Day 49: Hey, it was a different day and I was on skis, so it counts.
On Tuesday afternoon I took my lab puppy Jake up to Mill Creek Canyon for a walk, and I was surprised at the amount of snow up there. I kept thinking that it would be easier on skis than on foot, so I decided to repeat the experience on Thursday afternoon with skins and skis.
The mouth of Mill Creek Canyon sits barely over a half mile from my house. It runs parallel to and between Parley's Canyon and Big Cottonwood Canyon. It's almost entirely Wasatch National Forest land, yet it's not watershed so dogs are allowed. During the winter months the first 4.5 miles are plowed but that's where the winter maintenance ends. If one were to continue on to the head of the canyon they'd be standing on the Park City ridgeline directly above the new Orange Bubble Express lift at Canyons Resort.
I drove to the end of the plowed road, slapped the skins on and headed up the snow-covered road with Jake.
The road ascends slowly so the skinning was easy. We made good time. The air was warm and I was skinning in just a t-shirt. The snow melt in the creek was bitterly cold, yet I had an impossible time keeping Jake out of the water.
I had hoped to reach Elbow Fork, then ascend the Elbow Fork-Terraces trail to ski the steep trees on the northerly aspect between that trail and the road. Alas, there wasn't sufficient cover so we headed further up canyon in search of deeper snow. We found it, but it was still too manky and wet, and discretion dictated that we stick to the road instead.
We went as far as Thousand Springs. Realizing that things wouldn't get much better, and having skinned three miles to get there I decided to turn back. Right as I did so, however, I heard cries coming from the creek bed alongside the road. Jake had gone down into the creek -- again -- but the bank was far too tall and steep for him to get back out. After three tries I got him to climb halfway back up the bank and then stay there. I sidestepped down toward the creek far enough for me to grab his collar to provide support, and he used my skis as a platform to climb back onto the road. Dummy!!
Having stripped the skins from my skis we started back down the road for a three-mile ski back to the car. The road is pitched about the same as a green circle run, but the snow was so warm and wet that it was slow going in places. In others, though, I was able to arc big, lazy turns from side to side on the road. Jake ran back down the road the entire way beside me or behind me. Good times!
After the three mile run Jake was exhausted when we got back to the car. Not too tired, though, as he found an old punctured tennis ball in the parking lot and insisted upon playing catch before we drove back home down the canyon.
On Tuesday afternoon I took my lab puppy Jake up to Mill Creek Canyon for a walk, and I was surprised at the amount of snow up there. I kept thinking that it would be easier on skis than on foot, so I decided to repeat the experience on Thursday afternoon with skins and skis.
The mouth of Mill Creek Canyon sits barely over a half mile from my house. It runs parallel to and between Parley's Canyon and Big Cottonwood Canyon. It's almost entirely Wasatch National Forest land, yet it's not watershed so dogs are allowed. During the winter months the first 4.5 miles are plowed but that's where the winter maintenance ends. If one were to continue on to the head of the canyon they'd be standing on the Park City ridgeline directly above the new Orange Bubble Express lift at Canyons Resort.
I drove to the end of the plowed road, slapped the skins on and headed up the snow-covered road with Jake.
The road ascends slowly so the skinning was easy. We made good time. The air was warm and I was skinning in just a t-shirt. The snow melt in the creek was bitterly cold, yet I had an impossible time keeping Jake out of the water.
I had hoped to reach Elbow Fork, then ascend the Elbow Fork-Terraces trail to ski the steep trees on the northerly aspect between that trail and the road. Alas, there wasn't sufficient cover so we headed further up canyon in search of deeper snow. We found it, but it was still too manky and wet, and discretion dictated that we stick to the road instead.
We went as far as Thousand Springs. Realizing that things wouldn't get much better, and having skinned three miles to get there I decided to turn back. Right as I did so, however, I heard cries coming from the creek bed alongside the road. Jake had gone down into the creek -- again -- but the bank was far too tall and steep for him to get back out. After three tries I got him to climb halfway back up the bank and then stay there. I sidestepped down toward the creek far enough for me to grab his collar to provide support, and he used my skis as a platform to climb back onto the road. Dummy!!
Having stripped the skins from my skis we started back down the road for a three-mile ski back to the car. The road is pitched about the same as a green circle run, but the snow was so warm and wet that it was slow going in places. In others, though, I was able to arc big, lazy turns from side to side on the road. Jake ran back down the road the entire way beside me or behind me. Good times!
After the three mile run Jake was exhausted when we got back to the car. Not too tired, though, as he found an old punctured tennis ball in the parking lot and insisted upon playing catch before we drove back home down the canyon.
