Short Week

This week has been frantic because for work, it's only three days long. I'll get my six days of exercise in though. Monday was supposed to be stormy. I had planned on going to the gym but when I got through in the afternoon the weather was still fine. I took a hike up the Wheeler Creek Trail that begins at the base of Pineview Dam. If I have time I like to walk up the old Art Nord Drive until it intersects with the canyon that Wheeler Creek comes down. Then up that canyon to Refrigerator Canyon. Then my route turns left and intersects the bike trail that comes down from the resort and parallels the old Snow Basin Highway until it hooks up with the Art Nord trail at the trail head in Snow Basin. (The Snow Basin, not the ski resort.). Then I follow the trail down to the starting point. It's about four and a half miles and gains and loses 1200 feet or so.

It's mid-November and the terrain is a bit drear. The only leaves left on the trees are brown, just waiting for one more blow to come down. The creek tumbles down the canyon but its bed runs through totally dead vegetation. There's not much in the way of evergreen along this path except for the fir trees on the North and East slopes. I saw several deer though, including a big four-point buck. It's antlers were huge for only having four tines to a side. I took a picture but he had already decided he wasn't interested in me and so all you can make out is his white rear. You'd see nothing if I shrunk it to fit this blog.

Yesterday I went up the Indian Trail. Starting at the 22nd street trail head, I hike up until I get into the cliffs that overlook Warm Water Canyon. The last few hundred feet are off the official trail but there's a good path through the cliff bands that leads to an overlook of Ogden Canyon. It takes me about a half hour to go this far. It's a little less than a mile and a half and gains about 800 feet. It's a dramatic trail. You end up in the cliffs above the narrows of the canyon. The trail is well-maintained but if there's any snow or ice on it, it can't be negotiated safely without an ice axe in a couple of spots at the top of steep gullies that plunge down to the road. If you ever got sliding or tumbling in one of these couloirs, you'd be a mess to get ready for the funeral.

Tomorrow is Turkey Day. I promise to be semi-good and to get some exercise after dinner. On Friday or Saturday I'll probably drive to Star Valley in Wyoming. We have a tradition of going out on the Bridger Forest and killing our own Christmas Trees. They sell the permits in Afton. After driving there and back including meals on the road--we can't seem to get excited about packing all our meals--it's the most expensive $5.00 Christmas Tree you'll ever see. But they're guaranteed fresh, and it's a tradition. Good exercise too.