Wheeler Farm Loops

Quick update from the midpoint of our vacation... Brian Head is an amazing place for running - endless ATV trails, dirt forest roads, etc. We are having an amazing time. I posted some photos from our super activity day on Saturday... I'll post full galleries of our adventures when we get back on Thursday.

AM - 12 miles w/ some solid climbs. Andrea and Kevin ran the middle portion of the run with me.

PM - 7.5 miles. Ran up to the top of the Navajo Ridge again and touched the tops of all the chairlifts. It was slow going but a ton of fun.

We spent the afternoon hiking in Kanaraville Creek and the slot canyon. Basically we just walked in ice cold water for hours... so much fun!!!

AM (1) - 3.5 miles easy jog + hot tub while everyone was asleep or pretending to be asleep.

AM (2) - 12 miles loop around Navajo Lake. This was an incredible run. Kevin and I ran while Andrea and Amiee rode mountain bikes. First couple miles on a dirt road, then we cut off to some of the smoothest rolling single track I've ever run on. And... it was all above 9000 feet. The last couple miles took us though an old lava field. This route had everything.

After the run/bike, we went for a short hike to Cascade Falls. Then checked out a scenic area around Cedar Breaks. Now I'm taking a breather and gearing up for another big adventure tonight... more to come...

PM - 8.9 miles to the top of Brian Head Peak and partway back down. 1700+ foot climb over 6 miles to the summit (11,307). The rest of the crew drove to the 3 mile mark, I started from our hotel and met them there. Andrea and Amiee rode mountain bikes to the top, Kevin and I ran up and kept a pretty solid pace all the way. Scroll all the way down for the photos from this run... AMAZING!!!! 

OK lots of pics today... here's the shots from the run up to the top of Brian Head peak...

What a run!!! 

AM - 7.8 miles. Last run in Brian Head... 30 minutes on the town trail, then looped back and ran with Andrea on the dirt road across the street.

PM - 7.3 miles at Bryce Canyon. Kevin and I ran from Ruby's to Fairyland Point on some XC trails / sandy roads... the girls biked along. Then we ran a little bit on the trails there. The forest fires have made the air in the Bryce area really smoky and gross... hopefully it will clear up tomorrow.

Today was a vacation "recovery" day... stopped on the way to Bryce and did a few short hikes near Red Canyon. Hung out by the pool / hot tub for a nice chunk of time this afternoon.

Happy 4th of July!!!

AM - 13 miles. What an amazing and cool run. Andrea and I started at Sunrise Point and ran the rim trail to Bryce Point, then back. We kept the pace super easy and stopped a bunch of times to take pictures and soak in the views. Once we got back to Sunrise Point, Andrea drove back to out hotel and I continued on.... running to Fairyland Point along the rim, then back to the hotel via the XC trails.

After the run we went for a great hike in the canyon - Queen's Garden - Peekaboo Loop - Wall Street. About 6.5 miles with over 2000 feet of elevation gain. Then we drove home. Great trip down south! I have hundreds of photos I still need to sort through and organize... I also haven't checked in on anyone's blog this week - hopefully everyone raced well and has stayed safe from the fires...

AM - 9.5 miles, up to work. BORING run compared to the last week (although the rain sprinkles were a nice surprise). My legs are still locked into "mountain running at high altitude" pace. That's fine w/ me for now. I'm still on a total high from the trip. In the 5 full days we were gone, I logged about a hundred of the most wonderful miles I've ever run... approximately 11,000 vertical feet of climbing... pretty much all on trails, dirt roads, etc. Other than Bryce (8000 ft) we were between 9-11,000 feet for the entire trip. I love being up at high elevation. It was awesome to get in some fun hikes, too. A good vacation is one that you come back a little tired and weathered from. My weight dropped a little too much since last week so its time to get back on the eating all day at my desk bandwagon :-)

PM - 9.5 miles home. Symmetry. 

AM - 10.7 miles up to work. 

PM - 7.3 miles home. Andrea awoke from her sickness slumber and joined me for the last couple miles. 

Tough to work a full two days this week - bring on another weekend! :-) 

AM - 15 miles. Slept in (almost 12 hours asleep!) and then went up to Jeremy Ranch. Ran the first 8.5 w/ Andrea to Mormon Flat and back, then did another out and back to the Morgan County fence. Always enjoy this run! 6000 feet feels easy breezy after where we were running down in the Brian Head area.

PM - 7 miles on the historic Park City Rail Trail.