My great joy in running isn’t experienced in the races, but rather in doing adventure runs. At times, these adventures can be amazing experiences when there is a perfect balance of challenge, solitude, and scenery. I was thrilled to again experience this feeling while running through the Paria Canyon near the Utah/Arizona border.
I had great fun guiding three others on a Grand Canyon double crossing (R2R2R). I’ve completed the full GC double-cross 11 times previously using various trailheads. (Another time I stopped short of the other rim during a 78-mile adventure run). For this adventure, we would start at the North Rim and cross over to the South Rim using Bright Angel Trail and then turn around and come back, about 48 miles.
Not quite the 50 that DeanK did, but I bet he didn’t summit a 13er. Friday I ran up to the top of the highest peak in Utah, Kings Peak (13,528 feet). The summit gets about 5,000 visitors per year. However, few people run from the trailhead to summit and back in one day. Most people do a three-day backpacking trip. This was my 8th Kings Peak Summit and the sixth time I have done the summit in one day. I made the run with Craig Lloyd and his neighbor Eric. Read Craig’s detailed writeup here.
Saturday I ran in the tough Park City marathon. This marathon is not your typical road marthon. It is run at altitude and has about ten miles of dirt. The hills are never-ending and it makes an amazing huge circle around the valley, visiting Deer Valley and Park City.
After work I drove up American Fork Canyon to the Timpooneke Trailhead to run up to the top of Mount Timpanogos for the first time this year. It would be my 57th career summit. This run is about 15 miles round-trip and ascends about 4,800 feet to 11,749. I had yet to be above 10,000 feet this season.
Still at scout camp up at Scofield Reservoir, I again got up very early, the sixth straight day that I was out running around 3:30 a.m. I’ve never done that before. I’m going to have to catch up on sleep. For today’s adventure, I decided that I would run all the way around Scofield Reservoir. I bet no one has done that before. My route turned out to be 18 miles.
On MLK day, I ran 26 miles on the ice to Bird Island and back. Watch me youtube movie with pictures and actual audio along the way.
Hit by nasty bitter cold and sick of running indoors, I decided to again venture out on frozen Utah Lake. Utah Lake is the largest fresh-water lake in Utah. It covers about 97,000 acres (151 square miles) and is 23 miles long (north-south) and a has a maximum width of 13 miles (east-west.) It is a shallow lake, with an average depth of 9.4 feet.
My dog playing on Utah Lake
August 1, 2008
For my 50th birthday on August 1st, I contemplated what I could do to celebrate this ancient milestone. I figured since I was officially “over the hill,” why not go over some huge hills? I decided to accomplish something probably never accomplished before. I wanted to summit the three highest peaks in Utah and return to the trailhead, all in one day without using a base camp.
The three peaks, located in the Uinta Mountains are:
1- Kings Peak – 13,528
2- South Kings Peak – 13,512
3- Gilbert Peak – 13,442
I’m getting phone calls and emails from local runners wondering about the conditions up on Mount Timpanogos in Utah, my favorite altitude training area. Mount Timpanogos (11,749 feet), is the most popular hiking destination in Utah. During the summer months, thousands of hikers make the strenuous trek up the mountain, usually taking all day, a 10-12 hour adventure. Ultrarunners make the round trip in 3.5-5 hours. My PR is 3:43. The round trip is about 14.5 miles and about 4,500 elevation climb/descent. I almost always go up the TimpoonekeTrail from American Fork Canyon because it is closer to my house and more runnable compared to the trail that starts at Aspen Grove.
North Kaibab to Boucher Creek and back
November 23-24, 2007
I had another spectacular run in the Grand Canyon on Thanksgiving weekend. Last year, I ran an 87-mile double-crossing to Hermit’s Rest and back from the North Rim. This year I planned to do a similar run but with the difference being a climb up the rugged Boucher Trail to the South Rim. I didn’t quite reach that goal, skipping the tough climb up the South Rim, but I did have an amazing adventure running on the West Tonto Trail, running all the way to Boucher Creek from the North Rim and back, over 78 miles. I ran 40 miles on the remote West Tonto Trail.
October 12-13, 2007
North Kaibab to Grandview Point and back
You are the first person I’ve seen in two days
– Comment from a backpacker on the Tonto Trail
It had almost been a year since I had run in the Grand Canyon. I was anxious to return and accomplish my 11th double crossing (rim-to-rim-to-rim). Now somewhat bored with the usual route using the mule-torn corridor trails, I wanted to do something new, something that probably nobody had accomplished before.
August 4-5, 2007 – 70 miles
The Uinta mountain range in
June 29-30, 2007
“Now, you have no more excuses for whining about going up only once.”
Overheard — a scout leader to young scouts
Timpanogos rises above BYU campus during the winter
I again went out to do another crazy training run on Mount Timpanogos (11,749 feet), the most popular hiking destination in Utah. During the summer months, thousands of hikers make the strenuous trek up the mountain, usually taking all day, a 10-12 hour adventure. Tales of my recent exploits of doing repeat summits of this beautiful mountain have been spreading locally. On more than one occasion during a conversation about the outdoors, I have been asked, “Did you hear about a guy who hiked ‘Timp’ five times in a row?” Sheepishly than I have to admit that I’m that crazy dude.
July 7, 2007
Seven summits in one day (Scott Patterson photo)
1 = Mount Emmons 2 = “North Emmons”
3 = “Roberts Peak” 4 = “Trail Rider Peak”
5 = “Painter Peak” 6 = South Kings Peak
7 = Kings Peak
The highest peak in
May 11-12, 2007
“Dude, why are you running in the middle of nowhere?”
– A question a guy asked me during the night
As the snows were melting rapidly in the mountains, I decided to do another valley training run. Soon I would be hitting the mountains in earnest as the summer season approaches. For this training run, I again journeyed to a cave/mine region about 30 miles to the southwest of my home.
March 30, 2007
This run turned out to be a 50-mile training run on a 100-mile course I designed. I am enjoying the 100-mile distance more and more. In 2004-2005 I started my 100-mile run career with 3-out-of-4 DNFs (did not finish). I seriously questioned whether my body could handle that distance and each time proclaimed that I would never try again. But since that time I have successfully completed a consecutive string of nine 100-mile finishes.
