Another tough and beatiful trail run with Paul. We got started at 8:00 am at 1st Dam. I will copy where we went from Paul's blog. And once again, it is hard to call these miles easy, because I don't remember anything easy. Maybe we need a new category called "extremely slow and hard trail miles", and I would put them in there.
We went through the Hydro Park, then up onto the Pipeline Trail, which spit us out onto Hwy 89. We then crossed 89 and jumped on the River Trail and took it to its terminus at Guineva Malibu campground. Then we crossed 89 again and started up the Wind Caves trail. As we we heading up the trail toward the wind caves, Paul almost stepped on a Rattle Snake and avoided it by jumping half way off the trail. I was right behind him and almost stepped on it myself. It was a good way to get my heart-rate maxed out. After about a mile, we took a little side trail that takes us up to the ridge. Here, things got tough. This trail is is a bit less-traveled and has poor footing and a steep gradient. Plus it was getting pretty hot. We did the best we could and run/walked up to the ridge, at 7300', where we were treated to panoramas of Logan Canyon and the Bear River Range. Just before making it to the ridge Paul asked me if I hated him for bringing me on the run, I told him heck no. It was kind of funny because before we ran up over the whole mountain, I had just told Paul that I was glad our run today was easier than last weeks. I wasn't mad at all, I was loving it eventhough I was hammered. It was tough, and when you get on rough trails that climb that high in that amount of time, it is actually faster to walk some spots. From the ridge, we then dove down into Green Canyon on the Bierdeneau Trail, which was in much better shape, plus was shaded. We made it to Green Canyon Road (dirt road) and ran out of Green Canyon and then linked up with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, which took us back to our cars at First Dam. It was a hot day and with the difficulty of the run I was getting tired. We ended up finding water with about 3 miles to go, which was just what I needed to refresh me for the last stretch. These trails runs are long and slow, but they sure make you tough! Good run. I liked the course a lot, even with the degree of difficulty. Paul knows all of the good trails, and like I said before, there is nothing better than being in the mountains on a trail run, enjoying some good conversation with a friend. Sat in the shade for a while after the run until we felt good enough the go home. 2:41:22 | 