AM- Joe and I drove to North Ogden to do the challenging Ben Lomond mountain via Northern Skyline trail. It is 8 miles each way to the summit, with about 3700 ft climbing along the way. The trail was suprisingly fabulous and very runnable- it climbed a very consistent 520-550 ft/mile for 4.5 miles, then smoothed out a bit to about 350 ft/mile for 2.5 miles, followed by the final grunt to the top, which was still only 700 ft/mile. It would be fairly easy to run the whole way up this trail, and it would be a great race on fresh legs. The views from the 9712 ft peak are amazing- Ogden is 4000 ft down but only 1/2 mile away horizontally. Very steep cliffs all around. And did I mention it was windy on top? We took some pictures of Ogden, Ogden Valley, and even Cache Valley before turning around. The run down is nice, though it was about 3 miles too long for my tired legs and painful foot, plus a 2-3 mile section in which the trail is covered with small to medium rocks got a bit annoying. But again, it would be a fabulous trail to run fast on fresh legs, with a great reward at the top. 16 miles RT, 1:37 up, 1:03 down- about 20 minutes faster than I expected due to the nice grade and good trail conditions, though Joe and I were laughing at ourselves for thinking 10:10 pace is a good average. 3700 ft climbing and descend. Very glad we did this run. And thanks for driving, Joe. Joe and Ben Lomond, 2/3 of the way up. An imposing mountain.  At the top overlooking Ogden 
North Ogden and some steep cliffs 
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