Wasatch Crest - Midmountain Loop
The loop tying the Wasatch Crest and Midmountain Trail is a big ride with substantial climbing at high altitude. It's a tough trip, for very conditioned riders only. There are several ways to do it, some much harder than others. Your top altitude will be 10,000 feet. Starting altitude depends on your choice of trailheads. This guide has a Guardsman Road start, return via CMG to Thaynes Road to Apex to Keystone to Shadow Lake: 26.2 miles, 3400 vertical feet climbing.
Sample ride, from Guardsman Road, clockwise loop:
0.0   Onto DT north N40 36.822 W111 34.271
0.7   Scott's Pass, L uphill N40 36.992 W111 33.511
1.0   Top of Puke Hill
5.0   Desolation Lake, The Spine
5.1   Keep R uphill (L = Mill D No)
N40 39.560 W111 35.845
7.6   R to Crest Connector N40 41.204 W111 36.072
(L = Mill Creek)
7.9   Straight
8.8   Join Midmountain, keep straight (R)
N40 41.488 W111 35.134
11.4 Red Pine Lodge, keep straight through
N40 40.658 W111 34.675
14.6 Keep L on MidMtn (R = Ironman) N40 39.625 W111 33.364
16.4 Hard L (R connects to Ironman) N40 40.060 W111 32.490		17.9 Keep L (R = Ironman) N40 39.299 W111 32.306
18.4 R uphill (L = Armstrong) N40 39.099 W111 32.288
20.3 L downhill (R = Powerline) N40 37.963 W111 32.180
Then rapid R on Midmountain
21.1 R uphill on Crescent M.G. N40 38.182 W111 31.514
22.1 L uphill on Thaynes Rd N40 37.822 W111 32.017
22.5 R uphill on Apex ST N40 38.018 W111 31.760
23.1 R on Keystone N40 37.780 W111 31.869
24.1 R on DT N40 37.100 W111 32.641
Then cross to Shadow Lake trail
24.2 Keep straight across to ST N40 37.075 W111 32.736
25.0 Hard L on Blazing Saddle N40 37.004 W111 33.278
Alternate: continue to DT then L uphill
25.5 Across Scott's Pass and down
26.2 At car

Getting there:
Head up Big Cottonwood Canyon at the junction of Wasatch Blvd and 72nd south. Drive up past Solitude Resort (about 15 miles). Just before you reach Brighton, the road to Guardsman Pass turns off on your left. At 0.8 miles, you'll see a red metal gate. Exactly one mile later (1.8 miles from the fork in the road), you'll see a dirt road on the left as you go around a hairpin to the right. GPS N 40° 36.817' W 111° 33.532'. Park along the hairpin turn and bike up the road. (There's a second -- closed -- gate about 100 yards up the road. Just pack your bike around the gate and continue.)
Trail conditions and alignments change. Use this guide at your own risk. Copyright 2011 Mad Scientist Software, Inc.