I wound up with a longer run than expected this morning. After yesterday's run, I was feeling good about the possibilities around here. I almost went out to run the same course this morning, but I decided I owed it to myself to explore some new routes. I had just about decided to run from South Fork to Windy Ridge, but then I decided to try a point to point from Vivian Park to Provo. Catherine dropped me off at the park, and my plan was to follow the Squaw 50 course to Rock Canyon Campground, from where I'd descend to the mouth of Rock Canyon and then follow the roads to Gold's Gym, hopefully just in time to meet Catherine as she finished her run. Based on the Squaw 50 course description, I was planning on 11-12 miles tops (although in retrospect, my calculations may have been wrong from the start).
Naturally, I got lost, and I got lost soon. I'm not sure where I went wrong, but it must have been somewhere between miles 2 and 3. From the BST I was supposed to begin climbing a series of trails that would criss-cross the Squaw Peak road and pass through Hope Campground on the way to the Squaw Peak summit. Instead, I ran the BST all the way around the front of the mountain before running up the downhill MTB runs to the lookout and then following the dirt road to Rock Canyon Campground. I ended up reaching Hope somewhere between 7.5 and 8 miles (instead of 5.5 on course) and Rock Canyon at a little over 13 (instead of 10.8 on course). Plus, I missed a lot of singletrack, because once I was off course I didn't want to risk getting lost. By the time I reached the mouth of Rock Canyon, I was pretty beat. Fortunately, my sister's house was less than a mile away (and almost entirely downhill), so I went there and called Catherine for a bailout. She picked me up and we went to J Dawgs. Sweet. My Garmin ended up with 17.4 miles in 2:27:32. I accidentally stopped my Garmin for a bit when I first picked up the BST, but I don't think I missed any more than half a mile, if even that. It's amazing how big and beautiful the mountains behind Provo are, and I plan to spend more time back there. I'd like to get to know the entire Squaw 50 course, but after today I think I may need to find someone who's run it before to guide me.
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