Forest Lake Junction went very well.  The flowers were terrific.  Lots of  lush vegetation.  Fixed the water pipe at Rock Springs.  (Hope it lasts.)  The trails are very dry  and the motorocycle traffic does not help.  Derek Blaylock ran by and appreciated all the Aspen branches I had cut off the trail (sorry, couldn't get all of them).   Stay cool, don't drool, as my buddy Stan-the-Pancake Man says. 
10 Jul -> Day after Brighton Marathon.  Whew.  I'm beat.   The last two days were terrific.  I saw several deer and moose.  Flowers were heavenly.   Glissading on snow was great fun.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.   Get up in those hills and let the trails give you their good tidings.  (Sorry, a bit of Muir plagerism)
25 Jun -> Millcreek Canyon is closed 3 miles up from the mouth of the canyon until July 1.  This makes a good place to run , especially when it is raining and the bikers are few in numbers.   Run up the road to Elbow Fork and come down the Pipeline to Burch Hollow trail head and back up the road to the gate.  Or, at Elbow Fork , go across a bridge to the south and come down to  Bowmans Fork, the Terraces, down to Millcreek Canyon road and to the gate.   Could do a big loop that way using all trails for the most part, or head up to Bear Bottom Pass on an out -and-back to extend distance.  Many, many other possibilies.  I rode my bike to work today (about 30 miles round trip).  Lots of wind in the afternoon and some rain.  Yesterday, while run/walking on the Jordan River trail arond 8200 South, I saw a WILD TURKEY.  Really, no kidding.  A hen hidding out in the Rabbit Brush.  Second biggest bird on that run. I  spotted a Great Blue Heron standing in the Jordan River looking for a meal.  It  was a huge thing.  Blue Jays have been coming to my Catalpa tree in my backyard and flying madly up to the pine cones hanging from branches to get  a snack of  peanut butter off  our Cub Scout project  bird feeders (we had the boys roll their pine cones in peanut  butter). 
5 Jun->  "Every trail has a few puddles."     The statement has a nice trail running feeling to it for me.  Sort of like, "Every cloud has a silver lining".  The puddles can be a delight or irritating depending on your expectations.  I ran into more than a few puddles going up the Lambs Canyon trail today and the Bonneville Shoreline trail at East Mountain trailhead at the start of the Wasatch 100 miles yesterday.  The spring run-off is in full swing and the streams are full and running several times their normal size.  Flowers are most abundent right now between 5,000 and 6,000 feet.  I danced along the trail amid blue Penstemon,  Lupine, and Flax.   Sunflowers of many varieties were abundant.  The Utah State flower, Sego Lilly, was in its prime along with a beautiful yellow cactus Prickly Pear.  I was wearing my new Brooks Cascadia trails shoes.  They are a hideous yellow color ( I love'em!).   I felt really fast in those puppies.  I bet I was making 18 minute miles or better.  Well, faster than usual, anyway.  Up in Lambs Canyon, Clematis is blooming and the Service Berry bushes white blossoms were thick.  I went across 10 downed logs (two big ones) within a mile of the trailhead. There was 3 places water ran down the trail in a muddy little stream.  I ran into snow about 0.4 miles from the top and dug in my heels crossing several long patches of snow.  A new trail head sign proclaims the trail only 1.75 miles to the pass.  Don't believe them.  I measure about 2.1 miles to the pass.  When I got home tonight, I fixed my own dinner by making Dutch Oven potatoes.  It has potatoes, onions, a little turkey bacon for flavor and sprinkling of grated cheese on top.  Yummmmm. 
Later Miles roasted mini -marshmellows across the left coals.  Did you know you can make mini-Smores?  (Two small pieces of grahm cracker, one semi-sweet chocolate chip, and add one toasted mini-marshmellow).  Hmm -hmm good.
29 May -> Just had time for a short run today.  A week ago I ran in Wildcat Canyon in Zion National Park.  In both runs I ended up in water. 
I ran in Dimple Dell this time and I was prepared.  I was wearing old shoes and I ran right through the first water I came to.  No messing around, buddy. This makes it a lot funner.  The water was coming down the Dell so deep and fast that I couldn't wade underneath 7th East through the tunnel. I was able to go downstream through the tunnel on my way back west since it was an out-and-back but it nearly swepted me off my feet.  I crossed, waded up over my knee a couple of times, the creek about 6 times.  Icy cold.   Kept me cool for the whole hour I was  out. The grass is a real problem for me.  I have to medicate myself afterwards and that is pretty rare year when I do that.  Agghh!
7 May -> The day was a cartoon.  A rain cloud followed me around the valley.   I tried running in Dimple Dell. Got dumped on and thought I saw clear skies in Draper.  Drove to Corner Canyon.  Got out of the car in sunshine and out on the trail 5 minutes and got really dumped on .  Put up with this quite awhile and headed back to Dimple Dell.  5 minutes from a sunny start, got really, really dumped on.   Up to my ankles in water.  Water was running down my back despite a poncho.  Finally gave up.  The rain god had spoken. 
2 May ->  Dimple Dell from 300 East (10000 South by the Dog Park)  to 1300 East is alive with Mourning Doves.  The melancholy cooing of 100 birds at one time is like of herd of sheep on tranquilizers.  Very noisy but very mellow.  I have been practicing carrying a bag of water that gets sipped once in awhile but is primarily there to get me primed for longer trail running.  I have carried rocks on some runs for weight but that gets noisier than water bags and hurts.  Last Saturday I only had time for a ten miler and wandered around Draper on the Orson Porter Rockwell trail  and the Aqueduct trail.  The stream is currently pretty high so I had to do a long jump over the stream and get this fat carcass over about 6 feet (the narrowest part).  Oh baby, watch that elephant jump.  Hilarious. 
24 Apr -> Got this little report on the Zane Grey 50 miler from Phil Lowry: "A hot day on the Mogollon.  Zane Grey 50 mile is a nice race.  Trail is gnarly, lots of rocks and dead fall, plus I saw a BIG snake and a turkey.  So much holly and catclaw that my shins look like slick rock. Ups and downs aplenty, nice stream areas, and glorious sun after so much snow.  A great way to kick off the training season.  Oh, and it's the only 50 I have run that even compares with the first 50 of Wasatch -> chunks of unimproved trail, rocks, and occasional fits of desperation.  11:54."
23 Apr -> Spent the morning running in Draper and the Corner Canyon area.  Nice to keep away from the Salt Lake Marathon traffic woes although I think riding on a bike around to watch your friends  would be a kick like the Wahlquists are doing. 
10 Apr -> Instead of  going out of town on vacation, I just stayed at home.  Old fuddy, duddy kind of stuff.  Caught up on my reading and saved a bundle on gasoline.  I had a nice time in Dimple Dell starting at 300 East and 10000 South by the dog park.  When there is a nasty south or north wind, I can run east / west when the wind is howling across the Dell and avoid the chill or sting of the wind.  I like running in the Dell but I'm not fond of the thick wood chip trails.  I end up walking most of those unless it is downhill.  Too much give to them and they wear on you worse than sand.  Later this year, they will build a new bridge on 700 East that will allow better foot traffic under it.  I look forward to that.   I had a nice long 11 mile run / hike in the Corner Canyon area.  The weather was bad, but the sandy trails were fine.  I keep looking for a magical course to do a marathonish length long run to prep myself for Zion or some summer long runs.  The building / construction industry are out of control in Draper.  Sigh.  Too bad they can't put in place the trails and the parks before they add any homes and buisnesses.  For instance, the silly Sandy Parkway trail runs next to the railroad tracks which is fine but then you keep bumping into street crossings and legally should go 1/2 or more miles out of your way to cross at an intersection with a light at each street the trail comes to.  Maybed someday they will have under or overpasses but for now, what a pain.  If gas prices keep climbing, more folks will want to bike to work and the difficulty of biking in the Salt Lake Valley is well known to anyone who tries it.  Scary and more unpleasant than it should be.  Sure would have been nice to have a north south passage all the way across the valley without having to travel with cars or go way out of your way to find a safe place to cross a busy street. There, I've hopped off my soap box, now go back to watching the exciting coverage of the Prince of Wales - Charles and "I'm not going to call myself Queen", the Duchess of Cornwall - Camilla getting married.  About time, is all I can say.
4 Apr -> Despite the rain, I ventured out to Corner Canyon today and hiked and ran about 8 miles.  Bumped into 8 deer and a couple of noisy Scrub Jays.  I  started at the Equestrian Park dropping under a tunnel and traveled south along the creek until it hits the Corner Canyon road.  Once up in the main open part of the canyon, I went west past the million dollar homes where you end up on sidewalk for a couple of hundred yards until the Bonneville Shoreline Trail picks up again.  I traveled west on it as it parallels the golf course. In contrast to the marathon a couple of days ago, the trail had a couple of muddy spots whereas the BoSho Marathon was a muddy trail with a couple of dry spots.  Just before it crosses a road, I passed a Bronco some idiot tried to drive on the mountain and ended up in a gully.  Someone had smashed the windows.  Sometimes these vehicles just stay there and never get removed.  After crossing the road to the north and taking the lower trail that swings around the gullies, I once again crossed south under a 300 foot tunnel beneath Traverse Ridge Road and took the steep climb up to the west of the new Oak Hills development ( 22 lots, $$$$$) close to the water tank.  The Bonneville Shoreline Trail heads west from there and  is cut high above the Draper Heights gated community.  Great view of their swimming pools and tennis courts.  It is a great trail that runs all the way out to the Hang Gliding Park and eventually to gravel excavation company property where it is fenced off.   There is a lot of homes being built  and less and less open space.  Sadly, the bond Draper passed only preserves a small portion of Corner Canyon.  So, I plan on running the trails there a lot this month or two and soaking up what scenery is left.  Someday soon, it will just be a shadow of its former self.  After I got home and took a shower I turned my attention to food.  Here is a meal I bet you haven't eaten after a run:  Day old Sourdough Pancakes (same starter as Pancake Stan's) with peanut butter rolled up in the middle and a hot bowl of grits with real maple syrup and a light sprinkle of cheddar cheese.  I also nibbled on the remains of a Pink Lady apple my 2 year daughter had mangled.  Yummy. 
3 Apr >- FYI - Jim Nelson has a very interesting article in the March 2005 UltraRunning Magazine (page 52 & 53) titled,  Inside the List: Toughest of the Tough.   Of the five events mentioned with Nolan's 14 being his choice as toughest, Wasatch  didn't make the list.  (See,   I keep telling you its a piece-of-cake.)   Jim Nelson, Mike Tilden, and Blake Wood should know.  They have done all those five Ultras and can speak with some authority on the matter.  Still, there is room for different opinions on what is the hardest.  Comparing Ultras is like comparing trail shoes.  Which one is the best? You and I may never agree on that issue.  We probably can't even agree on which one looks the best.  Just remember that the Gorilla told you, "The toughest ultra is always the one you are doing."  
2 Apr -> Despite a huge storm earlier in the week, the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Marathon  went on.  See results at :  http://www.users.qwest.net/~cirnielsen/bst05.html
12 Mar ->  The Bonneville Shoreline Trail has been terrific the last couple of weeks and it will stay this way until we get significant
rainfall.  Corner Canyon is great running, too, even though we continue to loose scenery due to more houses hovering over the trails.  I received another email from Phil Lowry and he updates us on his family running in the Grand Canyon earlier this week.  See the following link:                        http://www.users.qwest.net/~cirnielsen/wastd05.html
6 Mar -> The pleasant weather continues - running 11 miles on the Jordan River followed the next day by a 21 mile fat-tire bike ride in the same area was a highly prized adventure the week.  It was nice to shed the doldrums and stress of work week for a weekend of  play. 
28 Feb - A pleasant month for trail running.  Slow but pleasing.  I made a wide variety of short runs since my last note:  Flat Iron Mesa Park, Hidden Valley, Olympus Hills, Dimple Dell (all three sections from 300 East to Wasatch Blvd), Sandy Parkway Trail, Jordan River Parkway trail, Bonneville Shoreline Trail, and Corner Canyon trails out in Draper.  I even had a couple of decent bike rides for cross training.  The moon was bright and beautiful the last few nights, so I took a short walk in the moonlight to top off a pleasant warm evening.  Felt more like March than February.  My long run of the month,  only 7 miles,  felt like 14 with the wind in my face and I had this hideous lingering lack of inertia which kept me Walking, Wimpering, and Making excuses.   The dreaded WWM syndrome.
7 Feb ->  The dreaded slush run arrived today.  Icckkky!   At least I thought so at first.  The GOOD, the BAD, the UGLY:
GOOD:  The slush was only an inch deep and didn't bother me much.   Some of the surface was 2 inches of snow, perfect.
BAD:  A teenager with an attitude tried to back out  and  nearly ran into me.  I had to hot foot it over a small fence to stay out  of his way.
UGLY:  Warning!  Don't read this if you are going to eat a meal right after.   Snot Icicles!  See, when you have a beard & moustache, you get frozen vapor from your nose and mouth in the hair and it is salty and tastes like snot.  My advice?  Dash into your bathroom before it melts and drips into your mouth area.  Run some hot water and wash your facial hair of the icicles.  There, I've done my civic duty.  Add this to your running expertise.  Just don't tell my wife about this, okay?  I may never get another kiss. 
5 Feb -> Went up Mill D to Desolation Lake and back today.  Very sunny  and warm.  The trail is hard packed half way up so we didn't even put on showshoes until  just below Blunder Fork.  The trail down is pretty tricky after softening up so we had to be careful on the way down.  I suppose this storm coming tomorrow will ruin my unexpected treasure of a trail run.
28 Jan -> Hey Grumpy! Are you tired of the gloomy, gunky, ghastly, gray weather? Yeah, me too. But, there were a couple of  moments to my liking.  Wednesday I ran on the Fell Run  or Bonneville Shoreline Trail above the University Hospital.  The frost on the grass, bushes and trees was 1/2 inch thick at least.  The trails were surprisingly good.  Half way through my 4 miler, I caught one of those freaky moments of  delicious pleasure when the sun came out in a 1/2 mile section just north of Red Butte Canyon. I circled around in this treasured sport for 20 minutes luxuriating in the sunshine.  The frost began falling off the trees and grass.  Amazing.  Couldn't stop grinning for at least an hour after heading back to work.   Today it was 50 degrees F and I ran in shorts.  Clean air and more sunshine.  Life is good. 
22 Jan -> 40 years or so ago, I used to go with my brother swimming out at Saratoga Springs.  It was a great  place for a date, too, although my brother is the authority on that.  I never had a vehicle to take anyone on a date until I was out of the Navy.  By then, I was spending all my my time taking myself fishing.  Today I took myself to Saratoga Springs but you can't really go swimming there anymore.   The private developement in the old spot is strictly for the residents.  The public is not welcome anymore.  I parked at the large lot where the Jordan Parkway trail begins near the model airplane park.  I ran and out and back 11 miler - sort of the opposite of what I ran 1/15.  The frost on the trees was very impressive.  Quite lovely. There was a large group of scouts doing a winter camp in Willow Park.  Some of their tents were huge.  The Parkway trail runs south all the way to Saratoga Springs where it dead ends and there is no parking there.  Yesterday I ran in Crestwood Park (about 7400 South and 1500 East) on the 1.0125 mile loop there.  Nice and cushioned.  Hidden Valley Park was also nice this week - paved 1 kilometer trail (11600 South Wasatach Blvd). Most of the dog owners had their dogs under control for a change.  I have been listening to the Harry Potter tapes with Jim Dale reading.  They are sensational.  What a great way to pass the time while you exercise.  Happy trails. Gorilla
20 Jan -> Woo, woo.  What great running weather.  Mid 40's and sunny.  Do you want a little clean air now that the inversion has camped in?
Try driving up above Little Dell Reservoir and running uptowards Big Mountain where the road is blocked off or west up to Emmigration Canyon.  I didn't bump into snow until over a mile past the gate.  Saw 2 moose just up the hill 200 yards.  Little Dell is mostly free of ice with a few thing sheets of ice floating around.   Take a fanny pack and have a picnic. 
15 Jan -> Ran 11 miles on the Utah Valley section of the Jordan River Trail starting at the Narrows and running south 5.5 miles and turning around.  Mid 40's and sunny.  No wind.   Terrific climate for January .  A little snow was left in the narrows area and they still haven't finished paving that trail in the mud slide area just as you start running south. 
       Computer was broke until today - sorry, took a long time to get it fixed and then it took a long time to get the corect softward loaded.
25 Oct->  Happy Halloween week to my fellow trail spooks.    Last Saturday was the annual Utah Deer Hunt.  I haven't participated since the late 70's but I have always loved being out in the woods at this time of year.  It was windy and cold, however, so I didn't  mind cutting my trail run out in Corner Canyon short and stopped at 10 miles.  I got a great view of  autumn colors, felt the leaves crunch under my shoes,  and literally smelled the mountain scenery on my run plus I got a bonus view of wildlife:  3 large bucks were hanging out by the Bonneville Shoreline Trail - sort of thumbing their hooves at all the hunters who were thousands of feet above them looking for antlers in their scopes.  Snicker.    Grizz sent me a note today and it reveals what this site is although I never think of it as such:
"Here we are well into the information age and I just realized that I do, frequently, visit a BLOG.  I read about these things in Time Magazine, even visited a couple which didn't really interest me, and figured that blogs were for people who spend a lot more time at their pc keyboard than do I.  But talking to my very computer literate daughter in New Jersey the other day I happened to mention the striders website and I had an epiphany.  After all, I was around when the striders newsletter first came into being and when it was taken over by its present management and I watched it become a blog.  I just didn't know what I was watching."  Happy trails.  Grizz.
   Thanks for the revelation Grizz.  Blog, heh?  You've been blogged everybody!  Run for the hills.  No, really, run for the hills.  Nothing here to see.   Back to work everbody.....
18 Oct ->  Hope everyone has had a good fall running.  I managed an 11 mile run on the Jordan River Trail  as my  longest since Oct 2.  Last week I ran someplace different ever day.  The Quary Trailhead at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon is crowded these days.  I met John and Alice Webber putting some miles on their mtn bikes.  I mostly hiked uphill and ran down.  Very nice color on the trees still in the canyon.  Yesterday I put in 2 hours cutting limbs off of Red Butte trails (north side) and kicking a few rocks off the trails.  This  week: starting a little training for Grand Canyon - steep ups and downs for the legs but first I hauled my weary self over to Iron Mesa Park and ran 1 hour straight without stopping.  I managed 5.75 miles on a 1 mile loop course that has one big hill in it.   I enjoyed the colors on the Sumac trees / bushes.  Very nice.  Cold enough to wear light gloves this morning.  Good running temp.
2 Oct ->  3 old trail runners were out running on the Pipeline Trail up Millcreek Canyon one day.  Having aged well, they were still getting a wee bit hard of hearing.  The first one says, "Windy, isn't it?"  The second replied, "No, its Thursday!"  After a moment, the third geezer runner says, "Me too!  Let's head back to car, I have a cooler with some cold water bottles."  Today I ran 16 miles out in Corner Canyon.  Lots of leaves have turned color.  Pretty nice.  Kind of hot.  I had the place pretty much to myself.  Saw lots of Black-Capped Chickadees and few Blue Jays.   Very nice run.  So, the third runner above was telling his running buddies,
"I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost me four thousand dollars, but it's state of the art. It's perfect."  "Really," answered one of his friends. "What kind is it?"   "Twelve thirty," was the reply.
27 Sep ->  With the completion of Desolation Marathon, I am beginning to dream about the Grand Canyon again, although visions of Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Capital Reef are running through my mind as well.  Perhaps I should just go fishing and ignore all this dreamy stuff.  I had a real slump in running energy this week and fortunately, Catherine wanted to go with Joan from Butler Fork to the Finish of the Deso Marathon (15 to 16 miles?) and they had a splendid time.  I had kid duty for the day and had a good time in general although it is hard not participating in the running side of things.  Went cycling yesterday 12 miles easy.  Big time rest right in the middle of it when my tire went flat and I sat on a lawn fixing things back together.  So, lets see how the trails are doing this week.  No new developments on the Jordan River trail since the bridge underneath Winchester Drive.  More homes on the course, of course, each time you go by the area.  Corner Canyon is a terrible mess right now with all the construction.  It looks like they are putting in some replacement trails to go around the road they closed that took you up to the main Corner Canyon area.  I really like Corner Canyon in the wet fall.  Sandy trails.  Up in the mountains all trails are open with a little snow up above 9,000 feet.  If you don't enjoy running in the fall on colorful leaves, well shame on you.  Get out there! Turn that TV off and enjoy the delights of Mother Nature.  Take extra food just in case you run into me.