Training Log Archive: TomN

Landed in Salt Lake City at 9:30 a.m., took an hour to get a car from Hertz (they had a long line of restless customers and they ran out of cars). Then by 12:30 I was on the top of Malam's Peak overlooking Ogden and the Great Salt Lake. Started from the 27th St. trailhead, up the Taylor Canyon trail and took the Malam Basin trail to the right, 4 switchbacks and done. Mostly packed dirt, steady moderate grade. Reasonably good signage, but I had to ask someone at the start if I was on the right trail. The first sign is around 100m in. Back down the way I came, except took the south side of Taylor Canyon.

At the top there were about a half-dozen 20-ish women who seemed startled by my arrival, and one guy with his shirt off and his back to me. Then it became clear: She wasn't a guy, she had been posing with her friends for a topless photo.

It was still early when I got down to the car, so I drove 2 blocks to the 29th St. trailhead and hiked up Waterfall Canyon. Only a mile and a quarter in, then back the same way. The trail was wide like a road for the first half, then it got rocky and steeper in the second half. The waterfall was spectacular, about 200 feet of near-vertical black rock, and the water was being blown into mist up near the top. Droplets occasionally fell like rain.

There were a lot of families, some with small kids. I saw one group turn back, and I'd be surprised if there weren't more. The upper part of the trail is not much fun, dusty and gritty and slippery on the rocks, with some loose rock thrown in. And it was hot, with some direct sun in the afternoon. I made one wrong turn. There are a lot of side trails, none marked after the initial trail sign. Turns out I could have done this without going all the way back to the car, because the Bonneville Shoreline trail connects the two canyons.

After a couple of days of rest and rehabilitation (quad balance exercises and stretches) today's run felt good. And surprisingly fast, even though I felt like I deliberately slowed it down.

Not wanting to run, given some tenderness in the knee, I went out to Sugarloaf and hiked some. A combination of the Green, Red, Blue, White, and Yellow trails. I was out on the north side when I thought I heard thunder, but it looked like bright sun in all directions. In fact it was thunder, and it got a little dark at one point, but blew away. Over 90 the whole time.

Trail run at Wheaton Regional Park. One loop around the paved paths and 2 loops around the trails, same as earlier this week. Pretty tired in the heat (about 90 degrees) and my left knee isn't feeling too good.