Snowshoeing - A few storms help a lot!

Snowshoeing Mania

1st group - Aspen Grove/Timp Trail

"The only serious tricks to discover are on the downhill. Keep your arms out to the side and open up your stride. The magic of snowshoeing happens on the downhill when you start to "float" on the powder! It's a kick. And loads of fun, that is until your foot gets trapped under some submerged log and you fall flat on your face in the powder. But that's kind of fun too. It's hard to get hurt showshoeing, because the surface is so forgiving."

1st group - Aspen Grove/Timp Trail

Bernie Boettcher; USSSA Masters

National Snowshoe Champion 2003 & 2004, Silt, Colorado

We have a large group of friends that we work out with. Most of us enjoy snowshoeing. This year, we haven't gotten out as much because of the lack of snow; however, last Saturday (January 28) there were 19 of that group that headed into the mountains to find some snow.

The first five left Orem about 9 am and went to Aspen Grove above Sundance Ski Resort. The outside temperature was in the mid teens but that was not a problem (within five minutes of starting to snowshoe, your body temp is on the rise and you are soon sweating). They had a great time and a hard workout as they blazed their own trail to the first waterfall on the way up the Timp trail.

2nd group - Big Springs

The second snowshoeing group met at 10 am and went up to Big Springs in the South Fork of Provo Canyon. They found it still lacking in snow and what was there was very icy. They did about a 4 mile loop in about 90 minutes.

The last group of seven went out at 1:30 pm. We headed up American Fork Canyon, taking the North Fork to Tibble Fork Reservoir and stopping at the dam. This was a new route for all 7 of us. After parking, you walk across the dam and head up some switchbacks that lead southeast away from the reservoir. Then, stay to the

2nd group - Big Springs

left each time the trail splits. We made about a five mile loop that took us about 2.5 hours ending up at the bridge on the east end of Tibble Fork Reservoir. Outside of the time I went snowshoeing in Bryce Canyon National Park, this was my favorite so far. I know there are a lot of new places to explore on snowshoes so I'd welcome suggestions!

"Snowshoeing is great because no matter how cold it is outside, if you wear enough layers and do at least 15 to 20 minutes on snowshoes, you will break a sweat every time. No excuses, like it's too cold. It's never too cold to snowshoe."

3rd group - Tibble Fork

Scott Gall, 
Snowshoeing Professional

Atlas Snowshoe Team and former North American Snowshoe Champion; Waterloo, Iowa


To see more pictures of the Tibble Fork snowshoeing trip (stunning pics!) check this Facebook link to Recreate In Utah's Page:  

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150553970244920&set=a.10150472264644920.382960.357123119919&type=3&theater

Ahhh! Springtime in St. George!!!

The best ways we know to enjoy a trip to St. George:

Go in the Spring. Go to the Tuachan.  Go Biking. 

The Tuachan has a fantastic line-up of Spring concerts and Spin Geeks hosts awesome bike rides/races.

Soooo - we thought we'd let you all in on these four perfectly matched up weekends!

Weekend #1
March 23rd (Friday) - The Pink Floyd Experience @ Tuachan
March 24 (Saturday) - Mesquite Madness - Start your cycling season off with a choice of 38 or 80 miles.

Weekend #2
March 30th (Friday) - 38 Special @ Tuachan
March 31st and April 1 (Sat. & Sun.) - A 2-day, 3-stage race - Tour del Sol

Weekend #3
April 13th (Friday) - Three Dog Night @ Tuachan
April 14th (Saturday) - Spring Tour de St. George - Spin Geeks offers a 30, 80 and 100 mile option

Weekend #4
April 28th (Saturday) - Spokes for Hope - hosted by Spin Geeks; this ride is a women's only cycling charity event with 30, 50, 70 and 94 mile options.
April 28th (Saturday) - Martina McBride @ Tuacahn

To see the full race season, go to SpinGeeks.com.  There you'll find all of their events as well as pricing and registration forms.

Tuachan.org will give you all the information you need to book tickets and read more about their entire season of concerts and Broadway-style productions.

The Winner of the Crazy Weather Contest 2011/2012 - Utah!!!

For years there has been a group of die-hard road bikers that have gone out on the last day of the year or on New Year's day. Some years the numbers have been quite sparce, mostly due to outside temps being in the high 20's or lower. We had 8 go out this year on December 30th and enjoy temps in the mid 40's.

We rode north from Orem to the southwest side of American Fork and back - just over 20 miles round trip. It was awesome to be outside in Utah County in late December; soaking up the sun, working up a sweat while enjoying good friends.

The next day, December 31, there were a dozen of us (young and old) looking forward to a good workout snowshoeing up American Fork Canyon. Only one problem, no snow (check out the pics)!! We were shocked at the lack of snow even at those altitudes, i.e. Tibble Fork Reservoir.

We were able to find a little snow in the shade on the southeast side but not enough to use our snowshoes - they stayed in the cars. We had a short hike in mud and ice, just enough to raise the heart rate into the aerobic zone.

Overall, thoughts were that it was a little eery to be out on New Year's eve in almost 40 degree temps in the North Fork of American Fork Canyon; no snow and none in the forecast. I hope that changes soon.

The kids were the highlight of this trip. They had never met before but it only took a minute or two to become friends. It was fun to watch and it was a good reminder to me that it's not that hard to make a new friend.

On January 2, we decided to stick to biking with temps in the mid 50's. Five of us headed south leaving Orem on State Street riding around Provo Towne Center, through East Bay and Springville into Spanish Fork. We made a loop of 34 miles; loving every minute; with thoughts like 'in a normal year, we would have to make a trip to St. George to get weather like this'. This was a good, fast ride with an average speed of 18 mph. There was no wind, only sunshine and the next two days look to be about the same. With a little luck, I hope to get out one of both days. See ya on the road!