Raining outside? It must be Saturday...

The first day of the 2007 fall season was Sunday, September 23rd. Since then it has rained every single Saturday as follows:

Saturday, September 29
Rain in the valley, snow in the mountains
Precip (in): 0.35

Saturday, October 6
Rain in the valley, snow in the mountains
Precip (in): 0.46

Saturday, October 13
Rain in the valley, snow in the mountains
Precip (in): 0.04

And while Saturday, September 22 was technically still summer, it also rained in the valley and mountains. Precip (in): 0.38

So after four consecutive Saturdays of rain you can begin to understand my frustration with the weather. However, with my brother in town do you think I let a little rain keep us indoors this morning? Well, the smart answer would probably have been YES but in our case we responded with a resounding NO!

Our plan was to ride the Deer Creek South Fork loop, starting and finishing at the Timpanooke campground in American Fork Canyon. Due to poor weather we cut the ride short but still managed about 90 minutes in the saddle. To say conditions were wet would be a gross understatement. At times we were riding through extended sections of trail filled with 2-3 inches of water. There wasn't much of the traditional oozing, sticky, gummy mud but rather just lots and lots of wet, slippery, soupy dirt. Initially I felt a little guilty about riding in such conditions but after we were passed by two guys riding motorcycles and a group of 4 horseback riders I quit worrying about any damage we might be causing on our bikes.

Looking back on the ride, after a warm shower and tasty lunch, I can honestly say it was a lot of fun. However, a few hours earlier, with cold fingers and toes, feet soaked and sloshing in my shoes, mud splattered on my face, I might have expressed a different opinion. The pictures really don't do the conditions justice. Finding officers from the Utah Sheriff's Department, members of Mountain Search & Rescue and a film crew from Fox 13 News at the Timpanooke trailhead debating whether to call in a helicopter to extract a group of hikers from the mountain only reinforced what we already knew: Our ride today was one to remember.