Morel Time!

I started this week with trail running.  On Monday I did an approximately 5.5 mile hilly loop at Iller Creek.  I was still tired from that on Tuesday, so I did a shorter and slower loop in the Dishman Hills.  The Dishman Hills never cease to amaze me; despite nearly fifteen years of exploring those trails, I found a new-to-me trail on this run.  It was beautiful, mainly due to all of the spring flowers that are just starting to bloom right now.  I'm hoping that I can get back to hike this with my camera in the next week or so.
On Wednesday I finally managed to get up to Mount Spokane to ski.  This is my favorite time of the year to ski up there--there were a few snowboarders hanging out near lodge one, but I was the only one going to the top tonight.  The snow is wet, sloppy, and dirty; it was a little like skiing through mashed potatoes, but it's April and therefore fabulous.  I hope I can do it again next week.

On Thursday I returned to Iller Creek for a trail run.  I managed to get a huge blister after skiing and it was still bothering me tonight, so I cut the run pretty short.

On Friday I had students in doing makeup work fairly late, so I didn't have enough time to run before backpack school. 

Saturday I left early for a camping trip to my favorite morel-hunting grounds.  It has been cold enough that the morels are late this year.  I only found about two pounds, but I got a nice long hike in, most of it cross-country.  I also found three ticks during the course of the day, but fortunately I found all of them before they found a place to bite.  I didn't find any more morels Sunday morning, so  I came home early to get a little gardening done in the afternoon.

Mileage for April 23-29: running = 11 miles; hiking = approximately 10 miles (most off-trail)