Grand Canyon R2R2R

To hike the Grand Canyon rim to rim is an especially beautiful thing and certainly a hike that is on the bucket list of many.  For a number of reasons this is typically done with a backpack and over multiple days.  The physical exertion alone necessitates most to camp somewhere in the canyon to make this a 2 or 3 day hike across.  For many others its also about taking the time to enjoy the scenery and sights along the way.  For the wise among us its about timing the hiking to avoid the heat of the day.  On the other end of the spectrum are a crazy few amount of people that not only hike the canyon rim to rim, but they hike it rim to rim and back to rim in a single day!  These crazy antelope are usually ultra-runners who just know how to keep moving.    My brother David and I have had our sights set on the infamous R3 (Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim) but we wanted to settle on a plan that was somewhere between crazy insane and physically do-able while also being enjoyable and challenging.  Our plan would be to do the R3 but over the course of two days with a night camping in between.

Pinckney Trail Half Race 2017

This was my third go-around racing the Trail Half and I was excited as ever.  This year's training has been some of my best ever.  I was finally approaching this race with preparation that had me at about 100%.  With that came higher personal expectations so I felt a little bit of the self-imposed pressure. 

Pre-race

This was the warmest morning I've experienced at the Trail Weekend.  The temp was around 50° which meant I could do my pre race routines without having to huddle in my car with the heat running.  I left my place about 5:40a this time and made a stop at Panera in Ann Arbor for a bagel.  I also ate an apple and an oatmeal square along the way.  I kept a banana in the car which I ate about 10 minutes pre-race.  Upon arrival I found that this year they were checking for the Michigan State Park Pass at the booth as folks drove by, a change from previous years.  Thankfully they had that streamline and it didn't slow up traffic.  I pulled into the lots just before 7am and had very good parking as usual.  I went to registration where they had folks filling out waivers and then grabbed by shirt and bib.  I did a bunch of walking around, ran into a few people I knew and ran about a half mile warmup on the trails.  I hit the bathrooms once about 7:15a and found the desire to do so again about 7:45a.  I hit the bathroom by the bike trailhead and the line didn't free me up until about 7:52am.  This left me 8 minutes to change clothes, get my bib on, and hop on over to the race start.  I made it with about 90 seconds to spare.

Kearney Park Loop Snowshoeing at Leadville Fish Hatchery

Route Name: Kearnery Park Loop (Rock Creek Trail to Colorado Trail to Kearney Park Trail) at the Leadville National Fish Hatchery
Trailhead Elevation: 9,636 ft.
High Point: 10,652 ft.
Distance: 5.85 mi.
Elevation Gain: 1,020 ft.
Start Time: 10:18am
End Time: 2:50pm

Trip Report:

Having just completed wonderful days on our winter trip to Colorado with a summit of Mt. Bierstadt and a great day of skiing at Copper, we were looking for one last enjoyable mountain activity before we flew out of town.  In fact, we had flights leaving around 8pm this evening so we needed something without complications.  Snowshoeing fit the bill.

Mt. Bierstadt Winter Ascent

Route Name: West Slopes from Naylor Lakes Parking
Trailhead Elevation: 10,867 ft.
Summit Elevation: 14,060 ft.
Distance: 10.38 mi.
Elevation Gain: 3,431 ft.
Start Time: 11:31am
Summit Time: 3:43pm (10 minutes on top)
End Time: 7:47pm

Trip Report:

Its not often, and for good reasons, that one gets to about 10 in the morning and then finally decides today is the day to do a 14er climb.  That’s where we found ourselves as we decided on Mt. Bierstadt.  On our trip out to Colorado we had originally worked on plans to do Pikes Peak via Barr Camp as we had done in 2014.  We always left the option open to change plans and because of the weather possibilities that were headed the way of the Front Range we did change.  Pikes was due to get 2-4 inches the night before we would be heading to the summit and we decided that was more difficulty than we wanted.  That was especially true this year given we had already done the Pikes climb just 3 years prior.  We began investigating Bierstadt from the Naylor Lakes parking on the Guanella Pass road.  Recent conditions reports listed the upper parts of the mountain and the approaches in good shape.  Even with the possibility we figured 2-4 inches of snow on Bierstadt would be manageable still.  That is, until we decided at 10am this very morning to just go for it before the storm would hit.  

Pinckney Blind Lake Backpacking Jan '17

Potawatomi Trail:
Pinckney State Recreation Area
Trailhead Elevation: 888 ft.

Trail-run - Crooked Lake Loop
  Distance: 4.30 mi. 
  Elevation Gain: 208 ft.
  Start Time: 2:37pm

Jan. 1 Hike In: 
  Distance: 6.67 mi. 
  Elevation Gain: 240 ft.
  Start Time: 3:49pm
  End Time: 6:01pm

Jan. 2 Hike Out:
  Distance: 4.38 mi. 
  Elevation Gain: 174 ft.
  Start Time: 8:17am
  End Time: 9:41am