September 30, 2006
With a week’s rest from the epic “Polar” Bear 100, I felt recovered and ready for another run. I decided to join in a local informal race, a tough trail Marathon going from Brighton to Millcreek Canyon.
I was very familiar with most of the route. It started at Brighton and followed the Wasatch 100 course backwards, climbing up to Scotts Tower, following the Desolation Trail to Desolation Lake, and then continuing to Dog Lake. From that point, it leaves the Wasatch course and follows the Desolation Trail west along the high ridges around Gobbler’s Knob and Mount Raymond. It then starts down Porter Fork but quickly leaves it to continue on to go up and over the divide and then descend down Thaynes Canyon to Millcreek Inn.
My dad has a cabin in Porter Fork, so I grew up hiking many of these trails. They are full of so many pleasant memories for me. I looked forward to a very enjoyable autumn morning run in the mountains.
I drove to Box Elder picnic area (the finish location) in Millcreek Canyon at 7 a.m. and met a small group of runners to carpool over to Brighton. I enjoyed riding with Steve Kissel on the way over as we talked about our many running adventures during the year.
At Brighton, it was a fun reunion of local runners. Karl Meltzer was there, but wouldn’t be running this year. Instead he would take it easy greeting us along the course and helping us at the finish. I had fun talking to him about the Bear 100 last week. He told tales of how even he took some wrong turns on the course, on his way to his first-place finish.
As we were all having fun talking, we heard the bang of a plastic bag being popped. “Oh, I guess that means we should go!”
At the beginning of the race, near Brighton
Lead pack heads up the road
No one was in a hurry. We had a blast running at a slow pace, talking, and getting to know each other. I took a few pictures and took some time to finally talk a little with Charlie Vincent on the way up. We have passed each other in several races but never had run with each other.
I had no idea how I would do with only one weeks’ rest since finishing The Bear 100, and three weeks after finishing the Wasatch 100. Several people kept telling me that they couldn’t comprehend how I was doing it, running again so soon have two 100-milers. For many, this was their first run since Wasatch. Well, I felt pretty good, so I stayed with the lead pack.
At Scott’s tower (mile 4), my legs were ready to stretch it out, so I pushed ahead and took the lead, never ahead by more than 200 yards or so. A group of mountain bikers shared the trail with us as we rolled up and down the Desolation Trail. The bikers kept stopping at the top of hills and then would expect us all to step aside for them on the downhills. It became a pretty annoying game of leapfrog.
Finally on the hill down toward Desolation Lake I was free of the bikers. Still in the lead, I blasted down the trail pretty fast soon reaching the location of the Wasatch Desolation Lake aid station (mile 9). To my surprise, I looked behind me and saw someone on my tail. It was Dan Hall. I introduced myself to him. He wanted me to keep the lead, so I continued to do my best to lead us both fast down the trail toward Blunder Fork.
Along the way, who did we see lounging along the trail? Karl Meltzer! He asked if we were having fun. I told him we were. He must have really run up fast from another trail.
As we were approaching Blunder Fork, I asked Dan if we missed the turn, and made the usual blunder. Just then we heard shouts and saw waves from the kind group who set up an aid station. They were glad to see the first two runners. We ate a few things and then set up off the trail up to Dog Lake. Dan took the lead as I took pictures and turned on my MP3 to listen to the LDS (Mormon) General Conference. We had been running for about two hours.
Trail heading up to Dog Lake
As I reached Dog Lake, Dan was waiting unsure of the route ahead. I apologized for being so slow, and joined in with him to the other side of the lake. The trail becomes much more primitive as it enters the Wilderness Area west of the lake. As we began this section, others caught up with us: Brian Hamos, Keith Bronstein, and David McKnight. I took the lead for the next half mile and had fun pushing a good pace on the challenging trail.
View along Desolation Trail
Finally, the fatigue and pain of last week’s Bear 100 started to catch up with me. At about the 12-mile mark, I stepped aside, gave up the lead, content to back off and enjoy the rest of the run. It was a beautiful morning up on the high ridges between Big Cottonwood Canyon and Millcreek Canyon. Before reaching Mill A Basin, Cherl Pfeil caught up and passed me. Soon I also saw a shirtless Charlie Vincent chasing me and finally passing as we circled around Mount Raymond. We were cruising through at least a foot of snow in patches and Charlie commented that we probably would really see a lot of snow over on the North side. His prediction would come true.
As I approached to top of the Porter Fork trail, I realized that somehow I missed the water stop at the Utley Tree. I was almost out of water. This could be a bad problem. I knew what I had to do. I started picking up snowballs and for the rest of the race would eat snowball after snowball.
While descending, I almost made the common mistake of continuing down Porter Fork, but just in time noticed the trail and a flag to the left. The views are wonderful as I continued traversing along rock falls and around cliffs to make it to the top of the divide. I could see Roger Adams and Brent Rutledge chasing me from behind. Finally reaching the divide, I began the descent in to Thaynes Canyon. I haven’t been on this section of the trail in about 35 years, so I was a little uncertain. Roger caught up and he assured me that I was heading the right direction. So, I kicked it into high gear and blasted ahead down the trail. The LDS conference session was over, so I put on my tunes again and sang loudly down the trail to my tunes. Behind me Roger laughed as he finally figured out what that noise was down ahead on the trail – me singing.
Thaynes Canyon
Stunning fall colors along the trail
I felt super as I cruised down the trail very fast. I let out several whoops of joy. I would pause each time I came to some snow to grab another snowball to eat. Once I ran down below the snowline, I drank from my water bottle that now contained melted snow. After awhile, I could hear Roger on my tail, so I kicked it up even faster near the Salt Lake overlook. There, I passed Irv Nielsen making his way down from his Porter Fork route. I waved as I continued to blast down. Finally I could feel dehydration affecting my joints. I backed off and soon Roger passed. I took it easy for the remainder of the run.
The top finishers tell tales of the morning. Karl Melzer in red.
I reached the picnic area at 5:50. It had been a wonderful run. I felt great and enjoyed the pancakes right off the grill at the finish. We had great fun talking to our local ultra hero, Karl Melzer. Thanks Irv and others for organizing a great local run!
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