4:51 p.m. — After a tour of the lodge and reflecting on some of the old signs, and nine minutes before day passes expired, we headed for the last resort with a certain sense of accomplishment to this point knowing there was nothing, short of a downed power line, to stop us.

Coincidentally, as we drove toward Eden, a small truck had hit a power pole minutes earlier and the lines were left holding up the broken pole. We passed under the lines before traffic was stopped and drove to the finish.

5:12 p.m. — We arrived at the base of the Sundown Lift before the night lights went on and shortly after they started to check for nighttime passes.

We unloaded on Sundown Ridge, appropriately named, just as the sun was starting to fall behind the Wasatch Range.

It was, as noted, a perfect ending. Consensus among the group was that few sunsets could top this one as seen from the summit.

As if on cue, several forest grouse left their perches in trees near the summit and flew east, within a few feet of our party, with the heavy beating of wings in what was otherwise pure silence.

5:37 p.m. — We gathered at the base, did the expected "high fives" and deep sighs . . . no injuries, no falls and not a bad run all day.

5:58 p.m. — We drove into the parking area at Wolfe Creek Grill, pulled off our ski boots, took off the fleece, shed the ski bibs, did a couple of deep knee bends to loosen the knees and stepped inside for dinner . . . scallops and shrimp, steak, salmon, lasagna . . . and homemade cheesecake or, for some, a huge ice-cream sundae, or a real treat, creme brulee.

In pooling all the players around the dinner table it was decided:

It was not as difficult as we expected and could easily have been completed in a shorter time frame.

One of the most interesting facts was that each resort carried its own personality stamp.

There was not a bad run in the bunch.

Only in Utah . . . and now what?

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E-mail: grass@desnews.com

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