my dog ate my bag

Wyatt and I did a long run on tuesdayish... which was 13 miles in the chuckanuts in the wind and rain.  Then yesterday, in a fit of rage targeted at the weather, i decided to go run inside... on a treadmill.  I return home, to this.

yes.  wyatt ate part of my bag.  It's the part of my bag that i had treats in for our long run...  but more importantly, where i store all of my food for my long runs.  I've had this bag for a long time, and it's been with me for a lot of amazing runs.... and i've been slowly watching it disintegrate with the years and the miles... but i wasn't ready for this.  So, i'll sew a patch on, and hope that will do the trick.  But in the mean-time, here are some photos from my bag & i.

 

First long trip - PCT thru-run in 2008

last day of PCT Thru-run.... cold, hungry, and exhausted.  bag, still there.

bike touring over international boundaries

 Running to Stehekin in 2011

Crossing McCallister Pass

There are a lot more times i've had my bag with me... training runs, bike rides, hikes and the list goes on.

crap, i just looked outside and it's raining again.  stupid washington.

this will be brief

So, in an attempt to run in the Chuckanut 50k in March, I've started running a lot more then normal... and by normal i mean that i haven't run really at all since i started grad school.  Anyway, Wyatt and I went out to Blanchard Mountain in the Chuckanuts last week and we had a great time running all over the place.  Most importantly, we saw our first porcupine! Thankfully, I saw it first, and was able to get Wyatt on the leash before he wanted to go check it out.  After that we saw an eagle, and then Wyatt had his first encounter with horses.  The day before the run, we went birding out on Semiamhoo spit, which was awesome. We got to see some scoters, widgens, golden eyes and some other birds i now unfortunately forget.  The snowy owl still eludes me though, and I will go back on the search once it gets a little warm again.

PHOTOS!

trust me, there's a porcupine there... and it's really huge

Lizard Lake

view from semiahmoo spit looking south toward baker

Birding with Cece, Jake & Dave!

SCOTERS! and a golden eye

Back to the norm

This blog was originally started to discuss my life living in a national park and sharing the experience with all those who wanted to read.. Since I left NCI in August, my life has been kind of rough, but ultimately I returned to a city of 65,000 people where I can use a cell-phone whenever I want and visit a grocery store a few minutes from my house.  i can have take-out at my leisure and encounter a lot of people every single day.  At times it is still a little overwhelming, and I miss the simplicity of living in the mountains...at other times, it's really nice to be engaged in society and everything that's going on in the world.

But that's not what today's post is about.  Starting right now (at this very second), im going to go back to documenting my life outside, and really focus on getting outside again.  So, to start it off... Biking on the beach in Florida.

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I arrived in Florida on the 7th in order to start my annual east coast christmas pilgrimage and birthday tour.  Upon arrival, dad shared his dream of biking from St. Augustine Beach to Mantanzas Inlet on the beach.  We chose the 8th as our day and checked the tide tables and got rolling at noon.  The day was beautiful with the wind at our back and we started the 12 mile ride to Mantazas. 

Enjoy the photos

Start!

Dad cruising on the beach

Seagull attack!

No Hands!

Great Horned Owl Kicking it in the trees

 Made it to the end - Marineland.

i think it's time...

...to finally sign up for a 50k trail race...

i'm looking at a few in the early spring, with the ultimate goal in mind to run 50+ miles again this summer.  It's up for debate if i want to run competitively this summer.. and by competitively, i mean pay a crap load of money to run on trails with 100+ other people, when i could just go to the same spot the weekend before for free and by myself. 

i'm not ready for that kind of race yet... but i think i can buy into a 50k.  actually, i'd like to buy into a 50k.

A few events are catching my eye:



Chuckanut 50k - March 17th.  I think i'd rather run then graduate that day. im being honest.

Sun Mountain 50 K - May.  I've wanted to run this for the past 3 mays... and always find a good excuse not too (i.e. the pass just opened, and i'd rather go splitboarding... or the pass is still closed and im not driving 8 hours).  This year is the year.... unless I don't live here anymore.



anyway,  a lot to think about... and a lot to start running for.

Wyatt! Table Mountain Circumnavigation

As Frankie explained in an email to a friend today: "...in case you were wondering, Wyatt! is always written out with an exclamation point.   Steph feels that this is the best way to communicate how his name is pronounced."

This is true.  Even his dog collar has WYATT! on it. 

Back to Wyatt!  Sunday was his first ski tour... and what was supposed to be a mellow down in the back-country turned into a 7 mile 3000' foot day... not too shabby for a first timer.  He had an amazing day and just automatically picked up on how to be the best back-country dog ever.  Here are some photos from the day

 Wyatt! and Frankie talking about where to go next

 Traversing across Iceberg Lake

Wyatt coming to understand the concept of the skin track

Wyatt!

Okay.  If you follow my tracks up, you'll see a black dot near the top of the ridge.  That's Wyatt chasing me downhill

Snow Dog!

HeliOOOOOOOOOOOtrope

I'm not much for traditions, but I felt like visiting Baker on Halloween weekend for the 2nd year in the row as not a bad tradition to upkeep.  I left Bellingham kind of late and got to the trailhead around 11:45ish.  Last year when Frankie & I made the hike, i remember it being kind of a slog, so I had it in my head it would be around a 2 hour walk to snowline and then an additional hour of skinning.  However, this year, there were a few changes: 1.) I was in way better shape 2.) I wore my running shoes for the approach instead of my shitty snowboard boots. 

I made it up to Snowline in under an hour and started seeing the terminus of glacier extending off of Baker.

At around 5500'ish feet i could put my skis on and start the trek upwards.  Thankfully, i was not alone up there, and there were quite a few skin tracks already set and I could choose any direction I wanted.  I chose up, and away from the masses and was definitely not disappointed.  Heliotrope is pretty mellow terrain, so I was pretty happy when I found one little steep section lasting for maybe 100'.    Clouds kept rolling in and out, so visibility was pretty crappy, but it was fun just hanging out on top, listening to music and just being alone in such an amazing place.  I took one lap and then was back at the car by 3pm.  Not a bad day at all!

 Snowline!

That way please!

Cloud layer looking toward Canada

Volcano!

Good day!

Thanks Heliotrope! I'll see you next year!

jeeze

just applied to my first job since 2009.  I had a brief stint with trying to work at REI. 

Anyway, just weird trying to re-enter the workforce while also trying to do something completely different then I've ever done before.  So... resume 1... done and sent.  Now, i just need to fill out some stuff for the park service, apply for a curriculum writers position in Seattle and a program manager job out in Yellowstone.  To put it simply... i have a lot of options that take me a lot of places.  Hopefully, they allow dogs.