Our time in Utah continued with more trail time, on foot this time as Amber joined Shannon and myself in going up to Horsetail Falls. This trail starts in Alpine and goes up the mountain to a large waterfall. It was 2.2 miles of steady climbing, mainly in the shade of the woods. There are several creek crossings near the top. I love rock hopping across a creek, but Shannon is still not too fond of them. Last year, she got wet multiple times on challenging creek crossings in Shenadoah National Park. Today, it was my turn. I slipped on a slanted rock and fell into the water on the last creek crossing. It was a step I knew I shouldn't have taken. The odds of me getting traction on the rock I lept to were slim to none, yet I went for it anyway. I ended up on my side in the cold water. My Camelbak wedged between two rocks and pinned me down for a few seconds. Shannon and Amber didn't know if to laugh or go into rescue mode. I finally got free and was able to get up. I was wet and cold, but unhurt other than a few scrapes to my right hip. I had our nice camera around my chest and it fell into the water. We lost the lens cap and busted the zoom mechanism inside the lens. The camera body is waterproof so it held up, but the lens was shot.
It was a shame to lose the camera as the waterfall was quite spectacular. It was much larger than we expected, falling 75 feet just in the main portion. The snow melt and recent rain made for high volume of water as well. It was literally shooting off the mountain. The waterfall spreads out in places, sort of looking like a horse's tail so I can see how it got its name. You can climb down toward the bottom of it and that view is even more impressive. Horsetail Falls is definitely the best waterfall we have seen in the the Salt Lake area. Check it out if you get a chance.
Rain was back shortly after our hike, so no bike time that day. Or the next day. Or the next. It was storm after storm, especially in the mountains. Saturday's forecast was so bad on the western side of the valley that the Rush Valley Road Race got cancelled. Thunderstorms were expected with wind gusts of over 60 mph forecasted through the day. Not a great recipe for bike racing in an open desert valley. The weather really spoiled my ride plans, as has become the norm on our trips the last few years. I wanted some big miles this week before departing for Dairyland. I had only ridden about half as mush as I hoped for.
Saturday morning was stormy, but the storms stayed away from the eastern side of the Salt Lake Valley. Shannon wanted to do one more hike before she flew out on Sunday. I decided to skip the bike so we could do something together. We had hoped to hike up Mt. Timpanogos on this trip, but I was the only one really prepared for a hike that tough. Shannon and Amber did not feel ready for it after our hikes earlier in the week. We also heard from some people who had been up Timpanogos recently that the snow line was still low and you couldn't reach the top without ice climbing gear. I didn't want to go part way up, so that hike will have to wait for another trip.
Shannon and I still wanted to summit one of the mountains. We decided on Grandeur Peak, which is right next to where I-80 comes out of the mountains into the valley on the east side of Salt Lake City. It's the peak north of Mt. Olympus, which we climbed back in 2017. The two peaks are separated by Millcreek Canyon, which is where our trail began. Grandeur is smaller than Olympus, but still offers a great view as the peak seems to sit closer to the valley.
The climb up Grandeur was a tough one. It was a steep asphalt beginning before transitioning to dirt. The first half was more in the shade than sun. The second half is all in the sun and becomes very rocky as you come out of the trees. There's a ridge at 2.5 miles where you can see to the north and west. You get a slight break from the climb there, then it goes up steeply again for the final 0.8 miles to the peak. You can't really see the peak until you are right at the bottom of it. The ridge keeps it concealed as you climb. Shannon was pretty tired by the time we got to the ridge. The sun was hot today for the first time on this trip and it wore on both of us. I had to convince Shannon to keep going once we hit the final up section. Another hiker in front of us was having even more trouble than Shannon, yet still moving forward. I think that motivated Shannon enough to keep going. We made it to the top, along with the other struggling hiker. The view was great We sat up there a while to fully take it in and give our feet and legs a rest. Then we started the 3.4 miles back down to the van. Our feet were pretty shot after a descent that long and steep. Both of us were getting blisters. Steep grades hurt more than just your muscles.
The next day we left Gma's together. It was a shorter trip than normal, but still great to see the family. I dropped Shannon off at the airport, then headed west. I was going to stop for a ride in Park City, then go through Wyoming to Curt Gowdy State Park for a few days. I had until Friday to get to Wisconsin. Not having my Mom split costs with me was going to make the budget tight, but I was still planning on going. I was just feeling too good on the bike right now to miss it if it was finanacially possible to get there. Curt Gowdy was looking a bit questionable though as they have changed many of their campsites over to reservable. It used to be about 50/50 on reservable sites versus first-come sites, but now most of them are reservable, and they were booked for this week. I wasn't sure if I could even get a spot.
I got to Park City in the middle of the day, parking the van about 3/4 of the way up Empire Pass above Deer Valley. I was planning for a mountain bike ride, but that did not happen. I got the bike ready and headed into the woods only to run into a wall of snow less than half a mile down the trail. Every ski run was still covered in 6+ feet of snow. I walked across three snow-covered runs before I realized this wasn't going to get better. I turned back and instead opted for a road ride.
The road was closed to the summit of Empire Pass and beyond to Guardsman Pass, as well as all the way down Pine Mountain Rd to Midway. I wasn't sure if that meant the road was covered in snow or not, but I went on up anyway. In Tennessee, bikes can't go on closed roads, but in Utah, the closure is usually only for cars. You see cyclists, hikers and rollerskiers using the traffic-free roads as safe places to train. The top of Empire was covered with snow, but the road was clear. The snow piles along the side of the road were 10 feet high in places. I headed down to Midway first to enjoy the closed roads as well as fresh pavement. This descent down Pine Mountain Rd used to be very rough, yet the steepness made for a fast ride. The pavement not only made it smooth, but now it's even faster. I was a bit cautious on the way down as I was afraid of running up on a hiker or some debris in the road. As I neared the bottom, I felt a bump in my front wheel. The final section to the gate is very steep and I had to get on the brakes hard. The bump quickly got worse, to the point that I could barely keep pressure on the brakes. I thought I wasn't going to be able to stop before the gate, but I got it slowed enough to stop right against the blockade. I got off to look at my wheel. The rim was broken and caving in. As I was examining it and trying to decide what to do, my rear tire went flat. There I was stuck at the bottom of the mountain about eight miles from the car with nobody to call to come get me. I had to try to ride that wheel back up the mountain.
I changed the rear tube and got back on my way. The front wheel was holding up well to everything, but braking. Thankfully, I was going up a mountain for the next 6+ miles. That would get me close enough to walk to the van. I just kept my fingers crossed that the carbon rim didn't split enough to send a chard of carbon into my tube since I had used my one spare already.
I rode hard to make as much ground as I could before something else happened. The wheel held up fine to the top, but now I was above the van. I had to get back down. I tried to ease into the downhill from Empire, but it's hard to hold back the bike on a grade that will easily get you beyond 55 mph. Once I got rolling, I could barely keep the bike under control. The rim was so rough that it was tearing through my brake pads, literally pulling off chunks with every round. I was able to make it to the van just as the pads ran out of rubber. The rim was totally destroyed, barely even holding its shape. I knew it had a lot of wear on the braking surface, but I did not expect that amount of descending to finish off the carbon lamination.
It took me much longer to complete the ride than expected. I was torn as to what to do. It would be super late when I got to Curt Gowdy and I still wasn't guaranteed to get a campsite. Shannon was still ont he plane so I called Gma to see if I could stay with her for another day or two. She was excited for me to come back as Amber was now gone on a mission trip. Gma was glad to be getting company even if it was just for another day. I had a bed for the night, but now I had another issue. I brought two wheelsets for the trip so I could have spare wheels in the pit at Dairyland. I had wheels to ride, but I would not have pit wheels. That seemed like a long way to go to chance being out of a race because of a flat. I also now would need to buy a new wheelset. I had planned to replace my deep dish set at the end of this year as they are very worn, but I had planned to keep the set that just broke. Now I was looking at two new sets to buy at the end of the year. It became clear that Dairyland was no longer financially possible. It just wasn't meant to be this year.
