A BERRY (not beary) NICE DAY

Callie and I ran from the Columbia Mountain trailhead to the Strawberry Lake trailhead, which was a challenging 24 mile run. First things first -- the huckleberries were out like crazy and they were giant and delicious. Callie and I spent a lot of time stuffing our faces with these wild berries, and remarking that it should be grizzly bear nap-time so hopefully they wouldn't notice we were taking their snackage.
I don't know what it is about huckleberries but I am border-line obsessed with them. And yet, I haven't had the chance to just go and pick, without worrying about finishing a run or whatever else.

There were also lots of gorgeous thimbleberries, which are basically wild raspberries. It doesn't seem that they are always sweet but these were incredibly sweet. Almost candy-like.

So, about the run. The trail climbs about 4,000 feet in the first 5.5 miles. We were pretty tired by the time we reached the junction with the Alpine 7 trail. When we finally did we were so glad -- it was hotter than we thought it would be and wanted to actually run.

Although the Alpine 7 trail isn't as dramatic as some of the hikes in Glacier National Park, it's currently my favorite trail. I'm not really sure why this is.

The trail meanders along the crest of the Swan Mountains, which means much of the trail merely undulates rather than brutally dropping and climbing. Of course, this section of trail felt tougher than some of the other sections. Not sure why that was -- maybe it was the heat.
It was a really nice day. The only thing was. . . ... my IT Band (the deal that goes from under your knee up the side of your leg) started really bothering me and is really sore. I haven't had an injury in a long while and am very concerned that I'm going to be plagued with some awful problem that will last into ski season. My goal in life right now is to learn to ski, so that would be super uncool. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it is just minor inflammation or tightness and that it will go away. How annoying.

On an unrelated but happy note, Keith and Leslie from Banff visited twice over the last couple weeks, and we had an absolute blast. It was nice to hang out with them. Next weekend I am going to the demolition derby in Fernie, Canada with Keith and maybe Leslie and Ted if they can be convinced to go.

THIS WEEK'S FABULOUS MOUNTAIN RUN

Two weeks ago Deb and Callie and I ran up Pitamakin Pass on a cloudy day in the Park. We returned this weekend to do the entire loop -- Dawson and Pitimakin Pass. It was about the same distance as the out-and-back we did, but this isn't really the ideal route to do when it's cloudy. Perhaps the highlight was that we ran into U.S. Senator Max Baucus, who was out for a hike. I had no idea who he was and was chatting with him about Garmins when Deb informed me that I was talking to my Senator. That was pretty cool, especially since he's an ultrarunner and I like him.

The route starts at Two Medicine campground, which is on the east side of the Park. Thus summer I've spent more time on the east side than the west side, and I can definitely understand the appeal of the east side, even if it's a slightly longer drive.
The huckleberries were ripe and yummy and I ate a lot of them as we ran. I think that this time of year you could just forage for calories. Of course, you will be competing with grizzly bears. I didn't take a picture but early on we ran into our friends Brian and Karsten who were also out running. It's a small world even when you're in the backcountry.


Once on Dawson Pass the views multiplied. It was a tad hazy, as is reflected in the photos, but the sky was blue, the breeze cool and the views unbelievable.

For a couple miles between the passes the trail is carved into the side of a long slope. In parts it's a little lopsided and definitely a place to watch where you step and not the best place to fall. Deb fell several times during our run, and once in a scary spot. This was moments before we ran into Senator Max -- she could have been part of America's health care reform story as she reportedly is underinsured. :-)

Looking back, you can see the trail penciled into the slope. This is a fabulous run.

We took a long leisurely lunch break in this spot. We had 360 degree views, and even saw some mountain goats or bighorn sheep in the distance.

Below is the same picture I took a couple weeks ago, only this one sports clear skies.

Afterwards we had a couple beers and then ate Mexican food in East Glacier. It was a perfect day with friends, elected officials and the outside.

Rave Run

My friends Quinn and Brad invited me along for a trail run in the Swan Range, and they brought friends Erich and Jaime (sp?) and I brought Callie. Erich ran Hardrock in 33 hours or something, and Quinn and Brad are both uber athletes. I think Jaime is an uber athlete too but his knee was hurting so he ended up getting lost. I'm not sure that's cause and effect but they're related as he fell behind the front runners and was without a map. Callie and weren't horribly far behind, which was a pleasant surprise.
The weather is rainy and cool this weekend, so the vegetation was green and lush. We had a couple short sections where the trail was very overgrown, which added to the fun.

Our friends were nice enough to put arrows at the turns for us so we wouldn't get lost. We weren't familiar with the route and these arrows were a welcome sight. Of course, without checking the map we assumed the arrows were for us. Luckily we assumed correctly.

Callie and I were giddy with excitement as we took in the dramatic cloud covered/misty views. The landscape is always differently beautiful in cloudy conditions.

Brad amused himself while waiting for us by putting grapes in his nose. And below is Erich and Quinn. And Zella, who didn't seem the slightest worn out by her run.

So, as far as my eating goes, I've been really good except for on Fridays, which seem to involve alcohol and "sometimes foods" as cookie monster says. Despite the Fridays, I've lost a few pounds or more. I've been focusing on lean protein, veggies, cherries (because I have many) and nuts. It seems to work pretty well. I think I'd probably lose more weight if the Friday problem didn't happen... but hey. I'm doing relatively well I think on my "cleaner eating" thang.

PITIMAKIN PASS

I had planned to do an epic monster run with my friend Quinn today but then I flaked out because I had to be back by 6 -- which I feel really badly about ... and then instead I went with Deb and Callie who were going to do a shorter run -- Triple Divide Pass in the Park.

Unfortunately the Park Rangers were going to capture a rogue Grizzly sow on our trail -- using this helicopter -- and make her live in a different spot in the Park. All of this meant that we were not allowed to do the run we planned to do.
So instead we did the Pitamakin Pass hike/run, which starts at Two Medicine and is a really cool trail. It's actually relatively gentle as far as these things go, which meant that we were able to make pretty good time.

From the pass you could see some lakes. I think one of them is Pitamakin Lake. On the other side (not pictured) was Old Man Lake. I'm not sure what this other lake is.

It was super windy on top of the world -- and cloudy and cold. But it was beautiful in a dramatic and ominous sort of way. Very cool.

Pictured above is Deb coming up to the pass. Below is Deb as well.

I just love marmots. They're so fearless and adorable and wonderful. I think they might be in the muppet family.

Grinnell Glacier

My friend who is going back to school at Purdue and leaving us next week wanted to do a glacier hike before leaving -- so we went to Grinnell Glacier which is one of GNP's more famous glaciers.
It has, evidently, shrunk tremendously over the past 30 years and is a tiny shadow of its former huge self. The melt is creating a lovely little lake. Way to0 cold to swim in though,

It was a really lovely hike. Of course, I was thinking "this would be a great run!" I enjoyed the hike though. It was very popular though so it was a bit like a freeway, especially on the hike back. And up at the glacier, someone's 6 year old just chucked a water bottle into the pristine water. I wanted to go retrieve it but the water was honestly too cold. My legs quickly went numb and I had to get out. I was scared I'd create a medical emergency. But I'm wondering, is 6 years old enough to know better? The parents seemed mortified but didn't even scold her. The whole thing was really unfortunate -- especially the sense of failure I felt as I let the icewater get the best of me.

Below is a picture from yesterday's hike with Ted and the pups. Sonja managed to get covered in black mud. She was soooooo mad when I picked her up and took her in the lake to give her a bath. It buuuuuurns!!!

WEEKEND IN BANFF

The adorable Banffians Leslie and Keith. Or is it Banffites? Banffers?

I was due for a visit to Keith and Leslie's in Banff, AB and I hadn't yet seen Banff in the summer so off I went.

We went to this fantastic backcountry lodge called Skoki and had a grand ol' time. I took a gazillion pictures, which was in part due to my desire to lolligag and in part due to the beauty of the place and the fun of the run/hike. So there's lots of pictures in this here blog post.

The pictures are also not in order, but above is me and Leslie at Lake Louise. We visited with the million other people after our run to Skoki.

It was nice and toasty warm so Leslie and I took a dunk in the glacier lake. Keith and Leslie told me the names of each lake, mountain and marmot but I'm lucky if I can remember my own name much less all those other names.

Note that the lake is fed by the melt off the glacier. Yes, it was cold.

Leslie and Keith are awesome. It's nice to have super awesome friends like them who happen to live in Banff and know the cool places to go :p

There were some rocks on our run.

This is the Skoki lodge. The people who run it are awesome and the lodge is gorgeous. I'm trying to convince Ted that we should go there together.

Below is Leslie and Keith. They're running the Trans Rockies run as a team. Isn't that cute? They're very cute.

One of the mountains. I'm showing you. See?

What an awesome weekend!!!