Mid Mountain Double-Dip

This Labor Day weekend I did a double-dip on Mid Mountain trail in Park City.

Saturday was the guy's ride. Mark, Todd, Ed and I drove up to the Park City Mountain Resort and started off with the Spiro trail for a nice 3.5 mile climb. Climbing takes effort, but Spiro makes it almost painless as it entertains with switchbacks, forests of Maples and Aspens, and grade that doesn't kill you. Ed continued up Thayne's Canyon heading for the Wasatch Crest and Mill D trails, while the rest of us went north on the Mid Mountain trail. This section of Mid Mountain is 14 miles to The Canyons resort. I love this trail - it stays near the 8,000' elevation, but has plenty of variety and scenic views. Todd had decided to go up the Ridge Connector trail and also take the Crest (southbound) and Mill D like Ed. The Ridge Connector is so nice, Mark and I accompanied him up so we could enjoy ripping down it. Back at Mid Mountain we went out Hunters trail which had some really nice riding. We rode out to where we could look down on Pinebrook and met a hiker coming up who told us that the trail connected to a paved road that we could take through Pinebrook and make our way back to Park City. We were tempted to finish off Hunters, but I had never been on Rob's or Colin's trails and wanted to go back and ride them. Fortunately riding back up Hunters was pretty mellow and soon enough we were back at the top of Rob's. Rob's and Colin's are fairly new trails and they're still a bit rough. This is one long, raucous downhill. I usually can't get enough downhill - it's what I do all that climbing for - but for the last half mile I was looking for the end. Colin's dumped us out on a road and we made our way back to the car. A 35 mile ride of some of Park City's best single-track.



Conditions were so nice on Saturday, that Monday I went back up to Park City with my wife. We also went up Spiro (after taking the Silver Spur connector trail) to where it intersects Mid Mountain. This time we did an out-n-back north up Mid Mountain to the viewpoint above Thayne's Canyon. Upon returning back to the intersection with Sprio, we went south on Mid Mountain to the ridge where the Payday and Town lifts terminate. From here we went down one of our favorite trails - John's. It winds through a big, thick grove of Aspens as you snake through tree trunks and bounce over roots. This trail always puts a smile on my face - it's just plain fun. And for the second time ever, I completed the trail without a dab - not a difficult feat, but a fun game. Then it was on to Sweeny Switchbacks as the trail switches to a good trail with several rocky technical spots. And just like last time I took the wrong turn and we ended up on a steep, sketchy trail. So much for navigation memory. Overall the trails were damp and tacky with no dust and the weather was cool - MTB nirvana! After the ride we ate at a BBQ joint and relished the tasty food.