Went yesterday and rode the Pipeline trail which is located up Millcreek Canyon. I told Matt that I'd never been up Millcreek Canyon but he reminded me that we had spent a few days there 22 years ago when we were Cubs & Webloes. Those were the days...spent panning for gold in the river. Thinking back the gold was actually a silver color and looked a lot like a rock soaked in glue and rolled in sparkles. But '49er Jack' insisted the stuff was real. I should have offered to sell him some of my loot. The other thing I remember about those camps is that at one point they took us on a hike and during the hike they were piping Indian chants from some speakers in the trees. They told us we had to be quiet or the Indians would hear us and come get us. That was enough for me to hold all bodily noises til later. Matt says that there aren't any engines now days but it's more of a Harry Potters Magical Cub Wizard day. Too bad, everyone needs to be chased by engines sometime in their life.
Anyway back to the Pipeline. Unfortunately the gate was closed to cars so we had to park and bike up the canyon or about 1.5 miles. Matt didn't look too pleased about that detour. We slowly peddled up the canyon and finally made it to the trail. I had one flashback to 6/25/05 . As Matt and I were walking up the canyon during a portion some 80 lb lady comes flying up the canyon. I recognized her as the same lady who we drove past 2 miles earlier. Uhh, I guess I've still got a ways to go.
We started the trail...things were pretty good. Matt took a awkward fall into some tall grass while trying to avoid a dog. Pretty funny from behind. I went down trying to make a switchback turn. I've never really been too good at those turns as Eric and 1/2 the pine trees in Mueller Park Canyon can attest to. Every once in a while I still get that smell of pine tar that comes out of nowhere.
We were going smooth until we came to a fork in the road. Matt pointed out that if we went to the right, there was a great view of the valley. He then decided to take the one less traveled and we soon found out why. It lead to the street where our car wasn't parked. So we biked back up the hill and continued. 15 minutes later we reached another fork. I joked that if we went to the right there was a lovely view of the Valley. Matt laughed...and went left. Around the bend I found Matt standing next to the river as he almost went off the bridge for a swim. He almost missed the bridge! He then mentioned that he didn't remember the bridge ever being there. Do you know why? Because we were on the other road less traveled. We soon found ourselves on the street where our car wasn't parked. I wasn't biking back up the hill so we rode down the pavement to our car. Maybe next time we'll do then entire trail and I'll go first.
Overall a pretty nice trail. I don't know how I ever rode Mueller Park with no suspension. My arms/hands take a beating now. Anyway I'd like to do the complete trail sometime. Just a word of advice, STAY RIGHT!
BTW, I bought a heart rate monitor yesterday and spent 3 hours I finally figured out how it works. As I've read, there are some major benefits to keeping your heart rate in certain zones during workouts (increased weight loss, more efficiant workouts etc.) Anyway you wear a small chests strap and a watch. The strap sends a signal to your watch which tells you about everyting you want to know. Before I knew it it was telling me I had to go to the bathroom again. More about the monitor in the next issue.
