July 30 - August 5: Hike-a-Thon begins!

I took Monday and Tuesday in order to recuperate after the weekend--my knees and my left ankle were swollen on Monday.  I did borrow a bike at Monday's xc practice and I rode a few miles with the team, but otherwise I laid low.

Wednesday, August 1: I started this thing off right with a morning trailrun from Iller Creek trailhead up the creek-side trail, over to Rocks of Sharon, and then down the ridge trail.  This is the first time I've been to the top of the creek-side trail since the WTA finished the re-route at the top--it's fantastic!  This used to be a hard trail to follow in the upper portion, but now it's easy to follow and the grade is better besides!  Distance = 5 miles.  My watch is broken, so I don't know the elapsed time!  In the afternoon I went up to the chalet and hiked from there up trail 131 and 130 to meet the Mountaineers for the Wednesday night hike.  The group started at Bald Knob and hiked out 130 past the CCC cabin and out to Day Mountain.  It was an out-and-back hike, and I made it longer by starting and finishing at the chalet instead of the campground.  Distance = 7.4 miles.  Wednesday total = 13.4 miles; ??? elevation gain (note to self: look up Iller Creek!).

Thursday, August 2:  Part of the reason why I spent the night at the chalet was because I was doing WTA trailwork on the mountain on Thursday, and I didn't want to bother with the drive home in the evening when I knew I'd be returning early in the morning.  Since I was already on the mountain, I was able to arrive at the trailhead for the trailwork early and get in a morning run first.  I ran the loop from the KC Loop Road TH up and across 100 and back on the KC Loop Road, and then I did an out-and-back on trail 103 to check out the trail condition.  It was only 2.3 miles.  Then we did trailwork--the beginnings of the re-route of 130 off Day Mountain where it meets the KC Loop Road.  We worked all day, but I don't think I hiked more than a mile for the whole thing--mainly as I went farther down 130 to find a "pink tree."  After the trailwork I added to my mileage by walking back up from the worksite--in time to witness some mountain bikers jumping off the rockwork in the CCC cabin Heritage Area.  I confronted one of them, not that it did much good.  I then channeled my anger into an afternoon trailrun: back to the lower KC Loop Road TH for a run on the big 100 loop out to Smith Gap for 3.5 miles more.  I still wasn't done, either--it was the church bbq night, and I was scheduled to help with rootbeer floats at the Community Center at 5:30 pm!  This day was exhausting!  Thursday total = 8.9 miles; 1,349' elevation gain.

Friday, August 3:  Today I lost my momentum.  It's supposed to be Cake Walk weekend, but two weeks ago a massive windstorm hit Ferry County.  It was devastating--100 mile-per-hour winds knocked down trees all over the county.  Homes lost power, Sherman Pass closed due to trees (and powerlines) falling across the road, and of course, the trails took a beating.  I wanted to try the Thirteen Mile hike from the Bear Pot TH, but I soon found my path completely blocked.  I couldn't even tell which way the trail went!  I think I made it about 3/4-mile before I was forced to turn back.  It was unfortunate, considering the dusty forest service road I had to drive to get to the trailhead; I managed to console myself with the massive wild strawberry patch I found at the trailhead.  This was only 1.5 miles for the day.

I was supposed to meet Deb and Jeff at the White Mountain TH south of Sherman Pass, but I decided to stop at the Pass en-route to check trail conditions there.  I didn't get any useful information from the trailhead register, but I did discover that trails 93 and 86 east from the Pass were still blocked by downfall.  It wasn't looking good for Cake Walk.  I made it another mile round-trip, for a total of 2.5 for the day.

Then came the final nail in the Cake Walk coffin: I started for the White Mountain TH, and discovered that the access road was blocked.  The sign said that the bridge was washed out.  No Cake Walk for this year--I drove to the Jungle Hill Campground instead.    

Saturday, August 4:  It wasn't Cake Walk (there goes the mega-mileage!) but we still managed to pull off a good day on the Kettle Crest.  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast (not that 4am start time we'd originally planned!) and then headed for Sherman Pass.  We hiked to the summit of Columbia Mountain (including the round-the-mountain trail) and just hung out at the top for nearly an hour.  Deb headed back to the Pass after that, but Jeff and I continued north on the Kettle Crest to the intersection with the Jungle Hill Trail.  We snacked and I filtered there, and then we decided to walk out as far as the Wapaloosie Trail intersection before returning via the Jungle Hill Trail.  Deb gave me a ride back to the Pass to pick up my car.  The daily total was 18.2, and I was so tired afterwards that I was rather glad that we hadn't been able to tackle the 43-miler!

Sunday, August 5:  I got an early start to do the Sherman Peak Loop as a trailrun before breakfast.  It was rather miserable; I felt terrible while running for some reason.  However, the wildflowers were spectacular on loop--I've never seen lupine bloom so profusely before.  It's not exactly a strongly-scented flower, but in places along this route the air was heavily perfumed.  The run was 5.9 miles.

After that I returned to Jungle Hill to pack up and make breakfast.  We planned a trip to Emerald Lake before returning home from the weekend, and it was a good day for a swim!  The hike in was so hot!  I still wasn't brave enough to dive right in, but after I got used to the water I started swimming for the far end of the lake.  The water level was still very high, and the water clarity was unbelievable!  I was treading water where it was probably 20-30' deep, and I could still make out the rocks on the bottom.  No seaweed in this lake!  Hiking mileage = 6.4 miles.

Hike-a-Thon Mileage for week 1: 63.3 miles
Running: 17.7
Hiking: 45.6
Total mileage for the week: 63.3

July 23 - July 29, 2012

I was a little sore and tired after the 28th, so I took Monday off.  By Tuesday I was back to running (Mount Spokane, 4.5 miles), but I was still sore and very, very slow.  Wednesday was back to normal--Iller Creek to Big Rock and back on the creek-side trail (6 miles in 54:57) and it felt great!  This was the first time Ashley & Elizabeth made it to the top without walking, and they were so excited about it!  I took Thursday off in preparation for the weekend backpack trip: Enchantments!

I had the early-morning carpool to Leavenworth--our task was to claim some good car-camping for Friday night (those Leavenworth campgrounds always fill so early!), pick up our permits, and find a nice little dayhike to do in the afternoon.  We settled on the Icicle River Loop Trail, a distance of only 4 miles and a very nice, easy hike. 

Saturday and Sunday were the main events: we met at the Snow Lake trailhead at 7am to begin our hike, hiked in to Snow Lake to set up camp, and then three of us continued up to the Enchantments to Prusik Pass (the other three went as far as the top of the Snow Lake trail and the Lower Enchantments.  I determined it was about a 13.9 mile day, although we later had reason to believe that the mileage listed for Snow Lake was incorrect.  On Sunday four of us woke up at 4am to return to the Enchantment Zone, this time to hike to the top of Aasgard Pass.  We took our time and took tons of pictures, and then we returned (down that dreaded Snow Lake Trail!) to camp to pack up and head for home.  It was at this point that we were convinced that the distance indicated on the map was wrong--it says 6.5 miles, but it took us over 4 hours to come down from the lakes.  We actually ran the last portion of the trail, too.  There's no way 6.5 miles should take so long.

Weekly mileage: 10.5 running & 33.4 hiking

July 16 - July 22

This week was more like it!  This was a good running week and a good hiking week--more like what I'll need to do during Hike-a-Thon next month (although I'll still need higher mileage than this)!

I started the week with a run from the high school up Mohawk.  I always thought this was longer, but I drove it after and it's only 4.5 miles. 

On Tuesday I worked at the park and went for a run on my lunch break--up trail 110, across the Lower Kit Carson Loop Road and down lower 140 back to the park entrance (6 miles).  After that I met Lynn for trailwork on trail 160--about a 3 mile hike from the Cook's Cabin trailhead.

On Wednesday I was at Iller Creek.  We didn't go to the top this time, but instead took the side trail on the right side from the parking lot.  It was about 4 miles.  In the afternoon I returned to the mountain for the Wednesday night hike to Horse & Quartz Mountains, adding 6 miles of hiking to my day.

Thursday was my short day with only a 2 mile hike on Mount Spokane, but on Friday I was back in the Dishman Hills for a 5.5 miler.

For the weekend I joined a WTA workparty in the Salmo Priest Wilderness.  There were so many cars at the trailhead--this place is getting popular!  We only hiked about 4 miles on Saturday, but on Sunday Derrick and I completed the loop following trailwork, so it was a 20 mile day!  I was so tired--we worked from 7:30-2:45, and then hiked from 2:45-8:05.  I think we only stopped and sat down three times during the entire hike--just long enough to filter water and eat something. 

Run = 20 miles & hike = 35 miles

July 9 - July 15, 2012

Time to get back to running this week!  I did the easy 3-miler from home on Tuesday, so that's no big deal.  Wednesday was better--I went to Big Rock with the team for a 5.5 miler.  Friday was back to the Dishman Hills for a 4.5 mile run from Camp Caro out & around Eagle Peak and back.  That afternoon we had some of the girls up at Mount Spokane for a campout before Foam Fest, and I took them for a 3 mile hike up to Bald Knob & then over to Selkirk to check out the Foam Fest setup.  I was only able to pull off a mile or so during Foam Fest, just running back and forth between the trail junctions taking pictures.  Sunday was better--I returned to the mountain for an afternoon trailrun from Bald Knob out to the CCC cabin, then up Mt. Kit Carson and back on the Saddle between Kit Carson and Day and the 130 trail for a 6.5 mile run.

Totals = 20.5 running & 3 miles hiking

July 2 - July 8

I was a little tired and sore on Monday, so I took the day off.  I worked Tuesday. 

But Wednesday was the 4th of July, and time for a backpack trip!  The plan was to go to White Pass and hike the PCT south in the Goat Rocks Wilderness.  We did make it to the Wilderness boundary...then we found ourselves in the ski area...then in the Wilderness...then in the ski area.  There was so much snow that we kept losing the trail!  We finally reached the edge of the ski area beneath Hogback Ridge and could clearly see...nothing but snow.  So much for Shoe Lake and points beyond.  We made the most of it, however--we camped along the edge of the ski area and spent the evening taking sunset pictures of Rainer.  I hiked to the highpoint on Hogback Ridge and could see Mount Adams, too.

Thursday we decided to return to the car and try the PCT north instead.  From our vantage point, it seemed that there was less snow on the other side of the highway.  We walked down through the ski area in crusty snow, and then had a leisurely lunch in the parking lot at Leech Lake.  We decided to try a loop hike to Bumping Lake and back on the PCT.  The trail was snow-free through the Dark Meadow, but as we started to climb to Bumping Lake there was more and more snow.  Thankfully the trails in the Cascades all have lots of blazes.  We never would have found the lake had this been an east-side trail!  The lake was also fairly snowy, but we managed to find a nice snow-free campsite on a highpoint overlooking the lake.

Friday we tried to continue up to find the PCT intersection, but we couldn't find it.  The next lake up was surrounded by snow.  We got some more great Rainer pictures, but it was clear that we would not be able to finish the loop.  Instead we located a side trail near Bumping Lake and hiked to some other nearby lakes that were lower in elevation.  Once back at camp, we entertained ourselves by playing catch-and-release with the crawdads in the lake, and then hiked around the lake on a little-used path.  We decided that we had located the very best campsite on the entire lake; by Friday evening, there was one other group camping nearby.

We were originally going to stay through Sunday, but we'd already explored everything that was snow-free, so we decided to head back a day early.  It was a good thing, too.  I'm not sure how many groups we passed on the way out, but they were all heading to Bumping Lake.  There were definitely not enough campsites to absorb all of the backpackers heading in; we may have had the best campsite, but I'm glad we didn't have to experience the overcrowding!  On Sunday I played catch-up in the garden.

Weekly total = 26 miles (all hiking)

June 25 - July 1

Monday: One of the girls only has doctor clearance to ride a stationary bike, so I stayed inside for today's workout and ran on an elliptical while she biked.  20 minutes; I don't know how to count that for mileage so I won't!

Tuesday:  Today was the rainest day ever!  I had a lovely day sitting in bed reading a book--truly, a nice way to spend a day!  Most of my plans were thrown out the window because of the weather, but I did attend the final all-comer track meet.  I spent most of my time helping at the long jump pit, then I stupidly tried to pretend that I could long jump and nearly injured myself because I didn't bother to warm up first.  I'm going to regret that decision for the rest of the week!

Wednesday:  Day one of regret!  I was so sore I could barely get out of bed, but I was determined to run today.  I started slow, and it actually did feel better once I warmed up.  We were back at Iller Creek again, and this time we went up on the ridge route.  Some of the girls did the loop, some of the girls got confused on the turning point, and some of the girls thought that two of the girls continued up to Rocks of Sharon--so I went up looking for them.  It turned out that the two in question did the loop correctly, which is a good thing since I couldn't find them at Big Rock!  I, of course, ran to the top and worried the whole way back down--but it was a nice long run of 5.5 miles.

Thursday:  Today I took Blaze to Mount Spokane and from the Cook's Cabin TH out to the top of 110, then up 160 to the summit of Mt. Kit Carson, then across to Day Mountain, then down trail 130 to the Kit Carson Loop Road and back to the TH.  I was really hurting today, but I had Blaze in his harness so he could help me out!  It's a little like cheating when I put him in harness, but today I needed it!  I even found one last morel on the way down 130--too dried out to keep, but a morel nonetheless!  6 miles.

Friday: The team was back in the Dishman Hills, and we did a repeat of last week.  I was still sore, so I just did the basic loop.  We also tried a team service project today: Weeding the native plant garden.  Most of the girls deserted before we even started; the rest deserted after 15-20 minutes.  We'll have to work on this!  However, we did get two big bags of weeds with only a handfull of girls, so that much was good.  2.5 miles.  In the afternoon, I met Jeff to drive south for a weekend backpack trip in the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness.  I've never been there before!

Saturday: The first part of the trail paralleled the Wenaha River and was really easy.  Then we had to cross the river and we had a good climb up to approximately the 6,000' level.  The trail became easy again, and quite scenic besides: ridge hiking with amazing views of the surrounding mountains and lots of spring flowers.  Some meadows were practically solid blue with larkspur; others were covered in lupine.  The tricky part was finding water.  We wanted to camp at about 10 miles in at the first reliable water source, but there was already a boyscout troop there (interestingly enough, the same boy scout troop we met at Kirkwood Ranch over spring break).  Then the next water spot had campers, then the next water spot...and we hadn't seen a soul all day until it came time to find a camp!  It turned out that all of the people we saw had come in on a shorter trail near Diamond Peak.  The good thing about our extended hike was that we got to see a bull elk that we wouldn't have if we had camped where we wanted to.  We finally got to Clover Spring and found reliable water (a hand-carved tree horse trough!) and a good place to camp.  Another group of three later camped nearby.  It ended up being about a 12-mile day.  Then things really got interesting--I hadn't even finished dinner when the thunder storm hit--accompanied by a torrential downpour!  Tuesday may have been the rainiest day ever, but this was the rainiest evening ever.  I had to finish dinner, wash my dishes, brush my teeth, and hang my bear bag (a very important detail: there was bear scat everywhere!) before I could finally get into to the tent.  It took a bit to warm up, but then I slept just fine--and it quit raining by morning.

Sunday:  The hike out should have been quite easy, considering the fact that we'd hiked 12 of our 20 miles on Saturday.  However, today's trail proved a little tougher.  The first part really was easy--more ridge hiking among wildflowers (including white and yellow lupine, which I've never seen before, and red columbine!) and a net elevation loss.  Then we reached the Rattlesnake Trail.  The first part of the Rattlesnake Trail is easy, but once it starts its descent it turns into a monster.  This is a prime example of a trail that needs some work!  It shows signs of a major burn within the last five years or so, and I don't think it has seen a bit of trailwork since then.  It's also excruciatingly steep--my knees were screaming and my quads were quivering by the end of it.  Then came the really rough part--the Rattlesnake Trail comes out at the Panjab Campground, but our vehicle was four miles up the Wenaha River Road.  I dropped my pack, took the keys, and ran up the road to get the car.  The first ten minutes of running were brutal, but after that it was actually okay--and probably good for me, considering the pounding my legs had just taken.  It felt good to really warm up all of my muscles.  Of course, the last ten minutes of the run were back to pure agony again.  I think this is good training for Cutthroat!  It's also good training for Hike-a-Thon: Registration opened up today, and that was one of the first things I took care of when I got home!   

Weekly mileage: running = 18; hiking = 20

Dogs and Mount Spokane

Yesterday a fellow hiker whom I have known for several years emailed me to ask about a route description for the Three Peaks Loop on Mount Spokane.  As luck would have it, another friend had just asked about the same route the week before, so all I had to do was copy and paste from my earlier email. 

Today I opened up my email to an invite from a local hiking club regarding a trip to the Three Peaks Loop led by the aforementioned friend.  There’s nothing wrong with that—I love the idea of exposing more people to “my” mountain (just read some of my older posts to get a sense of how much time I spend up there).  However, I do take issue with one section of the hiking club’s invite:  “Dogs are allowed on this hike.  Park rules state that they must be leashed, my rules do not.  Note: If your dogs are off leash you will be taking your chance as there is a fine for off leash dogs.”

I have sooo many issues with those three sentences.  I have at times been accused of being anti-dog because of my stance on this issue, but rest assured, I am not.  I consider myself personal trainer and coach to several dogs; I currently “coach” Blaze, my running buddy regardless of weather and my skijor partner all winter.  We even tried long boarding together a few weeks ago, but I decided perhaps that was a little too dangerous for us.  But I digress.  I am not anti-dog, but I am anti-dog off leash in areas where it’s against the law. 

There are so many reasons why I feel this way.  First and foremost, there’s the obvious.  It’s against the law, so don’t do it.  As Maya Angelou wrote, “When you know better you do better.”  Clearly, the hike leader knows better.  So why isn’t he also doing better?

Of course, we all, myself included, break the law from time to time.  I have let my dog off leash inside Mount Spokane State Park on more than one occasion.  Generally, I feel that I have a good reason to do so when I choose this, and it is always temporary.  As an example, there is a large water crossing on trail 100/110 near the Lower Mount Kit Carson Loop Road.  In the early spring, when the water is running high, I let my dog off leash to navigate the crossing because I feel it keeps us both safer as we cross.  It is not so deep that my dog could be swept downstream, but it’s deep enough and tricky enough that he could knock me into the water if he pulls on the leash as I try to navigate the crossing.  I let him off to choose his own route, I figure out my way across, and then he’s back on the leash again.  I think that would make sense to most people.

Putting aside the lawbreaking part then, I think that it is important to examine another aspect of when a person should choose to “do better.”  This isn’t just one person choosing to go out with his dogs off leash.  This is a person who is leading a hike for a local hiking club, advertising a trip with room for twenty participants, and in a sense inviting every one of them to knowingly ignore park rules (really, Spokane County rules).  Not only is the potential harm greater given the potential number of participants, but I feel that whenever a person represents any organization one has an even greater responsibility to follow all posted laws and regulations.  As a trip leader, one is the public face of one’s organization.  I believe that most organized groups do everything they can to maintain a positive public image.  Suppose something bad were to happen on this group’s upcoming hike?  There is both individual and group liability to consider, and a hiking group’s reputation at stake.  I believe that for all of those reasons, another local club (disclosure: a club of which I happen to be a member, committee chair, and board member) has adopted a strict dog policy that applies to all trips.  I know that the club’s policy is not followed 100% of the time, but at least it gives club leadership a place to open the dialogue should there be any issues, and it protects the club by showing a good faith effort on the part of the larger organization to prevent rogue behavior from individual members.

There is also a larger issue that is apparent to me:  Why should one’s right to do what he or she wishes to do outweigh the rights of others? 

First, there are the human “others.” 

I happen to serve on the Mount Spokane State Park Advisory Committee.  I have been told by the park manager, on more than one occasion, that the number one concern of park visitors is off-leash dogs.  There are a lot of people who have had a bad experience with a dog at some point in their lives, myself included.  That’s one of the main reasons why I always carry pepper spray when I run; the one time I had to use the pepper spray, it was on an off-leash and vicious dog.  I have been around dogs my entire life, and I feel that I’m pretty good at judging dog body language.  I have taken several dogs through obedience classes, so I know how to speak to dogs in such a way as to make them obey.  I came close to using my pepper spray on several other occasions, but was able to “talk down” an aggressive dog.  However, many people haven’t been around dogs so much, don’t know what to do when confronted with a potentially dangerous or aggressive dog, and really have no wish to learn.  That is their choice, and I believe that they should have a reasonable expectation to encounter only leashed dogs in the park.  After all, that’s the law, right? 

What’s more, many park visitors are families with children.  It doesn’t take a vicious dog to knock down and injure a child, it only takes an unleashed dog that “just wants to play” (a “playful” unleashed dog nearly knocked me down a few months ago, and I’m a 150 pound adult).  I guarantee that the child is just as scared, and potentially just as injured, whether the dog attacks or merely plays too rough.  Now imagine taking a nice walk with your kids and encountering a group of twenty people with several off leash dogs—no guarantee that the dog’s owner is the nearest human, no guarantee that the dog is under voice control.  That’s terrifying to both child and parent.  

Next, there are the nonhuman “others.”

It is June, the time of year when the ungulates on the mountain are giving birth.  The mothers are in a weakened condition and cannot afford to be harassed by domestic dogs.  The babies are newborn and are therefore vulnerable.  Even the nicest dog could inflict a lot of harm on newborn critters; put that nice dog in a pack of other nice and now off-leash dogs, and there’s no telling what could happen.  My personal scariest experience in the park took place a few years ago when I was trail running with my dog in the Nordic area.  It was early June, and I came around a switchback in the trail and found myself face-to-face with a mother moose and newborn calf.  To this day, I am so thankful that my dog was on leash when it happened.  If she had not been, and she had gotten close to the mother moose, she probably would have been dead.  Moose are not to be trifled with. 

This is not the only situation that’s potentially dangerous for both the wildlife and for fido.  Mount Spokane is prime habitat for several species that are a little higher up the food chain.  I have encountered more coyotes than I can recall on the trails that make up the Three Peaks route.  Additionally, I have encountered black bears on the route on several occasions, and I have twice treed bear cubs while out running.  If a dog trees a cub, and the cub’s mom attacks the dog, what happens to the bear?  What if mamma bear attacks the dog, which then runs to its owner for protection, and now the owner is attacked by the bear, too?

I think it’s worth mentioning that I first met the leader of this hike through a conservation organization; I know that he understands the importance of wildlife habitat, healthy ecosystems, and conservation efforts both locally and regionally.  I’m not sure that he has fully considered the potential negative consequences to wildlife—and humans—should he allow his dogs to go unleashed.

A couple years ago, there was a similar situation involving snowmobilers going off-trail on private land accessed from the state park.  It’s a longer story than I have time for here, but one of the main takeaways from the experience was that issuing warnings for flagrant violations of the rules did absolutely nothing to curb the bad behavior.  Issuing citations did.  I believe that the leash law violations need to be enforced consistently, not just in Mount Spokane State Park, but on all of our local public lands.  I wish that Maya Angelou’s quote held true in more situations; in my experience, people only “do better” when forced to do so.

June 18-24, 2012

June 18:  No school!  First day of summer running!  I met the team for their practice at the school, then ran part of their route backwards.  3 mi.

June 19:  It was a captain's choice run today, and I'm letting the captains run these.  I fully intended to run on my own, but instead I worked in the garden all day long.  The weeds are really taking over, plus I haven't even finished planting everything yet.  In the afternoon I took my nephew to his first all-comers track meet at SCC.  He's not even two yet, but he was incredibly focused as I explained what the bigger kids were doing in the long jump pit (then he got to try it).  He also had a ton of fun playing around the edges of the track & being entertained by the high school girls before his big race: he "competed" in the under three division of the 50m dash.  He didn't quite understand the concept--he twice tried to sit down on the starting line before the race.  However, once he saw the three-year-olds running down the track he grabbed onto my hand and ran!

June 20:  Today was an Iller Creek run, and we had over twenty girls show up for practice!  It's awesome to introduce so many girls to this great conservation area that's so close to so many of their houses.  Some ran the loop up the creek-side trail and down the ridge; others just did an out-and-back on the creek side trail.  I ran up to the creek crossing between the two front packs, and then turned back to run sweep for the girls who turned back before the top.  6 miles.

June 21: Yesterday nearly did me in.  I spent my entire day in the garden and rested my old knees--except for all the time spent kneeling and weeding, that is!

June 22: Dishman Hill run!  Today we kept it easy--just the loop from Camp Caro to Goldback Springs and then around the outer loop and back to Camp Caro.  Some of the returners went farther.  I doubled back via the Enchanted Ravine after I finished the first loop to make sure that none of the new girls got lost (although getting lost in the Dishman Hills is inevitable at some point for everyone!), so I got in about 4.5 miles.

June 23:  I ran from my parents' house up to the top of the first hill on Antoine Peak and decided that was enough for today.  Blaze was along for the run and was a little disappointed to be turning back so soon, but he later got in a much longer run since I had him with me in the garden for the rest of the afternoon.  4.5 miles.

June 24:  I got an early start for today's workout--Jeff invited me to attend a Sierra Club hike on Mount Spokane, and I wanted to run, too.  I decided to leave early to get in a short run (trail 130 from Bald Knob to the CCC cabin and back--about 4 miles).  I had a little extra time after that, so I backtrack on 130 to cut two trees that were on the trail, and then I went down to check on the chalet.  It was raining fairly hard by then, and when Jeff showed up for the hike he had bad news: the Sierra Club people didn't like the rain and canceled the hike.  That didn't stop us, however, and it stopped raining by the time we started hiking besides!  I estimate the hike was 4 miles.

Weekly mileage:  running = 22; hiking = 4

June 11-17, 2012

I feel like I've been writing this a lot: This week was a total loss when it comes to training!  I guess I can't really expect anything else from the last week of the school year.  Well, for me it was the LAST last week of the school year as a high school English teacher!  When I go back to school next fall, it's as a student, not a teacher.  After that...we'll see.  I just know that I can't do what I've been doing anymore.

As for the week, it was too much work, too much grading, too much to do, especially too much stress, and no time to run.  Until the weekend, that is--I was reduced to weekend warrior this week!

Saturday morning was still too much to do because it was the Foothills Scenic Five!  I got the preregistration stuff ready on Friday night, and then Rich and I were out setting up the course markers just after 6am.  For once, everything about the race went smoothly!  I've been in charge of the race aspect of Scenic Five day for the past several years now, and this was definitely the best one yet.  Whew!

In the afternoon, I went up to Mount Spokane to do the pre-cleaning for the Chalet cleanup on Sunday, and I could finally relax!  I did the world's easiest Mount Spokane run--the 130a + 130b loop, but I felt much better afterwards.  Then I vacuumed and cleaned and cleaned and vacuumed.  The chalet was pretty dirty inside.

On Sunday I got up early to do a run in the Nordic area before people arrived to help with the chalet cleanup.  Now if I can just carry the weekend momemtum into the upcoming week!

Weekly mileage = only 7.5 miles.

June 4-10, 2012

The school year is winding down, which means a lot of deadlines looming for me.  That means that running gets pushed down the to-do list, of course, so my mileage is low and my stress is high this week.  My first run of the week was Friday, and it was just an easy loop in the Dishman Hills.  Saturday was super rainy, so I mostly stayed in and graded essays; I attended the backpack school potluck in the afternoon and tried to longboard (so scary!), but no running today.  On Sunday I managed another short run, this time on Mount Spokane.  I felt so lethargic! 
Weekly mileage = just 7 miles.

May 28-June 2

Monday--we hiked out on the Rapid River Trail today, a distance of about 6 miles.  After that it was the long drive home; fortunately, I was just a passenger.  I graded papers the whole way back!
Tuesday--back to work & I had angry knees.  I took today off.
Wednesday--I ran Iller Creek today.  I went up the ridge trail and back on the creekside trail.  That is such a nice loop and I can't wait to share it with the team this summer!  Approximately 5.5 miles.
Thursday & Friday = nada.
Saturday--Jeff & Deb were supposed to meet me for an early run on Mount Spokane.  Morning brought so much ran that they canceled, but I decided to go for it.  I was completely drenched, but it was worth it!  I started at the switchback parking lot, took trail 100 out to Smith Gap, and then ran the Hay Ridge Loop.  I think it's about 6 miles.
Sunday--Jeff & Deb rescheduled for today, and the weather decided to cooperate.  We started at the switchback lot and took trail 110 up, and then returned via 140 and the Kit Carson Loop Road.  I think the mileage is about the same as what I did yesterday, but the elevation gain is far more significant on this route.  We decided that we're going to try to do this run more often to get ready for Cutthroat!

Weekly mileage: hiking = 6 miles; running = 17.5 miles  

May 21-27, 2012

My first run of the week was just a neighborhood run, but it was one of those awesome rainy spring days of torrential downpours followed closely by intense sunshine.  I was grading papers after work, but as soon as I saw that it started to rain I headed out of the building.  I missed the best part of it--as I left my classroom it was raining so hard that it was difficult to see the park across the street, but by the time I was out the door it had already slowed to merely an average downpour.  That was still a lot of fun, of course, and it was such a nice warm day!  I just did the usual three-mile Saltese Loop, but the usually boring neighborhood run seemed transformed by the weather.

I didn't make it out again until Thursday afternoon.  I have been craving some Mount Spokane time for a while now!  I decided to go to the mountain after work to go for a trail run (Trail 100-Smith Gap-Kit Carson Road Loop; I found a bunch more morels!) and check in on the chalet.  The run was great, but the chalet had some issues--one of the big living room windows had been knocked in somehow.  I'm still not sure how it could have happened.  At any rate, I didn't have the necessary materials to deal with it right then, so I was forced to return on Friday for another trail run and then an attempted short-term fix (short-term because I don't know how to fix windows, and because the drive way is still covered with so much snow!). 

Friday I ran lower 110 to the cedar grove, then became scared of the very strong wind and turned back early (after finding a few more morels!).  After that I put up my temporary fix of plastic, duct tape, and random pieces of wood (which I have since learned later all feel down--fortunately, another club member is better at temporary fixes & has nailed some plywood over it).  Then I had to go home and pack--it was Backpack School Graduation Weekend! 

We left Friday night to drive down to Riggins, Idaho for our backpack trip along the Rapid River.  We got to the trailhead at midnight and quickly set up tents & spent the night in the parking lot.
On Saturday we got up early and enjoyed a pancake breakfast with huckleberry sauce before doing the final pack-up.  The rest of the group started to arrive, and we were on the trail within 20 minutes of our planned start time—that’s pretty good considering there were 23 of us!

It was an easy hike in of approximately 6 miles.  There was a lot of poison ivy along the trail, and I was just positive I touched it a couple of times, but fortunately, no horrible rash developed.  We were in camp before noon!  I got the tent up and then sat and snacked and graded some essays while the rest of the group arrived.  After everyone was in, I decided to cross the stream to another trail that led up to a cool old abandoned cabin.  I took plenty of wildflower pictures, plus cabin pictures when I got up to it.  It looked like an abandoned homestead; there were old farm implements all over the former meadow that was slowly being reclaimed by the forest.  I also found two elk sheds in the meadow!  I think that the cabin and beyond hike added about 2 miles to my day.  Then several of us did an extra afternoon hike before dinner on another fork of the trail—I think that added about 4 more miles (for a 12 mile day).

I thought that I’d sleep well after so much hiking, but instead I had weird nightmares.  It started to rain, but I dreamt a thunderstorm into it.  It was such a realistic dream that I thought that there really had been thunder until I asked several other people about it Sunday morning.  Not real.  Weird.  I also dreamt that there was a rattlesnake in my tent vestibule.  I was pretty sure that one was not real since what was initially one rattlesnake rattling behind my tent turned into a bunch of rattlesnakes coming out of holes in the ground due to the rain, and then taking shelter in the pack cover of my backpack in the vestibule of my tent.  It was such a vivid dream that I was extra careful opening up my pack Sunday morning.  Thank goodness, it was all nightmare; I have too vivid an imagination!

Sunday was mainly rainy.  We hiked as a group up to two nearby cabins, and then a few of us continued up the trail to see if we could find morels.  We didn’t have any luck with the morels, but it was a very pretty hike.  It rained most of the time, and just before we turned around it actually started to snow!  Ken said he thought it was about an 8 mile day.

Weekly mileage: running = 11 miles; backpacking = 20 miles    

May 14-20, 2012

I keep saying I'll do better, and then I keep doing very little.  One of the pitfalls of being an English teacher close to the end of the school year.  I have a mountain of papers to grade, and therefore I cannot make it to the mountain as often as I'd like.

I did manage one trailrun in the Dishman Hills, but other than that, it was a lot of work and very little play during the week.

The weekend was much, much better.  I volunteered to lead a neighbor's church group up Antoine Peak on Saturday, and we had so much fun on this beautiful, sunny day!  I only got us a little lost once (I hope they forgive me--they are a church group after all).  I was a little lost because we started from the Lincoln Road side; I've never been to the top from that side of the mountain.  It was very pretty--I hate to admit it, but it was probably prettier than the Robbins Road side, at least on the lower section.  There were a bunch of yew trees along a creek on that side of the mountain; I don't think I've ever seen yews in Spokane county before.  Of course, the west side of Antoine has the largest juniper tree I have ever seen; I guess it proves that the entire conservation area is spectacular!

Sunday was my super intense gardening day.  I lost track of time again and forgot to save enough time to both run AND grade papers.  Papers won.

Weekly mileage = 3 miles running & 6 miles hiking.

May 7-13, 2012

This week wasn't much of an improvement over last week.  I stopped by my parents' house on Tuesday to get Blaze and run to the top of Antoine Peak (6 miles).  It was a great run, and then I was so sore I could barely walk the next day, so I skipped a Wednesday run.  On Thursday I did an easy loop in the Dishman Hills (3 miles).  Friday I left town for a quick camping trip, and then Saturday I got in another nice long hike while looking for morels (8 miles).  I didn't do as well this weekend; they are drying out and this is the last weekend for the morel hunt of 2012.  Sunday was devoted to gardening and trying to get my poor neglected house in order.

Running = 9 miles; hiking = 8 miles.

April 30 - May 6

The week was nearly a complete loss: One day of running after work, and it was just a boring neighborhood three mile loop.

Things started looking up for the weekend, however.  I returned to my favorite morel spot, convinced that this weekend would be the peak.  I was right!  It's hard to know my mileage for sure since a lot of it was walking up and down the mountainsides picking morels, but by the end of the weekend I estimate that I covered about twenty miles and came home with somewhere close to twenty pounds of morels!  Time to look up new recipes to try out!

On the way home I turned on the radio to a re-run NPR broadcast of an Adrienne Rich poetry reading where one of the poems was "What Kind of Times Are These."  The first lines of the first three stanzas are "There's a place between two stands of trees where the grass grows uphill // I've walked there picking mushrooms at the edge of dread, but don't be fooled // I won't tell you where the place is, the dark mesh of the woods [...]."  It's such a cool poem in and of itself, and it seemed especially fitting today.

Weekly mileage = 3 miles running & 20 miles hiking

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)

April 16-22: Earth Day, etc.

I managed to run a couple days this week anyhow.  On Wednesday I got in a nice 3 mile loop in the Dishman Hills after work and before the final service project meeting at REI.  On Thursday I went back to the Dishman Hills, but this time to hike part of my assigned zone to look for places for my group to pick up trash during the service project.  Friday it was back to running again, and again in the Dishman Hills.  I've been hanging out there a lot lately! 

I spent my Saturday working in the garden--working a little too hard in the garden as it turns out.  I ended up with tendinitis in my wrist, which I didn't even know could happen after one nine-hour day of weeding and shoveling and raking!  If I hadn't known better, I would have thought it was broken with the way it was swollen and sticking out at a funny angle.

That made Sunday interesting, since it was the service day project.  I did most everything left handed, and relied heavily on vitamin-I for the rest.  There were so many people there, and the weather was so fabulous!  I'm pretty sure the service project was a great success.  I didn't do much more than lead people to our work site and then lead them back afterwards (with a side-trip through the hinterlands to look for the trash that I'd GPS'd, only to discover that one of the other teams found it before we got there).  All in all, it was a good day.  Then I got to spend the afternoon in the hammock, reading and grading papers. 

Running = 7 miles; hiking = 8 miles

Running again!

I'm able to run again (albeit slowly and painfully).  I ran Centennial Trail on Monday (3.5 miles) and the Saltese Loop on Tuesday (3 miles).  Then I needed to take Wednesday and Thursday off to recover.  At least it was just extreme soreness, not re-injury.  By Friday I was ready to tackle a 3 mile trail run in the Dishman Hills, and then I had to take Saturday off to recover.  I made great progress in the garden, though!  Today I went out to Riverside State Park for one of my favorite 5.5 mile loops.  It was beautiful, and I felt great at first--then my calves and hamstrings tightened up and made for a rough last couple of miles, but I finished it!

Mileage, week of April 9-15, 2012 = 15 miles   

Spring Break!

April 2-8, 2012:

I stayed close to home on Monday and Tuesday, but I left for another backpack trip Wednesday through Friday!  I left home during a snow storm that turned to rain the farther north I got, and finally cleared up entirely by the time I got to my intended hiking destination at Thirteen Mile trail.  We had a couple wildlife cameras there, and I needed to pull them.  I hiked the trail to the first camera, then cut cross country to the second camera to see if I could find any shed antlers in the woods.  I didn't find any, but I did find a fairly large pond--unusual in this dry area.  It's probably seasonal, but on the other hand, there isn't any vegetation in the middle and it's ringed by aspen, so it must stay wet enough even into late summer.  

I also made rookie mistake #1 at Thirteen Mile:  I had two pairs of gaiters in the car, but did I put either of them on?  Of course not!  So my shoes got soaked and my feet got cold.  Maybe someday I'll learn.

I got the cameras without any problem, though.  We didn't get much of interest, although there are some funny blurry deer photos that we are calling the "Ghost Deer."  The second camera had somehow been knocked off the tree it was attached to, and the bungee that we had used to place it was on the ground in four pieces.  I'm not quite sure how that could have happened--unless it was the Ghost Deer in action, angry at having been photographed.

After Thirteen Mile I drove on to Oroville.  The original plan was to locate Whistler Canyon, car camp at the trail head, and then go for the backpack on Thursday after Aaron arrived from Spokane.  The only problem was that I got completely lost.  The guidebook directions were off, the USGS map wasn't particularly helpful (not even when I took it to the ranger office on Thursday seeking their help), and there was no sign anywhere.  I tried everything except for the correct entrance, as it turns out, and then looped around the backside to see if I could find the old USFS road 100/converted to trail 100 described in the Pacific Northwest Trail Guide.  No luck.  Then it was practically dark and I couldn't figure out a place to camp.  I probably should have had a better plan to begin with (rookie mistake #2?) but I ended up back at Bonaparte Lake before I found a place I was willing to camp, and even that didn't feel particularly safe (I could see houses from the campground--I hate it when I can see houses from the campground!).

When I woke up Thursday morning I debated just heading back toward home, as I wasn't sure I'd ever locate that trail head.  However, I hate to give up on anything (ok, I'm super stubborn).  I stopped by the ranger station for directions that weren't particularly helpful, I took two or three wrong turns, I chatted with a nice local man who said he'd been there before but couldn't remember how to get to the trail head, and finally decided I'd try just one more turn before I gave up--and that was finally the correct one!

Of course, even when I was there I wasn't positive it was the right spot.  It didn't look anything like the picture I had seen of the trail head that the Backcountry Horsemen had constructed, and I had specifically asked the FS people if I would see the trail head sign when I got there (they said I would).  I got my backpack in order and hoped that Aaron didn't get as hopelessly lost as I had.  Just as I got everything packed a local woman drove up to take her dog for a walk.  When I asked if I was in the right spot, she confirmed that I was and then took me down to the future trail head where the big trail sign was located.  No wonder I couldn't find it before--the official parking lot isn't coming until later this summer.

Then came the cool part--the part that made getting lost (almost) worth it--the local woman showed me where the Whistler Canyon Pictographs were located!  I later got lots of great pictures of them.  It was very cool indeed to be able to see that!

Just as the woman and I walked back to the cars I saw that Aaron had arrived, apparently without getting too lost.  Then came rookie mistake--what am I up to now?--number 3.  We hiked down to take pictures of the pictographs, and as I moved to get at the right angle for a good picture I glanced to my right and noticed some poison ivy growing right next to me--touching my pant leg, in fact.  Aaron had been standing in the same spot not thirty seconds earlier.  So...I changed my hiking pants as soon as I got back to the car, but I still kept imagining that I was getting itchy for the rest of the backpack.  We dodged a bullet, though--no hives!

We were almost ready to leave when we met some more people who had driven up to the trail head.  One of the guys apparently worked for either the forest service or BLM; he gave us a tip about another hike we could check out on our way out of town: McLaughlin Canyon, just south of Tonasket.  Then we started our hike.

We didn't hike in very far before we set up a camp with a nice view and easy access to water.  Then we went for a nice long hike, some of it on trail and some of it cross country.  We never did see the bighorn sheep, but we did see plenty of wildflowers.  The day stayed mostly warm and sunny, although the wind picked up quite a bit after dinner.  In fact, we expected to wake up to snow-covered tents, but Friday was nice, too.

We decided to see McLaughlin Canyon after the hike out of Whistler Canyon, and that's when we made rookie mistake #4 and #5.  First, we assumed that the trail was on the same side of the road as the trail head.  Next, we didn't bother to stick the map back in the backpack before we started hiking.  In my defense, most of my belongings were strewn all over the back of the car since I didn't want to carry tent and sleeping bag and stove, etc. with me for a short hike.  The mistake led to a nice view from the top of the wrong hillside before we returned to the car to get the map.

McLaughlin is a pretty hike, but there are so many trees down across the trail!  There was a fire there a few years ago, and now a lot of the dead trees are falling.  It made me a little nervous when the wind picked up on our way back out.  It's BLM land, and a historical site where Native Americans once ambushed some miners.  I think it would be the perfect place for a trail project and eventually an interpretive hike.  In the meantime, the place is in serious need of a cleanup project--not the trail itself (although cleaning the deadfall would be a nice touch), but the trail head.  It is apparently the local dumping ground/shooting site, despite shot up signs telling people not to do so.

After that I continued on home, happily exhausted!  I returned to a snow-covered front lawn & news from my mom that it had snowed several inches after I left on Wednesday; it was good timing for my escape from town!

Saturday was the annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Community Center, and I only did some gardening in the afternoon.

I spent a lot of my Easter trying to get caught up on the grading I was supposed to have done earlier in the week, but I managed to escape for an afternoon hike at McKenzie Conservation Area.  Since my last visit they have installed trail signs indicating a nice long loop around the perimeter of the property, plus they have planted a native plant garden along the beach!  I think there is enough trail there now to run it; I didn't even take all of the marked routes today, but I think I covered about four miles.

Weekly mileage: approximately 14 miles, hiking; still no running.     

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