Sunrise to Sunset Park City Adventures on the Summer Solstice

The summer solstice, the longest day of the year, the beginning of the summer season, but most importantly 15 hours and 5 minutes of daylight! For the first time in my life I finally accomplished a goal I had in the back of my head. That goal was to be outside, in the mountains, from sun-up to sun-down, utilizing every minute of daylight that I long for in those cold, dark winter months. This stemmed from a video I saw, many years ago, of someone surfing at sunrise on the Oregon coast, then followed by some biking, and eventually a summit push on the snowy slopes of Mount Hood for sunset. But the years have gone by, the solstice fell on a weekday one year after the next and it never lined up, until this year!

On Sunday, June 21st, at 6AM, Courtney, the dog Gregor, and I headed out the door and down the road to the base of Canyons Resort here in Park City. With one other car in the parking lot, we threw on our running vests, last bits of SPF30, and started our watches before heading up the mountain. The goal, a simple one. To get to the Wasatch Crest from the base in the shortest distance possible. Simple, yes, in practice, quite difficult. Because the shortest distance from the base to the top of the Wasatch back is via the ski runs. So up we climbed, of course with the dog leading the way past the amphitheater and up Doc’s run.

Admittedly, not a common route, compared to the hundreds of daily hikers and bikers that climb the trails like Jenny’s or Armstrong, nobody goes straight up the ski runs for fun. One steep section after another, we followed the service road that climbs underneath the Red Pine Gondola, before turning and making the last loose, tricky section to the mid station of the Orange Bubble Express. 1.5 Miles in, 1,200 vertical feet behind us, and more than that to go. At least the marmots seemed to find our struggle funny as they chirped in chorus, sending our dog into a frenzy thinking it was a smoke detector alarm going off. Luckily, Gregor quickly forgot when we cruised on up to the snowmaking pond near the Mid Mountain trail. Because that meant he could go in for a quick dip in hopes of chasing rocks or a stick.

Cooled and refreshed, we ran up to the top of the OBX lift, and turned onto a narrow ski run named Painted Horse. Slowly, more-so me, we both ran up until the trail merged with Kokopelli, we climbed up to the last snow patch that made it to summer. Cresting the Saddleback Express top station ridgeline, we were on the final stretch, on the narrow road to the top of the mountain. 3.6 miles and 2,400ft later, we were on the Wasatch Crest. Panoramic views of the Wasatch mountains, the Cottonwood canyons, and even the Great Salt Lake off in the distance. Normally, this trail is viewed from my bike to ride the entire Crest trail, but this was the first time Courtney ever got to see this incredible view and Gregor’s 2nd time. Though, he didn’t really seem to care, just another day in the life of a mountain dog I guess.

Coming down the way we climbed, our muscles screamed back at us as we demanded so much from them on the steep slopes. But a couple hours later, we were back in the base area, running past the golfers heading out for their morning rounds, and drinking from the portable water station in celebration. Exhausted, but stoked to have accomplished so much this early in the day. And after a quick nap by the community pool, we were off again into town for the summer favorite tradition of Park Silly Sunday Market. A great way to ring in summer, with tropical drinks and a live band on main street, we rubbed elbows with the rest of town. But the fun wasn’t over and my pain was just about to begin.

At 4PM, I left the house again, not on my feet or car, but my mountain bike to meet up with some friends for another adventure. This time, instead of going up, we were headed from Kimball Junction, up to the Mid Mountain Trail, and ride it all the way across town to Deer Valley Resort. 32 Miles would be the plan and a whole lot of climbing between then, and I honestly did not plan on making it with how exhausted my legs already were. But bikes are fun, and I linked up with Nate at the bottom of the Utah Olympic Park and headed uphill to climb Moose Puddle. Two dozen switchbacks and 1,600 feet later, we were up on the ridge and making our way up the final switchbacks to hit the start of the Mid Mountain Trail where we met up with Brett. To add to the chaos, both Brett and Nate brought their single-speed, hardtail mountain bikes and I was the only sane one with gears, and full suspension.

This trail is by far one of my favorite trails in Park City. In a town, with hundreds of miles of single track, and perpetual development, it’s hard to feel like you’re in a remote wilderness. The Mid Mountain trail is the closest you can get, because for an 8 miles section between Canyons Resort and Park City Resort, you have nowhere else to ride. And in that section, you cross through the high alpine desert terrain, pine forest, one of the fanciest skiing neighborhoods in the country, and some of the more exposed rocky terrain in town. Beyond the pretty places to ride our bikes, you have to cross the Iron Mountain section. 16 miles in, there is a two mile section of the rockiest terrain, filled with tiny boulders, sandstone rocks the size of 45lb bar bell  plates, and none of it is well packed down or stable. The slightest misalignment will have you bouncing back and forth on the narrow trail from one rock to the next for a dozen yards before you’re able to correct. Did I mention, going in this direction is seemingly all uphill.

By the time we reached Park City Mountain side, crossing the junction with the Armstrong trail, the sun had set behind the mountain and we were in the evening’s twilight. Sure, a bit more difficult to see, but at this time of the evening, the trails are empty and you feel like you and your friends own the mountain. Weaving in and out of the drainages, we climbed out to the point of the Crescent Ridge, ducking under the King Con chair, the town was bathed in the golden hour light and a cold breeze was coming up the hill. Some 22 miles completed at this point, and I was losing my climbing legs quickly. Each successive hill required one easier gear than the last, and before I knew it, I was almost in my granny gear to climb the fire road near the Bonanza lift, but I was still keeping close to those single speeders with me.

Thankfully, the segment from Park City Mountain over to the Montage at Deer Valley flows mostly downhill, besides the uphills, and we knocked it out in no time. At this point, the forest was getting darker, but we still had plenty of time by the time we reached Empire Lodge at DV. Wishing I was riding lifts rather than pedaling at this point, but we had almost finished. All that was left was Mid Mountain Extension that wraps around the backside of Bald Eagle Mountain. The Jordanelle Reservoir with its exposed shorelines was off in the distance, begging for a rain storm to make up for the lack of snow run-off this year. But we reached the end of our pedaling, at mile 30, forgoing the last bit of the Extension so that we could drop into Undertow to ride a flow trail in the last bits of the solstice light. 

By the time we reached the parking lot of Deer Valley Resort, rolling downhill to the Old Town Transit Center for our shuttle back home, we had ridden 32 miles, climbed 5,000 vertical feet, and was on the bike riding for over four hours. Mission accomplished, sunrise to sunset, non-stop fun and adventure. Totals for the day were nearly 40 miles and 8,000 vertical feet on both my feet and wheels! A day I’ll never forget, and can’t wait to repeat it next year with another ultimate day out. Of course, I was sore and out of commission for the next two days, but it was 100% worth it.