Reluctantly rolled out of bed at 7:30AM in to hit the trails. 6AM would have been better due to the heat, but I was exhausted from traveling (didn't get home until 10:30 last night). I met James at First Dam, and we started the run, which I call the Wind Caves-Green Canyon Loop. 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. Heard (and saw) a rattlesnake, which literally startled me enough to jump halfway off the trail. 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. 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. 1 loop, 4 different trails, 16.5 miles total, with 4400' total feet of climb/descent. A mark of a good Saturday morning. Average pace was right around 10:00/mile. Cache Valley is really a quite a trail running mecca, but no one knows about it. I encourage you Salt Lake folks to come out and run our trails sometime. Some people want to guard them and keep them a secret, but in order to protect them, people have to know that they are worth protecting. So I say the more the merrier. (Cascadia: 158 miles)
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