Wasatch 100 Preview

I'll keep it short and let the pictures do the talking.

On Saturday (8/10) Greg, Peter and myself ran from the base of Big Mtn. to Lambs Canyon then down to Mountain Dell golf course. The I-80 bridge project forced us to park down at the golf course and bushwhack our way around the fairways (note to self, just run on the fairway next time).

This section of trail is normally dry and dusty, but all of the afternoon thunderstorms left the vegetation holding a lot of water. As a consequence my shoes were wet for the entire run and the trails were really nice, I wasn't complaining a bit...


On Sunday we decided to run the last section of Wasatch from Brighton to the Homestead. The bummer part of this run is that is requires a rather long car shuttle, but thanks to Peter, Brian and Sam's father-in-law, we had rides waiting for us when we were finished.

The run itself was great. We actually had a pretty good size group that included Peter, Brian, Greg, Sam, Mike, and myself. Mike came down from Ketchum to preview the last section the Wasatch 100 and he was a welcome addition to the crew.

The morning was a little chilly, producing goose bumps on my arms from time to time. I didn't mind because I knew the last 2.5 hours would be pretty exposed to the afternoon sun. Sure enough it started to warm up as soon as we got to Rock Springs and discovered that the pipes had no water flowing from them. We all went in to conservation mode, waiting for the next spring just before Pot Bottom. On the way we were able to show the Brian, Mike and Sam the delightful Dive and Plunge, which are just as pleasurable as ever. Luckily the spring before Pot Bottom was producing a trickle and we were able to fill our bottles for the final 8.5 miles.

After Pot Bottom the climb up was the same as ever, but I'm happy to report that the road down to the gate seemed to be in better shape than usual. Then again maybe I'm just getting used to it. For Wasatch virgins remember this mantra: pass the water tank, start down, quick left on singletrack. Seems as though a few runners missed this junction last year and it's real easy to just keep running downhill right past it if you don't see the markers.

Stay tuned for a video...