Perfect weather for a hike up Humphrey's...

...not really but we went for it anyway. It was Susan's (you gotta guess how old) birthday and she wanted to start the day off right with a bit of a hike. The forecast showed some wind up on Humphrey's but we figured whatever. How bad could it be? I've been up there before in high winds and it isn't usually that bad. Just a couple sections where you get knocked around up high near the summit. Well... the wind was definitely stronger today and we had quite a hike! Very exciting! We literally had to crawl the last section to the summit!!! I had to have a good grip on Shiloh (my dog) so that she didn't disappear into the inner basin.

In the end it was a good adventure and I'm glad I wasn't trying to run up there on a morning like this (we met a friend doing just that as we were descending his report here). Below are some videos of the ascent and descent on the upper ridge to give you an idea of what we were up against. It definitely felt like Fall was coming after that hike. Brrrrr. I think I got a wind ice cream headache...


On the way up.


Summit photo.


What it was like on the summit.


Going down.


A little further down.

Psyched! New PR on Humphrey's Loop and an amazing sunset

Humphrey's Loop (counter clockwise):

This morning went surprisingly well. I felt really good once I got a few miles in and warmed up despite the previous 3 days of lots of elevation and miles. I thought I was going to just run the thing to have fun and try not to get to tired. Instead, I moved well on the Kachina, charged up most of the Weatherford Trail feeling quite good and didn't fall on my face descending the Humphrey's Trail (a regular occurrence for me it seems...). My finishing time was 3 hrs 29 min 27 sec. A great time for me as it is the first time I have broken 3 1/2 hours on the loop. Especially encouraging because I felt like there is a lot of room for improvement on time.

Splits:
Kachina/Weatherford intersection (1 hr)
Doyle Saddle (2 hr 3 min)
Humphrey's Saddle (2 hr 51 min)
Car (3 hr 29 min 27 sec)

Bonus: Big Elk herd sighting near end of Kachina Trail right on the trail!

Amazing Sunset:

Susan and I went up to Snowbowl on Mt. Humphrey's a couple evenings ago, had a nice run on the Arizona Trail and then snacked on cheese and crackers on our new camp table (thanks Tony D.), drank wine and watched the sunset. It was a great sunset (maybe I was impressed because I haven't taken the time to sit back and watch the sunset for quite some time) and Susan and I took a couple of shots of it.

Hopefully you will enjoy the shots as much as we enjoyed taking them. Gotta love an Arizona sunset.

I am competitive

I reminded myself this morning that I am competitive. I've known this to be true from an early age and this morning on the Mt. Humphrey's Trail it was, yet again, confirmed.

The story starts with me taking a friends dog that I'm watching up to run the Mt. Humphrey's trail. I was feeling up for trying to break my PR on the trail and had a young, energetic dog to share the effort with.

We got to the trail head about 5:45 am and the conditions were perfect (cold, crisp and dry). I felt great after a good nights sleep and was psyched to put in a good effort.

On the way up, man and dog really went for it. I was moving well, hitting landmarks along the trail equalling or coming in faster than previous runs. My dog companion was, darting back and forth with explosive power and quickness, checking out every possible smell and movement in the whole forest, leaving only a handful of trees unsniffed.

We arrived on the saddle in 58 minutes (not really faster than my other fastest attempts but with more energy) and was ready to attack the scrambly upper ridge to the summit. I left my water bottle on a rock at the saddle to give me that much more freedom to push it.

The upper ridge went well and I reached the summit in 1 hr 20 minutes on the dot, maybe a minute or two faster than in recent summits. I knew with this time I was in gear to break 2 hours if I really went for it on the way down and I felt like I could because I had more energy than in any other summit push this year.

I touched the summit rocks and bolted back down the ridge ready to give a sub 2 hour effort.

The only thing of concern was my dog companion seemed to be slowing. He was most definitely in conserve mode (the exact opposite of on the way up). This was not going to help me on my PR bid.

As I slid, jumped, sprinted and shuffled my way down the ridge I encouraged my companion to "let's go!" and "you can do it!" It seemed to be working and we both stayed in eye sight of each other.

Once I made it past the saddle and into the trees things started to change and I should have seen the writing on the wall. Dog friend was definitely slowing. I cheered, encouraged and called his name pretty much the rest of the way down the trail but he couldn't keep pace. A few times he gave a bursting effort and started to catch up but by half way down the trail I had to slow my pace ever so slightly and still only saw him on big straight aways or open switchbacks. I was starting to worry about coming in under 2 hours...

Poor companion was not up for this and I was pushing him to or past his limits (whatever they may be...) or he didn't feel like moving fast. Whatever the reason, he was really lagging behind and near the bottom of the trail I really couldn't see him anymore.

I really belted out the yells and hoped he had a big burst in him to finish and catch up but it was becoming obvious that if I kept going the same pace I was going to loose him and I wasn't sure he would know where to go at the end.

Even with the slowed pace, I was about 3 1/2 minutes under 2 hours when I came out of the trees and hit the last short stretch to the car (this section usually only takes a few minutes). I got really excited to still go for it and turned to yell at my companion and no sooner had I opened my mouth I had tripped and face planted into the dirt. I was completely stunned and stumbled to my feet still trying to yell out his name and continue. I got going a few more steps and then caught a toe and went down for the second time, falling harder and with more pain. I gave out a loud scream, yelled the f-bomb as loud as I could through the pain in my toes and knee, which was now bleeding pretty good, and chucked my water bottle as far as I could. Once I got myself under control (took a minute or two) I just sat there defeated and waited for the dog. After a minute or so more, he trotted up to me and laid down. We were both wrecked. What a sight that must have been.

I gave him a pet, got myself to my feet and stumbled the last bit to the trail head and stopped my watch. 2 hrs 4 min 58 seconds.

Reflection: I really wanted to kill the dog while I was crumpled, face down, in the dirt on the second fall but also knew that the dog had nothing to do with this fiasco. This fiasco was my own creation; bringing a dog that I had no idea if he would be able to do the run, pushing the dog all the way down the hill when I made him chase me and then being angry that I didn't make it under 2 hours.

My competitive self really does like to push it and doesn't do well with setbacks along the way. In the end this is an obvious lesson in not pushing things too hard if things aren't flowing (like a dog not keeping up). No matter how hard I wanted to go down that hill and break 2 hours, my companion wasn't going to get me there. I needed to realize that a bit earlier and give us both a break and take a slower pace. Hmm...

Then again...oh so close!!!

Note: Dog name had been left out to protect the innocent.

Lobster Mushrooms

We just picked and ate our first batch of Lobster Mushrooms yesterday!!! I guess people have been finding them for a few weeks now but this is the first we have seen them. Susan and I are psyched as these are by far our favorite wild mushrooms to eat in Flagstaff (they taste like seafood when cooked!). Happy times are here!!! I love mushroom season!

Better yet, we don't even have to drive anywhere to get them. They grow in the forest just a few minutes run from our house. Makes for a great morning- go for a run, pick some mushrooms on the way back and cook 'em up for breakfast to start the day. Perfect. We are going to enjoy it while we can!

A good one...

This morning was one of my more enjoyable runs in a while. I didn't push too hard and just went as fast as my body felt like going and the result was very satisfying. Never did I feel like I was struggling and the legs just bounded along. Even on the steeper sections, everything felt great. To top it off there was some amazing wildflowers, the meadows were spectacular and I got to see some deer and elk and even heard some coyotes yelping. Very enjoyable. Days like this are exactly why I trail run.

Where did I run? I did the very classic loop of up Schultz Creek Trail to Sunset Trail and then followed the Sunset Trail to link Brookbank Trail and Lil' Gnarly Trail to get back to and down Schultz Creek Trail. This loop is approx. 15 miles and gains a bit over 1,500 feet (starting at about 7,000 ft. and topping out at a bit under 9,000 ft.) on very good trails.

I finished in a comfortable time of 2 hrs 25 minutes and was really happy with the time considering I didn't really push it-just enjoying the whole thing.

Maybe next time up there I'll bring the camera as there are a crazy amount of flowers out right now...

Humphreys Loop counter clockwise

(Humphrey's at sunrise this morning)

I felt like mixing it up this morning on the peaks loop (Humphrey's, Weatherford, Kachina Trails) and went counter clockwise. I usually start with the Humphrey's Trail to get the biggest elevation gain out of the way right off the bat but because it is hard to run all of the loop this way I feel that maybe starting with the Kachina Trail instead may give a better workout (slow, gradual climb up Weatherford of just over 7 miles instead of the 3.5 mile climb of Humphreys to get about the same elevation change) and I would be able to run all of it. I also feel that I run the clockwise version all the time because I feel I will get the fastest time on it.

Well, after running it counter clockwise this morning, I need to reassess if one way is indeed faster than the other. It may be a wash...

My fastest time running clockwise is 3 hrs 37 min and change and this morning I ran it counter clockwise in 3 hrs 49 min 48 sec. Not much of a difference considering I never pushed too hard this morning, not feeling all that great, and settled for a steady slow pace on the uphills and tried not to run to fast down the steep, rocky and slick Humphrey's Trail. Maybe I'll be able to run both ways under 3 1/2 hours soon. I was thinking that a reasonable long term goal would be to try to push for under 3 hours. We will see.

I will say that, whatever the time I come in with, the Peaks loop is and always will be one of my favorite runs. Always beautiful, always animal sightings (saw a bunch of Elk up by Doyle Saddle this morning), always challenging, always changing and right in my back yard. What a great loop!

Last few weeks...

All right... I'm going to give it quick and dirty. Here are the highlights from the last few weeks. Any one of these outings could expand into a whole post of their own but haven't had the time to write. It has been a good last few weeks. Here goes...

After our honeymoon we started to get up early out of habit (hard to break the time change...)and decided to just make it a regular thing. This meant that, once back to Flagstaff, I was getting up between 5 and 6 am (normally, excessively early for me), and running at first light.

It has worked out really well, logging a bunch of miles early in the mornings and leaving my whole day for work, climbing and the rest of life. Some highlight runs have been:

-A few laps on one of my favorite loops; the Humphrey's, Weatherford, Kachina loop (18 miles or so, about 4,000 feet of elevation gain and loss and all between 9,000 and 11,800 ft.). My best time logged on the loop last week was 3 hrs 37 min 31 sec (I think that's a pr...) with a goal right now of dropping under 3 1/2 hours for the loop. Note: My best time logged started on the Humphrey's trail, went clockwise around the loop, and finished on the Kachina trail (I'm pretty sure that is the fastest way to do the loop).

-A loop on Kendrick Peak that I had not done before that is now a favorite of mine. The loop that I did starts on the popular Kendrick Peak Trail and follows it up the south side of the mountain to the cabin on top of Kendrick. Behind the cabin I picked up the Bull Basin Trail and followed that down the northeast side of the mountain (this trail may have been my favorite section as it was kind of out there and faint, travels through a massive fire area of about ten years ago with young aspens growing everywhere and I saw dozens of elk along the upper sections). Once at the bottom, I followed the Connector Trail that traversed to the northwest side of the mountain and joined the Pumpkin Trail. I followed the Pumpkin Trail back up to the top of Kendrick and the Fire Tower on the summit before finally reconnecting with the Kendrick Peak Trail and the final descent back to the car. This loop was cool because I got to see so much of the mountain, summit it twice (I got somewhere in the range of 5,000 ft of elevation gain and loss over 19 or so miles) and a lot of it is on faint trails making for a bit of an adventurous feel. The run took me 3 hrs 47 minutes, something to build on.

Other highlights of the last few weeks:

-A night time hike of the Hermit Trail with some friends; Jeremiah and Jeff. This trip had loads of stories by the time we were done like almost getting bouted by the Grand Canyon Bus system as every person and their grandma that was there was trying to get on the Hermit Shuttle to see the sunset. We missed a few buses because the line was so long and then the one we caught only took us part way out and made us get off (we were one bus to late to get all the way out to Hermits Rest...arg). To make a long story short, after a couple hours and some luck we finally got a ride the rest of the way out to the trail head and started. The rest of the adventure was awesome with amazing stars, a jump over a rattlesnake in the trail, a deer getting trapped by us on the trail and then it sketched off into the cliffy abyss, some eyes watching and following us near the river (we could only guess it was a mountain lion by the way it was tracking us), a couple hour bivy on the shore by the Colorado and then a long hike out at first light catching an unbelievable light show from the rising sun.

-A trip to Ouray in Colorado for 3 day to do some climbing and hot springing. Susan and I got lots of climbing in on two great crags; the Pool Wall (right above the Ouray City Hot Springs Pool) and the Jimmy Cliff (a great alpine limestone crag) but somehow managed to never dip once into any of the many hot springs there. Not sure how this happened but it did. It seemed that we would always be having to much fun climbing and hanging out eating and drinking to get to the springs before they close. Oh well, we had a great time and would love to go back to climb there again. It is an excellent little mountain town with some great climbing literally in town. I'm sure we will be back again to crag and finally dip into the hot springs too...

Below are a few shots I took on the hike back up the Hermit trail at first light to give a bit of color to this post. Hope you enjoy!

Honeymoon in Puerto Rico

ur honeymoon ended up being a true adventure. Maybe not the adventure that we expected (traveling rarely is in the end) but still an adventure. It ended up being a good test of if we can handle difficult situations in our marriage (might as well get tested right off the bat).

Why did it test us? Well... let me count the ways (pretty much all having to do with a tropical storm that pushed through the island the first 9 days of our trip).

1. We only climbed 3 routes one morning as the rock was wet the whole time due to the storms and the 3 routes we did climb were wet.
2. We couldn't camp (our preferred method of sleeping to save money) because of storms and unsafe beaches so we ended up staying in hotels the whole trip which were really expensive.
3. Beach time and snorkeling was cut short (we didn't snorkel until the last day of the trip and didn't get to go swimming until 4 days into the trip) because of pouring rain and rough waters.

All this lead to us leaving a week early so that we could save money and time off for another trip someday. We basically cut our losses and moved on.

There was some great things from the trip too:
-We definitely had some low moments sitting in our car or in hotels feeling trapped and depressed because of bad weather and being on an island (no way to get away from the bad weather) but we supported each other through it, got creative to have fun (we ran and walked a lot around San Juan to burn off stress and ended up getting to know the area pretty well because of it) and took actions to go home early. We basically felt a bit out of control with feelings of being trapped and spending way more money than we wanted to because we couldn't camp. It felt really good to get control of the trip again and make plans to get out of there, lick our wounds and save the extra week that we took off the trip for something fun in the future.
-We did get a couple days before we left of good weather that we took full advantage of and went to some beaches, got to snorkel and visited the rain forest. Oh my goodness, if we had weather the whole trip like that it would have been a completely different experience. It was amazing there when the weather was nice.
-We ate some great food like Mofungo (a dish made from plantains) and some extremely greasy traditional food that puts our modern fast food to shame made of super fried plantains or yucca and ground beef or seafood.

It's easy to complain (as I have already done in this blog) about a trip gone bad but I know it is part of the deal about traveling. I have had amazing trips that run smooth from start to finish and I have had trips that are complete f-ups. In the end, this trip was some where in the middle for me. Sure, the weather was crappy and things didn't go as planned but we did have some fun exploring a place that we have never been before and we worked well together to do the best with the situation at hand so all wasn't lost.

Chalk it up to the adventure of travel.

Below are a few shots of the trip for your amusement.



Susan in the alley where "Da House" was located in historic Old San Juan (where we stayed the first few nights).

This photo was taken looking through an old door into an old abandoned building in historic Old San Juan. The inside was all overgrown like a jungle which was strang to find in the middle of the cobbled streets and concrete of the city. Pretty cool.

Susan in our room at "Da House."

We did get to camp one night (can you believe it!) and it was very memorable. We camped on the top of a hill in a Bayamon City Park in a wooden lookout tower (very illegal). We were camped there because it was the only place we were protected from the rain, we were determined to camp and we wanted to climb on some cliffs on the hill the next day.

Climbing at Bayamon on one of only 3 routes we did of the trip. Really cool routes with tufa and colonette features on excellent limestone. Note: a lot of the bolts were rusting in this area so hopefully they will get them replaced as I was not psyched to fall on most of them for fear of bolts breaking.

Susan climbing at Bayamon.

Beach in northwest Puerto Rico that we stayed at for a few days.

Again, at the beach on the northwest part of Puerto Rico we stayed at. It was fun watching the waves crash against the limestone cliffs. This beach was a popular surf spot.

Super sharp sculpted limestone. All the limestone along the ocean at Puerto Rico looked like this. You wouldn't want to fall on it! Ouch!

This is a really cool looking cliff with great stalactite features in the southwest part of the island (Rosario) that we would have climbed at except for the massive storm that pushed through that day, the sketchy spider webs covering the wall and the tattered threaded webbing used for anchors instead of bolts (cheap bastards).

Bamboo. I did not realize before we went to the island that there is bamboo all over the place. Very cool.

Shot of me, drenched, leaving the Rosario climbing area while being caught in a major storm.

Traditional Puerto Rico food. I may look happy now...

...but ohhhhh the pain. Greeeaaaaasy!

This shot of the sky was pretty standard for most of the trip.

Susan enjoying the deck of the hotel we stayed at for the last week in the city of San Juan.

Enjoying Pina Coladas in the sun on one of the last days of the trip. Finally, some soaking up of rays, drinks on the beach and full relaxation.

On the last day of the trip we went to a beach near Seven Seas on the northeast side of the island and had some beautiful weather.

Living it up.

On the last day we also went hiking on a mountain in the rain forest.

Summit!

Crazy clouds.

This last shot is for my dad. Look ferns! These guys were everywhere in Puerto Rico. It was funny to see them below palm trees instead of fir trees like in Washington. I didn't know they did so well in the Caribbean...thought they were just a northwest thing...guess I was wrong.

Wedding photos

Well, it was a great day. The ceremony was in a beautiful Aspen grove and then the reception was at The Nordic Center, both near Mt. Humphreys. We were extremely lucky with weather, getting a beautiful day after heavy thundershowers the day before (it rained hard the day after too) and we were very fortunate to have most of our friends and family share in the special day. Thank you to all who made the trip out and to those who helped us before and during the wedding making sure everything went smooth...it was a very special day for Susan and I.

See photos of the wedding here. Thanks to Leo for taking such beautiful shots!