I had an experience with a new trail this week that really had me worried.
On Earth Day, I explored part of this trail, so this week I thought I would see where it went. It's a trail that starts just south of the Wild Rose Loop, and parts of it can get very steep. I didn't run the whole time, because running up steep hills is hard, and running down steep hills is potentially dangerous. Anyway, I decided I would make it to the top of one of the peaks.
Once I got to the top, it was beautiful. I got to see sides of the mountains that I never see. I even saw some cliffs (probably sandstone or limestone) in the foothills above Salt Lake, and to the north I saw limestone cliffs in the mountains. (I looked on the Utah Geological Survey's website and learned that the conglomerate outcroppings I see regularly are probably from the Miocene Epoch, between 23 and 5 million years ago.) Even though I was close to the city, I felt like I was out in nature. I even saw some deer in their natural habitat instead of in my yard. The trail was obviously used by motorized vehicles, but it was a little rough.
It was so lovely, in fact, that I didn't want to stop. I thought, "Back in December, I went on another trail that seemed to go for a while, and I bet that this trail meets up with that one. I'll go until I get there, because that will take me right back where I need to be."
I have since looked on Google Earth. I was correct that that trail meets up with the trail I was on. However, I was way off in guessing where it met up, or in thinking I would recognize it. In fact, by the time I thought the trails might meet, I might have already passed the intersection.
Nevertheless, I kept expecting to meet up where I needed to be. I kept thinking, "If I turn around now, it will take me longer to get back than if I keep going." I thought that many times, and each time I thought that, I could have safely turned around and saved time.
But I kept on going. And I was getting a little worried--it was getting dark, I thought my parents would worry, I was thirsty with no water. There were more paranoid thoughts, like how I might sprain my ankle or how a mountain lion might be lurking in the trees. There were no people around, although there were plenty of dog footprints in the muddy portions of the trail. (There were also lots of deer tracks and some curious three-toed footprints that Google's not helping me identify. I can identify rocks, but not plants and animals.)
At one point, I thought I was a little closer to civilization, because I found some signs telling people to keep out because they were revegetation areas, and I even found a "No Parking" sign lying on the ground. That sign really puzzles me, because it wasn't in an area where you would have to worry about people parking, and it seemed a ways off for a vandal to deposit a sign. But even when I got to this point, I was still a ways off. I had to climb up, and then down, what was probably the steepest portion of the trail, covered with loose rocks. I came down it pretty slowly.
After I had been on the trail more than an hour, I finally made it to pavement. There was a little building that perhaps had restrooms. It had a drinking fountain, but unfortunately it didn't work. Once I made it to the road, I knew I would be safe, but I was still far from the park where my car was parked. Eventually, I ended up where the first counselor in my YSA bishopric lives, so I knocked on the door. His wife answered at the same time that he got out of the truck of our second counselor. I asked for some water, so they gave me some. Then he offered me a ride back to my car, and I accepted. I wasn't too far, but it would still be another ten or fifteen minutes of running, and it was dark, and the sidewalk along that road is inconsistent.
I've mapped out my route on Google Earth, and I went about six and a half miles.
Although I was worried for a large portion of the time, I don't entirely regret the experience. I learned a few things, like not to guess where trails go and not to go exploring late at night. What's most satisfying is that I learned where the trail goes. I've been wanting to just explore where these places go, and I was able to do that. I just wish I'd had more daylight, water, and a phone.
Yesterday when I went running, I got a drink from the park drinking fountain, and the drinking fountain didn't shut off! When I got done on the trails nearly forty minutes later, the fountain was still going, so when I got home, I called NSL City parks and left a message. I feel bad. It wasn't my fault it got stuck, of course, but I'm the one that was using it when it got stuck. And water is very valuable, especially in Utah, especially this year.
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