Rub it and Run

Mill Creek Canyon II – Salt Lake City, UT – August 7, 2008

When out in Utah for the Outdoor Retails Summer Market we found some time to get in a run.  Caleb also attended the market with me.  Of course I wanted to show him the canyon I had explored on my previous visit, so we headed to Mill Creek Canyon. 

 

 

 

I had surveyed the maps and chose a trail that would prove to be challenging.  “Hey Caleb, lets go up Thayne’s Canyon (TR 304), it starts out intermediate with a little advanced and then some expert near the peak of 8,700 ft. Sounds like fun!”  We can come back on Salt Lake Overlook trail (TR 158), an easy switch back where we can let it rip.”

 

 

The first 100 yards was the intermediate section.  From there it was a steep climb, going from 5,700 ft to about 8,600 ft in three miles.  We paused briefly a few times to take photos of Salt Lake (that was my excuse) and some of the interesting features.  We reached Thayne’s Canyon Peak one hour ten minutes later to find that we were definitely not the highest point around.  The highest point appeared to be Mount Raymond to the south listed as 10,241 ft or Gobblers Knob at 10,246 ft to the east.  There were many sections of the trail that were more like climbing.  We found very few sections of the trail that were run-able on the way up but it was definitely a challenging hike (for me anyways).

 

   

 

The way back to the trail head on “Salt Lake Over Look” was all down hill and it was “let her rip with no brakes”.  I always run faster downhill…..as long as I keep the feet moving without tripping.  I must have spent a good amount of the trip back on my toes because I developed a slight blister on the ball of my left foot.  I knew my shoes had loosened but I didn’t want to stop.  It was a great feeling running as fast as gravities pull and banking the turns on the switch backs without loosing the line and eating a pine tree or tackling an aspen.

 

 

We ended up back at the original trail head and went down to Mill Creek to cool off our feet.  Not long for me, about five minutes was all I could take of that very cold water.  We agreed to head back to the hotel to clean up and then go to Park City Brewery for some post run protein and carbohydrates.

Hamilton Creek Trails – Nashville, TN – July 24, 2008

I was again out of town to present on a heating and cooling technology that my firm has gained a substaintial amount of knowledge applying to buildings.  The conference was at the Grand O Opry in Nashville, TN.

 

 

We landed at Nashville International Airport, obtained our rental car, and preceded directly to the trails, a mere 15 minute drive to Hamilton Creek Park on the J Percy Priest Reservoir.  I was traveling with a work colleague that didn’t mind entertaining my trail running obsession by agreeing to go along and hike the trails while I ran.  We agreed to meet back at the car in an hour which I eventually increased by thirty minutes because I miss judged  the length of the trail and tried to make up time by unsuccessfully bushwhacking a short cut.  I probably would have made the rendezvous in time had I just kept to the trails.

 

 

This trail system is very nice and very well marked.  It is a typical mountain bike specific trail with many switch backs and moderate angles on the turns.  There isn’t much more to report other then I ended up running 7.5 miles in about 1.5 hours.  Not a stellar pace but a bit slowed by navigation and getting off the trail too many times trying to short cut.  All in all a nice trail very close to the airport that I would run should I find myself back in the music city.

Mill Creek Canyon – Wasatch National Park – Salt Lake City, UT – June 24, 2008

I was in Salt Lake City recently for a meeting and was able to work in a great trail run through the Wasatch National Park.  When I arrived in Salt Lake I immediately went to the REI store on the East side of town.  After spending more then I had in my wallet, I wondered over to the map section to search out a trail.  It was my lucky day because Mark, a REI employee and a local hiking club member asked if I needed help.  I told him that I was a Trail Nerd from KC and what I was looking for.  He directed me to a trail system less then 5 minutes from the store.

 

 

I parked on the side of Mill Creek Canyon road in coincidentally an area called Mill Creek Canyon.  There are several places to park and good signage to gain your bearings and find the trail head that you are looking for.  I decided to park at “Church Fork” and take the connector trail up to the actual trail head for the “Mill Creek Pipeline – Loop (TR-301).  It is listed as a moderate for Aerobic level and Intermediate for technical level. 

 

There is a fairly reasonable climb from the road to the actual trail head.  The road is about 5685 ft and the connector intersects “Pipeline” at about 6000 ft. in a half mile distance.  Enough to get this Flat Landers heart rate elevated.  From there it is a “gradual” climb for the next four miles peaking at about 6800 ft at “Elbow Fork”.  This is where you can choose between a couple trails.  There is a small ranger shack, trail head and map/message board.  You are also back at Mill Creek Canyon Road.  You can turn left and take a short 3 mile jaunt up to Mount Arie with an elevation of 8,621 ft or you can cross the road and small foot bridge to take “Look-out peak loop” trail (TR-309) which is the direction I chose.

 

 

“Look-out Peak” starts out with a significant climb with switch backs peaking out at about 7400 ft.  The trail follows the south side of Mill Creek with the flow.  There are some heavily brushy areas of the trail where it is evident that does not see much regular traffic.  However, it is easily navigate able and the brush does not impede the trail.  There were a few moments when I was just waiting for a bear to appear.  However, I was assured from Mark at REI that no bears had been seen in this area of the National Forest....that he was aware of.  After you reach the high mark of 7400 ft it's all down hill from there back down to Mill Creek road at Terrace Picnic Grounds.  I then ran the road back to my car about ½ mile because I was worried I would be late for a dinner appointment.

 

There is a fee of $3.50 per car that you have to pay on the way out at a park ranger kiosk.  That’s a very small fee for such a great place to run.  There are many picnic areas and several restaurants along Mill Creek road.  I plan to check out one of the restaurants on my next visit after exploring a different trail. This is a very nice trail system with good climbs and scenery.  The trails are marked very well and maintained.  I'd recommend this area to anyone wanting to get a good run in close to the city.

The Butterfield Hiking Trail - May 25, 2008

The Butterfield Hiking Trail is a loop backpacking trail located in the Devils Den State Park in Arkansas (8 miles south of Fayetteville).  The trail is named after the Butterfield Stagecoach which ran in the area from 1858-1861. It begins inside the Devils Den SP and after about 3.5 miles leaves the park and goes through the Ozark National Forest for about 10 miles before entering the park again and finishing at the start.  The total mileage is about 15 miles.  You have to obtain a permit at the Visitors Center in Devils Den before going on the trail if you are going to use the sections out of the park.

Typical trail on the Butterfield 

The trail crosses Lee Creek at the suspension bridge inside the park and again near campground “A” where it sees its lowest point of 719 ft elevation.  After the campground it is a steady climb to Mt Olive.  The highest point on the trail is at Mt Olive (1780 ft) neat mile 3.75 just after crossing Hwy 74 if going clockwise on the loop.  The total ascent and descent is about 1700 feet each.

This photo was taken near Mt Olive.  All of the under brush in this area had been burned.  I never found out if it was a controlled burn or started by accident.  It was a pretty erie feeling running through this area.

There are many old homesteads and family cemeteries along the trail.  Some are marked and remnants of building structures and stone fences are sometimes visible.  There is a book in the Visitors Center about the families that settled in the area.

There are many scenic areas along the trail.  This area is well known for the natural sandstone and limestone crevices.  It is the largest park in the United States with both types of geological formations. One area along the trail is called Vista Point Overlook and Quall Valley at about mile 5.  This is a very dramatic and deep crevice.  From above it is almost entirely concealed by trees.  Follow the trail around to below and there is a small off shoot trail that leads into the crevice.  It is kind of a mystical place.  Many of the rocks are covered in lichen and moss.  The nearby stream flows through cascading miniature falls and collects in pools.

This is a photo from the top of a crevice in Quall Valley

This is the same crevice looking up from below

The trail runs along Blackburn Creek for sometime and through a couple of designated remote camping areas (Rock Hole Camp).  There is also a camping area (Junction Camp) at the confluence of Lee and Balckburn Creek.  There is a connector trail that leads to this area. It is about 900 ft at this location and has been all down hill from Mt Olive for the most part.  The trail turns north at this point and follows Lee Creek back to the beginning where it finishes inside Devils Den.

The trail is marked fairly well with a few exceptions.  I found myself of course a couple of times.  With a map and GPS it was easy to get oriented and back on the trail.  There are many other horse and old roads inside the Ozark National Forest that make navigation a little tricky at times.  The trail has plenty of runnable surface but it also has some very rocky to boulder sections that make running impossible.  It is very much well worth the time to check out this little Arkansas gem.

No way you run up this.....maybe down

I finished the 15 mile trail in 4hrs 13min including stops for pictures, taking in the scenery and figuring out the trail route a few times.  I’d rate this trail 8 out of 10 on the Wyco scale.  It is a moderate to intermediate difficulty level.

Chino Hills State Park - Anaheim, CA

This is another trail the local trail running club The Orange County Trail Runners recommended. The State Park is about a 30 minute drive from the Orange County Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.  There is an access fee of $3.00 paid at the entrance via a drop box.  There are two main entrances to the park and I used the Elinvar entrance on the far north end of the park.  From this entrance you drive about three miles before reaching the parking lot and the nearby trail head.  There are restrooms at this location

The Route / Run

I chose to start on the east end of the Telegraph Canyon Trail. I had only run 10 yards and I saw my very "first ever live rattle snake in the wild."  I took a few photos and then headed off until I came across my "second ever live rattle snake in the wild" a minute later.  I'm started to wonder if this were a bad omen.  I decided to stay in the middle of the trail which is about 15-20 feet wide in most places.  Of course, for the next mile or so, every rustle in the grass on the side of the trail gave me a jump......this soon subsided.  The rustling actually turned out to be little lizards.  They would dart across the trail about 10 yards in front of me.  It was really strange and reminded me of the video game frogger I used to play as a kid.  I also saw another very colorful snake that didn't seem to be poisonous.

I ran the Telegraph trail west to a connector called little canyon trail that takes you up the ridge to South Ridge Trail.  Going up this trail is where I saw my very "third ever live rattle snake in the wild." I was definitely getting my far share of snake sightings today.  After reaching the South Ridge Trail, I headed back east and then up to San Juan Hill (1785ft).  I took a picture of the surveyers marker and kept heading east.  I made it back to the trail head after about two hours and five minutes and a total of 10 miles.  Not bad for stopping a lot to take photos and manuver past a few rattlers.

Statistics

Date:5-21-08, Total Mileage: 10 miles, Total Ascent: 2194 ft, Total Descent:2156 ft

Review

I really like tree covered single track and there is very little of that in this area (at least where I was).  However, I really liked this trail.  I had a good run with plenty of elevation change and the element of danger.  I'd recommend this trail again and would definately put it on my list to return to given the opportunity.

KC Trail Nerd Index: 6 for difficulty   8 for fun

Peter's Canyon - Orange County, CA

I was in Anaheim, CA for a conference on Green Building (Ecobuild). As always I searched out some trails to run and emailed the local trail running club The Orange County Trail Runners. I got a few replies about a few trail options.

Peter's Canyon is a regional park with about 354 acres. There are several trails and fire roads to run. I chose a 6.5 mile loop that travels most of the parks perimeter. This route has about 1200 ft of ascent and 1200 ft of descent over the distance. There are a few short climbs of a couple hundred feet but nothing too major. There is some nice views along the trails. Most of the trails are in the open with just a few short sections of single track that is wooded. One such section is referred to as the Eucalyptus trail.

There are restrooms in the parking area but not much else. Be aware that the park does not open before 8:00am and there isn't really anywhere to park before the gates are open except for a strip mall up the road (which is what I did). More information about the park can be found at ttp://www.bikingdestinations.com/peterscanyon.htm and http://www.goodtime.net/tus/lotus001.htm

Route

I chose to go out on the East Ridge trail then through the Eucalyptus trail and then back on Lower Peter's Canyon trail and around the east side of the lake on Lake View trail back to the trail head

Statistics

Date: 5-20-08

Total Mileage: 6.5 miles

Total Ascent: 1161 ft

Total Descent: 1161 ft

Review

These are nice trails a short drive from the Anaheim Convention Center. They are definitely not remote. There are some short steep hills but nothing too awful. The trails are more like fire roads with very little single track. The surface is hard pack with fine dusty covering on the steep inclines caused from what I believe are MTBers breaking hard on their descents. I would run these trails again if I needed a close trail to where I was staying or time didn't permit exploring other trails.

KC Trail Nerd index: 3 for difficulty, 4 for fun.

Anne Springs Close Greenway - Fort Mill, SC

I went to Charlotte, NC this past week and found some time for a trail run. I had searched ahead of time for a trail to run and found a couple of good sources: Trail Events and Native Trail Gods.

Location

After a little searching, it was recommended by Tim of the "Native Trail Gods" that I try out the Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill, SC which is about 15 minutes south of Charlotte just across the border in SC. The website with maps and information is located at http://www.leroysprings.com/Greenway.html. There is a listing of maps and trail descriptions here http://www.leroysprings.com/GreenwayTrails.cfm

General Information

According to their site there is about 32 miles of trails (equestrian, hiking and mountain biking). There is a charge of $2.00 for hikers collected at drop boxes located at each of the six trail access points. There are maps at the trail head starting at the Leroy Recreation Center (shown above). The maps are detailed and have 11 different sites of interest marked along the trails. The trails have many swinging and stationary foot bridges for crossing the Steel and Sugar Creeks. However, I prefer the more natural method of stream crossing.

There are many sites of interest such as the Graham Cabin, Southern Railroad Trestle and the Old Mill Stone to name a few. The Leroy Springs Recreation Center is a good place to fill up your water bottle and they do have restrooms.

The Route

I started out at about 1:15pm at the Leroy Recreation Complex Access on the south side of the park. The weather was sunny and about 75 degrees. It was a perfect set up for a great run.

I decided to head north on the Blue Star trail that is marked as hiking only. About 1.6 miles into the run you'll come to Steele Street. To continue on the Blue Star trail you have to proceed east along the road about 200 yards and the trail will pick up on the north side again. It's a little confusing but you head down an abandoned dirt road about another 300 yards before the single track picks back up again. You'll come to the Southern Railroad Trestle at about 2.8 miles. I crossed the river, Nerd style and followed this trail all the way to the Dairy Barn Access.

At the Dairy Barn Access, there are several sites of interest including a couple of cabins. I basically followed the trail through this area and back to the single track at Graham's Cabin. I crossed Steele Creek again and transferred to Purple Trail (Wagon Loop) and then headed south back to Old National Road. I eventually made it back to the Southern Railroad Trestle and crossed the creek again and back onto the Blue Star trail. At this point the trail has a large number of spur trails and it gets hard to tell exactly where you are. Just keep the creek on your right until you get to the site of the old Grist Mill. This is where I crossed the river again and transferred to the School Loop East.

The Sugar Loop is probably the hilliest part of the trail that I ran. From the intersection of the School Loop East and Springfield Parkway the trail gains 1327 feet and descends 1187 feet in about 3.2 miles if you take Sugar Loop towards the south and back up through Complex Tunnel to the trail Head.

Statistics

Total Mileage: 11.53 mi (measured with Garmin Forerunner 305)

Total Ascent: 4199 ftTotal Descent: 4185 ft

Review

The trails are very well kept and the bridges were a nice touch. There was a variety of surfaces to run on including sandy soil, small rocky areas, roots and hard packed clay. There are several areas were crossing the creeks are possible and safe without the use of the bridges. The horse trails I ran on were did not resemble the surface of the moon like others I've run. There really wasn't much elevation on the route I took but I did mostly run along the creeks. I didn't see one single person on the trails although it was mid day. By the time I finished people were arriving and heading out on the trails.

These are just my opinions and may differ from others so take it for what it's worth. All in all, I would run these trails again. However, on my next trip, I'll be looking for some others to try out first. On the KC Trail Nerd index I'd give this one a 5 for difficulty and a 6 for fun.