Smoky Mountain Relay

For the past several months, I have been training for the Smoky Mountain Relay. It's a 212-mile relay ran by 6 or 12 team members. I was on a team of 12, and we definitely were the best team there, at least in team spirit. Our official team name was Hiker Trash on the Run (HTOTR) because most of the runners are long-distance hikers who have some pretty awesome hiking accomplishments under their belts. Our unofficial team name/mascot was Zebrasaurus. This comes from the combination of several team members living in the Zebra Hill house in Asheville and from team captain Dinosaur/Kathryn/K$. Izaac, our team costume designer, created the mythical Zebrasaurus and put it into costume form. You can see what Zebrasaurus looks like from this group shot from the start of the race.

HTOTR met early Friday morning at Dino's house to get the party started. A few of us had met the night before for a pre-race dinner, but the Raleigh & DC contingents didn't get in until late. After a round of sleepy introductions, we loaded into our two rented 15-passenger vans and headed for the start of the race near Brevard, NC. The forecast for the day was 80% chance of rain and t-storms. For once, the weather folks were spot on. Pockets of downpour made for an interesting day of running and relay exchanges. We made the best of the weather by drinking lots of hot green tea mate and by Zebrasaurus making an appearance at every exchange.

After my van passed off the relay wristband to the second van, we had a several hour break to rest up for the night section of the race. We hit the grocery store and then napped away the afternoon. Luckily, the weather started clearing up as it got closer to our next section of race. While we were waiting for our other team van, we met another really funny team called the Pusseyfooters. Their van had a life-size cheetah hanging out on top and cheetah print covering their rental van. Very classy. Around dinner time, we heard from our other team van that they were really close. We got ready for the next exchange, and we were off!

The next few legs were some of the longest for my team's runners, but also some of the fastest. Kerby had to do a 9.8 mile leg, but averaged something around 7 minute miles. Between his run and Izaac's crazy fast 5-mile leg, we had passed quite a few teams. By the time my turn came around, I didn't really have to worry much about getting passed. So I took off just after dark and enjoyed my 5.4 mile leg through the rolling hills not too far from the big town of Otto, NC. Two more runners later, we had an 11 pm exchange with van 2. All of us were pretty pooped and ready for some much needed shut-eye.

After figuring out how to get to the next exchange, via some really long forest service roads, we set-up camp around 1 in the morning in just above freezing temps. 4 am came WAY too early. Van 2 had made up even more time overnight and we were one of the first three teams on the course. We begrudgingly got out of our warm sleeping bags and took down our tents. Kayah was up first and she ran like a champ despite not having any green tea mate power in her veins. Kerby and Izaac ran so fast they beat the sun, so I was the lucky runner who got to see the sun come up on my leg. It was especially great because I saw the sun just as I was cresting Tellico Gap and the Appalachian Trail crossing. The climb up to Tellico was a bitch, but I was able to make up some time by running downhill for the next 4.5 miles. My quads were burning, but I had the best time singing my heart out to some country music as the sun was rising. It certainly was a great morning to be alive and to be healthy enough to be running this crazy race.
Check out this video of my finishing up my final leg. Notice the snazzy vest. Several of us tried to look our best for various legs of the race.
Tori and Mark brought it home for Van 1. We made our final exchange with Van 2 and headed out for some much needed breakfast. Luckily, one of the local fire departments offered an all you can eat breakfast for $5. After chowing down and catching up with one of the teams we were neck and neck with (Dead Goats Society), we headed for the NOC. We hooped and hollered for the teams we passed en route and then collapsed in the ice cold water of the Nantahala River upon arrival. Rather, Kerby, Izaac, and Tori collapsed in the water while the smarter team members (Kayah and myself) collapsed on the picnic table.

We had a decent wait for our team, since they still had some 50 miles still to run. We spent the afternoon napping, snacking, and playing games. Finally, the other van arrived. So far, no other teams had crossed the finish line. We all headed to the end of the course and waited patiently for our last teammate and captain - K$/Dinosaur/Kathryn to come flying down the trail. And fly down the trail she did! She didn't bother to stop and wait for us. Which way to the finish? We all took off behind her and crossed the finish line. Since the race officials wanted us all to finish together, we did a slow motion crossing of the finish line. Pretty hilarious.

We were the first team to cross the finish line - hooray! That meant we were the winner, right? Not exactly, but we milked it for all it was worth. We had the satisfaction of watching all the other teams finish, while we chowed down on BBQ and beer. It was nice to chat with some of the folks in van 2 since I didn't know them well. They had some pretty elite runners also. They had Moe, who ran the "Tough Mother" section and sailed past the team that was beating us. They also had Mark, who had ran the Boston marathon just last week. I feel fortunate to have been on such a kick ass team.

As most of my teammates headed back to where they came from, a few of us stayed around to watch the other teams finish and enjoy the beautiful spring day. A spontaneous dance party erupted, and several race officials joined in. The moment we had all been waiting for was seeing Seth Avett (one of the famous Avett Brothers - a favorite music group of mine) cross the finish line. I was off playing soccer with a few teammates and thankfully Dino came and pulled me over. That's the closest I have ever come to meeting him. He looked just like the rest of us, tired and satisfied after two days of running. Super stoked to see him either way.

I'll leave you with this funny shot of the best dressed group of runners at the race - Izaac, Tori, and myself. What a great experience. Can't wait to do something this crazy again. Oh yeah, and did I mention we actually came in 3rd out of 23 teams? Not too bad for this hodge podge group of runners who weren't even sure we would finish.

Santa Cruz Island Adventures

For my last full weekend in California, I decided to head to the Channel Islands, Santa Cruz Island to be specific. I was torn between exploring the Channel Islands or Catalina Island. There is diverse flora and fauna on both, but decided I would go to the more remote, undeveloped Channel Islands. I chose Santa Cruz Island because it's the biggest island off the coast of California and had the most trails to chose from. At first, there was a group of work people going to join me, but being it was the last weekend here and the steep $80 boat ride over there, it turned out being just me. We all know I don't mind camping by myself. In all actuality, I was looking forward to the peace and quite of being by myself and enjoying the last bit of my time here in southern California.

The ride over to the island was a bit choppy, but we did spot a teenage whale (cool!). We weren't just traveling with human passengers, we also had five baby sea lions that were being rehabilitated somewhere near Ventura. They were being carried in dog crates and we were supposed to drop them back into the ocean near Smugglers Cove. A few of them jumped right in, but two of them, were hanging of for dear life. They did not want to go back into the wild. It was so cute to see those guys, and way cool to see them being reintroduced into their natural environment.

After dropping off the sea lions, we finally made it to Prisoners Harbor, my home for the night. I quickly carried my stuff to the campsite, set up camp, and what did I see? An island fox, found only on the Channel Islands. It was sniffing around a few campsites. They area about a third smaller than your average fox and ten times cuter. They were almost extinct a twenty years ago when the golden eagle hunted them to extinction. The park was able to relocate the golden eagles and gradually bring back this cute little guy.




Finally all set up, I took off towards Smugglers Cove, my trail run destination. A few of you know I have been training for the Smoky Mountain Relay, coming up in less than two weeks in Asheville, NC. Instead of hiking on the island, I knew I needed to complete at least one long trail run. The scenery and trail condition didn't disappoint. The climb up out of Prisoners was pretty brutal, but not as much as the descent and ascent into/out of Smugglers Cove. Definitely burnt some calories there. The scenery was well worth the strain. A few day hikers looked at me like I was crazy, but I had the best time seeing the island this way. When you don't have much time to see an entire island, jogging definitely increases the surface area in which you can see.
 

After getting back from my (almost) 8 mile trail run, I downed a quick lunch and tried my hand at snorkeling. The ocean had other ideas. I got the shit beat out of me trying to snorkel with the tide coming in and the gale force winds surrounding the islands. I tried for about an hour, looked like an idiot, and called it quits. Between the trail run, and the the "snorkeling," I was pretty much done for the day. I did try one last hike before calling it quits for the evening - Cavern Point. It was an easy two-miler, but crazy windy. Check out this video to get a feel for how windy it really was. I could barely stand up without being blown over.
Soon after, I retired to the campground for a thru-hiker dinner and some white wine from a box (we all know I'm classy!).

I woke up Sunday morning anxious to get in a hike or two. Because of the wind, the island shuttle service was asking us all to leave around 11:30 am instead of 4 pm. I quickly packed up camp and took off on a 5-miler to Potato Cove. I'm glad I did because it was a really neat area. The water was this crazy teal green/blue. I enjoyed my last bit of scenery before heading back to the boat landing. All in all, a successful trip, and a great last full weekend in California.

Spring Break Part 2 - Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Park

After cleaning up and re-gearing, I picked up Dinosaur from LAX and we were off to the mountains! We made really great time, I was super stoked to miss out on the infamous LA traffic this time of day on a Friday. We chose to go through the Big Stump entrance to the park, so we could explore Grants Grove before heading into the backcountry. The weather was perfect as we climbed in elevation, getting closer to the park. One of those blue sky days that feels like it could go on forever. After scouting out a front country site, we quickly set up camp and headed down the trail to the third largest tree in the world. That's right, the world. All the trees in Kings Canyon/Sequoia were crazy beautiful. You just wanted to hug all of them. We played in tunnels that were really hollowed out old trees that had fallen, read lots of interpretive signs, and just enjoyed staring up at these old giants. General Grant was 1700 years old, which isn't even the oldest tree in the world. They all made me feel really small.

The next morning, we took our time driving through the park. We had to make the obligatory stop at a visitor center to watch a movie about the park and learn about the history. I was happy to have a companion that also didn't mind learning about things! Then went to see the BIGGEST tree in the world (by volume) - General Sherman. Compared with General Grant and the trees that surrounded it, the trees around General Sherman seemed smaller. It was definitely more noticeable that this tree really was the biggest thing around. Supposedly, it's so big that it would take 21 people holding hands around the tree to cover the circumference. Now, that's big! This portion of tree that  Dino is hugging gives you an idea about how big it is.

We next hit the Foothills Visitor Center to get our permit (safety and park regulations first!) and to find a little more about trail conditions and weather. Thunderstorms and rain were headed our way, but blue skies were still abundant. We ate a nice lunch, while learning about the native people of the area, loaded our packs (complete with bear canister) and hit the trail. We thought heading out on the trail would thin out some of the crowds, but we saw a ton of people on the Middle Fork Trail we were on. There are only so many trails that are not covered with snow here, so I should have known better. We followed the middle fork of the Kaweah River up towards the High Sierra. Our initial destination was Redwood Meadow - supposedly one of the most remote groves of old trees in the park. Everyone we talked to on the trail that got there said it was super neat. But after a late start, and enjoying the beauty of the trail, we decided to call it quits at Mehrten Creek. Good thing we did, because it starting raining on us as soon as we took our packs off.

After a fairly rainy night, and an even rainier morning, our stuff was a bit damp. I had chosen to go with my ultralight shelter, which is not quite decided for two people in the rain. Needless to say, there were a few wet sleeping bags and pads. More rain was on the forecast, and we were on vacation, so we decided to not be hardcore and instead hike back out. We would have had to do a big mile day to get to Redwood Meadow, and we just didn't want to be in a hurry. Of course, as soon as we got on the trail, the weather cleared. We thought about going back up, but decided finding the hot spring I had heard so much about would be a better option. The weather was great on the way out and we stopped quite a bit to take photos and enjoy the view. One spot at Panther Creek was particularly pretty, and we took a long break there. Some folks came down the trail that had made it to the meadow and showed us some pictures. We got to see it after all!

After eating lunch, we began the long drive to the Remington hot springs. They were near the town of Lake Isabella, which isn't too far from Walker Pass and the PCT. Dino remembered visiting Lake Isabella on her PCT thru-hike and kept going on an on about some milkshakes at a diner with an older lady's name. So, we of course had to check it out. Being that we were itchy to get out of the car, we hit the hot springs first. We couldn't find the hot springs right off the bat, but did find two very hippy-looking buses that would definitely know where the hot springs were. Sure enough, they pointed us in the right direction. I wish I could have stayed and chatted with those folks. They looked like they had some stories to tell! The hot springs were amazing!!! We didn't have them to ourselves, as it is a popular area not too far from a road. But these hot spring were definitely well taken care of. Someone had poured concrete in the pools and had constructed several bathing tubs that were nicely decorated with pretty rocks, stones, and writing. Each of the different tubs were a different temperature, but all toasty warm. They felt great after a few days of hiking and even better that it was kind of chilly and misting. We made some new friends and soaked in the springs until the rain started coming down a bit harder. Everyone grabbed their stuff and headed back up to the vehicles.

I had planned on camping at one of the established campgrounds in the area, but decided camping in Buddy the truck just off the road would be just as great. That's what forest service land is for, right? Later that night, there was a car that parked near us for about an hour. Sensing they were not moving, Dino was brave enough to ask if they were lost or needed help. Turns out it was a nice older hippy that looks after the springs from time to time and was camping out as well. Looks like we have a neighbor for the night. Woke up, made some coffee and tea, and decided to eat breakfast in town, complete with famous milkshake. Turns out it was Nelda's diner, and it was delicious. I don't think many people order a milkshake with their breakfast, but I was a satisfied customer.

I had to be back to work the next day, and Dino had a plane to catch, so we headed back toward Malibu. I showed Dino around where I lived/worked, and then took her to some of my favorite beaches. The weather, and the sea life, definitely cooperated. We saw dolphins, sea stars, California mussels, anemones, crabs, amongst other sea creatures. Not to mention a nice sunset. All in all, a great trip, and the perfect end to the first spring break I have had in years.