2- Willow Heights and Mud Lake, with Meadows and Snow Patches to the Southeast
Tour note: this is the oldest continually-in-use church building west of the Mississippi. Some of the stained glass windows are Tiffany designs.
To begin the run, go west to State Street, turn right to North Temple.
Turn right again, then take the first left at Canyon Road. Continue
north through Memory Grove for about a mile, enjoying the sounds of City
Creek without city traffic. Just below the entrance to City Creek
Canyon you make a U-turn to the right. This is Bonneville Blvd.
Stay to the right in the bicycle/running lane and proceed south to 11th
Ave. As you continue this gentle climb and come around a curve, you
are rewarded with a view. Once you reach 11th Ave., turn left and run along
the bicycle lane. The next great view, day or night, is
along the north edge of the Salt Lake Cemetery. Continue on to
Virginia Street where Popperton Park is on your left, Shriners Hospital
is on your right. Now head south and practice those downhill running
skills, turning right again at 4th Ave. for a more gentle descent back
to the point of origin. My favorite way to finish this run is to
drop down on "E" Street, grab coffee and a bagel at the corner of South
Temple, then walk back to the start.
To add extra miles, just continue up City Creek Canyon when you are there. There is ample opportunity to get a drink or refill your water bottle. Fountains are located in Memory Grove, at the gate (and above) in City Creek Canyon, just below Shriners' Hospital (to the east of Virginia St.) and even in the cemetery if you know where to look.
So enjoy this route on your own, or come join us. You don't have to sing but you'll have so much fun you might just hum a few bars!
Veering left takes you on a short loop. Be careful, as here the trail takes you past lush poison ivy. In the spring there are beautiful wild flowers here, as well. Staying right, the loop takes you back to the fork. For variety, on the way back I take different trails that splinter off the mail trail.
After passing back through the fence and by Red Butte Gardens, I'm back at my truck. Unfortunately, the rest of my day must begin; at least it began with a good note!
As I head uphill on South Campus Drive, I've been running for close to 30 minutes. My body is warmed up; I feel loose and relaxed. The pace slows and I take on a half-mile of fairly strenuous uphill. This is only a preview of upcoming attractions. I'll take on a steeper hill to get up behind the University Medical Center. In between, I'll be treated to some fairly flat and scenic running to give my body a break. This flat portion occurs as I turn north on Wasatch Drive through the University golf course.
The real challenge begins as I head due east along the northerly road that takes me past the John Moran Eye Center to the upper Medical Center parking lot. It gets steep and my pace slows to a crawl. From the parking lot, I can get off the pavement and run on some soft trails. The route levels off and I can catch my breath. At the mouth of Red Butte Canyon, I hop on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and follow it over to Sunnyside Avenue. This is the most enjoyable portion of the run, offering a fantastic view of the most enjoyable portion of the run, offering a fantastic view of the Salt Lake Valley along the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains.
Cresting the hill above Pioneer Trails State Park, I cross some rolling hills back to Sunnyside Avenue. Once on Sunnyside, it's time to put the hammer down and pick up the pace. "It's downhill all the way" as they say in St. George on marathon day. Except for a short portion just after Hogle Zoo, it really is downhill all the way home. If I make the traffic light on Foothill Blvd., I'll keep going to 19th East.
Silver Fork Canyon
On Sunday morning I decided to run the South route up Silver Fork Canyon. This route starts out in Silver Fork, heads down just below the highway on the old Silver Fork Drive, goes down across Big Cottonwood Creek (over a two log bridge) past the old Lost Emma Mine, back into Silver Fork and up a steep trail into Silver Fork Canyon, up a steeper old logging road to Honeycomb Canyon, down the Solitude Return Trail, returning to Silver Fork Community. The overall distance is four to five miles, but in that terrain mileage doesn't mean anything. It's the elevation difference that gets you. And the steepness of the trail in places. I estimate that the elevation difference is about 1000 feet.
On Sunday morning I was pretty fresh, but those hills were tough. The winter snows and winds had resulted in many trees falling across the trails. After a while the small impediments add up to a lot of energy-depleting hassle, but in the beauty of that environment the word "hassle" doesn't even enter your mind. Two years ago in the autumn I was taking in the colorful scenery and not paying attention to the running path. I tripped over a rock, fell to the ground and received a large gash on my forehead, just above my right eye. Twelve stitches. So much for beauty! Nowadays, if I want to look, I stop. And it's just as beautiful when you stop as it is when you are running.
There are two routes up Silver Fork Canyon, one along the Forest Service access road on the western side of the canyon, and the other through the trees up the east side of the canyon along an old waterline route. I much prefer the latter, because it is a much more forested and peaceful environment. It especially fits in with a Sunday morning run.
Coming down the Solitude Return Trail I encountered a young woman jogging uphill. This was the first person I can remember having seen jogging up that trail. I thought to myself, "good for her." And then I saw it: she had her iPod plugged into both ears. She couldn't hear any of the sounds of nature on that gorgeous Sunday morning!
Returning from Solitude Resort to Silver Fork on the old hiking trail, there are several areas that are very wet and support thick vegetation. Several years ago I was running through this area, again not paying very much attention, and a low-lying root that was hidden in the vegetation tripped me up and sent me flying. This Sunday's as I neared the area, I was thinking about the prior embarrassing event. And wouldn't you know, that same root almost got me again!
Willow Heights and Mud Lake
On Monday morning I decided to run up to Mud Lake. It had been two years since I had been there. In the past this has been one of my favorite autumn runs. It is most special when one of the first white powdery snowfalls of the season is decorating the forest. It's nice to imagine that you'll be the last person up there this season. Some of the meadows and glens off to the east of Mud Lake are particularly quiet and comforting, especially during that last autumn run.
I had forgotten how steep the climb is up to Mud Lake. This time I had to walk about three fourths of the way up, saving my energy for those stretches of the trail that allowed me to run it at all. Like the route up Silver Fork Canyon, this trek also has nearly a 1000-foot elevation difference (about 700 feet to Mud Lake). Willow Heights where Mud Lake is located is a gorgeous setting. The lake is currently inhabited by a small beaver colony, and they have embellished the man-made dam that creates the Lake. When you first reach the Lake and turn around you can see a panorama of the community of Silver Fork and Silver Fork Canyon behind it. A spectacular view, especially in the morning.
2- Willow Heights and Mud Lake, with Meadows and Snow Patches to the Southeast
Just off to the east of Mud Lake is a small rise. It was on this rise that some of the dairy facilities were located. When I first started running up to this area the old milk cooling cellar building was still largely intact. This day I had a major disappointment. Someone had pulled down the building and used the logs to make a large fire pit area at the crest of the hill. It was particularly disconcerting, because there are not supposed to be open fires anywhere except in a campground. Tragic and stupid!
I ran around the east side of Mud Lake and decided to go a short ways up the trail to Dry Lake. It is very steep and dangerously close to the rock strewn creek bottom. I decided that I would take that trail some other day. I swung back to the east side of the Lake, turned to the east, and headed up into some of the secluded glens that I mentioned above. I got couple of hundred yards up the trail when I encountered an area of numerous fallen trees. It appeared as though a large microburst had really done extensive damage in the area. Nonetheless, the quiet, secluded forest glens offered soft and delightful welcomes. They are some of my favorite spots in all of Big Cottonwood Canyon. To me they epitomize peacefulness. Some of the glens were adorned with a few remaining snow banks.
Coming down from Mud Lake I took the old wagon road. It is very steep and rocky in places. Consequently, the going was kind of slow, which wasn't all that bad. You just have to watch your step to make sure that you don't twist an ankle or have your feet slide out from underneath you.
Both of my runs (Silver Fork and Willow Heights) were exhilarating, even though both involved substantial periods of walking. But who cares? As mentioned previously, there were times recently that I thought I would never do either of these two runs again. I am so lucky to have reasonably good health and the ability to get out and run (or walk if necessary).
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