July 13, 2014

The view from my run this morning.

Holy crap. I just had the best run of my life — or at least one of the best. I’m just sorry I didn’t have a camera.

Back behind the university, the Utah Valley ends and the mountains begin. The person who checked me in yesterday the University Guest House said I’d find many trails to run on off Red Butte Canyon Road. She wasn’t kidding. Check the link above to the Guest House to see.

The road itself is gravel, and if you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss the many trailheads leading off and up. I decided that I would run the length of the road, but at about a mile in, it was fenced off. Good thing, since then I decided to get off the road anyway.

The first trail I tried was very rocky and steep — not very good for running, so I turned around. Across the road was a better one, at least at first. But it, too, got to be narrow and very steep on some of the descents. Not safe. All I needed to do was twist an ankle or break a leg even before the fellowship starts. After a bit, I found myself back on the road.

I thought that might be the end of it, but I happened on another trailhead. This was the one. (It turns out to be the Red Butte Skyline Nature Trail.) It climbed fairly steeply at first, but evened off half-way up the mountain. The trail continued fairly evenly with a beautiful view of Salt Lake City and the Utah Valley. Gorgeous. I could get used to this. I ran a couple of miles, following two other runners until the trail began to descend. I turned around, deciding not to overdo it the first day. I still managed five miles.

Next time, I need to take my camera to record the stunning view. Maybe tomorrow.