We were lucky to have decent, if not warm, weather in Sun Valley. There was a cold front that dusted us with snow on Monday. But on Tuesday the sun was out again. It was still chilly; as Puck and I started out on our hand cycle at 9:00, it was 22 degrees. My hand warmers kept me going, just barely. Puck, for his part, misjudged the depth of a creek and fell in. I laughed. Does that make me a bad mom? The water temperature didn’t bother him, but the ice on his fur was a different matter. He was NOT pleased. Near our turn around, we passed a few folks sitting in a natural hot springs. I wished I had known it was there; those people sure looked toasty!
Big girl bike!
Later that day I took my big girl bike out for a spin and made it 7 miles on a paved bike path – it was great! I don’t move all that fast, and I have to be overly cautious because a quick stop or a crash could be detrimental for my recovery. But it was wonderful to be out and pedaling. With my feet!
On Wednesday, we woke up to cloudy skies. By 9:00 it had turned into a real snowstorm with several inches already on the ground. We packed up in the snow and left Sun Valley and winter weather behind. Perfect timing!
We arrived in Park City to sunny skies and nice temperatures. What a great way to finish off the trip.
This morning Puck had me up at 4:00. He didn’t really need to potty all that badly, but I think he was cold and hungry. I tuck him in with a blanket – how did this dog ever survive outside in Duluth, MN?? – but he hasn’t figured out how to put it back on once it falls off.
I puttered around as much as I could, but by 6:15 he and I were at the trailhead under a beautiful full moon. I noticed quite a few sets of eyes in the headlights and remembered that coyotes are active at this particular trail system. Great. About 10 minutes in, I saw a pair of eyes staring at us not far ahead on the trail. The eyes seemed particularly high off the ground. I was ringing my bell and yelling. Puck realized this was not a friendly beast and wisely stayed near me. The very large coyote we were approaching seemed mildly amused by my attempts to be scary. Finally it decided to leave the trail, but it was never far away and I could see eyes following along on the hillside. Funny how my arms didn’t feel tired anymore!
We were really glad to see three women with their two dogs not long after this encounter. They were making a lot of noise and I thought that might help keep the coyotes at bay.
I decided to tackle some single track, which was a lot of fun. I’m much better now on the hand cycle than last time I was here. Of course, when the women passed me the second time (we were on the same loop going different ways), I was stuck on a rocky uphill hairpin turn. They offered to give me a shove, but (luckily for my pride) I made it over the hard part before they had to. I only realized later that my nose was covered in blood because I had whacked myself with my headlamp and cut it open. I must have looked slightly crazy. No wonder they didn’t stay to chat very long…
Mark is out on one last mountain bike ride on Flying Dog. The trails are in great shape and it is lovely here.
I took my big girl bike out again and rode to the coffee shop near the trailhead, where I am sitting as I write this. He’ll pick me up so I don’t have to ride back.
It has been a really nice trip. But now I need to go home and detox from all the food and wine (and ok, beer) I’ve consumed. Usually I am able to burn it off on our vacations. It’s a lot harder to do that hand cycling, swimming and water running. My arms have gained some extra muscle too, which doesn’t help in the bulk department. Think Incredible Hulk meets Michelin Man.
I would prefer Wonder Woman, thank you very much.
Sigh.
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