Sunday, August 4, 2013

Park City, Utah - Mountain Biking

Roger and I spent the weekend at the Chateaux Deer Valley treating ourselves to some relaxation and mountain biking on the numerous trails around Park City and Deer Valley ski resorts.  Our original plan was to bike up Spiro Trail and connect to the Wasatch Crest trail, but a running race on Spiro forced us to change plans and we ended up using Armstrong for our initial ascent.  Armstrong was fantastic, and later we connected to Pinecone and then on to the Wasatch Crest.

Roger on Armstrong

 Roger on Pinecone

Pinecone connecting to the Wasatch Crest

This was my first time on the Wasatch Crest Trail and the views into Big Cottonwood Canyon were spectacular!  There were a lot more people on this section of the trail and it seemed like most people started their ride from Guardsman Pass instead the Park City side.  The trail headed north and provided us with views of the surrounding canyons and a nice overlook above Desolation Lake, a frequent snowshoeing destination for me in the winter.

Wasatch Crest Trail

Roger on the Wasatch Crest Trail

Wasatch Crest Trail

Desolation Lake

With Roger above Desolation Lake

After riding the Wasatch Crest past Desolation Lake, we descended  down to The Canyons ski resort and connected back to Park Cityon the the Mid-Mountain Trail.  This was another great trail with nice views and nothing technical.  By the time we connected back to Spiro Trail for the descent to Park City Mountain Resort, Roger and I were both exhausted.  It was late afternoon we had been riding for several hours.

Along the Mid-Mountain Trail

Bikes taking a break

I wish I had worn my GPS watch, but it looks like the loop was over 30 miles long with over 4,000 feet of climbing.  The rest of the day and night was spent relaxing in the pools and hot tubs.  On Sunday morning, we did a quick ride on Mid Mountain from Deer Valley Resort before returning to Salt Lake.

Aspen Trees on Mid-Mountain

Enjoying a break with Roger