March 26-April 1

At the beginning of the week I was fairly sure that my calf injury was healed, but on Tuesday I found out that it was not the case.  I knew enough to find something flat for a "test run," so I went to Centennial Trail on my way home from work.  I made it six minutes pain-free, then it started to tighten up; I turned back and ran another four minutes, and finally decided I'd better just walk the rest of the way back to the car.

That was the only run for the week.  It wasn't too painful on Wednesday, but I decided to err on the side of caution, and besides, I was plenty busy with work.

Then spring break started!  I rushed home after work on Friday to pack my bags, left again for the first night of Backpack School, then came home and finished packing for the weekend backpack to Hell's Canyon.

We got a semi-early start on Saturday morning to drive to Pittsburgh Landing; I have never done this trip before and had no idea how long a drive it was to the trail head!  We didn't get started on the trail until around noon, but it's only a six mile hike to Kirkwood Ranch.  We saw a group of boy scouts at the trail head, and when we got to the ranch we found that there were two other boy scout troops already camped; it's a very popular location for boy scout troops!  I also discovered that I seriously underestimated how warm it would be in Hell's Canyon; I only packed long pants and long-sleeve shirts, but it was warm!  In the late afternoon it did start to rain, but I could have done with some shorts and a tee-shirt for the hike in.  One of the boy scout leaders later told us that he'd only packed heavy wool clothing, so I'm sure he was extra miserable!  The wind was fierce, though, despite the sunny skies.  I later heard that another hiker on the way in was hit by a gust that knocked her down and that she fell a good ways down below the trail; in some areas that could have been a lethal fall, so I guess in a sense she was lucky that it happened where it did.  

After we arrived we quickly set up camp and then took off for farther up-trail: We hike to Suicide Point about two miles beyond the ranch.  On the way back I found a nice mule deer shed along the trail.  I was also thrilled to get lots of wildflower pictures; I got several of buttercups blooming inside cactus fortresses!

Sunday morning started rainy, then got sunny, then got rainy, then got sunny again.  We checked out the museum and then did the side hike up the canyon to the old bootlegger's mansion (it, along with the bunkhouse, are on the National Historic Register).  Then we packed up and hiked out and started the long drive home.

Weekly totals: running = about 1.5; hiking = about 18