9/29/16
Week 1:
I was supposed to go backpacking with Daybreaker and Christa for Labor Day weekend, but I threw my back out CrossFitting in late August, and decided I should be good and let myself properly recover. Instead I took a long road trip to southern Oregon with the intention of picking up a few peaks from the Oregon 100 highest list. I ended up hitting just one, Dead Horse Rim, and, like any good Labor Day weekend, getting unexpectedly snowed on.
Week 2:
Feeling like I really really needed to get out, I headed to the Wallowas for a quick overnight centered around peakbagging. My back was much better by this point, but I kept the days pretty short as a precaution. Saturday I went up China Cap, then camped by Burger Meadow. The scenery and solitude were both excellent. Sunday morning I was very annoyed to find my next peak, Granite Butte, socked in. But while I was taking my summit photos, the wind picked up and blew out all the clouds! After a quick visit to the nearby Mule Peak fire lookout, I headed back the way I came. A wonderful and much needed little trip!
Week 3:
The following weekend Marmot and I had plans to climb Diamond Peak, but the weather did not cooperate and we postponed. Instead, I went for a 10 mile run in town. You see, back in late July, I signed up for a 50k trail race at the end of September. Back then, it seemed like I had plenty of time to train. Of course, I got totally side tracked with things like climbing Mt Rainier and then the whole back injury issue, and so I ended up here: a week away from the race having not gotten in any runs longer than 7 miles….and no hill or trail training to speak of. One 10 mile flat as a pancake run on the Sunday before the race totally makes up for all that, right?
Week 4:
I ran the Swiftwater 50k along the North Umpqua Trail, a really beautiful trail along the North Umpqua River. It actually ended up going a lot better than I thought it would. I finished 16th of 27 participants in 6 hours and 33 min. I actually ran (ok, so by the end it was more like a shuffle) all the flats and downhills, and fast hiking the uphills, which were frequent, but short (~5500′ gain total). I had no idea how to fuel for such a thing, so I mostly stuck to gel packets, with a few nibbles on some fruit at the aid stations (there were 5!!) and a quarter of a PB&J sandwich at mile 23. Amazingly, I didn’t puke, experience bubble guts, or any other significant malady during the run.
Up Next:
This weekend is the annual ALDHA-West Gathering! This year it’s in Nevada City, CA, and I’m very excited to connect with lots of folks in the long distance hiking community. Immediately following the Gathering, I’ll be heading down to Death Valley to hike Brett Tucker’s Lowest to Highest route with Snorkel (Liz Thomas) and The Punisher (Naomi)! I’ll be doing the daily blog thing for that, so stay tuned!
A big thumbs up.
Great job, Katie! I can’t imagine running 50k! You should be very proud! Love your pictures! 😍
Glad to see your blog again – have missed it. Sorry to hear of your back problems – sure puts a crimp on your plans. Your pictures are beautiful – good luck on your next “venture” will be waiting for your daily blog.
That Burger Meadow is beautiful! Love your resilience. Keep it up. And keep crossfitting.
Great Pictures Katie!
Especially loved the one with the sun light filtering through the forest!
Geryrig