Streaming With the Kids

On Sunday afternoon, Mark and I took the kids - the Quads and Nathan - to the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon to play in the stream. They loved it. It was a gorgeous, sunny spring afternoon, the trees were cloaked in that special color of green that comes only in early spring, and the mountains in the distance were still topped with snow.

Of course, they wanted to climb the first big rock they came across.

The mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon is the site of the Temple Quarry Trail. It was from this area that the Mormon pioneers quarried huge blocks of granite that had tumbled off the adjacent mountain,  after which they loaded them up and hauled them to the center of Salt Lake City in order to construct the Mormon temple there. Now, it is a very picturesque area where families go on hikes and have their pictures taken - and play in the stream.

I should have worn my black sunglasses. Too gay.

Nathan doing some yoga poses on an abandoned concrete building

Even though the water was freezing, the kids had a blast carefully wending their way across boulders and rocks - while I sat on the side worrying what would happen in one of them slipped and fell backwards ... or forwards ... or sideways.

But I reminded myself that they are kids, and this is what kids do. As we walked down the trail from the parking lot toward the stream, Levi asked, "Can we go exploring?" I said yes, he said "Yay!!" and off he and Annie went, running down the trail and out of sight. 

It was a fun afternoon.

Little Cottonwood Canyon: To the Top!

Yesterday marked a huge milestone in my cycling career:  I made it to the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon.  This ride has the reputation for being the most challenging in the Salt Lake area, and as I've written before, it is just about the same distance and grade as the Alpe d'Huez in the French Alps, which has often been part of the Tour de France and which Mark and I will cycle in September.  The following elevation graph tells the story:  from the time we left the house until the top of the canyon, we limbed almost 4000 feet, and approximately 3300 of those feet were in the canyon over a distance of approximately 8.3 miles.

It was a tough slog in places.  But I made it.  The next challenge will be to cycle it again with less "breathers."

I had a great weekend with the kids.  I had Esther, Aaron and Levi overnight on Friday, then after a lazy morning, we drove down to Payson for their Scottish Festival.  While there, I had their pictures drawn by an "artist" for the princely sum of $3.

The kids probably had the most fun on the playground (below).  I was tempted, as we sat and listened to a couple of musicians, to think, "We need to get the most out of this festival.  After all, it took us an hour to drive down here.  It would be silly to leave after only 90 minutes."  But I squelched this voice in my head and instead said, "You know what?  We'll stay as long as the kids feel like; we don't need to see and do everything (not that there was that much to do).  We'll leave when we feel like it, even if after only 90 minutes."  I was rather proud of myself.

I picked Nathan up Saturday evening when I took the Quads home, and he ended up staying through Monday afternoon.  On Sunday evening, we had a nice dinner with our friends, Ben and Tina, which Nathan seemed to enjoy.  (If you look closely, you'll see one of the cherry pies I wrote about a week or so ago.)

Little Cottonwood Canyon

Approaching the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon

I had been up Little Cottonwood Canyon a few times prior to meeting Mark.  In every case, it was to take my family to Salt Lake's Octoberfest which was held at Snowbird, the famous ski resort near the top of the canyon.  Then, this past winter, Mark and I went skiing for a couple of hours one afternoon at Alta, another resort above Snowbird.  These excursions represent the sum total of my experiences with Little Cottonwood Canyon.

I remember going up to those Octoberfests and seeing cyclists on that steep mountain road and thinking, I would never be able to do that.  Well, I'm going to do it.  I AM doing it - in chunks.

Yesterday, we bit off another chunk by adding another mile to our ascent.  We cycle to the mouth, which is ten miles from the house, then start our way up.  On Sunday, we had gone 2.5 miles.  Yesterday, we did 3.5 miles.  The next time, we'll do 4.5 miles, a little more than halfway.

The canyon's beauty is impossible to describe and difficult to capture in a photograph.  As we entered yesterday and I looked at those towering walls, I told Mark that this canyon has to be as beautiful as any one would see in Europe.  He agreed, and he has seen far more mountains and valleys in the Swiss, French and Italian Alps than most.

The lower part of the canyon.

I am gradually getting better at tackling the inclines.  Even though the grade isn't as steep in Big Cottonwood, I feel a desire to get to the top of Little Cottonwood.  I figure if I can do that ride, I can handle most of what I will encounter in Europe in September.

As it happens, a cycling website states that Little Cottonwood's average grade of 9.2% and length of 8.4 miles has almost exactly the same profile as Alpe d'Huez, a "brutal" climb that has often been part of the Tour de France.  I mentioned this to Mark the other day and he casually said, "Yes, I've been up the Alpe d'Huez and you will be doing it in September when we're at Le Freney."  I stared at him.  I think my jaw dropped slightly.  Actually, more than slightly.

Map showing proximity of Le Freney-d'Oisans (in bottom right) to Huez

Alpe d'Huez

This is why I want to make it to the top of Little Cottonwood, not only once but multiple times before September.

Going down the canyon will also be good practice for the Alps.  The road in Little Cottonwood has basically no shoulder on the right side of the road, and there is a steep drop-off on the canyon side for most of the way down.  I'm still adjusting, psychologically, to the challenge.  But I'm really beginning to believe Mark when he tells me that I'll be more than ready for rides we'll do in September.  

Mark at our 3.5-mile turnaround point yesterday