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According to some people, too much snow can be a bad thing, and it nearly was for our planned trip into the mountains last weekend. Fortunately, the highways opened just in time and the people who went on the trip were a hardy group, willing to literally crawl on hands and knees to get to my friend Calvin's cabin. This year the group consisted of Lena, Aaron, Chris, Cindy and I; a big improvement over last year's group: me, myself and I. Personally I had a blast going to the cabin and getting to hang out with some great people. The icing on the cake was taking a few downhill runs through near bottomless powder on the slopes near the cabin!
This year's trip definitely required some work though, especially for those on skinny skis. Both Lena and Chris were reduced to postholeing and crawling through waist high powder for the 1/4 mile between the cabin and the snowmobile track. Lena made it to the cabin but only after an hour of crawling up the hill. Fortunately ultra-man Chris was too tough to give up and hand over his pack to me or Cindy (it looked like he brought the kitchen sink!). Cindy didn't exactly have it easy on her skinny skis either. Once we were at the cabin, Aaron and I had to do quite a bit of digging in order to get to the well and the outhouse. At one point I was virtually swimming mid-chest high through powder trying to get to the cabin front door. I have never seen so much snow at the cabin!
The trip almost became a bust even before it started, since Snoqualmie pass had been closed for several days due to high avalanche danger. On the morning of our trip, only a couple of hours before we were to drive over the pass, WSDOT opened the pass to vehicular traffic. Chris and Cindy actually ended up getting detoured around the pass when returning home on Sunday, still due to avalanche danger. I wonder when WSDOT is going to learn how to keep highways open during the winter. Maybe they should get some lessons in mountain highway design and avalanche control from Colorado or Utah?
Thanks to everyone's back-breaking labor getting to the cabin, we had enough food for several days, even though we were only there for two. So a good portion of the trip was spent eating up all the food and hanging out in the warm cabin; just what the cabin was meant for. On Saturday afternoon and Sunday mid-day Aaron and I made a few trips up the hill behind the cabin and skied down through knee high powder.
Like usual, the trip was far too short and we all skied out on Super Bowl sunday, in order to get back to civ before monday. An added bonus was that very few sledders were on the trails for the whole weekend. I'm guessing the pass closure and Super Bowl kept most of the sledders away. So the ski back was relatively quiet. Just the way it should be in a snowy winter wonderland.
Thank goodness! I finally finished replacing my bathtub and tiling my shower. Glad that headache is done and now I can get back to smelling civilized! I definitely noticed a lowering of hygiene standards since I started the project in late October. No wonder most people feel the need to have more than one bathroom!
A final picture of my handiwork is shown above. Fortunately, you can't see the mistakes. Unfortunately I will forever be able to see the mistakes. I guess this is one reason why many people choose to have someone else do their tiling!
It is 3:30 right now and I am thinking about those crazy ultrarunners who have just begun the Bridle Trails 50K. Good luck to all my run'n friends.
Looks like it may be a fast race since it is not raining and nowhere close to as cold as it was two years ago. Wish I was running:( Maybe I will stop by for the final laps in the dark, if just to feel some of the excitement. It is no picnic watching an ultra, or a marathon for that matter, and it usually isn't too exciting either. But sometimes it can be downright inspiring to watch others commit to such a serious challenge. Live it or lose it.
It is weird how when I start on a project it always becomes a massive undertaking. Oftentimes it overwhelms all other aspects of my life. In the case of my most recent project, the bathtub replacement, this is more true than ever! Recently I have started to wonder if I am building the 8th Wonder of the World.
All I did was set out to replace my bathtub and re-tile the shower, at the beginning of November, and now I am wondering if I should take time off work (my real job) in order to finish my project. For certain the project is taking longer than it probably should. But for the most part this is just due to the fact that I don't know what the $&@! I am doing most of the time! It may also be due to the fact that I decided I had to tile the ceiling and the skylight above the tub. Why you might ask? . . .
Probably just plain stupidity! At the time I reasoned that water vapor will damage the drywall in the skylight (like it did previously). Now I think, who cares??
Anyway, due to my poor judgment I got to macgyver a couple of platforms to work above the tub and plan out a series of steps to complete the project. Here is the 2nd and more difficult platform below. I will have to remove the platform and tile at the platform connection point after the rest of the project is complete.
Fortunately, I think I am nearing the halfway done stage (2 walls have been tiled). I just hope that I don't make a mistake and have to re-do something. Things I have learned so far:
1. Don't try tiling on a totally crooked, out of plumb, wall.
2. Keep it simple. Don't tile ceilings, outside corners or the neighbor's dog.
3. Pay a buck more for Hardiboard instead of Wonderboard. The Wonderboard makes you wonder how much extra work you will need to do to fill and sand all the screw holes and damaged spots.
4. Don't worry so much about the small defects. They might just add character!
Here is the old tub:
Yesterday I had quite an adventure on my road (or trail) to recovery. I went in for arthroscopic surgery on my right knee! Technically a part of the surgery might also have been considered a chondroplasty since some loose and folded cartilage was removed.
Now that it is done I think that I am glad that I did it. I was worried at first that the doctor wouldn't really find anything to repair and that I'd be stuck with a big bill and nothing to show for it. But now I am a little more confident that I will someday get to run over hills and dales enjoying some of my favorite long trail runs. I can't wait to get out and try my new bionic leg (not really bionic, but hopefully improved). Life without running is tough.
Since this was my first surgery and my most major medical procedure it was quite an experience. I highly recommend it, NOT! Well I have to admit it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, you know if I had been one of those rare 'died of surgical complications' cases. But it had its exciting moments like when I experienced what the nurse referred to as the Vasovagal response (Syncope). After checking wiki I see that I was just close to fainting but it was sure a strange sensation. I understand that it was just an automatic response which my body created to the panic of having the IV hooked up and knowing that I was going in for surgery. It may also have to do with what is commonly referred to as a flight or fight response. Of course I couldn't really flee the room so I ended up nearly fainting instead. This was a new one for me as it began as soon as she inserted the needle and told me that I would feel a sense of cold from the antibiotic. Instead I started feeling lightheaded, dizzy and I started sweating profusely. She attached the heart rate monitor and found that I had a HR of 30 bpm which even for me is really low! I am making a much bigger deal out of this than I should since it was just a near fainting episode, but it sure was a trip being that it was the first time.
I missed the other excitement of the day since I was anesthetized for the procedure but from what the nurse said afterwards, I can only imagine that there was a little excitement in the operating room. She said that I was a little rambunctious in my sleep and tried fighting my way off the operating table. That is just plain weird! I remember having some strange dream but I don't remember anything about it. I guess I am subconsciously not so fond of surgery! She also told me that under anesthesia I developed a irregular and/or slow heart rhythm and had to be given atropine (like adrenaline) in order to stabilize my heart. On a side note I just learned about the 'death rattle' on wikipedia. I'd never heard of this but it is very interesting! Anyway, at least according to the doctor the surgery went well and my knee injury may have been repaired. Now I just can't wait to take it for a test ride (run)!
I usually wouldn't open up like this on the internet (literally), but since I have got the pictures why not show them! Attached are some of the photos from inside my knee!! Personally I think it is a pretty good looking knee joint if I do say so myself. What did one knee joint say to the other knee joint? I don't really know but there has gotta be a funny answer to that one.
Super-thanks also have to go out to my friends Ana, Keith and Eli who were nice enough to care for me after the surgery. Just wish I could have had a celebratory beer!
So I am back from the JMT and I'm not quite sure where to begin. The trip was incredibly fun and challenging and the places I went were very very special. I don't really think I can convey how insanely beautiful and wild the JMT was and I definitely can't explain how that place changed me so I will just mention a few things here and post some of my favorite photos.
I hiked the entire trail North to South including a side trip to Half-Dome and the hike down from Mt. Whitney in less than 10 days. I planned for 12 days so I actually skipped my last re-supply because I really didn't want to hike out to pick it up. A hike out would have interrupted my hiking rhythm which was extremely satisfying. Everyday I woke up at the true crack of dawn or just before, ate a little bit of food and started walking. Nearly the entire day was spent walking. Just walking, thinking and checking out every single view from the trail. The trail rises from something like 4000 foot elevation in Yosemite to 14,496 foot Mt. Whitney and between the two ends it crosses 10 passes. So everyday I would get to see a good amount of the flora and fauna from the lower elevations, the valleys, to the upper and most austere elevations, the passes. There was extreme beauty and pristine wildness in both places and everywhere in between. The valleys seemed to be overflowing with life; huge meadows with absolutely clear streams divided by seemingly endless forests which showed no signs of man-made management. In most places the forests consisted of several different tree species with a wide variety of undergrowth. Although I never saw a bear I did see many deer, including some very large racks and one trickster (coyote). The forests would thin and become more gnarled as I climbed throughout the day, until I entered what was often a moonscape like area full of high alpine lakes surrounded by miles of granitic peaks.
Except for two afternoons when thunderstorms shook the nearby peaks I had absolutely beautiful clear blue skies throughout my trip. I am guessing the temperature ranged from the 30's at night to the high 80's in the hot and dry sections of the trail with a couple of nights on the high passes where the temps fell below freezing.
Caught this trickster checking out a camping area near Red Cone (click for large view).
I think one of my favorite places during the entire trip was crossing Muir Pass on day 6. The climb to the pass was not steep but it just seemed to flow on for miles, starting in the absolutely stunning McClure Meadows, winding around several sapphire lakes and a moonscape of boulders to end at the Muir Pass shelter, located directly on top of the pass. The Muir shelter, which is a circular stone building with a weather-beaten but sturdy wood door seemed to fit so seamlessly and perfectly into it's place, I almost wished that I could have been stranded there in a storm. It's purpose is to provide emergency shelter to high-country hikers and to commemorate Mr. Muir, but that place seemed more like a temple than any other place I have ever been. Many people had written small notes and left them inside the shelter, in front of the lone window. I tried to read one of them but was overcome with sadness and couldn't continue. I quickly realized that a lot of pain was left with those notes. So I didn't even try to read the rest. What better place to leave your pain then at a temple. I think I left some of mine, because that night I slept better than ever. But I didn't write anything down.
I didn't set out to hike the trail faster than planned it just happened due to circumstances. On day 3 I realized that I only had two more dinners so I needed to get from mile 58 to 108 in two days in order to pick-up another re-supply. Then near the end of the trip I realized that I had some extra food and if I just found a bit more I could stay on the trail without having to go into town for food. So I asked for and found some food at a ranger station and received some more from an overloaded hiker.
I was extremely surprised at how lonesome the trail was in September. Except for at the two ends of the hike as well as near Muir Pass and in the Rae Lakes Basin, I rarely saw anyone and that was nice. The solitude I found in Tully's Hole and on top of Mather Pass really made the trip seem like an adventure.
I met and hiked with a guy named Forest near the end of the trip. Forest had hiked all the way from Donner Pass, over 400 miles, and ended on the same day I did at Mt. Whitney. He also happens to be from Leavenworth, WA and is a pretty quick lightweight hiker! Hopefully we will meet up again sometime for a hike in the Cascades.
The trip home from the trail was relatively uneventful except for the fact that I received a great hitch from a guy named Ed from Santa Barbara. The trip to get to the trail was awesome since I got to visit my friend Lora in Lafayette. Thanks for all your help Lora. Without it I may never have made it to Yosemite!
I learned quite a few things on the trail, a couple of them being:
I have learned to be realistic when thinking about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. This means that I am not so convinced that the PCT is for me. It would be really HARD!
I want to do some more long hikes in extremely wild and rad places. I'm just not sure where yet!
I think that if every high schooler in the nation did a hike like the JMT, in 10 years we would have a country full of conservationists and true patriots. If you don't know anything about the land in which you live and the true freedom you may enjoy (if you so choose) your not likely to defend it or conserve it.
I am glad to be back and hoping that I will be able to start running again soon!?!
I did small videos for each day of the trip. I can't put all of them up here. So here is the final one, done on top of Mt. Whitney:
Almost everything has been packed, shipped, photocopied, and readied for my trip to hike the John Muir Trail, which begins on Saturday. And just now I am starting to wonder if I have mentally prepared myself adequately. I know it is just a hike. I am not going to the moon, hiking the length or breadth of a country, or exploring unknown or completely unpopulated country. But I have a feeling that my mind and my conceptions are likely going to be changed drastically by this experience. It will be a physical, mental and possibly spiritual challenge. Just as I was pondering this in the last week I came upon my horoscope which seemed extremely prescient:
While I was out in the California wilderness doing a vision quest, I came upon a painting in a cave that I immediately sensed was an oracle for the current state of your life. In the painting, there was a hunter who had dropped his bow and arrow on the ground. He appeared to be dancing inside a circle of eagles. The birds were also at ground level and had their wings spread, as if dancing with the hunter. I encourage you to come up with your own interpretations of this oracle, but here's how I see it: You need to commune with wilderness in a way you never before imagined. The best way to proceed is to empty your mind of all the thoughts about what you can get out of the experience, and instead cultivate the free-wheeling, no-expectations attitude that comes when you're dancing uninhibitedly.
Now I am not a big believer in astrology or vision quests and I only read the horoscope on the rare occasion that I browse through The Stranger and come to the last page with the horoscopes. That being said I've gotta wonder if this 'advisor' might just be on to something. Either way, the advice seems sound. So I have begun trying to empty my mind of expectations and prepare myself to live in the moment.
This non-planning might actually be the hardest part of the journey. I have spent countless hours already planning out every detail of this trip, including dehydrating foods, mixing and making freezer-bag meals, creating miniature maps, emailing trail forums, buying gear, getting permits, sending food packages and on and on. Can I do an 11-12 day 220 mile hike in the California wilderness without constantly rationing my energy, strength, time and food. Can I free my mind from constant worrying about whether or not me knee will hold-up, obsessing about getting from point A to point B, cooking dinner #1 or #2, hiking for 3 or 4 hours between breaks, etc. When I step onto the trail, will I be able to free myself from the future and enjoy my present. I sincerely hope so because in fact, this is a major reason why I will set out on this journey. One word seems to encompass my primary goal: Freedom.
So I will try. I will empty my mind, put my feet on the trail, and start walking. Life doesn't get much better than that.
By the way; That free-thinker at the top of the page, is John Muir.
On saturday afternoon I finished up all my errands and chores early and was a little bored so I decided to try and watch a bit of the Cascade Crest 100 mile race. I was hoping that if I timed it right I might be able to see some of my friends in the race. The trouble was that I wasn't totally sure of the course directions and I also wasn't sure how fast most people would be running. So I made an educated guess and decided to hike the Twin Lakes trail to the PCT then continue south to see who I would run into. The other smaller problem was that it was raining off and on and daylight was fading fast.
I hiked up a truly steep and overgrown trail a couple or three miles to get to the PCT just aways south of Olallie Meadows. Then I hiked to Yakima Pass/Twilight Lake before stopping to eat dinner and wait for the runners. About 20 minutes later the first place runner came running by and sarcastically commented on the stellar conditions (wet , dark and slightly windy). Twenty cold minutes later the 2nd place runner ran by and appeared somewhat surprised to see a fan so far out on the course! I stuck around for awhile longer watching the first 8 to 10 runners pass, including the first place woman, but it was getting dark and nasty so I started back. I ended up seeing a couple more runners before leaving the PCT but didn't get a chance to see most of the pack. The only person I saw who I knew by name was Ralph Pooler, who recognized me and said hi. There is Ralph (below) with his head down.
I hiked out in a truly miserable cold rain just as it became pitch black under the forest canopy. It was obvious to me that with approximately 60 miles of cold and wet running to go, all the runners were going to have a rough night. Based upon the results some people appear to have had amazing races, despite the rainy weather. Congrats to Arthur, Alison, Shawn, Van, Wendy, Eric, Glenn and everyone else!
On Sunday I went kayaking and saw this sunken upside-boat. I wish I knew more about the boat and why it sunk. But I don't. Someone probably just neglected to take care of the boat and left it tied to the mooring buoy when it should have been repaired. Just thought it was cool to see the bottom of a boat sticking up out of the water!
Lately I have been a little bit obsessed with my planning for my upcoming vacation and worrying about my knee injury. Unfortunately this has even carried over to my blog, where my posts have been truly self-obsessed. I was recently reminded of this by a couple of friends, Cindy and Chris (C & C), who felt left out of my post on the 2nd White River training run. Ok, so here is my addendum to that post: I ran into a couple of friends pushing their bikes up the road to Suntop during the run, Chris and Cindy. They appeared to be tiring of the hill already and were wondering how much farther it was to the top. I told them it was probably two to three miles (and then comes all the downhill) and that they had a lot of riding ahead of them (or bike pushing!), being that it was already around 2 pm. They asked how far I had run and I guessed that it was somewhere over 20 miles and that I was looking forward to a soak in the river, at the bottom of the hill. I left wondering, how can they be so relaxed about their recreation? Starting out after noon?? Slackers!
Last week I got to hang with some friends and see some great music. Here is a synopsis:
Wednesday: Went to an Old Crow Medicine Show concert at the Woodland Park Zoo with Ana, Chris and Cindy. I had a great time although I am regretting the fact that I didn't dance nearly as much as I should have! Thanks to Ana and Cindy we ate a delicious picnic dinner on the grass right before the show began. Ana thought Ketch Secor was making up his accent. I wondered why peaches have fuzz. We had tons of fun!
Friday: Went to Ana and Keith's for dinner with Chris, Cindy, Brielle and Beezer. The two young'ns are Eli (Ana/Keith) and Mabel (B&B). This was the first time I had met Mabel. She sure seemed feisty for a 5 week old. The burgers were great and the company was fantastic. It is too bad I don't own a teleporter so that I can visit B,B and Mabel in W2 every weekend.
I have a new camera so I am going to test putting a video of the OCMS show here (if I can ever get it to work):
In anticipation of my upcoming John Muir Trail hike I took off last weekend (8/4 & 8/5) and tested out the ol'body and gear for the trip. I left early Saturday morning thinking I would hike deep into the Cascades on a trail originating near Leavenworth; a trail I had never been to before and one which was likely overgrown. But when I got to Leavenworth I stopped by the ranger station and found that they were just about to start the Enchantment lakes lottery drawing. So of course I couldn't resist entering. Lo and behold I was the first one drawn and was awarded a coveted permit to camp in the Enchantments. So I changed plans.
I took the Colchuk Lake / Aasgard Pass route and was strolling into the upper Enchantment Lakes basin just before noon! I can't believe how much easier this route is than hiking all the way up the Snow creek valley, like I usually do. Before I had walked even a 1/4 mile down into the basin I spotted 10 mountain goats, several of them kids. They were not all together but came in groups of 1 or 2. I've seen many goats in the Enchantments before. But there were so many at one time that I was starting to wonder if they were looping around behind me and walking by again! It was a blue sky near perfect day to wander through that wonderland of granite, sapphire lakes and twisted gnarly Larch trees. I was in heaven!
I stopped at the first lake with fish, about halfway down the basin, and started waving the ol' wand. I caught two fish on my own hand-tied Elk Hair Caddis fly within 5 minutes. Even though I broke the tip off of my fly rod on the hike in, I was still in heaven! The fish were small like usual but they fought like true cutts and were exciting to see thriving in the cold clear lakes.
I wandered over to one of my favorite lakes, Crystal Lake, hoping that I could do some fishing here and camp at one of my favorite spots. Unfortunately a large group was already there so I decided to head for the hills and a bit of seclusion. I hiked up over Prusik pass and wandered down to secluded Shield Lake.
I have explored this area before and have been wanting to camp here for a long time. Fortunately, most of the Enchantment hikers are too lazy to climb over Prusik Pass so Shield lake and the lakes below it almost never get visitors. For me, walking down into this basin is like walking into a forgotten land, a near-perfect wilderness, the garden of Eden. The trail becomes ever more overgrown, to the point where in the meadows, the trail is barely recognizable. The entire valley seems to be alive with the songs of birds, the constant thrum of bugs and the pitter-patter of fish riseing on the lake. During my stay at Shield lake I was startled on more than one occasion by a large splash on the lake. I would quickly look out over the lake to see an Osprey rising from the lake with a fish.
I wandered down to the lake and took up my spot on a point of land near the outlet stream. The outlet stream is more like a canal since it soon enters another lake further down valley. Because of the large amount of water which comes directly off the melting snows of the surrounding ridges, the valley was extremely lush this year. After catching a fish or two I camped at Shield Lake and had the entire valley and lake to myself. I was in heaven!
The stars were out that night but I setup my Tarptent since I needed to test it out and I need the practice setting it up. This time I was able to set it up well and actually got the feeling that it will work for my upcoming trip. Until I woke in the morning and noticed that the bottom part of my sleeping bag had been soaked by condensation on the inside of the low end of the tent. Because the tent is so low at the foot end of the tent my bag rubs on the ceiling thereby picking up condensation. I am not sure how I will deal with this on my trip, but I am not too worried.
On Sunday I did a bit of fishing in the morning then ambled back up out of the valley just in time to see a couple of rangers dropping into the valley. When they checked my permit I am certain that they were surprised to find that I was legal. I have to admit that I have considered visiting Shield Lake to stealth camp on many occasions. They said they usually don't patrol this valley but that they would head down valley and work cross-country to the Snow Creek drainage. They indicated that they had never tried it before. I told them how I had tried the same thing before and never found the correct route.
After leaving the rangers I stopped by Inspiration Lake and did some fishing before heading toward the car. On the way out of the Enchantments I ran (not literally) up Little Annapurna and caught some awe-inspiring views. Little Annapurna mountain really isn't nearly as grand as it's name sounds (named after the Himalayan peak) but it does have a cool summit. On it's summit a few large heavily weathered rocks project out over a couple thousand foot chasm on the south side. I like to go out and sit on the rocks where I can get the feeling that I am suspended in the air; my own little magic carpet ride. Usually after a few minutes I start to get characteristically paranoid that there will be an earthquake! If there was any sort of earthquake I am certain that I would be taking a fast trip to the bottom of the valley. The rocks on top look like they are ready to topple over at any time!
My knee injury was ever present on the hike out but it didn't slow me down and it seems to be slightly less painful/sore. All in all it was an awesome trip and it made me even more excited to take a long walk on the John Muir Trail next month!
With far more fretting, whining and worrying than I thought I was capable of, I have finally made a decision to NOT run the White River 50 mile this year.
For me at least, when I plan on doing something it starts to take on a life of its own and sometimes it is hard to put on the brakes. Momentum, energy and spirit build-up and seem to propel me along on a course I am nearly helpless to change. I find it interesting that Newton's first law seems to apply:
"An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an external and unbalanced force. An object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an external and unbalanced force."
See I am a nerd. Or at least a geek! Today's physics tangent is thanks to my often-forgotten and relatively under utilized degree in physics.
Although I won't be at the race to watch or volunteer, because it will suck to watch a race I should be running, I am hoping that all my ultra-friends will have fun and do well. Good luck TC, Alison, Bruce, Shawn, Brian, Arthur, Mike, Van, Nick, Michael, Glenn and many more!!
