Backpacking the PCT

I brought along my backpack to CA cuz Dad and I had talked about doing some sort of excursion. We wanted to take the dogs so it needed to a well thought out adventure! After much discussion, we came up with a plan that would work for everyone. We wanted to carry everything on our backs that we needed to camp. But we didn't want to go too far. Also, this was Tuck's first camping trip so we weren't completely sure what to expect from her. Of course, she sleeps in the front yard many nights, even in the snow, by choice, so chances were good she'd be a great camping dog!

We set out for Yellow Post site #31. This is a campsite on a dirt road, but still in the woods. The key is that when campfires are allowed, you can have them there. If you just go camp anywhere in the woods, you can't. These days there are no flames allowed anywhere. Except a propane stove with a permit, which Dad happened to have! The Yellow Post sites are a great place to camp in the woods, away from other people, but still have your car with you. Site #31 was quite large, with a picnic table and a fire ring (with bright pink tape over it so we wouldn't use it) and several cleared locations for tents. However we didn't set up camp at this point.

We donned our backpacks, fully loaded for camping, including Slugger, and we set off down the road that we had just driven in on. We hiked up the road to the PCT and then went North (toward Canada) on the PCT for a little ways. Dad had put in his GPS device a spot where we needed to turn right off the trail to go cross country back to the campsite. I'm not a big fan of "bushwhacking" but we got there eventually. We hiked about 2 miles in all.

Slugger with his backpack on, heading up the road.

My companions

One of the views on the PCT

Taking a little break

Checking for lizards. 

The backpack doesn't stop him from exploring!

Now that we had hiked with our backpacks, we could set up camp. We pulled everything we needed out of our packs and started pitching tents!

He got right in to check it out!

Slugs helping Grandpa 

Our tents! And an adorable pooch!

Once the tents were set up, we wandered around a bit and just sat and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

It was soon time to make dinner. We had bought prepared backpacking meals at REI that just need boiling water. Dad has a fancy, tiny, lightweight stove that we set up to boil the water. Then we had to wait for the food to rehydrate. I had chicken with risotto, and Dad had Mexican chicken with rice.

I need to get me one of these!!!

Rehydrating

After dinner, we relaxed some more and watched the sunset through the trees. So peaceful and wonderful!

Sunrise the next morning was also beautiful but I didn't snap a picture until the sun was basically up. But still absolutely gorgeous.

We packed up and drove away!!

Tuck did GREAT as a camper and I am SOOOO proud of Slugger. He never gets to be off leash because he's a sight dog and if he sees something, he goes after it. Fast and far! Well, not this time! Slugger spent most of the evening and morning off leash and did incredibly well!! He never wandered very far from me and when he did, he came back when I called him!! The site was big enough that he could go exploring and never be out of my sight which was nice. There was, however, one little incident when he saw a deer. He took chase. Tuck then chased Slugger. Neither really came when we called (while running after them) but they definitely took notice and stopped their chase. They then wandered around sniffing looking for where the deer had been. I wouldn't say they came even then, but they didn't go further away either. After that, I put Slugs on his tie out but it was about dusk and he needed to be. And we were just minutes from heading into the tent anyway. The next morning I let him be off leash and he was a model puppy :)

I had Dad take pictures before we left. 

Me with the backpacking dogs!! (both off leash!!)

The In Betweens

You might think that while on vacation in sunny Southern California, I only do stuff on the weekends. Nope! Well, okay, there is a lot of sitting on the couch reading and playing iPad games, but we do other stuff too!! 

For example, we hike!! 

We wrestle!

We selfie!

We sit on the front porch, and chill in the front yard!

We ride in the car!

We look adorable while relaxing!

But most of all, we just enjoy being with Tuck and Dad/Grandpa. 

Temecula 2016

One of my favorite people is Karie. I also happen to really like her hubby Ben and son Thomas. T is 5 years old. I couldn't wait to hang out with him. If you know me, you know this is a BIG deal! T is awesome, and I'm pretty sure it has something to do with his parenting!!

Anyway, Karie and I decided many months ago that we needed to spend more than just a night or two hanging out. So, I spent a wonderful long weekend there in Temecula with the Whites! And we did SOOOO much!! It was great!!

Thursday evening we had a nice dinner at home and relaxed a bit. Karie and I keep in touch but there is always catching up to do!! And we had a big weekend of events so it was good to have some down time just chilling. Also, Ben was spending the weekend in LA so I was glad to have some time to chat with him too.

Friday, Karie and I dropped T off at summer camp (it was sports week!!) and went off to tea. I really didn't know what to expect when Karie suggested this. But I'm game for anything and I like tea. It was the cutest little tea house in Escondido. Actually, we were a little early and stopped in the antique mall next door. We both want to go back! So many treasures and all reasonably priced!! Anyway, the tea house had tables set with adorable tea pots and such. Each table had a different set which I thought was cool. They had an array of hats to wear so that we felt even more girlie :) And the food was AMAZING!!! Fruit with homemade whipping cream (there was no vegan eating that day!!), asparagus soup (always a fave), finger sandwiches (the dill spread was delectable!), quiche (I could've eaten a pie plate's worth!), blueberry scones with some sort of homemade creamy stuff to go on top (I didn't even try the fruity stuff on top), and several desserts but the chocolate mousse was to die for!!

After tea, we set out for Temecula because we had pedicure appointments. Of course, there was traffic. According to my google map app there was an accident just beyond where we needed to be. Karie knew a shortcut though so we were "only" 45 minutes late. We had called and warned them though. Best pedicure ever (it had been a while so I suppose it could've been awful and I wouldn't have noticed!)!! We picked different colors, but they were basically the same very bright pink. I smile looking at my toes now :)

Let's see, after we had pretty toes, it was time to go get T. We had a little bit of time at home to relax and then it was off to BASEBALL!! Yup, one of our traditions is to go see the Lake Elsinore Storm play ball. They are an affiliate of the San Diego Padres. It was Friday Firework night and we were all excited. It was also toothbrush night and faith night. The stadium was quite full with church groups and such. We got our free toothbrush though!

The Storm won a pretty good game. They played the Visalia Rawhides. There was a homer or two, a questionable call or two - you know, fun baseball!!

Saturday began with a karate lesson for Karie and T. I went to watch. I kinda wish I'd dressed to participate. They had fun and learned some cool moves and definitely got in a workout!! On the way home we ran a few errands and had really good Chinese food. We relaxed for a bit and then it was time for another adventure!

The City of Temecula seems to have some pretty awesome community events. One of which is movies in the park. Well, for this one, they added the element of camping in the park! So, we hauled out our tents and sleeping bags and chairs and pitched our tents right there in the outfield of the city park's baseball field!! A lifetime friend of Karie's and her family were with us, along with at least 100 others!! I'm pretty sure there were 30 tents, some of them big enough for 8-10 people comfortably!!

Our tents. 

Different view of our 3 tents, and the space around us
is starting to fill in. 

Karie and T hanging out in their tent!

We watch The Great Outdoors on the big blow up screen. I'm not sure it's what I would've picked for a kid's event, but what do I know. I had never seen it before and thought it was good. Before the movie, they fed us hot dogs, chips and a drink. After the movie, we got to make S'mores on the fire pits. I thought it was a good idea that instead of chocolate and graham crackers, we were given fudge striped shortbread cookies. Made a yummy S'more! Then we headed to bed. Many campers around us stayed up talking but not for too long. And I had ear plugs :) The next morning they gave us a continental breakfast (packaged danishes and granola bars and such with OJ) and we packed up and headed home!

After a nice Starbucks on the back patio, we showered and went off to Church! T was quite excited because it was splash bash day. And, man, this church knows how to do a splash bash! They had a giant blow up water slide, a dunk tank (where kids could get dunked or do the dunking) and a blow up maze where the adult leader types squirted you with water guns! Karie and I went off to the service while T went to Sunday School. Water games were for after church. The preacher was very funny and I left with good vibes. T went down the water slide, stood in line to get dunked but changed his mind when it came time to actually get dunked (totally don't blame him!), had some cotton candy, and then we went home. T fell asleep on the couch in a matter of seconds and Karie and I did some last minute chatting. I left mid afternoon to try to avoid traffic. For the most part, I did!

It was SO nice having such a long, action-packed weekend to share in their lives. I can't believe T is going into Kindergarten and will be SIX next time I see him!!

Mt Disappointment 2016

Dad and I were invited to help with radio communications at the Mt Disappointment Endurance Race on July 9. Dad had never worked this particular race before but we were both familiar with parts of the course, and in particular the location we would be working. You might remember from this post in 2013, we spent several years working the aid station at Shortcut Saddle for the AC100 race. Well, that's where they wanted us for Mt Disappointment!!

Mt Disappointment has three races wrapped into it - 25k, 50k, and 50 miles. We would only see the 50 mile runners. When we looked a couple days before the race, there were 43 entrants who hoped to go that far. Okay, kind of a small group, but it'd be fun and I'd get to play radio and spend the afternoon at Shortcut!

This race actually uses part of the course from the AC100. For the 100, runners get to Shortcut at about mile 66, cross the highway and go downhill for a while. Well, for Mt D, they came UP the hill, saw us, and then more or less went back down the hill, but on a different route. Let me explain in pictures, maybe.

 The other side of the street is where the AC100 aid station "city" sets up. You can almost see where the trail comes up (or maybe I can see it cuz I know it's there?!) That crosswalk was for our crews, but that's where the runners would cross for the AC100. We were basically sitting where the hams sit for the AC100 (go back and read that other post!!).

This is the aid station for the Mt Disappointment. The runners came up the trail right there on the right. They'd get their bottles filled and such and then head out right past us.

That's our setup there. So the runners would go up that dirt road and down and around and off on another trail. We were at mile 42 so they had one more stop and then on to the finish! (side note: I walked up that hill 4 times to my own personal bush ;) )

That's Dad :) Doing radio stuff. This was kind of a unique race. Well, for a lot of reasons, but for the radio part especially. Several of the other hams at other stations were also affiliated with the AC100, including the guy who created their computer tracking software. So, just for fun, we set it up and used it. Only 3 stations had access to it which caused some interesting hiccups, but it was still nice to have it. We only called in the first few runners, first female runner and then the last few. But because the finish line people didn't have access to the computer info, they called regularly to see where runners were. Like I said, hiccups. But I enjoyed getting to talk on the radio and be helpful!

Here's the thing about this race. We got there a little after 11am and left about 8 or 8:30. We saw 25 runners!! TWENTY FIVE!!! That's really not very many at all. And three of those dropped there. Two with heat exhaustion and one because he didn't make it within the cutoff time. That guy showed up with another runner though. Weird moment for me. We knew we were waiting for one more, number 153, I think. The finish line people had JUST ASKED about #154. He had dropped at the station before us and we assumed he was in the car with them on their way out. Nope, he'd kept going, unofficially, with his cousin that we were waiting for! I still don't quite understand how that happened but we were able to clear things up for the finish line since they didn't know where he'd ended up! We then sat there and waited for their ride to come get them.

Even though it was a small race, I enjoyed myself immensely! Radio, drama, runners, Shortcut... it was a great day!!! In an after report email, the race director mentioned not doing the 50 miler again. I don't blame him. But I'd do it again!!

Independence Day 2016

Since we could call this the 2nd annual 4th of July with Port and fam, I'd say it has become a tradition!! Off I went on Friday the 1st to see one of my favorite people, Sarah. I call her Port because her maiden name is Porter and somehow 20ish years ago, Port stuck! Sarah now has husband, Derrick and dogs Odin (Great Dane) and Toby (little white furry guy) and a lovely house in Fontana with a guest room that I adore ;)

Pretty much instantly, Port and I started chatting and catching up. Though we text at least once a week so it was really more just chatting and marveling at being in the same room again finally! Anyway, she looks me square in the eye and says, "How do you feel about Independence Day?" I sat staring back at her not quite sure how to answer that. I mean, I was there to spend the holiday with her, so obviously it didn't scare me or anything. At the blank look on my face, she quickly told me she meant the MOVIE! Oh, well, it was one of my favorites back in the day! This was good because we already had tickets to see the new one the next day :)

We had dinner with Derrick's cousin and his wife who were in the area for a wedding. Yummy Chinese food! When we got home, I suggested that we watch the original Independence Day movie to prepare for the next day. Also, we needed to watch SOMEthing because Port and I had a task...

Many months before (Christmas?) Port's aunt had given her a puzzle. A puzzle made out of a picture that she'd taken on their wine tasting trip back in October. Port had been working on the puzzle for months. I promised her that I would help her when I got there. She had texted me a picture before I got there so I could see how far she still had to go.

Now, that didn't seem so bad. Of course, I had no idea what the top part of the picture looked like...

We sat down to get to work. I stared at the puzzle. And the pieces. Just stared. For a good 10 minutes. About 5 minutes in to my staring, I looked at her and said, "Oh". I now understood why she wasn't done. I made her show me the box. Yeah, we were missing identical rows of identical grapes. The pieces were ALL some green, some gray, some black. Identical. Yeah.

So we worked. Finished the movie. Worked a little more. Went to bed. I didn't take a picture at that point, but we had done about a third of what was left. I swear I did very little but was apparently Port's motivation or inspiration or something because she was very successful.

Saturday we saw the new movie. It was okay. There was a glaring absence without mention, but if you ignore that, I thought it was pretty good. Action, aliens, romance. Happy ending for most. I recommend it. We had dinner with Port's cousins in Redlands after the movie. That was yummy. Then we went home to the puzzle. We watched Into the Woods, the stage version. This is Port's favorite play and sadly, I had never seen it. I enjoyed it very much. I really enjoyed how much Port enjoyed watching and singing along!! (that's not sarcasm, I really did like watching her smile and sing!)

Honestly, I can't remember if we finished the vineyard puzzle on Saturday night or Sunday night!! But we finished!! And we hooted and hollered and high fived!!! You know it was an intense, special puzzle because Port did NOT break it up and put it away. She left it out to show off :)

Sunday we spent preparing for Monday. We were hosting the family/friend 4th of July party!! That evening we watched the theatrical version of Into the Woods. I don't know which version I liked better. We also watched PCU, from 1994. I am now pretty sure that I never actually saw it in 1994. We also broke out a 300 piece puzzle with cats on it. We finished it in less than 45 minutes!! It was very therapeutic. Then we got a good nights sleep so we'd be fresh and perky for the big shindig.

Note to self: don't look on July 3 for decorations for July 4!!! I did my best with what we found but it was not nearly what I would've liked! I totally forgot to take pictures the entire day. We had sandwich makings, people brought sides, and it seemed that everyone had a grand time. I left mid afternoon so that I could get back to Big Bear before the crazies got crazy.

All in all, it was a wonderful, successful weekend! I'm already looking forward to next year!!!

Western States 100 Miler 2016

This past weekend Dad and I traveled to northern CA to work Ham Radio Communications for the 43rd running of the Western States 100 mile Endurance Run. Entrants run from Squaw Valley to Auburn, through the mountains, across the American River, and right through a little cove of mountain we call Brown's Bar. You might want to read last year's installment for more background on the race. If you know nothing about endurance races, you might want to read an intro I wrote on a different race a couple of years ago.

Early (well, early for summertime) Friday, Tuck and Slugs and  Dad and I got in the loaded up car and drove off! First, we stopped in Fawnskin to drop off Slugger at my brother's house. He got to enjoy the weekend playing with his Cousin Earl (dog) and trying not to eat Cousin Tigger (cat). Then the rest of us drove a couple hours (stupid traffic made it more like 3) to Kresse's house where Tuck got to spend the weekend with "the food lady" and her dogs and Jack the Cat. Then Dad and I started the long trek north toward Sacramento! Dad did an excellent job of dodging cars passing us while we were passing the semis. We both commented going north, and south, how nice it was to see so many new fruit/nut (??) trees being planted through the Central Valley. They are having water issues, but at least they're able to keep planting!

Anyway, we stayed in North Sacramento about 20 miles from Auburn because I forgot to remind Dad to get us a place until too late. Oh well. We enjoyed our Denny's breakfast for dinner Friday night, and breakfast Saturday morning :) After a stop at the Raley's grocery store for last minute snacks, we headed off to Net Control to pick up our shirts and check in. We used the flushing toilets one more time and were off to Brown's Bar!

The road down into Brown's has not improved. Parts may have been worse with all the rain they got this winter. The ruts in the middle were deeper and wider, it seemed, but Dad is a seasoned off road driver and got us there in one piece. The aid station folks had obviously been there as there was a truck with stuff in it, stuff that had been unloaded from somewhere, and a port-a-potty. No people though. We started setting up and were done in no time. Dad didn't bring anything fancy this year. Just a table and a radio. It was nice to be done quickly and enjoy the quiet.

In fact, we weren't completely alone... when we drove up to our spot, a deer crossed the dirt road in front of us. He hung around, just up the hill. If he moved, we could hear him, but I only saw him one more time, when he moved through a little clearing to a different watching spot. He had to wonder what on earth we were doing there! Once the aid station folks showed up, I never heard or saw him again. There were about 10 of them, and they weren't quiet!

Rob, the aid station captain, was very businesslike and got his crew working madly to get set up - the first runner was on course record shattering pace and was going to be early! It was fun to watch them all jump in to their own sections (water, food, electric, etc) and get it done. They were ready to go in about an hour. Then they got to have fun with their setting up large speakers which played all night, fun lights, a disco ball, matching shirts (we didn't get any), and hats (those we were given but didn't wear).

Since we had communications with the aid stations before us, we knew when Jim (#16) was on his way to us. To make it a little more fun for all of us, Dad gave me a handheld radio and I walked up the trail. I walked not quite a mile, until I had a nice view. Unfortunately, the view was in the sun so I walked back a little ways to a nice wide shady spot where I could see Jim coming. Sure enough, within about 5 minutes, there he was! All alone, running through the forest. He looked at me kinda funny, standing there in the woods cheering him on. Later I learned that he might have just been out of it with a confused look on his face the whole way. I radioed in that he was about 3/4 mile out, so they'd be expecting him. Oh, I should mention that I could still hear the music from Brown's Bar, loud and clear, all that way out.

We knew we had about an hour to wait for our second runner so we sat and ate a snack and listened to the station 2 before us (Green Gate) radio in their lists of runners. The station right before us (ALT) didn't radio in because they had internet so they just logged them into the website directly. We did talk to them now and then though. That's pretty much my activity all night - eat and listen! Runner #2 (bib #28) was Andrew Miller. The aid station people knew him from runs up in Oregon. This kid is 20 years old!! They said he'd been running since he was very young but until the last few years, his mom made him run with her. When he came through he looked great and in good spirits. He also had a pacer with him, which most runners do at this point. I thought it was exceptionally odd that the first guy didn't.

Shortly after Andrew left, we heard word over the radio that Jim was off course somewhere between us and the next station. Two of our aid folks immediately ran off down the trail in search of him. Another aid person and I, with my handy radio, walked off down the trail about five minutes later. Brad and I walked about 3/4 mile down the hill until we got to a dirt road. We were far enough down the canyon, that we couldn't hear the music and I had to switch to full power on the radio! It was good I had the radio though because Dad was able to relay to us that Jim had been spotted, on the wrong trail and they were navigating him to the right trail. Brad and I headed back up the hill. I swear it was not that steep on the way down! But, I was also unexpectedly on mile 3+ for the day! The other two didn't come back for hours. I was starting to worry about them since they'd left without water or lights!

This was Jim's first 100-miler. I still think it was not smart of him to not have a pacer. A pacer could've helped him stay on course! The moral of Jim's story is that after sitting a while (hours?) at the aid station after ours, he did go on to finish. He was 20th and finished in 18:50. That is still a remarkable time, especially for a first timer!! And it means that Andrew, the 20 yo, WON!

Back at Brown's Bar, we ate and radioed and visited. Most of the aid station crew had been there before. Brad, who I walked with, hadn't been there last year because he ran the race! Didn't finish but talked fondly of his experience. We saw a fairly steady stream of runners every 5-10 minutes, with the biggest break being about 30 minutes. During this time, I actually took some pictures!

Our view of the actual aid station.

Our table. Radio and food :)

The view of us from the aid station.

Going over the bridge into Brown's Bar - blue lights and a disco ball!!

Coming up the hill from the bridge into Brown's Bar.

The non-running highlight of the entire weekend for me was getting to meet a former pro baseball player, Eric Byrnes (A's and DBacks)!! The big scuttlebutt of the race is that there was an entrant who used to play baseball (Eric) and even more exciting for many is that his pacer was to be none other than Lance Armstrong!! For me, it was a convergence of my three favorite sports - baseball, cycling, and ultrarunning!! At Brown's Bar, no one seemed to care about Eric, but Brad was positively giddy about meeting Lance. We were all anxiously awaiting #133. I knew when he left Green Gate, of course, about 10 miles before us, and let everyone know they were on their way.

At 1:13am, in runs #133. And everyone looks at the pacer and says quietly to each other, "uh, that's not Lance". While I said, "that's Eric!". I slipped next to him to get a covert picture. I figured he had been bombarded all day and had other things to worry about than a stupid baseball fan. Sure enough, he was the nicest guy ever, turned around, put his arm around me and we laughed and joked while Brad attempted to take pictures with my phone! At one point, Eric joked that he should cover up and I joked back, "no, who ever gets pictures with half naked baseball players!?!". I then said nice things about getting his sub-24 and such and off he and "not Lance" went!!

"not Lance" on the left ;) 

On Sunday, I researched via Twitter that Lance had paced Eric earlier, from Forest Hill (mile 62) to the river (mile 78). Oh well. It added to the fun of the night. When Brad woke up from a nap later, I told him that Lance had come in with another runner while he slept. He didn't buy it but enjoyed the good natured joking. Eric went on to earn his sub-24 finish and silver belt buckle. He ran the race in memory of his father, and I'm pretty sure his dad is looking down quite proudly!

The rest of the night consisted of more eating, being cold, and listening and talking on the radio. We saw a total of 289 runners, plus probably 250 or more pacers. In the last several hours, we saw runners who were fresh and bubbly, runners who just wanted to be done, runners who might not remember Brown's Bar today, runners who were just amazed they'd reached mile 89.9. In the 7 o'clock hour, we had a stream of one runner after another, with never more than 5 minutes between them - 61 of them! These were the folks who just wanted to finish in the allotted 30 hour window. If you ever want to see true athletes and heroes, real people, go sit at 90-ish miles during an endurance run. 

Each of the 289 runners that we saw have a story. Some stories we might know, others we don't. They all do this for a reason - cancer survivors, drug recovery, to "get away from it all", cuz it's "fun"... This year's race had 280 official finishers, making it in the 30 hours allowed. I believe there were a few more than that. One in particular had me in tears. Wally is 72 years old. He looked pretty good coming through Brown's Bar at 8:05am. He had until 11am to get to the finish at mile 100.2. As is our custom, Dad and I were on our way home, eating lunch, as the golden hour came to a close. I was following the finishers list as it updated every 30 seconds or so with the names of those who made it. Of course, all the numbers were stuck in our head. For example, I knew that #105 had passed several people to finish in 29:51:24, 275th. We kept looking for #72, Wally. The 30 hour time passed and he had not finished. However, thanks to Twitter updates, we got to see a video of Wally crossing the finish line, with help, at 30:01:55. He might not have "finished" according to the record book but the incredible 72yo ran 100.2 miles. Who cares that they won't give him the stinkin' buckle!?! He's a hero in my book. 

And this is why I love the sport of ultra-running. In the video of Wally finishing, you can hear the cheering, likely as loud as it was for Andrew who had finished 16 hours earlier. In fact, there's a good chance that Andrew was there, cheering for Wally. I'm pretty sure I talk about this in every race post. The camaraderie and attitude of this community just warms my heart. There is no discrimination in ability or age or gender - everyone supports everyone. Everyone RESPECTS everyone. Perhaps the world at large could take a lesson from these incredible athletes. Every year, my heart and soul are refreshed and invigorated making me want to be a better person.