Build the Trails, Part II

When I first moved to Salt Lake City in the 1990s, purpose-built mountain-biking trails didn't exist near town, with the exception of the pipeline trail in Mill Creek Canyon, which I'm not sure was truly designed for mountain biking.  There was no Avenues Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST).  I used to ride the fire road above Terrace Hills Drive and then hike a bike to the top of the Avenues Twin Peaks.  One could descend via that route or down the Bobsled or the Agony Escalator.  

In 1998 a friend and I had been looking at topo maps and decided that we should ride to Rudys Flat above  Bountiful via ridge thats west and north of City Creek Canyon.  Looked "doable" on the map.  There was to TrailForks or other app to give us a trail report. 

We left after work.  We road up the Ensign fire road past the various comms towers, which beyond the first set of towers was as bad then as it is today.  Then we started working our way out the ridge.  Initially it was a pretty good double track, then a lousy double track, then a single track, then a heard path.  The ridge is pretty lumpy and the route went straight up and straight down everything.  The vertical added up.  It started getting dark.  Finally we saw the trail down North Canyon and beelined too it.  We then descended and road home in the dark via paved roads.  I was depleted.  

I swore I'd never do it again, but a few years later I did, this time better equipped with more reasonable expectations.

I always thought it would be a great place for some properly built trails.  Although not on the ridge, the BST from above is now nearly finished to North Canyon (I've read it's not quite to North Canyon yet, but if you have a more recent update, please comment).  I rode some of it yesterday and it offers up great views as it contours in and out of the scrub oak. 

Here and there, a dense carpet of vegetation covers the ground.

The trail is very well constructed and perhaps single track and a half rather than single track.  

It's fairly easy riding once there.  The route to it from Wild Rose has a steep section that requires some pushing, but it's not a biggie.  Perhaps a lower-angle option will eventually be constructed.  

We did ascend the old-school Eagle Crest trail to the ridge above City Creek to enjoy the views of the central Wasatch.  

This is an area I always thought could offer up some great biking and hiking and it is great to see more trails being built.  Really, the potential is enormous.  

It was also a sad reminder that while other communities are moving forward with trail construction and providing more opportunities for their residents, Salt Lake City continues the pause on trail construction in the Avenues Foothills.  Let's get that process going again.   The reality is that a new trail system will be better than what we have now.  

Build the Trails

It's prime season for biking and hiking in the Avenues foothills.  This year it seems especially lush and the vegetation is filling in nicely around the recently constructed trails.

There could be more trails available to hike and ride, but trail construction was halted in May of last year.  This was allegedly a "pause" that would last until that fall.  Then it was extended to this summer.  In April, the city council further extended the pause until at least spring 2023.  

My views align with those of Ashley Patterson's in her op/ed in yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune.  The Foothills Trail System Plan included three years of public input.  Those surprised by the construction successfully pushed the city to pause completion of the project.  Some legitimate concerns were raised and the trails community supports addressing these.  

On the other hand, we do not want to see trails construction stopped permanently or delayed significantly.  After the pause last year, consultants should have been hired to evaluate the trail construction plans, but that hasn't happened.  Instead, the can has been kicked down the road for another year.  

It is long past time for city council and Mayor Mendenhall to move this process forward.  Other communities along the Wasatch Front have built world-class multiuse trail systems.  We can too.  

For more information, see https://slctrailsalliance.org/. 

Desert Delinquency

Sorry for the delinquency in posting, but we've been down in the Sonoran Desert visiting our daughter at Arizona State. 

Highs in Tempe were near 90˚F each day, but manageable due to the lower angle sun and the short day length.  There's lots of outdoor dining there as well, which is a bonus given the ongoing pandemic.  

We spent a day in the Superstition Mountains east of Tempe.  This was my first trip to the area since I was 16.  It's beautiful country.  

Although I've been to Tempe many times, we made my first visit to the Desert Botanical Garden, which was simply spectacular even if most of the plants were out of bloom.  It's definitely worth a couple of hours of time to meander the walkways and check out the desert plants.

We are in the process of designing a new building for the University of Utah that would house the Departments of Physics and Atmospheric Sciences.  I'm big on secure bike storage, which is sorely lacking on campus.  I liked these key-card access parking structures that they had on campus that require card access and then have lockable racks inside.  

We simply can't keep building parking garages on campus.  Traffic to and from campus just keeps getting worse.  E-bikes and secure bike storage need to be given greater priority.  

The Great Avenues Foothills Trail Imbroglio

I have lived in Salt Lake City for over 25 years.  During that time, I have been a trail runner, mountain biker, and hiker, although I can no longer do the former.  I recreate in the Avenues foothills probably 3 or 4 days a week, sometimes more.  I've even ski toured in them.  

I'm old enough to remember when the segment of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail from Pipeline Pass to Dry Creek was constructed, as well as the segments from Morris Meadow to City Creek Canyon and from City Creek Canyon to North Salt Lake.  All of these trail additions improved the quality of life and access to outdoor recreation for Salt Lake City area residents.  

So when I saw plans a couple of years ago to expand the foothills trail network, I was excited.  The Bonneville Shoreline Trail was becoming increasingly crowded.  Lots of bikers and hikers.  The plan included hiking only trails, downhill biking trails, hiking and uphill biking trails, and multiuse trails.  It make sense to expand trail opportunities and create a system that segregated users.  

Last year track hoes began to construct the trail system.  By April 23rd of this year, most of the trails in the Morris Meadow and Mountain area were open for use.  Like the Whos in Whoville, hikers and bikers have emerged from the pandemic and flocked to these trails.  I haven't bothered leaving the neighborhood to ride or hike anywhere else as the spring weather has been pleasant and there have been new trails to explore.  

The new "19th Avenue" downhill flow trail in the Avenues foothills

However, on May 12, an article appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune headlined "Are SLC's long-awaited foothill trails falling flat?" that featured numerous complaints about the new trail system.  On Friday, it was announced that city officials had halted trail building until at least October in response to these complaints (see "Work on SLC's foothill trails halted until at least October").  

The city is now collecting input from trail users via an online survey available at https://www.slc.gov/trailsurvey/.  Please take a few minutes to share your opinions and views.

Tahoe Ski and Bike Report

Thanks for letting me disappear for a few days to take a break after the end of the academic year.  It was a long one and I needed to reset my sanity.  

The limited snowfall in the Sierra Nevada this year created an unusual opportunity for early May corn skiing and mountain biking in the Tahoe area.  We took off last week and did a couple of days of mountain biking, a day of Alpine skiing, and a day of ski touring.  

After arriving in Truckee and doing and evening ride on the Donner Crest trail, we skied a day at the famous north Tahoe ski resort that has served as the home or base for many great skiers including Tamara McKinney, Julia Mancuso, Shane McConkey, and Cody Townsend.  Given the limited seasonal snowfall, conditions varied some depending on elevation and aspect...

Sadly, KT-22 was closed, so we kept ourselves occupied with laps involving the One Express and Siberia trails, venturing frequently over to the area around Headwall Express (which was closed although the terrain beneath was open) where we found good corn thanks to the dense and well consolidated Sierra spring snowpack.  

Some route finding was required, but continuous lines could be found and it was entertaining for a couple of hours. 

We then hydrated in the car and shifted over to Alpine Meadows until they closed at 2.  This was my first visit to the resort and it quickly made it on to my "little ski areas that rock" list as we pretty much had the Summit Six chair to ourselves and skied every little line that was still in.

Despite the limited snow, the steeper lines were quite good.  I don't know when it last snowed in the north Tahoe area, but the corn was dense, grippy, and confidence inspiring.  The stuff that spring steeps are made of.  The flatter, lower mountain was an ACL-tear waiting to happen, but thankfully we survived.  

The next day, we rode the northern portion of the Flume trail, which is one of the more famous rides in the Tahoe area.  It's an extremely well constructed trail that contours along about 1000 vertical feet above Lake Tahoe.  The portion we rode as an out-and-back was easy riding.

The attractions are the forest, rocks, and views, which are quintessentially east Tahoe and spectacular.  

I suspect the trail is heavily traveled during the summer.  We saw some people, but not many, making the ride more enjoyable.  

We brought our ski touring gear, but struggled deciding where to go for an accessible option not involving miles of approach or bushwhacking given the meager snowpack.  We had an interest in skiing Lassen Peak, but the 6+ hour round trip from where we were staying wasn't inviting.  We ended up driving down to Carson Pass and eventually touring around the Kirkwood ski area, which was closed.  Since neither of us had ever skied there, it was a pretty good option and it went right from the parking lot.  

After skinning up "The Wall," we traversed on bare ground to near the summit of Thimble Peak.

The skiing from here was mighty fine.  Good corn, with a bit of sun-cupped roughness.  

I suspect a week or two ago would have been best, but it was good enough for a 2nd lap.  Tracks from run one to the left.  

The return enabled us to explore some of the chutes beneath the Thunder Saddle.  Having never skied here, this added a bit of fun adventuring since we hadn't scouted the area and needed to poke around a bit to see if a line went given the meager snowpack.  We fortunately chose wisely, passing on one that we couldn't fully assess from the top and would have cliffed out.  The one below was a better choice and skied well.    

In some respects, the lack of snow was a bit of a bummer, but the skiing was good and the mixture of riding and skiing was just what the doctor ordered.  

Now to get those grades in...