Dust Storm

Yesterday, the winds kicked up quite a dust storm. The dust was the color of Utah, so I hope there's still a state of Utah to visit the next time I head west.




And the photo below was taken the last time I went to the shooting range between Salida and Buena Vista.



When in Buena Vista, I always try to make it into Eddyline Restaurant and Brewery. They make great beer. I was talking to the owner about beers and he and I have very similar tastes. No wonder I like all their beer. Oh, and I guess they have food, too. Also good.
The website is barely started, so there's not much on it. Like an address.
They're now brewing on the other side of town from the restaurant, and selling in cans, now. Cans are popular with hikers and backpackers who don't want to lug around glass bottles. This is one of the reasons Dale's Pale Ale (Oskar Blues in Lyons, CO) is popular, so why not follow suit? But Eddyline cans are BIGger.

Windy Quandary

Paul G and I decided to do a casual stroll up Quandary, since the weather broke. A minor storm had blown through and the wind was actually less than during the storm, but still pretty significant.

I remembered my camera, but it refused to take video clips well. One was all faded into white and the other didn't record and sent my camera into an alarm I've never heard from a camera before.



Down in the trees, it was quite nice!
Then we broke treeline and it began to crank up.
On the final ridge to the summit, the wind was raging. There were about 8 people above us on the ridge and I took out my camera. I stuck it on video-mode. Then I pushed the record button. Too bad it didn't take. Picture a windy, snowy ridge and a big, vertical snow-tornado sweeping down the ridge, a rolling sideways tornado on the left edge a little lower, and a billowing cloud on the right heading up. The four top people got enveloped and disappeared from view for a bit. The whole time the mass joined forces and headed right at me. It slammed right into me and I had to stop recording to grab my poles to keep from getting blown over. But like I said, it didn't record. I was so wrapped-up, ballistic grains of snow were sand-blasting any exposed flesh, and my polarized glasses turned the camera LCD screen black. So I had a hard time operating the camera. Would've been an awesome clip! The one that got away, I guess.







It was a pretty easy day - we took our time, but still took less than 5 hours. We spent over half an hour hanging out on the summit eating and soaking up the views.



In case you can't tell who is who, I'm the fat red guy.





I may have figured out why my right foot is hurting. At work, the bathroom stall doors either won't shut at all, or you have to do something creative to get them shut. One, if you lift up on it, the latch-pin will line up with the hole in the side. But someone broke the coat hook off the door that we'd use to lift up. So I used my foot to lift up while turning the latch. This has been going on for months. So that explains why my foot was hurting worse even as I was running less, and it didn't coincide with any running injury.
Running, however, has aggravated the hell out of it. So it's going to take months for it to go away.
Meanwhile, I'm back to running less, but lifting weights, using my rowing ergometer, and doing situps, pushups, and pullups. This is causing me to bulk back up. Instead of losing weight, I'm still gaining - now 178 pounds. At least my percentage of body-fat is starting to go back down again.

Red Hot 55K

I guess I better post this before next year's race, huh?
After my son and I hit the road for Moab, we took the Cisco back way in through the canyons, past the Dewey Bridge.
We ate at the Moab Brewery, and afterwards I picked up my race packet.

After not running a single official race in 5 whole months (only El Chubbo Grande in Dec.), it was nice to see old friends.
We parked at my usual spot near the start line and slept in the back of my Forester.

The next morning was perfect weather. I had a coffee-challenged morning, where I geyser'd the coffeepot twice. But I still managed to make enough brew for my son and I.
This would be my son's first day driving completely unsupervised. So I handed him the keys and headed for the start.

Since I didn't remember to bring my camera, and I already have tons of photos of Moab and Red Hot, you'll just have to take my word for it - the scenery was at it's Moab/Canyonlands best.
I was going to bring road shoes to handle the punishment from the slickrock, but my unpadded La Sportiva Crosslites somehow handled the rocks so well my feet hurt LESS than they ever had with any softer shoe! Go figure!



And this is with my bad right foot. My foot hurt a little bit before the race, it hurt a little all through the race, and it hurt a little at the finishline post-race party.
At dinner, though, it throbbed all of a sudden, and it was downhill from there. Normally, it just takes some warm-up to loosen it up, but that wasn't working. I was limping the rest of the vacation.
This year was the best race weather in the history of Red Hot.
My finish-time was horrible - a PW (personal worst). I think if I drink enough beer, I can get an even better PW next year.

I was actually pushing for a record, but at the last aid station I was 15 minutes back, so I quite trying and just coasted tot he finish. For one thing, it was Day 2 of a 4-day vacation. For another, I was hurting and pushing 100% would have been lots of pain and extra hurt on my foot for nada.

I splurged for a hotel room for one night, showering well and sleeping like a corpse.

The next day, the snow started falling, and falling.


My son and I went to Canyonlands and checked out Upheaval Dome. The snow started dumping on us real heavy. It was a fantastic hike, because I always love hiking in falling snow, but it sure did hamper the views. It was a very slippery hike.



We kept following little rock cairns like the one below, but it was still hard to see the trail. The reason we didn't go further is we were afraid of slipping, and we were afraid of walking on the biological soil crust.


Some of the trees were awesome, and kind of spooky at the same time.


This tree was weird, with swirls of bark and limb.






We spent our last night near the Dewey Bridge and headed back the next morning.

On the way back, we stopped in the middle of nowhere, south of Cisco, and shot one of my Glocks and my AR-15. It was a great spot to shoot, with literally miles of open range sloping away from us.

For a 4-day vacation, we managed to get a lot of adventure out of it.

Volcano near Dotsero

I recently ran the Moab Red Hot 55K, but that post will have to wait.
As usual, I forgot my camera (what a surprise, huh?) so all I had was my iPhone.

I took the Friday before Red Hot off work, and left Denver Thursday night with my son.
We'd been planning to explore this youngest-in-Colorado volcanic crater for months. Many of you know I majored in geology at Kansas University (in a previous life). From Google Earth, it's starkly obvious that in addition to the main crater, there's a big crack that heads north-east to a much smaller crater. I wanted to check it all out.
If you're not a geology geek, this post might seem boring - just warning you.


We arrived about 10pm on a moonless night, so exploring had to wait until the next morning.
We slept in a tent and it got down to 10F.

In the morning, I found huge canine footprints. I suppose they could be dog. There were no human prints around, and they were the biggest canine prints I've ever seen. My brother, John, and I found a dead wolf several years ago with a tracking collar still on, right next to I-70, so I know wolves are back in northern Colorado. No telling for certain what it was, but it was might huge. I could easily see them belonging to a creature that weighed as much as my 175lbs.

The Dotsero feature blew around 4200 years ago, so about 2200B.C, in the time of the Pharoahs in Egypt. It was a steam-powered explosion like a mini version of Mt. Saint Helens. Lots of pyroclast covers the terrain in the region, but it looks more like cinders and mixed-up steamy mud than lava. I-70 actually runs right over a solidified pyroclastic flow.

We checked out the little crater first.


As you can see from the sky the crater is obvious. But from the ground, it was a dud. In fact, it was hard to believe we were actually standing on the feature.


The slope behind the crater in the image above is not part of the crater, but the slight slope to the right is. My son is standing in the 20ft crater. Only scruffy grass grows there - I'm guessing because of the pH of the soil or something like that being wrong, none of the sage that grew thick everywhere else was growing in the crater.

Below is the little crater rim, with a big cinder rock.


In this post's 2nd photo above, both the crater and the ditch are circled. The image below was taken where the bottom red circle is.


The whole area is eroded with smooth, shallow ravines and nearly all features are rounded. This ravine is the fissure, and the red dirt it cuts through is so soft you can crumble it easily with your fingers. Yet as soft as it is, the edges of the fissure are sharp and jagged in stark contrast to the surrounding features.
To me, this is a bit of a puzzle. A fault-line usually moves. So either the craters should have been sliced in their middles and mismatched, or one side of the fissure should be higher than the other. Neither was true. This fissure hasn't slid anywhere in 4200 years. But it must be active or the ravine wouldn't have sharp features. Dirt must still be moving upwards, cracking in the middle, even as it erodes away. That's the only way I see that this ravine can stay looking so young.

The big crater was much more impressive.


The northeast end was very DeathValley-ish. In fact, I wondered if the big cinder hill to the east of the crater was still rising up? I stood there looking up at it trying to see some sign of activity, and also taking in the morning sun finally warming things up. That's when I noticed the steam. Up on the hill east of the big crater, amongst the crisscrossing roads of the cinder quarry, was a steaming hole in the ground.


The parting shot is of part of the mud-flow. Glenwood Canyon has lots layers of red sedimentary rocks. Here you can see the same rocks jumbled up with mud.


The area where we camped is going to be where I will probably stop many times in the future. It's just out in the middle of nowhere, just far enough away from I-70 not to hear or smell the traffic.
BLM land used to be free, no rules, no restrictions. These days, there's no discernible difference between BLM and National Forest or even National Parks, sometimes. Nearly all my favorite free camping locations now charge fees. I saw a BLM sign explaining this was so they could afford to "improve" things. Well, sorry, if you want things "improved" on BLM land, then change the designation to "NFS" or "...Parks". Don't ever "improve" my BLM land, and don't charge me for it. Every time they build restrooms, it draws more of the wrong kinds of people - the kind who don't want to rough-it. That kind is more likely to bring trash and leave it, to inflict unreasonable destruction to the landscape.
Below is how someone felt about this trend at Fruita...

Shot it full of holes and knocked it down with a 4x4.
I don't condone vandalism, especially if guns are involved. As far as I'm concerned, if someone uses guns to inflict vandalism on property, they should be banned for life from owning firearms, the same way felons are.

BP Part 2

I hit Bergen Peak again. Last long run before Red Hot 55K.
The trails were very packed down, unlike the week before, so I didn't get the workout I needed, but it was still 3hr on my feet at altitude and in clean air.

I know this is hard to believe, but I actually remembered to bring my camera! Not only that, but I remembered to USE my camera!!!

Storm coming...







Snow flurries...





Pikes Peak grayed-out, center, in the distance...



Mount Evans...



Below, in the distance, just beyond the hills, there's a gray cloud hugging the ground. That's Denver's smog, and it's been choking the shit outa me. In fairness, I realize my life in Denver adds to this smog - another reason I don't like driving anywhere to go running. Damned if I do for adding to the smog, and damned if I don't because my lungs will be processing tons of shit in the city.



Here's my snowshoes with the bolted-on trail shoes. I slip a pair of thick Gore-Tex socks over some Drymax socks, and I'm good to go...



I'm not in shape, so I'm not really ready for the Red Hot from that angle, but I'm sick of Denver and working, and I'm hankerin' fer a trip west and a long weekend. Taking Friday off work. I hope the roads are passable. There always seems to be a severe storm coming or going, and once they closed the highway years ago and trapped me in Frisco. I've seen a lot of jack-knifed trucks, and when they drive too fast with chains, the chains start to disintegrate and become shrapnel. Even safety equipment isn't safe.

No Logs, No Fire

I haven't felt real enthused about training. Races always seem fun, but I suppose if I don't rain, there won't be anything fun about 34+ miles across slick-rock, or 50 miles on any mountain course.

This year, I haven't bothered to update my Excel spreadsheet running log. I don't plan to, either. I don't figure I'll be logging enough mileage. The whole purpose was to guarantee that I don't over-do it, yet maximize the miles. I don't plan to train with such fervor anymore.

My right foot still hurts, but not as much as it did sitting on my ass. Still, I'm wary of putting too many miles on it. I want to spend more time using weights and my ergometer.

Mostly, I'm still too busy doing city things to get to the hills very much. I'm also trying to spend less money. Gas is too expensive to hop in and drive 200 miles to exotic places, or even often to less exotic places.
The smog in Denver is choking me more than ever, even though smog isn't as bad as it used to be in past years. I think the more smog my lungs process, the more toxins accumulate, and the more incessant my coughing, hacking, spitting, and nose-blowing becomes. Anyone who knows me knows I cough a LOT! Especially while running. It's one reason I usually prefer to run and power-hike alone.

Bergen Peak

We got a nice snow storm Thursday night and Friday. It made for an awesome and difficult run. When I raised my feet as high as I could each stride, my toes were still plowing through several inches on top. It wasn't fluffy snow, either, but tiny flakes that pack closely together. Some guy drove real slow next to me at one point and yelled out his window, "Dude! you're frickin' hard core! Keep it up!" That cracked me up. Geez - civilians. Their so funny.

Superbowl Sunday, I drove to Bergen Park in a rush and put in some hours on the trail before the party. The area had reportedly gotten 28" of snow. The lower trails had been well packed by snowshoers, hikers, and skiers, but not a soul bothered to trudge uphill. So it was very hard going, but wonderfully pristine virgin snow. Some sections of trail were mid-thigh deep, and others had packed and melted in micro-climates to only ankle deep. And that's with me wearing my running snowshoes - I was still sinking in deep.
I didn't take poles because I wanted more of a core work-out. Man, between shoveling snow at home and plowing up Bergen Peak, my middle was fried.
I saw a couple of deer close-up, and whistled at them to calm them down.
The higher I got, the colder it got. I was barely wearing enough clothing, and I could have used an additional layer on my calves, but I came out okay.
I always forget my camera, so no photos - sorry.
I was so beat I almost fell asleep during the Superbowl.

In spite of not logging more than about 7 miles a week since Thanksgiving (except for a few stray long runs), I've suddenly been logging some miles each day in preparation for Moab Red Hot 55K. Of course, it's too little, too late, but better than nothing. Even though I'm running 6 days a week, some days I only do a couple of miles. With all the snow and ice, though, the miles have been much harder than normal. I've also used my Concept2 rowing ergometer a little bit. It's still going to be an ugly, grueling race for me. But if I'm on the trail and still moving, I'm happy.

Since my foot started hurting, even though I had nearly stopped running, I theorized that running on it again would make it hurt less. Guess what? I was right. It still hurts some, so looks like I need to run even more. Someone told me that only ultra-runners say stuff like that. All I know is I'm going to hurt one way or the other, because I've always had arthritis. The day I hold still is the day I turn to stone. And nothing will stop the pain then.

Man, am I fat! My belly is starting to jiggle. It's very disconcerting. I have no idea how I got fat - I think I'll have some more cherry pie and a beer while I try to figure it out.