Run

Yellow Knolls & Black Gulch: Drove to the end of the pavement on Turkey Farm Road and ran 2.5 miles to Yellow Knolls trailhead. Ran Yellow Knolls Trail 1.9 miles, one of the best trails in the reserve. Loved everything about it, especially the nice single track at the beginning. Great scenery, not too steep or sandy, perfect. Turned west on High Point Trail (.6 miles), crossed the road and down .2 miles on Lang's Dugway. This was a fun and interesting seeing the old pioneer road.

Then disaster struck when I went down Black Gulch. Nothing but boulder hopping and stumbling for 1.7 miles through a mediocre canyon. No trail at all, just follow the wash. A few cool pools and lava flow formations, but definitely not something to be running down. Averaged over 20 min pace. Had 2 close calls with typsy rocks and the sort. Was very relieved to get back on level ground. Turned east for .6 miles on Winchester Trail back to the road and back 2.5 miles to my car.

Fun to get out and see another part of the reserve that I haven't been to before. I need a better (or one I don't car about) car capable of going on that rough road. It's passable, but it's rough, the kind that rattles the filings out of your teeth. Will definitely be back to Yellow Knolls sometime. Would love to come down Lang's Dugway from Diamond Valley.

Had a hard time crawling out of bed this morning (I need to go to bed earlier) but did get up and looked at the temp: 50. Didn't want to waste a warm morning. Started the standard Fields loop, but in reverse because I figure it's best to avoid 2000 South after 6:30 when traffic starts picking up. Detoured on Merrill Road to 3000 East then back across to Washington Fields Road. Actually sped up every mile and ran the last half mile at 6:47 pace. Felt good and no hip pain.

Hell Hole loop: I'm a bit reluctant to run this in the dark because it's kind of freaky, but needed to mix it up a bit. Had about half a moon so I was able to turn off the headlamp for the trail section and enjoy the serenity (with subliminal thoughts about coyotes attacking me from the bushes). Pushed it (kind of) down the hill and averaged about 6:40. Colder than Monday, but not to bad as it was about 40. Anything colder I don't really like. Also passed three guys right as I was starting that I've never seen before. I wonder who they were?

Dam Road out and back to the end of the pavement. Just relaxed and enjoyed the clear dark sky and solitude. Few cars on the route, so I should probably run this more. Couldn't suppress the urge to pick it up for a mile, so mile 4 was at 6:38 with either flat or slight uphill. Coasted in the last mile and felt great this morning.

Staying the night in Zion at the lodge. I'm kind of hoping to run Angel's Landing early before anyone else is up. We'll see how I feel in the morning. 

Hiking in Zion. Went up Friday night and stayed in a cabin at the Lodge in the park. On the drive up, the truck we were following hit a deer between Virgin and Rockville. We stopped and watched the poor thing on its back kicking and trying to stand up. We didn't know what to do. I didn't dare get out and try to help it up for fear of getting kicked or hit by a car. I wish I had a gun to put the poor thing out of its misery. Some cars behind us stopped. Hopefully someone was able to help it out or finish it off.

We ate dinner at Cafe Soliel, one of the few places open in Springdale . It was pretty good. We then drove into the park and to the lodge. On the way up the canyon, something ran across the road and hid behind a rock and then we could see it was a fox as we drove past. The cabin was fun, but kind of cold despite the noisy heater and the fireplace. 

I had been thinking of waking up early and running Angels Landing, but I didn't sleep well and it was cold. When we went out in the morning, a huge buck was grazing in the grass just outside the door. After breakfast there was a flock of turkeys grazing in the same spot. We then hiked to Hidden Canyon.  I've never hiked this one before and it was nice.  On the way up to bighorn sheep came down straight through some switch backs.  I couldn't believe how steep the hillside was that they were going straight down! When we got into the actual hidden canyon, we ended up turning around a little too soon before we made it to the arch. 

Kami wanted to do Angels Landing, but we realized there was no way we'd have enough time, so we drove up through the tunnel and hiked the Canyon Overlook Trail that we haven't been on since 1999. It was a fun little trip, but I should have gotten out and done a run.

Stucki Farms: I don't know if it's unusually cold, or I'm just a wimp but it's sure cold out. Didn't run Monday because the thermometer said about 27. This morning it said 30, but I bundled up with an extra fleece jacket and two pairs of gloves. Just out 3 and then back. Cold and dark. Right hip hurting a bit. Not pushing it or anything, but avg pace of 7:34.

Dam Road: A few light snow flurries for the first part of the run. Warm temps with the cloud cover! Went easy as my hip was tight after Wednesday's run, but I felt fine. Almost as fast as last week despite not putting in the extra effort.

Was finally able to get out at 4:00. Kami was going to run at 6:30, but it was raining too much. And then we had the ward breakfast party at 9:00. By 4:00 the rain had let up, but it was still a little chilly and a cold wind was blowing from the southwest, so whenever I was headed south or west, it was cold. Ran across the bridge and down the trail to River Road. Basically, all south and west, then turned it back on 1450 S and was warm the rest of the way home. Just ran a moderately comfortable pace and averaged 7:28. Not pushing it too hard, just trying to maintain the pace.

20 East loop, in reverse. Comfortable morning with nice cloud cover. Passed Tom and Pug. Finished strong in hopes of seeing Megan before she left for the bus. She was just leaving as I got home. She probably thinks I'm funny for chasing her down all heavy breathing and stuff! Great run!

Riverside Trail. Went out at 9:00 pm with Lonnie who's here for a few days. Slow and easy pace just to get some miles in. The temps this week have left me totally unmotivated to get out of a warm bed to run in the freezing cold. Hopefully I can get in a couple of good trail runs in the next week and a half with the holidays.

Hell Hole: Slept in a bit, which was needed after the past 2 nights. Tried out the new running jacket I got for Christmas: it wasn't quite as warm as I was hoping for. Although it wasn't cold this morning, around 40. Decided to pick it up a bit and pushed the downgrade sections. Got in a strong mile along the river, and then 2 down Telegraph and 300 East. Avg pace was 7:23.  Ran it 2:30 faster than 3 weeks ago so its nice to know I'm not slowing too bad with the low mileage.

4 miles out in the fields with Kami. First ever couples run! Cold, cold morning, around 26; face and toes were freezing, but my core was warm and my hands with 2 pairs of gloves. Clear sky and full moon. Tried not to go too fast for Kami's benefit. Avg pace was about 9:20, which is faster than I expected she'd go. 

Wanderings in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve: started at the top of Green Springs and went west on the Cottontail Trail to Middleton Powerline Trail.  Followed that to the water tank and then south on Turkey Farm Road to T-Bone Trail.  The map shows a spur of the powerline trail going south from the tank to the T-Bone trailhead, but I never saw any trail except for the old road used to install the power lines, but it didn't look like it gets any traffic and there was no sign.

T-Bone Trail south to the Pioneer Hills Trail, then east almost to Red Cliffs Parkway and connection to Pioneer Rim Trail.  East along the rim of Pioneer Park to the T-Bone Trail and back the way I came. Ran into a guy walking a dog and chatted with him a bit. Back at the T-Bone trailhead I looked for that segment of the powerline trail, but there is a fence and gate around the power substation and it doesn't look like there is anywhere to go around it.

Back to the tan and east along the powerline trail, then south along the unsigned Middleton Waterline Trail that is straight as an arrow, wide and soft with a gentle downslope, but otherwise kind of boring.  The plan was to go south to Middleton, then east along the trail shown on the map along the southern boundary of the Reserve and north along the Green Springs trail, but I got bored and the mileage was getting up there so I followed an old road east about 2/3rds the way down the waterline trail.  The road turned into a trail and took me towards the big houses at Green Springs, but I never found the Green Springs Trail shown on the map.  Eventually just ended up going cross-country north back towards the top of Green Springs and back to the park where I parked my car.  Hit exactly at 14 miles about 3 steps from my car.

So my silly ambition to travel every trail on the map leads me to frustration today: 4 trails shown on the map don't exist.  In addition to the spur of the powerline trail, I never saw the Black Knolls Trail breaking off to the north. And in addition to the Green Springs trail, I doubt there is a trail along the southern boundary in Middleton. I probably won't be spending too much more time on the powerline or waterline trails. T-Bone and Pioneer Hills/Rim were fun, and I still need to get out on the west side of Red Hills Parkway to see the City Creek Trail. 

Fields loop. Cold again. Wasn't pushing it, but it felt like I was giving it a strong effort, but only averaged 7:48. About a mile in as I was crossing the street I heard something in the weeds hissing.  It scared the crap out of me and I jumped back into the middle of the road and took off at 100 m pace! Not sure what it was and I didn't have my light on so I didn't see any eyes reflecting back.