Park City, UT

As we made our way back to Colorado and then to North Carolina, we stopped at Park City for our next 2-week stint. Being in a little mountain town seemed appealing, especially since it’s between the busy summer and winter seasons, meaning there were far less people which was nice. Tom also has a mountain biking friend who lives just outside Park City and was basically our tour guide of local trails. We also hit Park City at the perfect time for the leaves to start changing color like crazy! We didn’t plan that, but we certainly weren’t disappointed.

We had an Airbnb about 1 mile from Park City Main Street and walking distance to the grocery store and main essentials. There were also a number of trail runs right outside our door at Masonic Hill and a ton of mountain bike rides at the ski resort. It was also just a pleasant place to walk around with great bike/ walking paths along the creek to Main Street. I very much enjoyed being able to walk to the grocery store for what ever we needed, to grab a chai from Starbucks or take a work break and walk along the creek.

I also very much enjoyed the biking trails around! I thought I would have ran more, but no. This was not the place to run, this was the place to bike. I don’t think I’ve mountain biked more in 1 week then I did here, but it was great! I saw a huge improvement in my skills from getting out so much. Tom also enjoyed the trails and biked pretty much every day he could. Which meant pretty much every day. My first day of riding was just below Utah Olympic Park where yes, the Olympics were held in 2002, and the now use the facilities for training. So naturally, we biked our way up to check out what they were doing. Oh. My. God. I’ve probably seen something as cool, but this was pretty darn cool! Especially seeing people train for a winter sport in the summer. I never quite thought about how they did that, but my mind was blown. So that was cool. And the trails around were so fun! Really flowy, easy, smooth and some little berms to practice my switchbacks and little mini pumps.

That weekend it rained on Saturday (probably the only day Tom didn’t ride) which worked out because it rested our legs for closing day at Dear Valley the next day. I always get intimidated by bike parks because they just seem more intense then going out for a normal ride. Tom and Jon were nice enough to do a warm up lap with me on the green/ blue trail and then we hit the Tidal Wave trail a few times. And holy moly that trail was so much fun! Probably one of the top 3 days I’ve ever had on my bike. The trail is rightfully named because there’s a ton of table tops you can either get some good air on or practice getting comfy with air which is exactly what I did. There were some little pumpy sections and a TON of table tops. The repetitive nature allowed me to build up my confidence and I think I got a legit 5″ off the ground on both tires! ohh, I was having fun. We did that lap a few times and since the lift lines were pretty long (it was closing day after all) I sat out the rest of the day and let Tom and Jon do their thing and ride the bigger trails. I’ve also learned to stop early while I’m still on a high note (especially with something like MTB where it’s very mental for me). We were also planning on some big rides the next 2 days and I wanted to keep my legs as fresh as possible because my quads and feet burn with so much constant downhill!

The next day, per Jon’s recommendation we did the WOW (Wasatch Over Wasatch) trail on the other side of the pass. It’s a shuttle so it helps to have 2 vehicles and it’s a 2,300′ descent over 9 miles with 400′ of climbing. So a lot more downhill. It was so pretty and opened up on the ridge a little for some valley views, wove through the trees and over a few rock gardens. There were A TON of swtichbacks. Like a lot. But per my best learning practices of repeating something, I had a lot of practice and it was much needed. I think I got every switch back except for maybe 3. I was feeling really good!

We thought we timed the ride correctly, but apparently we didn’t and ended up biking the last mile in total darkness.. oops. Not ideal, but it was actually kind of fun. None of us were prepared with lights so we basically kept a steady pace and stayed loose so we could get over anything we couldn’t see. Apparently I ride better when I can’t see because I was picking up speed and riding over every single perfectly. (I’m a very visual and mental rider that I easily psych myself out, but when you can’t see, and you know the person in front of you is still on their bike, you keep going too!).

Our friend Natalie (who also passed through Boise) was in the area on her way back to Denver! So naturally we had to ride together. This trail looped a bunch of trails together in the Park City Mountain Resort, Jenni’s/ Tommy’s/ Mojave/ Mid Mountain, Crescent Mine Grade. There were SO MANY LEAVES it was amazing!! I don’t ride very fast in general, but I slowed way down on the final down hill to soak in the colors because they were just too pretty! This trail was 10.6 miles with 1,800′ of elevation which was kind of nice for my quads from the last 2 days of downhill. Like the rest of the trails in the area, these were flowy, smooth, a few rock gardens and all the fun! We timed this one a little better and finished the right right before it was getting really dark, but not without sneaking in a couple of photo ops. Also because Natalie is a pro biking photographer, so we kind of had to. Thanks to all the riding I’d been doing, I was riding faster and way more confident than just a week ago. It’s so awesome to see progress! But now my legs are ready for a break.

Tom went for a few more rides while I worked the next few days. But we decided to stay in Park City/ SLC area through the weekend because there was still so much to do! I was able to squeeze in 1 more ride, Flying Dog, which is right next to Jon’s place. A couple of his friends joined and it was fun to get a little group ride in. Although they are legends of this trail so I felt a little slow and out of my element. But none the less, I still had fun because I could tell how much I’d improved over the 2 weeks in Park City. Which is good, because the next week weekends will be spent with even more MTB with friends in Fruita and Moab, so I had to get my biking game on!

We checked out a few brewery patios in Salt Lake City for dinner. We found a prime patio spot at T.F. Brewing complete with a firepit, twinkle lights and everyone’s happy dogs. Felt kind of like our backyard, just shared with a bunch if distant strangers.

Since we didn’t have our Airbnb anymore, we slept at the Park n Ride lot at the base of one of the canyons (oh the joys and conveniences of vanlife) and grabbed a delicious breakfast at Alfa Coffee. Before we hit the road on Sunday we checked out one of the climbing crags in Big Cottonwood Canyon. There are A TON of climbing routes in the canyons outside of Salt Lake that it only made sense to check it out at least once. Plus one of Tom’s friends Marissa, we in town as well (she was escaping the smoke in Oregon) so it was the perfect thing to do and catch up. It’d been a while since we’ve climbed, I think since June. So we stuck to some easy 5.6’s and 5.7’s and it felt good! My feet didn’t quite love squeezing into those tiny shoes, but I tried to bear through it because the rock and holds were all really positive. Not to mention the views at top. Also, the other people climbing were all really nice and everyone was respectful of giving each other space. All in all, it was a great time and great way to finish our Park City/ SLC stint.

*cover photo courtesy of Natalie Starr