Battle-Grove and Grove-Battle Loops
Two recent trips up my favorite loop – once in each direction. Water infrastructure work at the top of Battle has turned some of the trail into a dirt road. Bummer.
Johnson’s Hole Redlining
Fun times trying to go fast around Johnson’s Hole.On Monday I did a double loop of the Johnson’s Hole and Great Western (Dragon’s Back) trails, once each direction. Afterwards I noticed that I wasn’t too far off from getting a course record, so I went back on Wednesday and redlined the clockwise loop, poaching the CR. We’ll see how long it lasts.
Battle – Grove Loop
Every time I loop Battle Creek and Grove Creek Canyons I say, “why has it been so long?!” This time I took one of our plant and wildlife science professors with me. He studies aspen trees, among other things, and it was fascinating to see how he viewed the landscape and environment. His scientist eyes saw so much that I glanced right over. so much fun. I’m disappointed that I missed the autumn leaves, but it was still beautiful.
Big Baldy via Dry Canyon
I have bagged Big Baldy via the SW ridge (steepest route), and via Battle Creek Canyon and the Baldy Saddle. Today I tried the final main option, up Dry Canyon to the Baldy Saddle. Dang oh dang. It is steep. 3.5 miles to the top with 3,500 climbing – not evenly distributed. Then, bombing back down. It was a gorgeous day but I was pretty beat up by the time I got back to my car.
Battle Grove
For how much I go on about how much I love the stretch of the Great Western Trail between the tops of Grove Creek and Battle Creek, I don’t get up there all that much. I recently realized how much I dislike coming down Battle Creek, and finally decided to try my usual up Grove -> down Battle loop in reverse. This also makes sense since the Battle Creek trailhead is closer to my house. My neighbor Cody was itching for some trails so we hit the loop and it was great. I think I’ll always do the loop in this direction from here on out. There was some snow along the top, but it was totally runnable and we were lucky to hit it when the mud was mostly dry. Dang. So beautiful.
Fall Leaves on the Little Baldy Ridgeline
I have been wanting to summit the modest bump of Little Baldy (just south of Big Baldy in Utah County) for a while and have been eyeing the west ridge for the approach. Tim joined on this ill-advised adventure, but the fall leaves promised good views. Indeed, the colors were popping. We went up from Dry Canyon, the wound our way up to the bottom of the West ridge. It was mostly clear – a trail faded in and out but there wasn’t too much schwhack required…until we got to the first summit (there seem to be 2). There was a cairn on the western-most summit, but I think the true summit is just northeast of there. Unfortunately, everything between the two summits was a schwhack! After the taller NE summit, we found a trail, then lost it, and schwhacked over to the Great Western Trail, which I knew was close. From there bombed down to Trail 051, but missed an important turn in the twilight and had to do a bit of guesswork to work our way down to the BST and then back to Dry Canyon. In all, it was a great evening, even if our scratched up bloody legs stung something fierce in the shower!
Back to Francis, Thurston, Smith Creek Lakes
Last minute decision to head up to Davis County and run the ridgeline portion of the Great Western Trail between Francis and Thurston Peaks – the highest 2 in Davis County. This is the trail where I first cut my teeth on higher altitudes and have some very fond memories of the place. MVH joined me and it was a great evening run. We went out to Thurston, then dropped down to Smith Creek Lakes on the return. There were even some snow fields to cross still hiding up there.
Petroglyphs, Monster Wolf Spiders, and More Johnson’s Hole
For some reason my last few local runs have all been around the Johnson’s Hole area. There are a lot of dirt access roads for the aqueducts and water infrastructure up there – which makes for some nice easy miles, when I’m too lazy or beat up to bang out the singletrack. Here’s some recent routes.
I took the kids up to some boulders above Johnson’s Hole that have petroglyphs on them. Very cool. They are quite weathered due to their being out in the elements. My archaeologist friends date these to the pre-Fremont era, pre-1,000 AD.
Enthused by the area I went back to explore more. I did a double loop of the Johnson’s Hole / Great Western, one in each direction, then explored up-canyon on one of the lower aqueduct (Union?) roads, climbed back up to the Alta Aqueduct road. There I found the old 1857 Provo Canyon Guard Quarters, built during the Utah War and then manned for a while to monitor Native activities in the region. I also got in a good schwack and sliced my leg up on the scrub oak. It had been a while, I figured.
This run was particularly soul-invigorated. I was up in a region with TONS of access, trails, dirt roads, etc., but I didn’t see a single person. I felt so good to have the place to myself.
Today it was 75 and it is supposed to snow in a couple days, so I figured I should get one last sweaty run in.
Big Baldy from Battle Creek
Panorama from the Big Baldy Summit
I have never gone all the way UP Battle Creek (I’m always coming down) and I have never summited Big Baldy from the saddle. I did it once from the SW ridge for the vertical kilometer challenge. Plans to loop the North Timp ridgeline fell through, so I slept in until 9 and did this instead – Battle Creek to the Big Baldy Summit and back. It was warm and I felt sluggish. I have only done the Great Western trail south of the Battle Creek turn off once, when going the full 20 miles along the front side of the Timpanogos massif, and I forgot how beautiful it is. Along with the meadows north up to Chris Flat, it is just beautiful. Meadows, grass, aspens, etc.
The ridgeline from the Big Baldy saddle to the summit was longer than I thought – deceptive. On the way down I hooked up with a hiker who had just come down the Everest Ridge (ack!) and we ran down together chatting. Nice bloke. I love how (most) random people you meet way up on the trails turn out to be very friendly, down to earth, good people. I like good peoples.
Capitol Reef Half Marathon
This was the first time I had registered and planned on running a half marathon. I did run one a couple months ago, but that was after dropping down from a 55k at the last minute. This meant that I went into it knowing that 13.1 miles was the target. With my 50k race I have made game plans, but that is a lot of miles to plan out, and I’m still pretty inexperienced so whatever plans I make tend to fall apart as the day wears on. With 13.1 miles, however, I felt I could make a careful plan.
So, here’s what it was: Go out very conservative for the first 4 miles of climbing. Pick a comfortable but challenging pace for the middle 5 miles of downhill. Pick up the pace for the last 4 miles and finish by going out strong and fast.
It almost worked out that way.
The Capitol Reef Half Marathon course is rugged. People had told me this of all the distances there put on by Ultra Adventures, but I brushed it off. I was used to rough trails here in the Wasatch, so how bad could it be. Well, it turns out that running rough trails for fun and running them for a RACE feels very different. In the racing mindset, the rugged and schwacky miles seemed to wear on me more than they do back home when I’m out for fun – both physically and mentally.
The first 2 miles of the course climb up the Great Western Trail for a total of about 1,000 ft. elevation gain. I resisted the adrenaline-induced urge to power ahead with the faster runners, knowing I had to conserve energy for later. This strategy served me well. At 2 miles hit the Government Creek trailhead area and veered east up a “trail” that climbed for another 2 miles and 1,000 feet towards. This part was quite rough and overgrown. Not runnable – at least not for me.
With the 4 miles of climbing done, I was excited to hit the downhill. Unfortunately, miles 5-6 wound past the Bullberry Lakes and down to Coleman Reservoir through an area that had previously been gutted by a forest fire. Now, however, aspen trees and dense ground cover were aggressively taking over. Though downhill (some quite steep and technical), it wasn’t very runnable. So overgrown.
At mile 6 we hit a water drop and a nice dirt road. I topped off my water, got some coke, and charged on. Miles 7-9 followed the road (Bullberry Trail) down to where we had started. It was warming up, but I was feeling ok. I still tried to hold back my pace a little bit in order to have something left in the tank for the finish. Looking back, I definitely could have and should have pushed this a tiny bit harder. These two miles (and the mile after the aid station) took too long.
Once at the aid station where we started, I got a bit more water and coke, some salt tabs, and took off. We ran the Teasdale TV Tower Road for about a mile until the Great Western branches back off. I suddenly felt sluggish and no energy. Once the route branches off onto a double track, my energy returned, though my pace didn’t necessarily pick up. It was a fun curvy up and down trail through some pretty red rock areas, but slower going than the dirt road had been.
I should have pushed the dirt road before a LOT harder as I wasn’t going to pick up much time on the double track.
Right before the finish, the route crossed highway 24 and I glanced down at my watch to see what my time was. It looked like it was right at 3:00 even. I took off, trying to sprint to the finish to come in under 3 hours. It hurt. Then, as I approached the finish line I saw the clock read 2:57:something. HA! I could have taken it easy.
In the end, I finished in 20th place out of about 50-60 runners. Had I pushed those 3 miles (7-10) on the dirt road a bit harder and shaved 3-5 minutes off my time, I could have picked up 5-6 spots. No worries though – I wasn’t in it to win, just to finish.
My plan to run conservative and save energy for the end mostly finished. I felt strong in my last few miles than I did back at the Zion Half Marathon. In all, a gorgeous, rugged, hot day.
Grove-Battle Loop. Always a Good Choice
The loop up Grove Creek, up and over to Battle Creek via Chris Flat, down Battle Creek, and back over to Grove Creek is always a good choice. The first two miles up Grove Creek to the bridge have nice enough views. The next mile to Grove Creek Spring are steep, but gorgeous. The climb through aspens and meadows up to Chris Flat is gorgeous in all seasons. Chris Flat itself, even with short scruffy early-spring grass (not tall yet) is something special. The first mile of the drop down into the Battle Creek drainage – until the split where you chose to go down Battle Creek or up to the switchbacks to the Big Baldy Saddle are full of meadows and so green. The descent down Battle Creek has some beautiful stretches but the trail is rough and steep with large rocks littering the path. Not “fun” running. And, the Bonneville Shoreline Trail back to Grove Creek once you get to the bottom is just a mess of ATV trails. Despite this, its all worth it for those 2-3 miles up top.
Today’s run apparently was my fastest for much of the route.
Timpooneke to Orem, 20 Miles of Wading Through Grass and Flowers
This morning I embarked on an “easy” route. Starting at the Timpooneke Campground (after being driven up there by Chris, THANKS!) I took the Great Western all the way around the West side of the Mt. Timpanogos ridge-line, back and behind Big and Little Baldy and down to Orem. It was fantastic.
First, you climb a fairly rocky trail for a mile, placing you at the affectionately named “Julie Andrews Meadow.”
Then, the trail parallels the Timpooneke Rd., crossing it various times, diving down and climbing up hills and ridges full of aspen and conifers. Just gorgeous.
Besides some GI distress, these were great miles. At this point, the GW also doubles as the Timpooneke-Chris Flats Trail Nr. 151. It eventually took me all the way to Grove Creek Springs – where I refilled my water – and then to Chris Flats.
On my way down to the Battle Creek Trail junction, 2 ladies with 2 boxers came around the corner and the unleashed dogs got very aggressive. It was scary and I had some choice words for them. Sheesh. If your dogs are trained to stay back, keep them on a leash.
From there, the GW climbs up to the Big Baldy Saddle, back behind Little Baldy, and then down to the rock-pile Altar I have frequented a few times recently. Instead of taking my normal descent route, I kept on the GW, which popped me out on the Aqueduct Rd. about 1 mile east of where I normally come out. By this point it was hot and I was beat. It was a long few miles to my car, which was parked at the Orem Gun Range.
When I got to my car, I had hit 18.7 miles. I decided to add the extra mile and a half for an even 20. It may have not been worth it. It was not a fun 1.5 miles.
Overall, it was a fantastic route. The only real problem was that for much of it the tall grass and wildflowers and other vegetation was so tall and thick that it was leaning over and covering the trail. This made it hard to see your footing and led to a few stumbles.
Perhaps it would be best undertaken in the Spring, before it all grows too high.
Goodbye Davis County, Hello Utah County
This last week my family moved from our beloved Davis County down to Utah County. I have really come to love the Davis County trails. Exploring them. Trying to promote them as many are sadly under-used. Apparently that will not be a problem down here in Utah County. Everything appears blazed out and well marked…….and spectacularly gorgeous! Here’s my last in Davis and first in Utah County.
For my last run in Davis, I hit Mueller Park. I had never run it before, favoring closer trails and one that weren’t dominated by mtn. bikers. Wow. That was a mistake. Otherwise, this would have been my #1 training trail. Nice slow gradual climb for 5 miles up to the meadow (you can keep going, but I didn’t) and bombing 5 miles back down. It was gorgeous.
That was last week. This week, for my first run in Utah County I hit the Grove Creek / Battles Creek Loop. WOWZERS!
My phone died, so it was closer to 8.5 than 5.5 miles.
Truth be told, I felt horrible heading up Grove Creek. A slow 3 mile bonk the whole way up.
When you finally climb out of Grove Creek Canyon, you are treated to a full panoramic view of Mt. Timpanogos…well…unless it is shrouded in clouds.
The valley above Grove and Battle Creeks is breathtaking, . You are at the foot of Timp, and it is a series of open grass and Aspen fields. I ran into some others who said it is nicknamed the “Scottish Highlands.” I was thinking “The Shire.” The traverse over to Battle Creek felt great – some flat! It is part of the Great Western Trail and constitutes the last bit of the Timpooneke-Chris Flat Trail #151.
The descent on Battle Creek was steeper than the climb up Grove, and a bit painful on my knee. Then, right as I was about to take the most gorgeous picture of some sideways sunlight streaking into Battle Creek Canyon and shining off the north-facing cliffs on the South of the Canyon…my phone died. Boo!
Back at the valley floor (Kiwanis Park), I took the BST back to my car.
One last (blustery) Hurrah on the Great Western Trail (+ bonus Smith Creek Lakes)
Knowing that the high-altitude season is quickly coming to a close (winter is coming!) I decided to do one last run up at the top of the mountains here in Davis County. I did a similar route last year at this time, but by then it had already snowed (and melted some) up at the top. We are still getting up into the 50s-70s this year in late October! So, it has been a nice month and I’m glad that the cold has held off.
In any case, I drove up to the Francis Peak FAA towers parking lot, eyeing the hunters that were out and about like last year, and went on my way. Francis Peak, past Thurston Peak to Chinscraper and back (with a detour to Smith Creek Lakes on the way out)
12 miles in 2:40:08 @ 13:21 min/mile and with 1,785 ft. elevation gain
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I followed the dirt road north and then dropped down the east side of the mountains to hit the Smith Creek Lakes (and scope out a possible route down into Morgan County). There were a surprising number of ATVs and Jeeps on the path. It is rough going in a number of places and they were having to go so slow that I passed a number of them. From the northernmost of the Lakes, I took the trail I found earlier this year to traverse over the ridge west to the Great Western Trail. It is a great little traverse and a fun way to connect the 2 sides of the ridge. I followed that around Thurston Peak to the Top of Chinscraper and then took the Great Western all the way back.
In all, it was a great run. The wind almost blew me over a couple times – SO gusty up there on the ridges.
I was also surprised by how, seemingly overnight, the amazing fall colors turned to greys and browns. Still beautiful up there, but drained of color.
Pioneer Day Fun with 20+ miles, almost 6k elevation, 2 peaks, 2 Rattlesnakes, and Blisters Blisters Blisters
Last year on Pioneer Day, a friend and I tackled Baer Canyon. It was only my 2nd trail run, and we were unprepared and it was rough. I thought I would continue that and make an annual tradition of pushing myself to do unwise things on Pioneer Day. On the top of my trailrun to-do list has been to bag Thurston and Francis Peaks. I have been to both, but only after driving up to Francis and then running the Great Western Trail. I wanted to do it proper, climbing up from the valley floor. I put out the word and was joined by a few nice gents – Bryan, Jeremy, and Steve. Bryan had to turn back (work, or something) after the first hour of climbing, but Jeremy and Steve stuck it out to the end.
20.7 miles in 5:00:07 @ 14:29 min/mile and 5,817 ft. elevation gain
We started at 5:00 AM with headlamps, and I immediately fell behind the group on the climb out of the Fernwood Recreation Site in Layton. I don’t know what it was, but I just felt horrible. My stomach felt uneasy, and the climb really beat me up. When Brian turned back, I caught up to the other two and we stayed together for most of the remainder of the climb. We made it up the primary ascent, hit the delicious springs to refill our water along the traverse over to Chinscraper and then tackle that final climb up to the ridgeline.
As we neared Thurston Peak, we cut up a stream drainage where there was exposed rock and dirt to make an easier bushwhack up to the the peak. Its a bummer that someone hasn’t blazed a proper trail up to the top. Someone get on that. We enjoyed taking a rest, chugged some soda, ate, and then continued on south, back to the Great Western Trail.
Along here, I hit my stride on the GW, but after about an 1/2 mile got stopped in my tracks by simultaneous cramps in my right calf and thigh. Ouch. I had been careful to keep hydrated and intake calories, but I had completely forgotten to pop a salt capsule. I took two with water, rubbed them a bit, and then runned them out until they loosened while trying to catch up to Jeremy and Steve. They didn’t cause any more problems as I kept my electrolytes in balance.
I love this stretch of the Great Western – amazing views on both sides.
We took the steep road/trail up to the FAA towers on Francis Peak and stopped to refuel, take pictures, and plan our descent. Originally, I had planned on coming down the Francis Peak Trail, but had been convinced to take the Farmington Canyon Road down. This would put the mileage higher than I had planned, but I was excited about the prospect of hitting 20 miles – which would make it my longest run ever.
We started to scramble down the rocks just south of the peak marker to get back on the road when both Jeremy and Steve let out a sudden scream and help. Apparently, I had stepped right over (almost on) a large rattlesnake. As they followed me, they saw it slithering away, whereas I hadn’t even noticed it at all. After we got our nerves back, we got on the road and started down.
At this point, my left IT Band was starting to hurt, so I told them to go ahead while I stretched. I had about 8-9 miles of gravel road downhill ahead of me and I figured that with stretching the IT band might hurt, but would be manageable.
I caught up to them a mile or so down the road and continued my faster pace, moving ahead of them for another couple miles. Then, the blisters started. On the heal and arch of my right foot, two large blisters developed. This slowed me down and as we approached Skyline Dr. / Farmington Canyon Rd., they caught up to me. I was quickly realizing that this was going to be a much slower descent than I had planned so I wished them good luck and sent them on their way. So much for 8 minute miles the whole way down. Instead, I hobbled / limped / kind-of-ran / sometimes walked down to Sunset Campground and then took the Farmington Creek Trail down to its trailhead where my wife picked me up. It was really painful. Excruciating.
Jeremy and Steve took the road the whole way down, and my shortcut actually put me at the bottom ahead of them, even though my pace was slow.
In the end, I was exhausted and in a lot of pain but happy to have down 20 miles and to have bagged both Thurston and Francis Peaks. Though on speed PRs, a PR for distance and that was fun.
Smith Creek Lakes for Farmington 50 Trailwork
On the Farmington 50 mile Challenge (and associated North Marathon challenge) that I put together there is one section of the route that I was concerned might not be as much of a trail as the satellite image suggested.
It is a short traverse from the northernmost (NE of Francis Peak, down the Morgan County side) Smith Creek Lake, west and over the main ridgeline between Morgan and Davis Counties – merging on the other side with the Great Western Trail. It turned out that the trail was fairly easy to follow and a great way to link up across the ridge. I built some cairns for teh runners’ help.
I ran Strava on the way there and for some reason decided to stop it. I then started it again on the other side of the ridge after I finished the trail work, so it all logged as 2 separate run.
3 miles in 35:20 @ 11:39 min/mile and 263 ft. elevation
&
2.6 miles in 33:47 @ 12:49 min/mile and 490 ft. elevation
Blood on the Snow and Running to the Sound of Rifle Shots
With the family still out of town, I took a longer excursion up to the top of Farmington Canyon to run the Great Western Trail from Francis Peak to Thurston and back. I had done this once before, and wanted to get it in again before the canyon road was shut down. As I drove up, however, I noticed an oddly large volume of 4×4 pickup trucks going up and down the canyon. Then, I noticed people in orange vests…and it hit me – ELK SEASON. I wonder how much like an Elk I look like while running….
At the FAA towers I asked a couple guys if they thought I’d be ok on the trail, and they assured me I’d be fine. Lots of hunters were traversing the ridge on the trail, and no one was shooting on the trail as there were lots of other hunters hiking it. Fair enough. I took off.
It was beautiful. A bit chilly, but not too bad. I chatted with a few hunters along the way – all nice folks. I made it up to the actual marker at the top of Thurston Peak, something I didn’t do the time before. The main trail doesn’t go to the peak, and it was a bit difficult to find the side “trail” that did, but I made it up and down.
The run back was eventful. As I came back down to the Great Western Trail and returned running south, I head a gunshot echo. It spooked me, I won’t lie. I kept running and a bit later came across a trail of blood going up a snow covered section of the trail. 1/2 way up, a dude and his wife were quartering the haunches off of a dead elk. Pretty gruesome scene.
Looking south from Thurston Peak
Right past where the Baer Canyon trail connects with the GWT, a side trail cut up to the East, and I thought (from a map I looked at before) that it might go over the ridge and drop down to some small lakes I saw on the map – Smith Creek Lakes. It didn’t. But, I made note to explore them from the main split in the road a little farther south next time I was up here.
Looking South 
In all, a great afternoon. 8.9 miles @ 14:56 min/mile and 2,133 ft. elevation
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Back on the Trails, Francis Peak to Thurston Peak, New Shoes
In early September 2013, my next door neighbor and I went shoe shopping for me. I tried on a few different pairs of trail shoes, but couldn’t commit. A couple days later he came over with a pair of Brooks Cascadia 8s. He had only used them a few times and they were only a size bigger than what I usually wear, and it turns out that lots of trail runners and ultramarathoners buy a size or 1/2 bigger because your feet swell at long distances. Excited about the “new” shoes (they were in great condition) I set off for some runs.
First, I drove up Farmington Canyon to the FAA towers and ran the Great Western Trail to Thurston Peak and back. It is a beautiful ridge – Morgan County on the East and Davis County on the West. Really spectacular.
It was also my longest run at 9.1 miles. My pace was probably around 12:00-14:00 min/mile, although the messed up GPS said faster. This may be the run that sealed the deal for me. I was up in the mountains where I love to be – covering more miles than I could on a slow hike – and loving it.
Panorama from the parking lot at the Francis Peak
Looking SW as a shaft of light shone down on my new home
Obligatory Selfie to prove I was there
