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Check out this one lonesome deciduous tree in a sea of evergreens. Sometimes I feel like that tree might feel: Different (that is if a tree could be self-obsessed and somewhat insecure).
Of course I don't think that it is necessarily bad to feel different. But sometimes it sure can make a person feel lonely. I thought about this alot when I went for my run yesterday.
Fortunately, I had a great run and my outlook took a drastic change for the better. The run started out sopping wet and ended at least 10 miles later under a noticeably brighter and clearer evening sky. I almost didn't go running when I saw how hard it was raining, but since I only ran 4 miles on Wed. I thought I've gotta go burn off some calories. So I took off on one of my old office loops. One which I haven't done in ages. Most of the loop is on roads but fortunately has relatively few stoplights so I could keep going with very few interuptions. Just about everything felt right, including my attitude! It is a little weird when a 10 mile run is more relaxing than vegging out in front of the black box. But I will take it when I can get it!
Last weekend (Oct. 14-15) I raced the autumn/winter weather to see some more of my favorite country. I drove over to the Icicle Creek Road area on Saturday and took off running up Icicle and French Creek Canyons in order to visit Klonaqua Lakes. The goal was to get to these lakes, which are about 9.5 miles from the trailhead, toss a little fly line and admire the view of the surrounding mountains.
I found all the solitude and autumn color I was craving, as nearly every twig and tree in the creek valleys was some shade of red, orange, yellow or green and I only saw one couple and a dog. Most of the day saturday ominous clouds flew by overhead with brilliant flashes of ultra-blue sky in between. At the lakes the sun even beat down for about 1/2 an hour prompting a little sunbathing on the rocks near the water.
It seems that the fish have taken their vacation for the winter or have been taught enough lessons over the summer. I didn't see one fish, let alone catch one!
On Saturday I night I did a little car camping in the Icicle Creek Canyon. After a cold night with rain sprinkles I drove a few miles to meet a group of Seattle Running Club members at the Snow Creek trailhead. We then proceeded up to the Colchuk Lake trailhead where we started a one-way 18-mile run through the Enchantments.
Just before arriving at Colchuk Lake the rain began (about 3-4 miles) and then about 200 feet from the top of Asgard Pass the snow began! At the top of the pass five of us re-grouped, quickly ate, and donned every scrap of clothing we had while huddled behind a boulder. The snow was falling heavily with a significant portion of it blowing sideways! There was no discussion about waiting for the rest of the group. We had to keep going as some of us were in shorts!
Running on top of 4 to 5 inches of snow over rocks and boulders proved to be a little difficult but it ended up being a good traction test for our trail shoes, especially for Scott McCoubrey who was testing a beta pair of Filas. Fortunately, there were no catstrophic falls although I understand that Nick (Fila rep) ended up with a slight injury. Once I got warm, while running through the enchantments, the run became extraordinarily beautiful. The primary colors were white and gray due to the low clouds, rocks, and blowing snow. But every once and awhile the brilliant colors of the alpine larches would stand in stark contrast to the dull grey void. Not many people get to see the Enchantments under these conditions. I felt privileged.
Of course we all made it back to the cars at the Snow Creek trailhead, maybe a little tired, but no worse than usual for an 18-mile mountain run. Several of us made a stop in at Gustav's in Leavenworth for pints and food. Thanks to Nick for the grub and thanks to SRC for another great Enchantments run!
On October 7th I had a blast running/hiking to the top of Mt. Daniel over near Salmon La Sac. I drove over in the morning and arrived to a very chilly morning at the end of the Tucquala Lake road. My car indicated that the outside temperature was 29 degrees! I was in for a glorious blue sky and autumn color day. All the heather, huckelberry and deciduous trees were showing their most vibrant reds, oranges and yellows.
Since I got kinda a late start, around 9 AM, I was a little worried that I wouldn't have enough time to get to the top of Daniel. So I did some relatively quick hiking and a little running. I was surprised to find that it only took me 3:53 from the car to the summit even though I got off-route for about 20 minutes trying to bypass a steep dirt slope! I was a little surprised to see a couple of climbing groups on the glacier when there is a much faster route without snow on the nearby ridge.
At the summit I enjoyed the view of the central cascades with one welcome friend, a large raven. Ravens are amazing animals notwithstanding their mythological signs and portents. He sat on top of the highest rock on the summit of Mt. Daniel surveying all the snow, bare rock and wilderness below like a king on high. For a moment I could only wish and wonder: what would it be like to soar like a raven above the mountains and claim your perch on the loftiest, most exposed and cold rock in the center of a massive wilderness. Unfortunately, this particular raven wasn't much for chit chat!
I headed down the mountain and out of the forest, taking my time to enjoy the exploding colors of fall. I tried to soak it all in as I figured this trip might be my last before the snows of winter cover the high country.
On the way back to the car I was a little startled when I came around a corner on the trail (the PCT section) and nearly ran into a little porcupine. I followed him down the trail and watched him for a little while when he climbed a tree. I felt sorry for the little guy as a group of teenagers came up behind me and another noisy group with dogs was on the way from the opposite direction. I wished him well and hoped that he wouldn't have a heart attack from all the attention, then took off. When I encountered the group with dogs I warned them to leash their pets, primarily for the sake of the porcupine! The best picture I could get of the little guy is shown below:
I am planning my Birthday Challenge for Saturday November 25. This will be for birthday number 34. This is not my exact birthdate, but Saturday will probably work better due to the holiday, etc. Anyone and everyone is invited to attend, but I will warn you it will not be exciting and it will probably be raining!
If you have never heard of a Birthday Challenge you should check out this site: http://www.birthdaychallenge.com/index2.html
My Birthday Challenge for this year (2006) is to bike around Lake Washington, Kayak around Mercer Island (in Lake Washington), and run around the perimeter of Mercer Island (on East and West Mercer Way and the I-90 trail). I am planning on having my starting point and exchange point be at Enatai Beach Park in Bellevue. As of today I have not decided on a start time but it will likely be early in the morning (probably before dawn) so that I can finish in the light at the end of the day.
I haven't figured out how far the ride, bike and run will be but I am guessing that the ride is roughly 45-50 miles, kayak 14-15 miles, run 12-13 miles. Right now the plan is to ride on the arterials closest to the Lake except for where I will be on the Burke-Gilman trail. I am also guessing that the challenge may take somewhere between 10 and 13 hours, but it could be much longer, especially if the weather sucks! Ah the pain and torture of getting a year older!
Please don't ask why I want to do this. If you don't understand why people run marathons or ultramarathons you definately won't understand the reason for the Birthday Challenge. I hope to see if the challenge lives up to my expectations!!
Just heard this line while listening to Mofro. While this is not true in all situations it sure seems to be a useful mantra for someone like myself. When I start to feel tired in the later stages of a long run or when doing intervals I have often thought something similar: If it doesn't kill me (or cause serious injury) it should make me stronger. Sometimes it is so amazing how the human body can adapt to stress. If you train the body correctly it will no doubt be able to perform that specific task. The trickier task is to train the mind to continue on when the motivation is no longer there.
Although I am definately not in the best shape a bigger problem is that my training attitude has changed. Without some tangible racing goals I definately have a hard time putting in the hard miles: the long or fast road miles. So I guess this means I am going to have to start setting some running goals again. But this time I am going to be careful to allow for enough rest and downtime.
I found this old photo from last year's Seattle Marathon. I forgot that this guy raced me to the line over the last 100 yards. Boy was that a rush, pushing as fast as I could after 26.2! Almost makes me want to run the marathon this year. NOT!!
I am finally getting around to posting about my vacation which happened a couple weeks ago. For part of my vacation I visited the Enchantment Lakes once again. I know I go every year but I just can't get enough of the peace I feel sitting by a crystalline lake under a clear blue sky; Or just catching cuts from those crystal clear waters!
So I went to the Enchantments between September 6th and 10th this year. After my trip to the North Cascades (see previous post) I decided to run back down to Leavenworth and see if I could get a permit. I was surprised that so many people showed up at the morning lottery since it was a Wednesday. Fortunately, I took the ranger's advice, felt lucky, and drew the first name. This time I was lucky enough to get a permit.
Because I had been on the road for several days already, It took most of the morning to sort gear, buy food, and pack up for the trip, but I finally got on the trail between noon and 1. Even though I was tired from the previous day's N. Cascades dayhike I was able to hike to the upper end of upper Snow Lake where I set up camp for the first night. Snow lake was extremely low. It seems like every time I come here the lake is lower than before. If they don't stop draining if for the growing Leavenworth population, there won't be much of a lake left! Suffice it to say that the fish were few, small and uncatchable. The next day I huffed it up into the Enchantments only to find that my favorite campsite at Lake Vivianne was already taken! I set off in search of another favorite and ended up at Crystal Lake, wondering if everyone up there had a permit. Several people were fishing at the Crystal peninsula and a large group was at the good campsite. A person from the group even came over to grill me about my intentions immediately following my arrival. I grufly replied that I was going to get something to eat before deciding where I would camp and if I would stay at the lake. I really didn't want to hike back over to the main lakes, since I might not find a good site there either!
After catching a fish, loosing a fly and eating some food I packed up and hiked back over to the nearest large lake (I forget the name) where I setup camp on a knoll above the lake. I settled in to fishing here and really started to get into the 'enchanting' spirit. I had a great time that night, hanging out under the stars and watching the amazing moonrise on the granite. I truly felt like I had found my own personal paradise or shangri-la.
The morning of the 3rd day I woke up with an immediate and overwhelming urge to vacate my bowels (a nice way of saying I had to go!). I really didn't think anything about the diarrhea I had until later in the day when I started feeling terrible. I dayhiked over Prusik Pass and went exploring on the Lost World Plateau. I nearly found a back way around to the snow lakes trail below Nada Lake, but I turned back after travelling for quite some time off-trail. On my way back I thought I was suffering from heat exhaustion. After taking several rest breaks and stopping to treat some water (iodine) I finally made it back to my camp around 5 pm. I was in a world of hurt: throbbing headache, diarrhea, dizziness and an overwhelming fever. I suffered through that night, the next day and the following night, eating very little and wandering from my tent only far enough to open the proverbial flood gates!
It was an extreme relief on my final day, when I felt well enough to hike out. I have never been quite so sick, and especially not 10 miles from a trailhead. Boy was I glad to be back to my car and starting to feel better. After a doctor visit and some tests I find out later that I had a bacterial infection: camplyobacter. The doctor prescribed some antibiotics and I am now fully recovered, thank goodness. I think I may have picked it up when eating out in Winthrop, at the barbecue with Micah, or from the water at the Hart's Pass ranger station.
Although I had an amazing time up until I got sick, I still haven't decided if the beauty was worth the pain. I hope I never run into one of these debilitating bacteria (or parasites) again! But I can't wait to enjoy the beauty of the Enchantments again. I probably will have to go back soon, so that I can truly explore the Lost World Plateau. This area was nearly as awesome as the main enchantment lakes but almost completely unvisited!
On Labor day weekend (2006) I took a nice day hike with my friend Heather at the relatively relaxing Mt. Adams in SW Washington. At Heather's insistence we woke at 3 AM and were on the trail around 3:45. We had a great day plodding up the mainly volcanic scree covered slopes to the summit at over 12,000 feet.
I had forgotten that there is an old building on the summit leftover from some miners. It is unfortunate that those who came before, primarily my parent's and grandparent's generations, feel it is ok to just leave evidence (I'll call it garbage) of their passing. Why is it that so many people think it is just ok to leave their garbage, whether it be a candy wrapper or a mine shack out in the wilderness? It seems more than a little ironic and idiotic that the Forest Services requires visitors to pack out all garbage, including used toilet paper, but does nothing to require that resource users like the miners who left decades ago, pack out their garbage. This is to say nothing of the hypocrisy of the fee system. Now I pay $15 for the privilege of walking up a publicly owned mountain, whereas people who dig, mine and generally make a mess are still beholden to the 1872 mining law which requires a pittance in yearly fees to maintain a claim! I could go on and on, but I won't. Here are a few of the choice photos.
