"...we will follow the trail of our enemies.  And woe to them, if we prove the swifter!  We will make such a chase as shall be accounted a marvel among the Three Kindred's: Elves, Dwarves, and Men.  Forth the Three Hunters!"
       Aragorn, The Two Towers, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

   It was Prince Many Dots for the Elves, Carl for the Men,  and Irv for the Dwarfs who traveled together on their quest for adventure this first day of 2002.  Charlie's portrayal of the hunted would have worked  better had he slowed down enough to catch him but he was already  2 miles plus ahead of us by the time the "Hunters" reached half way.   Charlie wasn't really the hunted but since the topic of the Lord of the Rings came up, it just seems natural to relate everything to the book hence, the Three Hunters.  We were only hunting a good run and we were all very successful.  This is one case where the reality of the run far exceeded my hopes.
   I have wanted to run the entire distance several times but never could quite pull it off.  I tried very hard 2 times but came up short.  This time I planted water and food at mile 5,  9.3, and 13.5.  I was all set to go.  A light snow left a very comfortable inch or two of snow on the Jordan/Provo River Parkway Trail.  The air quality was good, no foul taste and little wind.  The skies were overcast and somewhat foggy with visibility being about 1/2 mile until later in the day when Mr. Sun made a brief appearance.
   We started down the trail way heading north on a snow-covered trail with no foot prints.  A lovely way to start the run. Charlie ran about half a mile with us from the Pump house parking lot where the Jordan River exits Utah Lake and then broke away as the Three Hunters slowed down and began to digest the books we've read, the movies we've seen, and the interesting "fens" (marshes) by the Jordan River.  John and I found out we had both read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings book back in Vietnam (in the 60's) and have a great enthusiasm for all things of Middle Earth.  Carl was very patient to listen to our mouths flap and flap over many things -  stream of consciousness verbalization - run.  We found out Carl has 6 kids including 2 twins as the caboose of his family.  "Cool," we figured since teenager behavior is similar to the antics he was seeing this day. We can be very energetic and annoying (just ask Paul Hart)  to many of our fellow runners.
   It was a bird watchers day as along the way to the Narrows and back we saw hundreds of Turdus migratorius (Robins), a few mallard ducks, a big swarm of Brewers Blackbirds, another of  Starlings, Magpies and a lot of their nests, Bullock Oriole nests, Black capped Chickadee, Oregon Junco, Red Shafted Flicker, two Goshawks perched in a tree, Ring Billed Gulls (my bird book says the California Gull is a Summer visitor), a Great Blue Heron, White Crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and either a Peregrine Falcon or a Marsh Hawk which wouldn't hold still enough for me to positively identify.  The day before in this area, I had also seen a Kestrel (Sparrow Hawk) and a Bald Eagle.   We also saw a fox, some probable Coyote tracks, a herd of Mule Deer, and a charcoal colored Feral Cat on our wildlife tour.
   Just across the last bridge at mile 8.3 on the north side of the Thanksgiving Point golf course, Elf Prince John made sure a beryl or elf stone was planted that all may know they may pass.  Loud and clear he called out to the Hunters to ride on: "Noro lim, noro lim, Asfaloth!"  (You really should read the book, you know.)
   We soon met Charlie heading back to the start.  He had come down the hill and made a great slash in the snow showing great artistic endeavor sliding on his knee.  Not hurt, he smiled and bid us farewell.  The conversation through the golf course was directed to an old railroad line that passed through this area.  We had noticed the old posts or pylons stuck in the river bed at about mile 6 and as we climbed the hill on the west side of the narrows, John was keeping his eye on the cleft in the hill where it looked obvious the rail line might have run.  We had passed the Fox Family monument (1891 to 1995) and the Indian Ford or Rocky Ford Ferry station river crossing monument.  John later confirmed this in one of his books and said it ran from Riverton and crossed to the east heading for Lehi where the pylons were.  We ended up at the half way point in 1:54:30 and  spent a few minutes looking for the old railway bed which was easily seen.  Turning around and heading south we ran with occasional walking breaks back to the start in about 1 hour and 50 minutes for an elapsed time of 3:53.  It was nice of Charlie to wait for us.  He was all warm and dry and looked very fresh.  We had got pretty heated up and even the snow melt off the trail way on the way back.  It was a very fine run.  The afterglow of running was pleasant and pleasantries were exchanged.  The Elf and the Dwarf headed to the One Man Band Cafe for pancakes while Carl and Charlie took off for home.
   When I was driving on the icy roads to the start dropping off my water, I was preparing myself for a long lonely day like 2 years ago  when the lone Gorilla had to do a 20 mile solo.  What a great thrill to have company.  This was a great way to break in the New Year.  Two days later I was giving blood and the heart rate was around 60.  The needle sticker was pleased not to have to hunt for a vessel to stab.  Life is good.
        Happy New Year to you all and see you out on the trails.
                               Irv