Jordan River Trail Marathon

A week later and it's time to explore more of the Jordan River Trail.  Last week I had done 15 miles starting from Utah Lake, carrying my paraglider and taking a slow look at the trail.  This week I was on the run, carrying just enough water to get me through 26 miles (I hoped).

It was about 4 miles on trails and roads to get to the trail from my house.  Then I had an amazing stretch of finished trail for the next 22 miles...I never had to cross a road or take a detour for the rest of the run.   Nor did I pass anything commercial...no stores, just houses and trail.  Even a stretch that hadn't been finished a year ago was done!    The trail was more or less signed, although a few times I had to look at an Interactive Map on my phone to stay on the main trail rather than spur trails.

It was a good day to be heading north, as the south wind was blowing pretty strong at my back.  It helped to keep me cool as the unseasonably warm weather heated up the valley.   The river was running strongly as well, compared to almost nothing a week ago.  I'm sure the rain this week and the melting snow from the mountains have got it going again.

I finished in about 5 hours, which was fine with my legs.   Considering I did it self-supported carrying  1/2 gallon of water to start, I'm pretty happy with that time.   Actually I got pretty tired by the end and walked almost the whole last hour...with temperatures climbing into the 70s I wasn't staying hydrated enough and my heart rate was climbing.  After drinking 4 liters of water and eating a few snacks, I still weighed 3 pounds less than I started when I got home.   It's hard to drink enough in the heat to stay hydrated.

Amazingly for my journey, at exactly 26.2 miles, I left the trail and walked a couple hundred feet to the Green Line of the SLC TRAX station!  The station was called "River Trail", which seemed appropriate for the day.  A train came within a few minutes, and then a quick transfer to the Blue line to get me all the way back home.  Ok, not quite all the way, the TRAX in Draper left me 2 miles short of the house but Jim was willing to come pick me up!

Here's the maps shown below: http://jordanrivercommission.com/jordan-river-parkway-trail-map/

For an interactive map, check this out even on a smart phone! http://www.myjordanriver.org

http://www.daviscountyutah.gov/trails/