It is unanimously acknowledged among the chosen that biking is the ride to enlightenment. The insights of the ancients tell us so and who are we to argue with a bunch of really old people? Jason and I have found many favorite local spots for cycling transcendence but we are always happy to add another to our long list and that’s just what we did a couple of weeks ago when we tried out Corner Canyon in Draper for the first time. Those hallowed hills increased our comprehension of the proverbs of old and confirmed the agelessness of their admonitions. Allow me to share the proverbial truths testified by this ride:
Without a map, one cannot hope for a destination.
Corner Canyon contains a myriad of trails that crisscross and intersect each other often. The path options are boggling and the ways to get lost even more numerous so I’d strongly recommend grabbing a map from the trailhead if you wish to explore this region. Unless, of course, you prefer being puzzled perpetually over your whereabouts.
The Canyon Hollow Trail, full of twisty ups and downs, was particularly fun to ride.
The wise man builds his house on rock; the fool rides his bike on sand.
We started out on the Lower Corner Canyon Trail and then joined up with the Canyon Hollow Trail until we hit Ghost Falls. Lower Corner Canyon traverses some sandy regions. Jason hit one of these, flipped his bike and did a topsy-turvy spiral over his handlebars. Fortunately, he only got a few scrapes and bruises from his unexpected aerial maneuvers.
The trails in Corner Canyon are well signed but they intersect each other so often that those markers are a lot less helpful than you’d expect.
Breaking the ties that bind makes even going downhill an uphill climb.
From Ghost Falls we had planned on taking another longer loop around the upper regions of the canyon but, alas, Jason’s bike chain broke just as we were nearing that phantom. He had to ride his bike all the way back down the canyon without the luxury of a chain. Luckily, the terrain is mostly downhill in that direction so, although he didn’t have any pedaling power or means of control, he made it to the car without crisis.
His broken chain, although highly inconvenient, did not break Jason’s good mood.
A truck was lodged in the streambed near the falls and, judging from the trees enshrouding it, that steel wedgie had been in place for a long time.
The true state of man is sweaty. Only when we accept this are we open to the perspiration of the universe.
Ghost Falls, named so because it disappears altogether when the conditions are right, made for a nice, if unplanned, endpoint to our canyon climb. Thanks to the spring melt off, it was a gracefully twisting stream of water and its curvy flow over a series of flat mossy boulders was serene and mesmerizing.
Ghost Falls was no scary specter but a peaceful cascade of winding water.
Only a fool heeds the warning of fools.
We had heard from an acquaintance that most of the bikers frequenting Corner Canyon are jerks. However, we found them to be exactly the opposite. We encountered some of the friendliest, most helpful riders we’ve ever come across while on these trails. Many of them stopped to assist us with directions unsolicited. I guess we reeked of pathetically lost.
The view coming down the Ghost Falls Trail was quite lovely.
Nirvana is not just a state of being, it’s a state of pedaling and it can be reached. Our Corner Canyon adventure opened our third eyes along with our fourth and fifth ones too. Now that I can see so darn well, I predict that Jason and I will find our centers, or the sandy ground, in Corner Canyon again soon.
When Jason and I visited Kodachrome Basin State Park last fall we noticed a group campsite that was isolated in a beautiful area and my plotting mind instantly recognized its potential as a future base of operation. Thus, when I got nominated to plan our first camping trip of the season I immediately thought of Kodachrome. As it turns out, I am indeed a bit of a scheming genius.
Our group campsite was comparatively plush and superbly situated.
Peculiar boulders and spires knotted the landscape around the Panorama Trail.
We usually go camping at least once every summer with a group of our buddies that includes: the Rowleys, the Bresees, and my brother Drew’s family. We’ve stayed in everything from state parks to RV parks on these excursions along with some cozy little cabins. The stress and success of our outdoor outings have varied considerably. Since our recent Kodachrome trip went pretty smoothly, I’d say it now ranks among my favorites.
This “Indian cave” contained petroglyphs that were definitely not of prehistoric import.
Boys will be ballerinas.
That group campsite, as anticipated, ended up being absolutely ideal for our raucous assortment of friends. It was solitarily situated among cresting red hills and equipped with a covered picnic table pavilion, a fire pit encircled by benches, and plenty of flat space for tents. Did I already mention that I’m a genius?
The texture of these wrinkly dirt mounds was fascinating.
My morning tea was too hot to drink before our hike but there was no way I was leaving it behind.
We arrived on Friday evening and spent most of our Saturday hiking. I was impressed with how well the little kids in our group held up. Our first trek took us along the Panorama Trail to such exciting places as the Secret Passage, Hat Shop, and Cool Cave. The Cool Cave, though really an alcove not a cave, was a favorite with the kiddies. It provided plenty of difficult dirt to challenge their climbing skills. Our diverting stops, remarkably, kept the children going for the entire 6 miles of our journey without many complaints. They were all too tired though near the end to make a slight detour to the Panorama Point lookout, which Jason and I checked out on our own. And just for the record, Drew and Jeremy were exhausted from backpacking their tiniest family members around and probably complained more than the youngsters.
The Cool Cave was not actually a cave but it was definitely cool.
The boys climbed up the sides of the Cool Cave much farther than I thought they’d be able to.
Jason and I took a little http://quotecorner.com/online-pharmacy.html jaunt on our own later that afternoon when lethargy infected the rest of our group. We explored the Grand Parade Trail and its offshoots into a couple of box canyons. The unusual rock shapes and shades in those canyons were the most intriguing parts of this hike.
Kodachrome was full of unusual rock formations including these flinty nuclear smokestack facsimiles.
Later, we got back together with the gang for a trek through Angel’s Palace. We were hoping to catch the sunset from that aerial vantage point but missed it by minutes. Still, this path, which is my favorite at Kodachrome, did not disappoint with its curious colors and slender fingers of precipitous rock. Surprisingly, most of the kids, even after all their earlier walking, wanted to join us for this climb.
Jason and I bought ice cream for everyone at the tiny camp store after our first hike; it was eagerly received.
The Grand Parade Trail had its grand moments.
The weather at Kodachrome was nearly ideal (Yet another detail meticulously accounted for by the genius of Rachel.) but the pleasant temperatures plummeted after dark making the fire pit a very popular spot in the evenings. Most of the adults gathered around the flames’ glow each night until 1:00 AM or so chatting and gazing at the stars, which pricked the sky so numerously in that remote region it’s a wonder the heavens didn’t leak light.
Our line of hikers paused on a ridge while ascending to Angel’s Palace making our youngest explorers nervous.
We barely missed seeing a spectacular sunset atop Angel’s Palace by minutes.
Our trip was over quickly but even demolishing our campsite on Sunday morning proved exciting. Drew found a small pale scorpion under his tent as he was packing it away. Yes, that’s the kind that’s quite poisonous. Maybe Drew will think twice now about unzipping all of his tent doors at night in a claustrophobic rage. Maybe…
The narrow spines of stone that jut out from Angel’s Palace offer a dizzying view of the warped surroundings and the distant ground.
Jason and I are solid explorers. We never run out of curiosity or steam.
Kodachrome Basin was rather fantastic. The temperatures, except for the first night during which we all froze sheathed in our ineffectual sleeping bags, were perfect. The scenery was gorgeous and the stars overwhelming plus the kids handled their explorative exercise unexpectedly well. As with any group as large as ours, some organizational challenges were unavoidable but I think those were pretty minimal this time compared to other camping trips. May all of our tented sprees be as successful as Kodachrome!
Jason and I have been ecstatically married for many years, twelve to be exact. It was my turn to make sure that our anniversary was celebrated properly this May and I decided that instead of concentrating on the distantly exotic our revelries were going to focus on the freshly convenient. Salt Lake City, just a short drive away, was exactly what I was looking for. Even though we’ve both been to that metropolis countless times, I was certain that it still held many opportunities for new adventures and I was right. Unfortunately, our new adventures decided to have adventures of their own so not all of our holiday pastimes ended up being entirely of our choosing. However, even with some unexpected setbacks our vacation was mostly delightful.
Jason is a smart and excellent husband. He never ceases to make me feel special.
I reserved a 2-night stay for us at Salt Lake’s most luxurious hotel: the Grand America. The suites at this resort are definitely spacious and the Grand America is in a great location for easy access to many of downtown’s hotspots. But, despite our comfortable quarters, the first night of our getaway was a bit of a hot mess and not in a good way. After work we hurried to get on the road and were halfway to SLC in hectic traffic when I realized that I had forgotten my shoes. No, not the shoes on my feet, but the extra few pairs I was planning on bringing to coordinate with our anticipated activities. A girl has her needs so don’t you roll your eyes at me! Turning around to retrieve my shoes (Yes, I NEEDED them.) made us a few minutes late for our night of John Williams’ music with the Utah Symphony. It was only the first of many things that would go wrong that evening. Another setback occurred when we decided to try Eva, a downtown tapas bar, for a late bite after the concert. We thought this would be a quick culinary excursion but it turned out rather the opposite because we couldn’t find parking anywhere. All of the street stalls had police signs posted on them indicating that parking was not allowed currently. We discovered the following morning that our parking blues were due to the roads closing for a Bike Utah event that ran through the middle of town. It seemed like we drove in endless circles before finally stumbling upon a place we could leave our car. At least Eva, after all that hassle, was tasty, quick and pretty cheap. If you’re looking for an inexpensive and unique place to grab some grub in the downtown area, this might be a good spot for you to try.
Washington Square provided a pleasant place to cram pastries into our piggy mouths.
Speaking of spots, our next problem came in the form of a wad of gum that mysteriously found its way onto the shoulder of my jacket while we were eating dinner. Gross! Why am I always a magnet for the unclaimed hair, gum and feces of the world? The last hiccup of our evening was caused by another forgotten item: Jason’s contact case. After realizing he had left it behind, Jason had to go searching for something to put his contacts in. This proved a difficult task since it was past midnight. Eventually he was saved by a 7-Eleven and thus ended our would-be relaxing first night. Not exactly the trip start I had envisioned.
The hills leading to Ensign Peak were strewn with grasses and wildflowers.
It was breezy on Ensign Peak but the view made it worth bearing.
In spite of the snags that had threatened to turn our calm weekend into calamity, the next day we were back on track. We woke up late and walked twenty minutes to a French bakery called Gourmandie’s for decadent pastries which we justified in the name of breakfast/lunch. We took them to Washington Square and enjoyed a makeshift park bench picnic. The rum ball that I gobbled was neither a healthy breakfast nor a healthy lunch but it was better than delicious!
This was the only picture of us together taken all weekend. Thus, despite our silly faces, it’s here in this post.
That black blip is an airplane that was making its way to the SLC airport.
Next, we went to a matinee showing of Iron Man III at the Gateway. There’s always some geeky blockbuster being released near our anniversary so it’s become kind of a tradition for us to see superheroes in celebration of our own marital superpowers. Who am I to question tradition? Iron Man III was a fun flick, gaping plot holes and all.
The sinking sun silhouetted Jason’s dark frame, creating a perfect picture.
After our show, we hiked to the top of Ensign Peak to watch the sunset. (See, I did need those other shoes.) Although a lifelong Utah resident, Jason had never been to Ensign Peak before and it seemed eager to show him just what he’d been missing. The brilliant scarlets and golds of the dipping sun reflected beautifully off the Great Salt Lake and its many surrounding saline ponds doubling the scene’s kaleidoscopic colors. It was a tad windy and nippy at the summit but we both quite enjoyed this picturesque excursion anyway.
As the sun dropped below the horizon, the sky was set ablaze and the water below reflected that heavenly fire.
These streaming clouds looked like they were painted into the sky.
Following our walk, it was time to chomp more incredible cuisine. We ate dinner at a newish restaurant called Valter’s Osteria. I would highly recommend this place. The service is impeccable and the food is amazing. Jason got the spinach ravioli and it was honestly the best ravioli I’ve ever had in my life. Yum!
Tracy Aviary is located in the corner of Liberty Park.
The next morning we kept up our trend of excessive food intake with brunch at a stylish cafe called Niche that specializes in locally grown ingredients. I had the fish tacos and they were scrumptious. (No, the fish was not locally grown.)
The Tracy Aviary takes in injured birds of prey. Since they can no longer fly, these predators aren’t in fully enclosed structures.
We spent the rest of what was a very pleasant afternoon at the Tracy Aviary, a well-kept bird sanctuary that neither of us had been to. It was just big enough that we were able to see most of it without getting overloaded. I liked all of the birds but their many owls were my favorite.
We got to get cozy with this Guira Cuckoo. He definitely looked cuckoo.
And that completed our weekend. It may have started out a little rough but it finished nicely. We ate ourselves silly, relaxed, enjoyed perfect spring weather, and relished local favorites. Who says you can’t find novel diversions in your own backyard? After all, an anniversary is a great time to remind yourself that the world holds many treasures but the best ones are right at home. Happy anniversary Jason! More than a dozen years ago I decided that you are remarkable and time has proved that, as always, I was right!
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