Kendall

This is what Christmas Eve should be--full-blown blizzard! 10 miles out on the golf course today. Happy to manage just above a 8mm. Knee deep on the north-end. Rough going north into the wind, offset by sub 4mm free fall heading south (aided) :).

Crazy, snowy, blowin', blizzard conditions. Great run.

Merry Christmas!

Love running on Christmas. Headed for the hills this afternoon. Yesterdays storm dropped a good 10"+. Headed up from home to trails leading to the alter (front side of Timp). Perfect cool, sunny day.

Strapped on the Yak Tracks at the lower parking lot (only 2nd or 3rd time I've ever used them). Didn't mind the YT's and really never knew I had them on. Rough going cutting trail for the majority of the day in snow up to mid-calf (surprised to see only one other set of tracks at the meadow). Headed down GWT (#33) again cutting tracks until reaching the fire road. Fire road wasn't much fun at all. Two other sets of tracks had chopped up the snow and a soft (muddy) base made for difficult footing--and slow going. Missed Grandma's house (oops) but had so much fun out in the snow today.

Ended up shoveling 4x driveways including my own several times. Had planned on a good run but by the time 8 pm rolled around I was totally exhausted.

Aftermath from the storm limited options. Heard that our garden crew plowed a 1 mile path (1.25) around the Gardens. So ran from work into the gardens to check it out. Ended being pleasantly surprised at the condition of the path, did 5 laps on mostly clear paths, a bit slick in spots. Fun run on a wintery day. 10.4 total.

10 pm run under full moon. Excited about heading for the hills for a late night run. Spectacular night...clear, cold, and bright under the full moon. Didn't need or bring a headlamp. Interesting but not so surprising that the full moon in winter (with snow) is at least twice as bright as the same full moon at any other time of year--without snow. In the summer I run under a full moon and still need a headlamp for certain sections of trail. With the light reflecting off of the snow, the light in winter is nearly as good and bright as twilight running. It's remarkable.

First mile of trail (road) surprisingly had been plowed. It was flat and fast really perfect running with the Yaktraks. Unfortunately the next section after the corner (pole line) had not been plowed. I followed some snowshoe tracks for about a mile although it was still pretty rough going. After a mile the snowshoe tracks turned around and the only tracks were a couple tracks from x-country skiers. Statted post-holeing up to mid calf at every step. Couldn't keep this up and turned around. Ended up doing an extra mile once back on the streets.

No regrets. Great SLOW run on a beautiful winter night.

Alpine Loop round-trip from American Fork side to Aspen Grove and back. Front side in great shape, groomed flat and very runable. Aspen Grove side has not been groomed and few snowmobiles leaving a very soft, rutted and tough descent. Ascent seemed much easier. Alternatively, coming back down AF side was fast and fun.

 Water bottles froze, couldn't get anything out. Saw another bald eagle. One of my favorite winter runs. Snow still need to compact a bit more. Catch it on a day when its just been groomed for perfect conditions. Approximately 3.89 each leg x 4.