Over the past few months, I’ve been obsessed with hiking. This is not that unusual: if you work a fulltime job, the time available to spend on recreation is limited, and we’re also limited by the weather and season. (Oh! how I miss being a college student!) In the past, I’ve always accepted that there’s only so much time available, and there’s always next year. Inexplicably, I’m feeling a sense of urgency this year: what if there is no ‘next year’?

I promise, this isn’t a philosophical post. Continue reading →

Although I’d planned this trip, I didn’t feel really “prepared.” I think that’s because I’ve spent one night on the trail in the last few years, and this was just my first multi-day solo trip in about twenty years. This was also the first backcountry test of the hammock. Lots of variables! Fortunately, this is an area that’s fairly well-travelled, and there are a lot of forest roads that intersect the trails; if a hiker is in distress, it’s fairly easy to get to a road and get to where one may encounter a person with a motor vehicle. Continue reading →

Because this will be a long post, I’ll also write a short “What I Learned” post. If you want more detail about the trip, read the other post as well. This short post is mostly a humorous review of my failures. Continue reading →

I visited my parents this weekend. I took advantage of their large yard with stout trees to test out my hammock. This is the part where I launch into a lengthy explanation about the hammock. If you’re only here for the hiking, scroll down until the font color changes.
Continue reading →

Yes, I am writing a blog post about camping. Continue reading →

I should be super-busy right now, trying to juggle my paying gig & yard work & practice hikes & bike rides. In fact, I should have been headed up to Umtanum Canyon this morning and hiking the Yakima Skyline trail this weekend. But I’m not. I am admitting defeat. Continue reading →

I finished.This is my race report for the Snake River Island Hop. Trust me, the title will make sense.

I signed up for the 100K last fall, on a whim, for all the wrong reasons, after promising myself I’d take the winter off of training to work on core training & burning off some of the extra forty pounds of fuel I’m carrying. And a month or so into training, the pain in my slightly-damaged knee led me to quit running altogether and to train to walk this event. Walking 62 miles in 14 hours? Not possible – not for this body. Continue reading →

I stole that line from the RD of last weekend’s fun. Last Saturday was the first (and perhaps last) Run with the Goats beer run. One of the Nomad Trail Runners of Eastern Washington hosted it. His home has access to the Reata Canyon, and he’s one of the folks who maintains the trails. And he has goats. Continue reading →

In a little over three weeks, I’m ‘running’ the Snake River Island Hop. I initially signed up for the 100K, but a month or so into training I recognized than I need to stop running for a spell. Since then, I’ve been training to walk the race, and I’ll most likely drop after the 50K.

Never the less, I’ve been attempting to follow the 100K training plan. I’m a bit sheepish about this, but it just occurred to me that it’s nonsensical to follow a training plan for double the distance I intend to cover.

Thus, this weekend’s 30-mile workout is now a 15-mile one. That’s a bit of a relief, as I’m battling another cold (I believe I’m at the tail end of it, though).

This has been a busy few days. Continue reading →