It was KB and I’s one year anniversary yesterday… I will wait for the applause to subside.
So, I took some long over due time off. We headed up Cedar Mountain last Wednesday and just got back yesterday. We had a hell of a time. The weather was absolutely amazing and we got a few good rides in. And most importantly, I relaxed for six whole days. Hurray for me…
If you didn’t get your popcorn before you started this read, I’ll give you a minute to get it ready, this may be a long one.
We arrived at our chosen campsite Wednesday evening around 5. We set up camp. KB cooked some pasta, I got the fire wood gathered and we settled in. The temperature was right around 70 degrees and the slight breeze brought the sent of rain and a bit of a chill in the air. We checked the weather and there was thunderstorms forecast for every day until Sunday. Stoked…
As forecasted, the clouds opened the next morning. It only sprinkled for a few minutes but that sound was a symphony in itself. There is definitely something special about the sound of rain on the canvas of a tent while you’re in the mountains.
Thursday we really didn’t do much other than visit my sister’s cabin, where we got married, after all this was our anniversary trip. We planned and chilled by the fire. We did a lot of chillin by the fire…
As is the case with my awesome wife, after a full day of doing basically nothing, she was ready to go. We had wanted to do Lowder Ponds the year before but the info in the guide book was a little off and we ended up turning at 1.5 miles when the trail turned at 1.8 (the guide said 1.5 mile). So we headed out once again to see if we could conquer this little journey. As we were gearing up, the clouds were rolling and thunder was clapping in the distant. As such, I opted to not bring the SLR. I wish I had, it never rained more than a few drops on us while we were on the trail and the scenery deserved a real camera. I did have the phone with me and snapped off a few shots for your enjoyment.
We were glad we made the effort. The trail goes from Brian Head peak and drops down into the Lowder Ponds and then runs over to Sydney Valley. The trail didn’t appear to be well ridden and we ran into a trail crew clearing dead fall. The trail drops down a drainage to the first pond. This runs through some great little meadows and has some loose, rocky sections that are fun to negotiate. Once to the ponds the trail winds its way over to Sydney Valley which is a beautiful green valley with a nice stream running through it. Up to this point the trail is mostly down hill. Once in the valley, we had to climb our asses back up to the Brian Head Peak trail junction. This is a couple of miles on a dirt road. I hate dirt roads. If I had to pick between a dirt road that was two miles up hill at a low incline and two miles of straight up trail, I would take the straight up. That way I don’t feel stupid for walking… The dirt road was just a warm-up for riding back to the peak which was anything but easy. Nuf said.
Then we chilled by the fire.
Saturday, Cim and Bryce met us at the resort for what I thought was going to be an easy little jaunt. Unbeknownst to me, Sir Pratt had planned on putting our ride on steroids and doing death march all the way across the mountain. I’m exaggerating a little bit, but not much.
We began at the resort. Bryce’s route took us right up the face of the mountain and then around the peak. It was a good five mile climb to get to the Brian Head Peak trailhead. And most of it was uphill, very steep uphill. After a lot of complaining by myself we made it to the top. And yes I did push my bike more than once. From the peak we jumped on over to Dark Hollow and headed down its rocky tracks. It was about this time that it started to rain. Everyone but Bryce was prepared, so he got cold and wet. We hauled some wet, muddy ass down Dark Hollow to the fork and then headed towards the scout camp. This leg of our journey was a bit muddy. I came around one corner to see Cim in sitting in the middle of the trail with her bike flipped out on one side. I thought I could do better but ended up in much the same position. The clay was just slick as chicken shit. And trust me, that is slick.
Once we made it to the scout camp we had the lovely opportunity to climb back to the resort. All told we rode just over 15 miles in four hours. And then KB and I devoured a pizza at Pizanos. It was the first time I can remember that we actually finished a pizza (ok there was one piece left).
The next day happened to be Sunday. We were toast and the Brinkerhoff clan reunion was in full swing so we spent the morning visiting, story telling and generally relaxing with my family. The afternoon came and KB said she didn’t want to ride, which really surprised me. So we took a nap, and then she was disappointed we hadn’t ridden. Go figure. We did have a good thunderstorm roll through our camp that was a joy to witness.
So Sunday was our anniversary, but Monday was exactly one year from the Wedding Ride. Our plan had been to ride the trail again on Sunday but that didn’t happen. We rode it on Monday. I kept waiting for it to really suck because I remember the trail being really, really, really steep, but it never sucked. It felt fast and easy which led me to the conclusion that six days is exactly how long it takes for your lungs to feel good at 10,000 feet. That’s the only explanation I have for it. It made me want to go ride the Virgin River Rim trail immediately, like four times.
Well, that was the weekend. I’ll tell you all about my new bike tomorrow.
Peace.