Battle Creek Falls

Yesterday Nick and I hiked Battle Creek Falls, a short trail south of Salt Lake City. Given the recent snow we didn't want to do something with too much elevation gain and there were big wind gusts yesterday, making Antelope Island seem miserable. This was a pretty little hike, with a light snow and good company :)

The falls are at the base of Mount Timpanogos, the second highest peak in the Wasatch mountain range. Technically, you can climb the mountain from this trailhead, but it is described as a "dangerous, miserable, loose-scree climb."

As soon as we got off the highway we knew we weren't in Kansas anymore. It was a Sunday - not a single business was open. Not the Burger King, not even the supermarkets. We counted 9 churches in the ten mile drive to the trailhead from the highway - they were all packed. (Seriously, I was glad we had a full tank of gas and had packed sandwiches for lunch!) That being said, we encountered a few other people on the trail - to whom we wanted to challenge "why aren't you in church??"

Trailhead at the start of the canyon:


The frozen falls:



A couple of guys were ice climbing this - they "hiked" up the rock on the left, rappelled down, then climbed up, and then came back the way the hiked up. The rappelling and climbing seemed the safest part of their endeavor.



We hiked up until fording the stream seemed too risky (wet clothes for the rest of the hike? no thanks) and "had" to slide down parts of the trail on the way back.



Looking West toward Utah Lake on the way back.

---

The neighbors invited us over to watch football when we got back so we got to get to know them better and pet Oink before heading home to relax on the couch with season three of Breaking Bad. God, I hate Walter White.

Exercise update

Started a "cardio pump" class at the gym this week (2Xweek of cardio and weights) and scheduled out a half marathon training program to run the Salt Lake City half marathon in April with a goal of under 2 hours. I was thinking of doing a destination half marathon, but I like the idea of running on terrain I know, saving money on travel, and the timing is right for starting a training program now.

I continue to use Fitocracy and MyFitnessPal. The former has a lot of technical problems, but I have met some very nice people with useful advice and support. The latter has been mostly for myself - to maintain my weight through being aware of calories and portions - but I just joined a challenge group that seems very supportive and flexible.

I don't have money in my budget for yoga classes or a climbing gym membership, but this keeps me busy enough right now!