Midway Mountain Mamas

January 11, 2017 By

Following an almost perfect reunion tour of Colorado, I almost dreaded our reentry into the real world. Would we be sad we moved here and pine to go back?

When we drove into our little valley, this sunset was blazing over a foot of fresh snow. A well cared for Fat Kitty greeted us at home and a thoughtful neighbor had plowed our steep driveway.

Deer Creek Reservoir

It isn’t Colorado but it’s still pretty darn great.

Fortunately, we were forced to launch back into school and work immediately so there was minimal time for mourning.

A huge dump of snow also brought frigid temperatures so I reminded Bode of what my Canadian forefathers said: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.”

We repeated that 100X during his Nordic ski lesson.

Hadley is the kind of kid who does not like to be jam-packed with activities. She loves and needs her down-time so we didn’t enroll her in anything for the first four months we moved here. She resisted my pressuring to take ski lessons with Bode but asked to play volleyball so she started the local rec program last week. Almost immediately afterwards, I took her over to the church to play basketball with the Young Women. Since I have brain damage and a difficult time saying “no” (and an over-easy time inviting myself to new situations), I stayed to play with the girls, my first game in 20 years. I had forgotten about how much fun basketball is!

When I woke up the next morning? NotSoFun.  This darn knee will be the death of me!

That morning was sunny and -15 degrees.

Bode: I sure wish I didn’t have to walk to the bus stop.”

Me: (Sipping hot tea wrapped in a blanket): “Yeah, me too.”

It’s a tough world being raised by a Canadian mom.

Before the holidays, I started a Facebook group “Heber Valley Outdoor Families” for any locals who want to get out and play. Around the same time, my friend Sarah went snowshoeing and asked if anyone was interested. Her texting group is 35 women strong and growing. We had our first adventures this week! It was really cold when I left the house on Saturday morning but had warmed up to a balmy 0 degree by 10 a.m. That didn’t stop this tough bunch of ladies and we had a blast breaking trail in the glorious snow.

Yep, I’m missing Colorado but it’s tough to feel sad when we live in such an amazing place and are making wonderful new friends.

Filed Under: outdoors, skiing, Utah

Soldier Hollow’s Youth League

January 5, 2017 By

When you live 5 miles away from the cross-country skiing venue of the 2002 Olympic Games, you’d better believe making it a part of your lives is a priority. The problem? I’m the only one in our family who loves to Nordic Ski. I grew up on the groomed track of the golf course across the street from my house and love love love that I’m finally living in a place that has a real winter.

Jamie claims he (somehow) got a concussion going 0.001-mile per hour the first time I took him cross-country skiing in Canada. He’s reluctantly skied a few times but claims it’s too much work and not as fun as downhill. Hadley took to it right away. When we were in Crested Butte a few years ago, our guide told her if she was local, she’d recruit her to train with the Junior Olympic Nordic Team. The problem? She had a horrible experience last winter at Snow Mountain Ranch so the one with the most potential refuses to go.

Fortunately, there is Bode who is the most easy-going bloke around so I enrolled him in Soldier Hollow’s Youth League. For just $150, he gets a season pass, twice weekly lessons for almost three months and rentals. For every two times I volunteer, I earn a free trail pass and rentals of my own.

Pinch me, this place is a dream.

Bode’s good buddy Eli is enrolled as well and I was thrilled to learn two other friends have kids in the exact same class. I know Midway is a small town but what are the odds? Bode is a strong downhill skier but has really taken to Nordic as well so I foresee many adventures in our future.

So, this is how we’ll be spending every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon this winter.

Sunset after the first day of classes

Already, 2017 is shaping up to be a good one.

Filed Under: Bode, outdoors, Utah

November in Review

December 15, 2016 By

I know, I know, we’re well into December but November passed by in such a blur that I was barely able to document any of it. Here are a few our happenings.

Hadley turned 12 in May and that marks a major milestone when she enters the “Young Women” organization at church. And since May, my wonderful mother-in-law has been trying to organize a special afternoon tea at the Grand America in her honor. We finally made it happen several months later and what a wonderful afternoon it was!

Minus the fact that I dropped a macaron in Hadley’s tea. You can’t take me anywhere.

Speaking of Macarons, Tammy organized a cooking lesson for us to learn how to make them. I’m not a huge fan of macarons (I find they rather tastless and dry) and never had even one when I lived in France. But I’m tellin you, it’s homemade or bust because our creations were amazing. But the three hours to make them were not.

Fall in the Heber Valley was so incredibly mild and beautiful! It’s not very often we find an outdoorsy family of four with kids our same ages and genders. When the Frisbys took us on what they deemed the “flat” trail along Deer Creek and it was mostly uphill, I knew they were our kind of friends. 

I tagged along on Bode’s cub scout hike to Dutch Hollow and somehow managed to lead them on the wrong trail adding a couple of miles to an already long hike (disclaimer: I’d only explored the area once before).

It’s important to teach them survival skills while they’re still young.

We likely won’t be able to afford a greenhouse next season but Jamie has still been prepping the pumpkin patch. This was possibly the scariest moment of my life watching him operate heavy machinery. He only ran into the fence once…or twice.

We’re still getting acclimated to our house. In most ways, our former two-story, five-bedroom house in Colorado was a much better fit and I often regret downsizing to a ranch…but I know it will all be much better when we finally finish our basement. Our current biggest headaches: The tiny laundry room/mudroom and Hadley waking us up at 5:30 a.m. as she bangs around in the bathroom. Top priority: Scrape together enough funds to build her a bathroom in the basement.

The one thing that makes me happy (in addition to our amazing view) is our kitchen nook. I searched long and hard for the perfect farm table and found one at a luxury consignment store in Park City. We bought a black bench and puke-brown chairs from the same store that needed to be repainted and restored. We fretted over the colors and ultimately decided to take a chance and paint them white. I LOVE how everything turned out (thanks to Jamie’s awesome mom who reupholstered them).

Thanksgiving was low-key. We woke up to a Thanksgiving miracle: Our first snow (and visitors) at our new house!

Not-so miraculous: sick kids.

We drove to Salt Lake City to spend Thanksgiving and Black Friday with Jamie’s family where we ate Jamie’s famous bacon-wrapped smoked turkey, overindulged on Tammy’s pies and went to see “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”

I slipped out on Friday morning to meet my friend Lori and her daughter for a hike to the Living Room. We never made it. I’ve hiked the trail several times before but the previous day’s snow had turned to ice due to the sheer volume of gut-busting hikers trying to burn a few calories.

Our freshman year during Natural Science Field Expedition, we backpacked hundreds of miles through Yellowstone, the Tetons, Zion and the Grand Canyon. What started as a casual hike that day turned into ice chutes, snowy bushwhacking and steep muddy slopes.

I guess some of us don’t know how to do casual.

Later that weekend, I invited a few families over for dinner before we headed over to Midway’s charming tree lighting complete with hot chocolate, cookies, skating, entertainment, Santa (who got the name of our town wrong) and Bode who, whenever his candle blew out, he’d ask “anyone got a light?”

And wouldn’t you know it, Bode, Eli and Charlie landed on the front page of our community newspaper.

So, for anyone keeping track: Since we moved to Utah, Bode was on KUTV with the pumpkins at Thanksgiving Point, BYU’s Jumbotron, The Broadmoor’s holiday campaign…

And now, the Wasatch Wave. If he keeps it up, he’ll be more famous than even The Pumpkin Man. And that’s really saying something.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Utah

One Year Ago

December 5, 2016 By

I’m really not one to celebrate random anniversaries but this one is tough to forget: One year ago last Saturday was when I received that life-changing impression to uproot our happy life and “look for real estate in Soldier Hollow.”

I remembered even before my Colorado friends flooded their social media accounts with details of the ward Christmas party on Saturday. A year ago, I got that prompting a few hours before and somehow in those early stages, I knew. I proceeded to cry through most of the party because I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving such an amazing ward family.

We’ve been in our house for almost two months now and though those early days were pretty ugly, the last few weeks have been good ones. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Jamie’s family. I hiked the Living Room with my college bestie, Lori. I learned how to make macarons with Jamie’s sisters and mom. I had friends over for dinner before we went to Midway’s annual Christmas tree lighting (which landed Bode on the front page of the local paper). I joined a book club with some awesome ladies. We had a memorable VIP experience with new friends at BYU’s football game. I volunteered at our own’s annual Interfaith Creche exhibit. I joined a new private Facebook group of moms who love to X-Country Ski and Snowshoe and went on my first snowy adventure with them. During our hike, we discussed the lack of online communities for outdoor families so I created a private Facebook group. We’re already planning our first adventure–a moonlight snowshoe in January.

New friends Dawnelle and Heather

It all sounds pretty great, right?

It really is until I’m gobsmacked with What I Left Behind. Last Saturday night, I was missing all my friends who were at our old ward’s party. It was dark and cold, and all I wanted to do was curl up in a blanket and go to bed early but my neighbor Stacie was having a girl’s night out. So, I put my big girl panties on and forced myself to go–because you can’t complain about missing your old friends if you never put yourself out there to make new ones.

I’m so grateful I went. Our new ward is truly a blessing with a mix of “old-timers” and two brand new neighborhoods, many of whom are eager to mingle. I was having a great time chatting with a few ladies when I saw someone out of the corner of my eye. I introduced myself to “Yessica,” and learned she was originally from the Netherlands.

We chatted animatedly for a few minutes. She looked really outdoorsy and I was excited to learn we love many of the same activities.

Me: “You should really join this private Facebook group for women who love to cross-country ski and snowshoe!”

She looked at me dumbfoundedly.”I started that group!”

I gazed back at her, closer this time. “Wait, you’re Jessica? I just friended you on Facebook yesterday!”

She replied, “I just friended you back…and joined your Heber Valley Outdoor Families group.”

It was more than just a small world: it was downright serendipitous. We not only had so much in common but had so many ideas for growing an outdoor-loving community in Midway and beyond. I’m certain she is going to become a good friend and maybe we’ll even build out some projects together.

I walked away from that evening still missing my friends but with more resolve than ever that we’re supposed to be here.

And I can’t wait to discover the many reasons why.

Filed Under: hiking, Utah

One Month Small Town Living Update

November 30, 2016 By
1) I walked to the post office to mail my packages today. Because I can.
2) I know about five people here and ran into two of them across the street at City Hall.
3) I stopped into Edel Weiss Gallery because the shopkeeper left her keys in the door. Turned out she does it on purpose so she doesn’t lose them.
4) I bought Bode some boots on the town’s private Facebook garage sale page. The owner wasn’t home but left the boots out for me and told me to just leave the money under the mat.
5) The Mexican cantina has a salsa bar with 30+ flavors and I discovered on my walk they sell my favorite flavor, cilantro creamo. In bulk.
6) I’m helping at the annual Interfaith Creche Exhibit this week. I’m astounded by the spirit of volunteerism here and that a charming hamlet hosts thousands of people at their community events. People give of their time and talents so generously here and it’s good to be reminded there are still good, moral places like Midway left in the world.

 

Filed Under: Utah

Small Town Livin’ Updates

November 16, 2016 By

I’ve never lived in a small town. Sure, I went to college in Rexburg, ID and served as a missionary in several small villes in France and Switzerland but it’s just not the same. I find it rather humorous that when I was single, I was the PR rep for a popular musician who lives in the Heber Valley…and I remember thinking “why on earth would anyone ever live out there?”

Park City has many of the amenities of a big city (Home Depot, Walmart, numerous franchises) so it’s been interesting to adapt to our little hamlet with a population of just 4,000.

A few observations thus far:

  • The mountains, views and sunrises. When we sat on our front porch one evening before we moved in, it was complete stillness and peace under a blanket of stars. It took me exactly 20 seconds to get used to it.
  • Whenever I hear Salt Lake City’s traffic reports, I give a little chuckle of gratitude and am SO glad I don’t have to deal with that on a daily basis.
  • There are very few radio stations out here so KPCW public radio in Park City has become my go-to station in the mornings. I love all the evidences of small-town life including their lost and found reports.
  • There are a few private Facebook groups for the Heber Valley that crack me up on a daily basis as people sell, swap and ask any question under the sun. Takeaway: people in small towns are ready to help their neighbors. And sometimes get snippy with them, too.
  • The kids’ recreation guide included gems like “hunter safety, concealed weapons class and wilderness circuit rodeo finals.
  • Bode’s teacher “rodeos” and she was absent from class because her husband won the lottery…for a sought-after hunting permit.
  • Bode missed the competitive soccer tryouts and by fifth grade, most kids are playing competitive. We’ve found out why on his rec team this year. Some of these boys have never played before (which is fine) but our frustration is the league’s horrid policies on rules…as in they don’t enforce them. Offside? No problem. Let’s teach kids to cherry-pick. You’ve stepped three feet over the line for a throw-in? Throw away! I’m surprised how much it has bugged me. I don’t expect perfection but my gosh, can we please teach the kids how to play soccer?  The good news is not only was Bode the oldest but he was the superstar of the team–he scored more goals this season than he did the last few years combined in our city league. It’s been great for his confidence but not his skills. Better luck next season!

 

  • We were given a stipend from our builder for our front lawn so we immediately hired someone to do the sprinklers and sod. The problem was there was no grass to be found this late in the season so we are lucky enough to be the only house in the neighborhood who will have a mucky lawn all winter.
  • There are so many things we need to buy for this house in order to truly fit–cabinets for the laundry room and garage, an end table, lamp, rug and an addition to our too-small couch (that’s just the tip of the iceberg) but my top priority has been getting these kids skiing. We can’t afford season passes this year so are biting the bullet to do the skiing through our rec program. For just $350/kid, they get six weeks of half-day ski lessons and passes to Sundance Ski Resort and transportation up there. There goes our entire budget but really, all I want for Christmas is to get these kids of ours on the slopes.
  • Juggling my new job with Mosaico Travel along with all my other gigs has kicked my can. The good news is it’s been baptism by fire and I’ve been literally thrown into their busy Christmas travel season.
  • I look forward to life calming down a bit so I can actually get out and explore this glorious place we get to call home. Soon, right?
Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Uncategorized, Utah

Our first Utah soiree

November 9, 2016 By

We had so many wonderful neighbors help unload our PODs that I wanted to thank them sooner than later…so concocted an informal caramel apple dipping soiree for FHE. It was fun, casual and oh-so delicious.

Now, when I say “informal,” I mean it. We had only been in the house for five days, had been hanging the insulation all morning (horrid) and our big farm table was camped in the garage because it was too big to fit through our front door. My mother-in-law was reupholstering our chairs (read: nothing to sit on), our accent chair wasn’t finished yet and we had a gazillion other projects. Bonus: We finally got the table into the kitchen at the last minute.

In Jamie’s words: “WHO PLANS A PARTY WHEN YOU’VE BEEN IN YOUR HOUSE LESS THAN A WEEK?”

In Amber’s words: “MEEEEEEE!”

It was so fun to have the Seversons, Frisbys, Collettes and Noonans as our first official guests. I made five batches of caramel, which is a nice way of saying we’ll be eating caramel for weeks (a.k.a. winning).

Bode had a blast with his buddies Cole, Andrew, Charlie, Jonas and Eli while Hadley and Zoe?

I think they had more fun than any of us.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Utah

Welcome to Life Elevated Mom!

October 23, 2016 By

Changin’ changin’ changin’.

There are so many big changes going on in my family’s life and we still feel like we’re coming up for air! Since I’m now a Utah mom blogger, change is in order.

A shift I’ve been wanting to make for a while is the name of this blog. First, I was the Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck. Then I was The Mile High Mama. And now, I’m Life Elevated Mom. Be sure to change your bookmarks and subscriptions from themilehighmamas.com to lifeelevatedmom.com.

I love this new title because it encapsulates my mantra: Adventures with Altitude, joy and being surrounded by all-things uplifting.

Here’s to a new high-flying adventure with plenty of humor along the way.

Filed Under: Utah

One Week Move-in-anniversary

October 21, 2016 By

I’m writing this blog post on Saturday, October 15, 2016. One week ago today we unloaded our PODs and officially moved into our house the following Tuesday. Life has been a whirlwind for 10 months but nothing (except for when we moved from Colorado) has been more exhausting than the last seven days. I injured my good knee running down the Mid-Mountain Trail so I’ve been hobbling around on two sore knees because the pace of unpacking and getting organized has been unrelenting. I’ve been too busy to be homesick for Denver and that is a good thing. In Utah’s mountains, September hits in glorious full force but by October, the fall colors are winding down and, though the temperatures are still mild in the 60s, winter is knocking on the door. October in Denver was my favorite month of the year and I’m trying not to think about it.

What I want to remember about this week:

Last Saturday.

We unloaded the PODs. We were so grateful to have several men from the Elder’s Quorum at church come help as well as friends and family. We took about two hours to unload and thanks to my friend Sarah and Jamie’s mom Linda, we were able to unpack the kitchen that afternoon. Having a mostly functional kitchen is my first step in feeling at home; Jamie’s is apparently hooking up the TVs because that’s how he spent most of his time. #Priorities.

Friends Lori and Robert come to help that afternoon and drive with Jamie to Park City to pickup our large farm table, only to realize it doesn’t fit through our front door. Yay. Need to either take off the door or remove the legs so it has been housed in our garage.

Bode has been missing our Denver life like crazy. We flew Hadley to Utah for Girl’s Camp last summer so she had an instant network of friends but Bode has been slower to make connections. My heart was so full to see neighborhood boys flock to our house to hang out…and they’ve continued to knock on our door every day to invite him to play.

Early evening, we drove back to Park City to sleep in the townhome for the next few nights. Bode and I hot-tubbed under the stars, a memorable wind-down to a memorable two months.

Sunday.

Drove back to Midway for church, enjoyed meeting a lot of new people at our ward’s “Linger Longer” after church with root beer floats and super friendly people. I looooove how inclusive our new ward is and we’re already making a lot of friends.

Day II of Operation Declutter the House. Our goal was to dig out the beds and find the sheets. Mostly successful but the amount of boxes everywhere was still overwhelming. Bunked in Park City. Hot-tubbed to soak our sore muscles, relishing every last drop.

Monday.

After driving to Midway and dropping off the kids for school, I spent the day unpacking our bedrooms, working with the Dish Network guy (who was from my mom’s hometown Raymond) and a gazillion other miscellaneous projects. Tried not to have a sore attitude about the Master Bedroom, the room I hate the most in the house (it’s so small we can’t fit both dressers and the closet is such a joke I have nowhere to put my shoes or laundry basket). Master plan once we finish the basement is for Bode and Hadley to move downstairs and we’ll knock out the closet into Bode’s current room to give us more space. My only consolation of the Master bedroom? This view.

We’d planned to move in by Wednesday but I announced to Jamie the house might be functional enough to sleep in by Tuesday night.

Tuesday.

Jamie drove the kids to school while I stayed at the townhome in Park City to finish packing and cleaning. What I thought would take a couple of hours took six and I was so exhausted by the end of it, that I rewarded myself with my mushroom bisque obsession from Cafe Zupas. And then unloaded and unpacked everything once I arrived at our house. Moving sucks!

I’ve missed the majority of Bode’s soccer season due to the insane amount of driving I’ve been doing but was delighted to take in his final game where his team won and he scored a hat trick. The advantage of missing competitive try-outs and being the oldest on your rec league team: superstar! 

That night before bed, we stood out on the deck marveling at the stars and the twilight outline of the mountains. We were home!

Wednesday.

Got the kids out the door on time fed and mostly clothed. Hailed that glorious thing called THE NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL bus after surviving 160+ hours shuttling the kids back and forth from Park City. The house is total chaos with the landscaping crew digging out our front yard’s sprinkler system and the basement under construction. Our house has three very small bedrooms upstairs so we hired a great local contractor, Jordan, to finish two rooms in the basement: Hadley’s bedroom and Jamie’s den. By Wednesday, he already had the two rooms framed. Progress!

Finished unpacking the majority of the main level and cleaned up all the clutter so the house looked almost presentable! My friend Lori came to help setup Bode’s bed and tackle the disastrous basement by setting up shelves. I worked long into the night and posted this on Facebook:

“Our neighbors unloaded their PODs on the same day as us and I spotted the sweet wife yesterday. She: 1) Parked her car in the garage (where is all their crap?) 2) Already has her house decorated for Halloween and 3) Took a shower. #AreTheseUtahnsForReal?”  I didn’t post that to criticize; I was merely in awe.

We don’t have a table, chairs, washer or dryer hooked up and a million other things…but you can rest easily knowing the pumpkin patch/greenhouse was being prepped.

Thursday.

Electrician finished up on the two rooms in the basement. $#&*$# builder didn’t install an electrical panel big enough to support any other outlets so we had to replace the whole thing (another unbudgeted $1,000 down the tubes). Worked my arse off to finish organizing the basement into five areas: cold storage, regular storage room, great room storage, den/Hadley’s crafting space and home theater room. It will be a while until we can afford to finish the entire basement but we want to make it as functional as possible. Once Hadley and Jamie are moved in downstairs (hopefully within the next few wees), we’ll make the adjacent Great Room Bode’s play area (mostly because he can’t fit his toys in his bedroom).

Friday.

Organized the garage (oh, the horror with all of Jamie’s pumpkin C-R-A-P). Priority after finishing the basement: Build a shed. Needed Jamie’s help to build all the metal shelves in the basement and garage so temporarily organized our three-car garage into two general areas: Jamie’s stuff and recreational equipment. Wading through it all put me in a worse mood than the basement, primarily because we have a ton more space downstairs. The good news is we’ll now be able to park our cars and trailer in the garage once the snow flies. We likely won’t have time to setup shelves and truly organize the garage until spring and I’m totally OK with that.

Went to the Heber Valley dumping station (nicest “dump” I’ve ever seen) and rewarded ourselves with pumpkin cheesecake shakes from Dairy Keen. Oh, how our Friday nights have changed.

That night as Jamie prayed at dinner, he said he was thankful for the “food upon this table” to which I irreverently interjected, “we don’t have a table.”  Vowed to get that blasted table inside by the end of the weekend.

Saturday.

Slept in until 7 p.m. After my manic week of 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. wake-ups, this felt like a dream! Jamie left the house early to unload compost for the yard while I had my first leisurely morning in months. Worked from bed (looked at our view every few seconds), made fresh strawberry syrup  from scratch for our pancakes and it felt wonderful to finally spend some time in the kitchen!

The afternoon, we organized Bode’s room and cleaned the house. That evening while Hadley babysat Bode and our friends Ben and Sarah’s kids, we went on a double-date to dinner and the evening session of Stake Conference. The perfect end to one crazy week.

=====

Thus ends our first full week in the Heber Valley!

My first impressions of our home? I love it overall. Everything is crisp, new and beautiful. We have granite countertops, white cabinets and hardwood floor, which we never had in our old house. I especially love the larger kitchen and pantry! But we’ve downsized. Significantly. And until we finish the basement (especially those two rooms), we have essentially crammed two levels from our old house into just one and it’s causing a lot of headaches. Hadley is temporarily bunking down in my office and since my closet only has shelves, she has split her wardrobe between Bode’s and my closet. Bode’s toys are still in in boxes because there’s nowhere to unpack them and Jamie’s office is crammed into the bay window of our very small Master bedroom.

And somehow with all the headaches, stress and sore bodies, this gorgeous little plot already feels like home.

Filed Under: Uncategorized, Utah

Top 15 Park City Adventures in the Fall

October 19, 2016 By

I’ve long skied Park City in the winter, cruised down the alpine coaster in the summer but have never been there in the off-season.  Park City’s fall has unfolded like a gorgeous wave, starting with the crimsons and burnt oranges of the oaks and maples, and ending with the pure liquid aspen gold.

Though I’ve wanted to adventure daily, I’ve been limited on time between chauffeuring kids, household chores and work but I’ve made a point to get out at least a few times a week. Near the end of our stay, I stopped in to White Pine Touring for a map of area trails and was pleased to discover I’d managed to hit all the major hubs. Not bad for a rookie!

Here’s a recap of my Park City adventures:

1) Biking around the base of Park City Canyons Village did not suck. Their $21 hamburgers did. 

2) Biking the Millennium Trail from the townhome to Gorgoza Park. This paved trail system provides connectivity throughout the Snyderville Basin and Park City and goes for miles.

3) Willow Creek Trail. This was a fun one to unearth. I was planning to explore the trail that winds down to Historic Main Street when I discovered the Willow Creek trail system that winds around 66 acres of undeveloped open space under a conservation easement with Utah Open Lands. Willow Creek Park is one of the best in Park City.

4) No worries, I took the trail to downtown Park City another day and was not disappointed.

5) Nighttime strolls up to the base of Canyons Village and fun photo filters. This was taken literally right outside our door.

6) Shoe Tree Park. This one was a delight to uncover during my bike ride along the McCleod Trail/ Willow Creek/Hwy 224 Connector  that extends from Kimball Junction to Downtown Park City. You know a town is cool when it has a funky park with shoes, cowboy boots and even ski boots in the trees.

And strange red moss nearby.

7) Deer Valley is a splurge but for girl’s night, we had a glorious time exploring the trails adjacent to the St. Regis. Luxury ain’t free but these fall colors were.

8) If you’re going to do just one exploration in Park City, I highly recommend following the paved trail to the picturesque white barn known as the “McPolin Farm.” Heaped in history, this 100-year-old barn received national status as an Historic Landmark.

Launching kids in the air en route: highly recommended.

9) Most of my mountain biking expeditions had been on paved or easy trails but this was my foray into singletrack and it might be my favorite fall ride ever! Skid Row: I highly recommend it. #ThingsINeverWould HaveSaidBeforeMovingtoParkCity

10) One of my longtime bloggers connected me with her sister Sheri who moved to Park City last year. You’ll never find me in her hot yoga class but a friendship was borne as we climbed Ecker Hill.

11) Trailside Park. I took a different route home from dropping off the kids and stumbled upon an irresistible network of trails and bike park. When I got out of the car to explore in the rain (without the proper gear, of course), the song “I hope you never lose your sense of wonder” played on the radio. No chance of that with wonders around every corner in Park City.

12) My friend Kristen lives in my dream home in Jeremy Ranch. Literally right at her fingertips is the Glenwild Area’s expansive network of trails. She, Lexi and I had so much fun exploring one day…

…that I had to return a few days later to explore the Flying Dog Trail. 

13) Guardsman Pass Scenic Byway connects Heber to Park City to Salt Lake City. I have only three words for this view of the Heber Valley: Oh. My. Gosh.

14) Round Valley wasn’t particularly scenic (unless you like sage brush and scrub oak) but for the novice mountain biker, it’s a pretty amazing place. I tackled a couple of different trailheads: hiked from The Cove (and got a bit lost before meeting Jamie for lunch) and mountain biked Silver Quinn–the paved trail from Quinn’s Junction–to City Park and then hopped on the adjacent singletrack for a wild ride on Rambler. 

14) The Rail Trail is a highly-touted abandoned railroad corridor-turned-non-motorized path that travels 28 miles out of town. I biked 6 miles from the White Pine Touring trailhead to Prospector and it was so underwhelming (unless you like cows that run in front of you) that I did a big loop by biking along the Old Highway 40, crossing to the other side, following Silver Quinn through City Park and then reconnecting with the Rail Trail. At least the ride back was considerably more scenic. Sorry, bovines. You needed to MOOOOVE over.

15) Mid-Mountain. My friend Dave has been raving about his love for mountain biking the famed Mid-Mountain trail at Park City resort for years. An intimate and spectacular trail that sits at about 8,000 feet, it spans 28 miles. There are many options for places to start, one of the most popular being Silver Lake Lodge at Deer Valley. Since we lived at the “finish line” a.k.a. Canyons Village, I planned to do it backwards…but didn’t realize it’s quite a trek just to reach mid-mountain. And so I did a couple of mini-treks that started right in our Sun Peak neighborhood at Rob’s Trail. The problem: I was always short on time so could only hike a couple of miles. 

On another day, I set out to walk around the Sun Peak neighborhood when I discovered a higher access point for Rob’s trail so did a big loop but was frustrated not to have time to reach Mid-Mountain. I came home and ranted to Jamie [without taking a breath]: “I started to take a neighbor walk but then discovered even more trails and I had to take them even though I didn’t have any time, water or supplies and there are even more trails I have to go back and explore because I couldn’t hike them all today and I’ll NEVER be able to hike them all and…curse you, Park City!”

Jamie [without flinching]: “I don’t know if you’re lying to me or you’re lying to yourself.”#TheEntireDynamicOfOurMarriageSummedUp

A week later, I set out to hike that higher access point for Rob’s Trail off Bear Hollow Drive. I was pressed for time: we had our house’s walk-through that afternoon so I needed to make it quick. From the very beginning, it was absolutely my favorite hike in Park City.

I was having a grand ol’ time minding my own business when, for the first time, I saw the turnoff for Mid-Mountain. Could the Holy Grail of Park City backcountry be near? I checked my watch; I was running out of time. I was determined to get as far as I could and, if needs be, turn around. I ran into two women who’d just returned from Mid-Mountain and I breathlessly asked how much farther. They checked their altimeter. “You have about 1 mile to go.” I kicked it into high-gear with a faster hiking pace and nothing, NOTHING could have prepared me for what awaited me when I turned the last bend to see the very cradle of the mountain in a pathway of golds and greens.


Mid-Mountain was everything I’d dreamed of…and so much more. I could have explored for hours but I was on deadline. For the first time in over a year, I ran. At first, I was tentative to spare my knee but after a few minutes, the familiar rhythm returned to me and I blissfully raced down the mountain, rejoicing how much I missed this freedom of flight and I NEEDED to get back into it.

Until I woke up the next morning and realized I had twisted my uninjured knee and it took me a full week to recover. But you’d better believe Mid-Mountain was worth it.

Filed Under: biking, Family travel, hiking, outdoors, Utah
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