Our Old Stomping Ground
Our week was filled with events around Logan, our old stomping ground. Two specific events were the highlight of the week: hiking around Tony Grove and cycling out of Blacksmith Fork Canyon. Tony Grove was a favorite place for hiking when we lived in Logan from 1981 to 1983; and one of our favorite places to cross country ski was in Blacksmith Fork Canyon. We stopped by a bike shop to visit the owner who opened the store in 1981, looked for the mall where I worked which has since been torn down, and of course enjoyed Aggie ice cream.
Overview of the Week
Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…
Sunday
Road trip: Day 11: Logan, Utah
Cycling: 15.71 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 8.7 MPH
• Surface: gravel
• Elevation gain: 1,060 feet
• Start time: 10:05 AM
• Location: Bonneville Shoreline Trail and Logan Canyon Gateway Trail
• Weather: 74° and sunny, climbing to 84°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
My husband and I left later than planned for our bike ride, but when staying in a house full of friends, it’s hard to get going quickly. My husband designed a route along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and Logan Canyon Trail. We took our time with the occasional hike-a-bike when the trail got too steep downhill, but overall we had a fun time.
Monday
Road trip: Day 12: Logan, Utah
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
After an early morning strength training session in our friends’ basement, the morning officially started with a 2-hour tour of the Utah State University Water Resources Lab, followed by stopping by the library to find all of the guys’ theses. Next we walked around campus, and swung by the Aggie Creamery for ice cream. We ended the day with a huge barbecue at our friend’s house. Worth mentioning, my husband and I were the only ones married while the guys were working on their masters degrees, but one couple met and started dating while at USU.
Tuesday
Road trip: Day 13: Logan, Utah
Hiking: 2.12 miles
• Average pace: 21:04 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 62 feet
• Start time: 12:03 PM
• Location: Tony Grove Lake
• Weather: 84° and cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Walking: 1.64 miles
• Average pace: 21:22 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 107 feet
• Start time: 12:59 PM
• Location: Lundstrom Park
• Weather: 87° and partly sunny, turning cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
We spent the day with our friends hiking around Tony Grove Lake, where I first fell in love with quaking aspen way back in 1981 the first time I saw them. The flowers around the lake were absolutely stunning, bringing back fond memories of lupine and Indian paintbrush from our days of living in Utah.
After our hike we drove into Garden City, Idaho on the shores of Bear Lake for a relaxing lunch on the front porch of a Mexican restaurant. Raspberry milkshakes (a local specialty) from a nearby store were on the day’s agenda as well, but I was too full and shared a few sips of my husband’s milkshake. Once home, we took a walk around the neighborhood.
Wednesday
Road trip: Day 14: Logan, Utah
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Cycling: 35.35 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 13.3 MPH
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 978 feet
• Start time: 8:27 AM
• Location: Cache Valley loop
• Weather: 77° and partly cloudy, climbing to 85°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
My husband and I planned a fun route in the valley and if it weren’t for climbing back up onto the bench after leaving the valley our rides would be relatively flat – the bench is the ancient shoreline of Lake Bonneville. We finished with another great Utah ride in the books.
Thursday
Road trip day 15: Logan, Utah
Cycling: 27.1 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 15.8 MPH
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 548 feet
• Start time: 8:25 AM
• Location: Blacksmith Fork Canyon
• Weather: 62° and drizzly, but quickly turning to just cloudy, climbing to 78°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, arm sleeves, and fingerless gloves (took arm sleeves off about half way into the ride)
We finally got four of the five guys to join us for a ride, but none of their wives were interested. Because not everyone rides as regularly as my husband and I, and because we didn’t want to take up the entire day with our ride, we drove up into the canyon for a point-to-point ride back to our friend’s house. We climbed 548 feet, but we descended 1,368 feet! With only a mile to go, we stopped by the Aggie Creamery for one last ice cream before finishing our ride.
Friday
Road trip day 16: Drive from Logan, Utah through Idaho to Helena, Montana
Hiking: ~ 1 mile
• Average pace: leisurely
• Elevation gain: didn’t record
• Start time: 1:20 PM
• Location: Upper Mesa Falls
• Weather: 62° and cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and rain jacket
I didn’t realize the hike would be as far as it was to see the waterfalls so I didn’t even think to grab my Garmin. We estimated it was at least a mile roundtrip on a combination of paved trails and an elaborate network of steps. The falls was beautiful making it well worth the the side trip.
Shortly after leaving Mesa Falls, we caught up with traffic that was dead stopped. After sitting for 15 minutes or so we learned that there was an expected 5-hour delay with both an accident and a huge volume of vehicles on the way to West Yellowstone – so much for thinking that Independence Day would be a light traffic day. We turned and took a 2-hour detour around the mess. Heavy rain slowed us down even more, turning our 9’ish-hour drive into almost 12 hours, including the stops.
Saturday
Road trip day 17: Drive from Helena, Montana to East Glacier, Montana
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
I had skipped lifting the day before because we were leaving early to make our way to Montana. After a decent night’s sleep, I got up early to head down to the gym for my workout. Per usual, I was the only person in the gym at 5:30 until my husband joined me about 30 minutes later. We had the gym to ourselves for the rest of our workouts.
The Hampton knockoff dumbbells in the Marriott gyms always feel much heavier than mine at home. When I spied a scale I weighed several dumbbells and they were all .2 pounds heavier than the stamped weight. I was amazed how much heavier .2 pounds feels, especially on the 20 and 25 pound dumbbells.
Our most important stop of the day was at the Glacier airport where we picked up our youngest son and daughter-in-law for a fun filled week of adventure in Glacier National Park. After driving in the rain most of the day, we creeped across Going to the Sun Road in the park because of fog and poor visibility. If you’re afraid of heights, Going to the Sun Road with it’s sheer drop-offs is pretty scary on a clear day. Imagine knowing what the road is like, but barely being able to see 10 feet in front of you – kudos to my husband for getting us across safely.
Once we arrived at our Vrbo in East Glacier, we discovered that our internet was closer to dial-up speed than modern day standards. Pictures refused to load on my blog, thus the four day delay on posting. Yesterday we moved to West Glacier where our Airbnb has StarLink and this blogging girl is back in business.
Questions:
- • Runners, hikers, and cyclists, how do you feel about point-to-point downhill routes? ~ My marathon PR was on a downhill course and my quads reminded me about it for days, much more so than after most marathons. Of course, I raced it and ran hard the entire time so that contributed to the extra soreness, too.
- • Have you noticed dumbbells that seem to weigh more or less at another gym than those you regularly use? ~ We have been commenting for a couple of years on how much more the Marriott dumbbells seem to weigh than ours at home.
- • Which workout was your toughest this past week? ~ Sunday’s ride on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and Logan Canyon Trail was my toughest workout.
And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!
You got a photo-op with a cow at Aggie’s – love it! What was the Bluemint ice cream made of—blueberries and mint, or something else entirely?
It sounds like such a special week reconnecting with old friends and revisiting your Logan stomping grounds. And what is it with Marriott’s dumbbells? Good that you weighed them – and still, it’s amazing how only 0.2 extra can feel like five!
So fun that your son and daughter-in-law are joining you now – judging by your Strava feed, the adventures are only getting better!
Aggie blue mint ice cream is mint flavored ice cream with little chocolate cookie chucks and soft pieces of white chocolate. And yes, I was thrilled to get a picture with the cow. 😀
Yes, based on how much heavier the dumbbells felt, I was shocked to see that it was only 0.2 pounds per weight.
We had so much fun with our son and d-i-l. Sadly, we dropped them off at the airport this morning.
That’s so fun that you got to return to where you used to ride and live and see old friends too. You covered a lot of ground (and miles). Gorgeous pics of all the flowers and landscapes. Yes on the weights feeling different! I also had to convert from KG to LB so lots of math but the amounts were a little off.I count the workouts on a vacation as bonus so I normally do less and much more relaxed about it. Enjoy the rest of your trip
Yes, I imagine converting pounds to kilometers would add a whole new level of thinking to a workout, and I’m afraid I wouldn’t be very good at it. I guess I’d go by visual clues first and then get used to it.
This trip sound incredible, and all the photos are gorgeous. Ans it sounds like you still have a lot of fun ahead of you.
That’s wild about the weights- I can definitely see how 2 pounds would make a difference! But I wouldn’t have thought to weigh them- I would have just thought I was oddly weak that day.
have fun with your son and DIL!
It was 0.2 pounds not 2 pounds, and even that was noticeable. Crazy, huh?
Gorgeous photos!! Looks like an amazing trip!
Also, how wild about those dumbells — the .2 lb difference is crazy and I can’t believe you noticed!
Thanks, Melissa! We’re having a great time.
Those are some beautiful water falls! And the scenery generally is absolutely stunning.
How nice to get the gym to yourselves! Interesting about those dumbbells. That never crossed my mind when I’ve been to other gyms. But when I trained at home recently I felt that our bar feels a lot heavier than the bar in my gym. It’s supposed to be a standard bar but who knows!
The waterfalls were very pretty. We’ve seen a lot of falls on this trip and the Mesa Falls were probably the second prettiest.
Hmmm, I wonder if your bar is a different weight than the one you use at the gym.
That shot of Going to the Sun road brings back memories of when we biked it and it looked like that! Disappointing in terms of what we could have seen there, but we laughed a lot, had some close bear sightings, almost froze to death going downhill in the wet conditions… and will never forget it 🙂 Your trip looks amazing. I hope to get back out that way again soon!
Kudos to you and your husband on such great travel planning!
I thought of you and your family riding your bikes down Going to the Sun road each time we drove across it. Did you ride down the west side? I think I remember you road by the Weeping Wall which is on the west side of Logan Pass. You’ll be familiar with the next national park we hit, too! 😉
I have been loving all the pics! You have a seen some beautiful sights, and gotten to ride a lot as well. I can only imagine how fun it’s been reconnecting with your friends and seeing all the landmark places from when you were living in the area.
Thanks, Kim, we’ve seen some beautiful places with very different landscapes. We haven’t gotten to ride as much since leaving Logan, but that’s just the way it’s played out.
The cow! The flowers! The blue mint!
You make Utah look so beautiful. I love how you find and create so many adventures in so many new spaces.
I’m so glad you had (another) incredible trip.
Thanks, Jenn! My husband is so good at planning trips around fun things to do and see – usually focusing on historical site, bike rides, and photography opportunities.
What a fun trip. I loved all your pics esp the waterfalls and the flowers. The ice cream!!!
I think downhill is so much harder. I prefer some ups and some downs (as a runner.)
Yes a race – just a RAINY 5k.
Did some sprint 200s on a track – that was hard.
Thanks, Darlene! It’s hard deciding which pictures make the cut for the college.
200 repeats are a great workout.
Looks like an incredible trip! Beautiful scenery.
My personal training is all in KG’s and doctors quote weight in KG’s- it’s a hard one for me to embrace naturally!
We’re having a great time!