A week in December in San Francisco for work. What else to do outside of the 8-5 meetings??? A whole lot of running of course. Mornings down by the Bay, evenings around downtown, and an early morning trip to Mt Tam, the birthplace of mountain biking.
Sunrise over San Francisco Bay near Ghirardelli Square.
The Rock: Alcatraz Island.
Built in Scotland in 1886, the Balclutha is now part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. I figured the water in the Bay in December would be freezing, so I was shocked to see many people swimming out to Alcatraz and back without a wetsuit!
Yerba Buena Gardens.
Hill repeats on the famous Lombard Street, the "crookedest street in the world".
Grant Avenue in San Francisco's Chinatown.
Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill: headquarters for the Episcopal Diocese of California.
Bus ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. I decided, come rain or shine (it rained ), I would wake up really early on my last day and climb Mount Tam (Tamalpais). Why Mount Tam? First, it is the tallest mountain (2,571') that is relatively close to downtown. Second , it would be somewhat of a pilgrimage to the birthplace of mountain biking.
Bus stop in Mill Valley, elevation: 60 feet. It is four miles and 2,510 vertical feet from here to the top of Mount Tam. The red gravity car is a relic of the Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway that wound 8 miles from Mill Valley to the summit and was in operation from 1896 to 1930. The gravity cars would be towed up by locomotive and then coast down the rail line with dozens or tourists and a single brakeman aboard.
Long steps at the top of Bernard Street in Mill Valley is where the real climbing begins.
Temelpa Trailhead above Mill Valley.
The heavy rain turned much of the trail into a small stream. Despite the rain, running conditions were excellent. I encountered no mud on the rocky trail, and as long as I kept moving, I never felt cold.
It was the fire roads and singletrack blanketing Mount Tam that first enticed the likes of Charlie Kelly, Gary Fisher, and Joe Breeze in the mid 1970s to modify old Schwinn cruisers into what would eventually be known as the mountain bike. Ironically, today, nearly all of the singletrack on Mount Tam is off limits to mountain bikes.
A short paved section near the summit. The higher I got, the harder the rain came down, and the harder the wind blew. I loved it. It's not that often you get to run in the rain in southern Utah, and even when rain comes, lightning and flash flooding are a constant threat.
The final "Plank Walk" to the summit, here, reduced to a series of cascades in the heavy rain.
Short video clip showing conditions on top of soggy Mount Tam.
The final push to 9410' Grandview Peak. Looking north, the Sessions Mountains in the mid-distance, Bountiful Peak (right) and Great Salt Lake (left) in far distance.
I always try to climb at least one peak every winter in snowy conditions. I missed last year, so I've made it up by making two winter ascents this season. The first, City Creek Canyon's Grandview Peak, was really just a practice run for the much more grueling Charleston Peak that I would attempt two weeks later.
As usual, I began my climb from the very base of the mountain. Defining the base of a mountain is somewhat subjective, so I usually just go with what feels fair--in this case I decided to start (biking) from the corner of North Temple and State Street in downtown Salt Lake City (elevation ~4360'). I started at about 6 am, so it would be a while until the sun came up.
My paved road-bike part of the route took me up through Memory Grove, across Bonneville Boulevard, and on up City Creek Canyon to as far as the road was plowed (about a 1/4 mile past the water treatment plant at ~5480'). Here, I stashed the bike and changed into winter boots. Initially, the snow was not very deep and it was frozen, so I kept the snowshoes packed for later.
Once through Rotary Park and on to the City Creek trail, the snow deepened considerably and I strapped on my snowshoes. I followed both a single set of ski tracks and what appeared to be moose tracks heading up the trail. Veering north up Cottonwood Gulch, I was now making virgin tracks. Just past the Treasure Box Mine, the sun came up and I got my first look at the winter wonderland around me.
Snow conditions were firm, and I had no trouble making the peak by 11 am. After some lunch, taking a couple of selfies, and calling Susie to let her know I made it, I cruised back down in a hurry to make sure I'd have time to get cleaned up for a Super Bowl party later that afternoon.
I lingered briefly at the Treasue Box, snapping photos, but I was at the bottom of the canyon by 1:30 pm.
Final numbers (round trip): 11 mile/1300' gain bike + 11 mile 4400' gain hike = 22 miles & 5700' vertical total in 7.5 hours.
Sunrise in Cottonwood Gulch of City Creek Canyon. Black Mountain , which divides the City Creek and Red Butte drainages, is the snow covered ridge in the distance.
Fast, hard snow in upper Cottonwood Gulch.
Several shallow, old avalanches on west-facing slopes in upper Cottonwood. It had been a couple of weeks since this area received snow, and the avalanche danger was very low.
Almost to the summit ridge dividing Salt Lake County's City Creek and Davis County's Mill Creek (Mueller Park). Salt Lake Valley and the Oquirrh Mountains are in the far distance.
Rime ice near the summit.
Final steps to the top.
A grand view indeed. Looking south along the central Wasatch. Lone Peak Wilderness on the skyline.
Refueling on the summit.
Looking 5000 vertical feet back down to where I started the day in downtown Salt Lake City. An incredible feeling.
Few Salt Lake residents are aware of the one-time burgeoning mining district that once existed up City Creek Canyon, just a few miles from downtown Salt Lake City. Most of the old lead-zinc mines of the Hot Springs Mining District are so overgrown, their locations have been lost to time. But the most successful of them all, the Treasure Box Mine in Cottonwood Gulch, is like a small outdoor museum and should not be missed. This mine was in sporadic operation from the 1870s up through at least the 1920s as evidenced by this 1920s-era Fordson tractor.
Here are some highlights from the rest of our trip with friends to Kauai. We fit a lot in in just a few days. Big thanks to Casey and Millie for organizing and letting us come along!
Obligatory Hawaii sunset beach shot.
For a few bucks you can rent beach cruisers in Kapaa and ride 4 miles north on a new paved path along the east coast of Kauai. The small beaches and sea spray make this a must-do adventure.
Checking out an old relic of the sugar cane industry north of Kapaa. Susie photo.
Casey and Millie take in the sunset at Poipu Beach . Nearly every evening we would sample different beaches near Kaloa, where we rented a house. Poipu Beach had the best snorkeling.
Kayaking up the Wailua River toward Secret Falls.
After stashing the kayaks, it is a short hike through the jungle to Secret Falls.
Penn, Nikki, and Dan make their way across the North Fork of the Wailua River.
Lush gardens envelope the rocky trail to Secret Falls.
North Fork of the Wailua River.
First look at Secret Falls. Susie photo.
Millie plunges into the cool waters of the Wailua River.
The Fern Grotto. Thousands of weddings have been performed here, although all of the vegetation including the hanging ferns are small re-growths after the Grotto was stripped bare during 1992's hurricane Iniki.
Tiny gecko at the Fern Grotto.
Opaekaa Falls.
Spouting Horn near Poipu.
Kim and Penn pose at the head of Kalalau Valley.
A small plane disappears into the clouds above Kalalau Valley, near the Napali Coast.
On the edge in Waimea Canyon. Susie photo.
Climbing middle Waipo'o Falls. Susie photo.
Penn cools off in upper Waipo'o Falls.
Casey, Susie, and Millie catch some air along the Waipo'o Falls Trail in Waimea Canyon.
Colorful Waimea Canyon -- the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Lower Waipo'o Falls in mid-distance.
Checking out the bedding in carbonate-cemented sandstone along the Lithified Cliffs Trail. These lithified sand dunes likely formed many thousands of years ago when sea level was much lower. Susie photo.
Sea and wind have carved the "lithified cliffs" into some amazing shapes.
Exploring the Lithified Cliffs near Shipwreck Beach. Susie photo.
Wave action and sea spray erode the lithified cliffs.
Kim jumps in near Shipwreck Beach.
Our luck with dry weather finally ran out. On my last full day on the island I was hoping to complete the remote Tunnels Hike, but the steady rain we woke up to nixed that plan. Plan B was to return to the Kalalua Trail and hike the first few miles to Hanakapi'ai Falls (which I had to bypass during my one-day run of the Kalalua Trail a few days earlier).
There was a light drizzle as we began the hike, but the rain steadily intensified as we headed up the trail along the Hanakapi'ia River. The trail crosses the river several times, and the fact that the river was noticeably rising made the hike all that more exciting, and made us pick up the pace before the river got too high to cross.
Millie puckers up for a giant Cane Toad near the Hanakapi'ai River.
Hanakapi'ai Falls. The volume of water here is probably four times normal due to the heavy rain.