Bountiful Skyline Drive Snowstorm Run

Sam has really gotten into these 4:00am runs.  The early hours have never really bothered me since I have always been a morning person.  Sam decided the night before to throw out a general invitation to the Wasatch Mountain Wranglers Facebook group to see if anyone would join us.  We got a reply from Matt Ricks that he would show up.  Neither Sam or I had ever met this guy, but we decided we might as well make a new friend, right? I mean, I met Jake for the first time on a run last year, and he turned out... well...

Our initial plan was for Sam to turn around at 5:20 or so, and I would keep going as far as I felt I had time and energy for, with a minimum of the 8.25 miles to the saddle.  I was the last of us three to show up, and we instantly took off up the mountain.  Skyline Drive is a well travelled dirt road that runs up over bountiful peak and back down Farmington canyon.    We started just as the snowstorm started rolling in.  My injured calf started tightening up after about a mile so I fell back behind those two to avoid putting any unecessary strain on it.  They slowed down a little bit, so up until Sam's turnaround point at 5.0 miles, I was able to at least see the faint glow of their lights through the falling snow.

After Sam turned around, I lost sight of Matt.  For the next half hour I trudged in the dark, only able to see Matt's footprints.  Still feeling pretty good, I decided I would go up at least as far as he did.  Finally, I saw his light come bouncing down the trail.  We gave each other a high five and a "let's run again together" exchange.  I still had plenty of energy, and was plenty warm, so I kept going.  I soon passed his turnaround spot at mile 6.36.  It was getting harder and harder to see because of the early morning darkness and increasing snowfall.  I passed mile 7 and thought "I can do at least another half mile."  Since I was now the only one heading up the mountain, I started doing more frequent "situation checks."  At mile 7.2 I had the following conversation with myself.



1- I'm not cold or hungry.
2- This road is quite safe and up till now has been easy to follow.
3- I'm alone in a snowstorm on the mountain.
4- I'm over 7 miles away from my car.
5- The closest human being is now over a mile behind me heading the opposite direction.
6-  It is still very dark, and the increasing snowfall is making it harder and harder to see.
7-  The longer I go, the harder it will be to get my car out of the parking lot.

So, there comes a time when any reasonable trail runner accepts he is beaten, and turns back.
Here's to a warm weekend coming up!

Donut Falls Ice Cave



Steve in Icy Donut Falls Cave



Donut Falls Map and Statistics



I've had a buddy telling me for about a year now that he wants to hike Donut Falls with me.  The reason I've been hesitant to want to do it is because I felt if I was going to use some of my "Wifey, I'm going out running" points, I didn't want to waste them on a slow hike which is only a mile and a half round trip.  While I was sure it was beautiful, the ease of getting to it was turning me off. 

This Presidents day, I finally conceeded, on the grounds that the wife had been sick all weekend, and I needed to get out and do something.  I also felt that a winter hike to Donut Falls might offer a little more of a challenge, and perhaps an awesome iced waterfall at the end.  So I went with two neighbors on the slow hike to the falls.

The main gate is closed from Big Cottonwood Canyon, so it added another 0.8 miles to the one-way trip.  The snow was packed down well that walking was as easy as walking on dirt.  Reaching the waterfall site, I was a little dissapointed as I noticed ... well... no flowing water.  But a short search led to a 3.5' diameter hole in the snow, and the sound of spashing water resonating out of it.  Ducking down and waddling into this hole, I found myself in an iced wonderland.  It was absolutely beautiful in there.  Depending on where you stood, the ceiling, which was made up of the overhanging rock that creates the falls, was about 3-5 feet high.  There was probably about enough standing room for maybe 6 people.  I half expected Supermans father to start speaking to us from inside the ice donut if we found just the right crystal.  Go check it out sometime... but take the wife with you so  you can count it as a date night and don't burn up any points.

The Wedge 50K

Davy Crockett, Craig Lloyd, Aaron Williams, Matt Williams, Rob Bladen, and Me. Scott Wesserman took the photo.

Pictured above are a handful of The Wasatch Wranglers, a Facebook group made up of avid trail runners. I was lucky enough to spend this last Saturday with them running in The San Rafael Swell, South-Central Utah. The picture was taken near The Wedge Overlook of The Little Grand Canyon. We hauled ourselves out of bed at some ridiculous hour, left our homes and families in the Wasatch Front, and drove about three hours in the dark. We arrived just when the sun was peaking over the horizon and started running around 7:30 a.m.

Map of The Wedge on The Good Water Rim Trail near The Little Grand Canyon in The San Rafael Swell.

Rim Running.

The original plan was to run the Good Water Rim Trail, a trail that weaves along a side drainage to the Little Grand Canyon, out and back, finishing with 30ish miles. Some of the group had done it the year before and were confident that the trail would not be covered in snow. On the drive down we saw snow covered land and were skeptical, however, they continued to reassure us that we would be running on dirt. Let's face it, it's been a long cold winter and we were all excited with the prospect of running on dirt along a sweeping landscape of spectacular views in nice 40 degree weather.

Me, Rob, Matt, Craig, and Scott stop for lunch.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. After about 4 miles of trudging along the rim we abandoned it for the dirt road that circles the entire drainage. That's actually one of the advantages of running this particular trail during this season. So we took the road about another 5 miles to the other side of The Wedge and were able to run a bit more of the rims, which were mostly uncovered. Rim running presents a different challenge than most mountain trails. The most obvious challenge has to do with not falling to your doom ever other step. Also, there is a lot more side-stepping as you avoid shrubs and trees. More than once my arms or legs brushed against a tree breaking dead branches, but a few scratches are a lot better than falling off the cliff.

Me, Rob, Davy and Matt at one of the many overlooks.

Scott, Rob, and Me at mile 28.

After running out and back, mostly on the road sprinkled with some rims here and there, we hit about 21 miles. So we turned around and convinced ourselves of going another 10 miles to get a full 50K for the day, which was the original plan. I felt pretty good. After all, I was basically keeping up with people who have run multiple 100 milers. So I pushed through the fatigue and pain maintaining a 9 min. mile average pace for the next 8 miles. Most of it was down hill which helped me maintain my ego. After all, this wasn't a fast 5K or anything serious like that. Just about when we had 2 miles left Scott had this great idea to turn around at the crossroads and run back so that the car didn't have to drive as far to pick us up. Thanks for that great idea Scott! Basically, that meant the last 2 miles were up hill. Tons. Of. Fun!

This is my second 50K ever. Almost a year ago the OTM's did one along the Jordan River/Legacy Parkway. I remember feeling wasted after that and could barely move. This was not the case after finishing this race. I was sore and tired, but overall I felt much better than the previous year. At least I did, until Matt drove super fast on the windy dirt road and made me feel like puking my guts out. Believe me, I tried. Apparently I lacked just a little bit of salt. Ok, maybe a lot of salt. So, while everyone else ate a bite at the BK in Price I was moaning on a bench trying to suck on the salt that I could peel off my face from the sweat deposits. Finally, Aaron gave me a salt pill and some water. About 30 mins. later everyone was loading the van while I sat on the curb dry heaving. After about 4 or 5 attempts I finally puked out the water that I drank (that's all I had in my stomach apparently), felt much better and still got to ride shotgun the rest of the way home. Thanks Davy. I hope to do The Good Water Rim trail again very soon, puke and all.

Below is a video made by Craig.

Bonneville Shoreline Trudge

A dragon, a dragon, I swear I saw a dragon!


 

    Saturday evening Sam and I had tentatively planned on running the legacy parkway trail.  However, it turns out that trail isn't maintained during the winter, which left us standing in Centerville staring at the trail wondering what to do.  Sam had already run 13 miles that morning and the snow was falling pretty steadilly,  so in the spirit of "In for a penny, in for a pound," we drove up to the Bonneville Shoreline Trailhead at the end of Parrish Lane and decided to trek it out regardless of the snowpack or snowfall.

After a failed attempt at getting my 4 wheel drive Dodge up the small hill to the dirt parking lot, we started out in the snow.  And on a side note, remind me to tell you a story of a single lane road, a sheet of ice, and a little bush that helped rotate a 7 passenger vehicle 180 degrees.

We first ran north so that I could show Sam the Ricks Creek waterfall.  It's a 25' waterfall tucked right above the city.  I had been there a couple times while running on the shoreline trail, but Sam had never seen it. 



The run was difficult at best, and only walkable at worst.  The snow was above our ankles most of the time when we weren't able to find some 4-wheeler tracks to run through.  Waterfalls in the winter are astonishingly beautiful.  This one was a 15 foot diameter column of ice with water thundering out the bottom like a giant straw.



This is how the waterfall looks in the springtime.



Sam at Ricks Creek Waterfall



To the waterfall and back was a little over 3.5 miles, so we decided to then run south on the trail torwards Bountiful.  This route was worse because the wind had began to pickup.  Once we could see the dim glow of the Bountiful Temple through the snow and fog, we turned back towards the headwind.  The last 1.75 miles back to the car were the most tiring.  Overall, the run wasn't so great, but the experience sure was.





The awesomeness of this photo can't be described.



Add your own caption for this one.









Centerville Bonneville Shoreline Trail Map and stats

Steve at Ricks Creek Waterfall