I ran/hiked to the top of Lake Mountain this morning with my dog. I was planning on getting up early, but my wife told me to sleep in (6:45). We left a little after 7:00 and my dog was hyped. I think she knows what it means when I let her get up with me in the morning. It took about 20 minutes to drive to the trail and after a few minutes we were off.
Lake Mountain is the large mountain just west of Utah Lake. It is quite big with a long summit ridge and has several radio towers on top. There is a dirt road that goes all the way to the summit, and with a 4X4 or ATV you could drive all the way, but that isn't as fun. We parked right where the dirt starts and the first mile or two were pretty flat and only started to get a little steeper during the end of the second mile.
I noticed 3 guys on mountain bikes right behind us, but after we went around a curve I didn't see them again until we were on the way down. I ran the flatter sections and power hiked when it got steeper. We gained 3100 feet on our way up and had a fantastic time. We passed a few ATVs and I passed one runner coming down that I thought was Davy Crockett (looked like him from 50 yards away), but when he got closer I realized it wasn't.
It took 1:18 to get to the summit and the views were superb of Utah County and the surrounding areas. After spending about 10 minutes trying to get a summit jump photo I took Shyla over to a snow bank where I fed her about 10 snowballs. She loved them and I had a raspberry Hammer gel, and took in the views for a few more minutes.
The descent was a lot of fun. We ran the whole way and got back to the car in 47 minutes for a total time of 2:05. My ITB started to get tight running up the steep stuff, and on the way down I had to stop and put on my brace. It was pretty sore when we finished, but I could have kept running without too much pain.
Once again it was an incredible way to start out my weekend. To all you mothers out there... HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! | 