No Tiger Woods with this wedge

Utahs Grand Canyon

My dad's side of the family are pretty big golfers. I got introduced to it fairly young and played quite a bit in my high school years before my recreation desires moved to slightly more adrenaline type sports, though I still enjoy an occasional round. With the Master's going on this weekend without the controversial yet likeable character Tiger Woods involved, the Lindsay and Weiler clan headed to the Swell to pay honor to that great short range, high angle golf club, the sand wedge.

The Wedge Recreation Area of the San Rafael Swell contains a fantastic 21 mile singletrack/dirt road loop through sand, dirt, and slickrock for mountain bikers and runners called the Good Water Trail. It winds its way in and out and around the many tentacles of the Wedge canyon formation. It takes a very inefficient, indirect, but beautiful course of 16 miles around these canyon arms to reach the opposite side, and then a short more direct 5 mile dirt road brings you back to the start. The map below should explain this apparent paradox.

The light red is the trail, a full 16 miles, then the dark red is the 5 mile dirt road return

We camped pretty close to the rim of the Little Grand Canyon overlook Friday night after trying Code Red Mountain Dew for the first time(I'll stick with DP) and enjoyed a night out sans tent, though a critter or two did find their way into Annie's territory.

Steve and I headed out around 7 am the next morning and busted out the 21 miles in around 3:20. The elevation gain and loss on this trail is pretty sad, a whopping 100 feet(not sure on exact numbers, but it felt this way). I get more vertical on my lunch break walk at work.  Its pretty dang flat. Not a good Hardrock training run. We enjoyed the views of  "Utah's Grand Canyon" and made it back to camp where our families were waiting. Overall it was pretty fun, though I do enjoy a bit more variety in the vertical realm.

Steve is a fast flat runner, so I didn't take many pics since I was struggling to keep up on the 8 min/miles

We spent the rest of the day cragging on the Indian-Creek-Wanabie cracks. Fun, but not the Creek. It is nice to climb some splitters though without the 6 hour drive it takes to get to crack paradise.

Annie is 7 months pregnant, but she can still bust out hand crack

The Teeter Totter, 5.10 X. The pillar here creaks and moves a little as you climb it. Its only moderately scary. Annie put on her helmet while she belayed, as if that would help if the 1000 lb pillar collapsed on her. 

You've been warned. Do it anyway

Nice 5.9 crack right off the road.