Last Summer blast!

Well let's just say that the weekend didn't start out so hot. I felt crappy on my Saturday ride and only did half of the ride I wanted to. Then I went home and cleaned out my closets. . . boring! While cleaning I compulsively checked the weather on the internet and the forecast never changed. . rain, thunder and lightening. It wasn't looking good for downhilling. So come Sunday morning I was still lying in bed pouting when Kara called. "Come up," she said, "just a few clouds." So I grabbed my mountain bike and threw in my tent and sleeping bag for good measure.

Thankfully Kara just lives and doesn't worry about things like the forecast. It ended up to be a beautiful day! Her husband's friend (aka line up for Shanna) didn't show so it was just Kara, Scott and I. Kara invested in knee and shin pads so there was no worry about her holding back (you're laughing if you know Kara, holding back and Kara don't belong in the same sentence). In fact most of the day I would catch up to Scott and together we'd ponder Kara's whereabouts.



We did my favorite run, that Scott hates because you have to climb (only like 800 ft.) to get to another mountain, Deer Crest.



We finished the day with a long run that headed us into some deep forest and eventually connected us with Midmountain. It was awesome!



After we had exhausted ourselves they headed home to pick up kids. I was planning on meeting friends at Soldier Hollow the next day so I decided to camp. I stayed at Wasatch Mountain State Park. The fall leaves are starting to turn (see above).

I got a great campsite (no worries Mom, I was in a designated site with cell phone service and other campers near). I set up my tent and headed back into Midway hoping to hit the Timp Freeze for dinner. I had fond memories of going there as a teenager after a day of skiing at Deer Creek. Unfortunately, it was closed. I settled for fast food in Heber and got back to camp just as it was starting to rain. I was happy to have a reason to get in my tent and have nothing else to do but read my book.




At about 8 pm there was a break in the rain and I got out of my tent and went for a nice long walk and got ready for bed. (See above picture of the view from my campground. That little sliver of silver is Deer Creek.) I climbed into my sleeping bag at 9 just as the rain started up once again. The roar of thunder echoed through the canyon. I slept with the racket of rain on my tent until 1 am when the first small drop hit my face. It seems my "GoBeDry" rainproof tent system had about all it could take at 6 hours of torrential rains. Before I got any wetter I bailed for the Jeep and I traded the sound of rain on my tent for the sound of rain on my metal roof- still soothing.

It was the lack of sound that woke me. Finally at 7 am it had stopped raining. I enjoyed the warmth of my bag a bit longer before getting up and breaking camp. The tent I'd abandoned was actually pretty dry inside with the exception of two small puddles, one right where my face had been.

I grabbed a gas station breakfast and met my friends at Soldier Hollow for the Sheep Dog Trials.



The dogs were amazing. Through only whistles and voice commands the dogs would gather two separate herds of sheep, guide them through gates and then eventually would separate 5 wearing collars and get them in a pen. It was awesome considering I cannot even get my dogs to stay off the couches.



I finished off the evening with a fish fry at Kara's house. Scott fried the halibut he'd recently caught in Alaska. It was delicious! I especially enjoyed talking to Inger. She's Scott's Mom. She marches to her own drummer and makes no apoligies for it. She comes to my spin class and works harder than most people half her age. She is the only person I've ever had complain if class didn't go the full 60 minutes. She's a hoot!

So despite a rocky beginning, it ended up to be a great weekend.Now I'm a little more ready for fall. This week I start teaching two more step classes in trade for the lesser amount of riding I'll get in. I guess ready or not fall is here. As I was driving home I looked up at the peak I had ridden my mountain bike off just the day before- it was covered in snow.