Climbing Station

Thanks you Craig L. I had no problems. We ascended up one of the poles for the chair lifts, went around a knot and then rappelled down. No one changed my gear after I told them who helped me with the set up.

Certifications

We finished the certification process. We had to show our tons of mandatory gear, ascen up a tower, rappel from the tower, take out boats in the little lake here (46 degree water), tip them over, right them, swim, and do also swim on our river boards. Tha day was tiring - think of the race! Anyway - do have some good pictures courtest of a photographer (Mike Hedge) who caught us in action while river boarding. Check out

http://flickr.com/photos/mikehedge/sets/72157605719389451/?page=3

some good shots of Jamie, Ron, Julie, and Dom on the river are

http://flickr.com/photos/mikehedge/2596389083/in/set-72157605719389451/

http://flickr.com/photos/mikehedge/2597222694/in/set-72157605719389451/

http://flickr.com/photos/mikehedge/2597221716/in/set-72157605719389451/

http://flickr.com/photos/mikehedge/2597223208/in/set-72157605719389451/

http://flickr.com/photos/mikehedge/2596392759/in/set-72157605719389451/

We're all here

We are now all here in Montana. Kent arrived about 7 PM Montana time. Today Julie, Jamie, Ron, and Dom tried out the river boards on the Gallatin River. At first we planned to do a section of the river called the Mad Mile (actually it is longer) - but after talking to the river guides who say they will not take groups down it when the river is above 3500 cfs (it was running 5200 cfs today) we decided to do an easier section. Still - it was some incredible whitewater. We'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow.

Whitewater Swimming on a Rip Board

This is the "Zoom Flume" Class IV rapids in Brown's Canyon. It was so wicked we had to do it twice. We went with Shane Bolling from Ripboard.com. He is an outstanding instructor and coach and I was never skeered! We went to Buena Vista and Salida in connection with the Fib Art Festival and took advantage of the whitewater.

White Ranch Open Space Park

Today was supposed to be my last hard day on the bike. I went to White Ranch which is just North of Golden, CO. As you can see the downhill section was a blast to bomb. Unfortunately, I chose a difficult trail up the mountain that was full of oppressive rocks and erosion control logs so that I spent more time practicing my "hike-a-bike" than I care to admit. It's all good practice.

Arnot Creek / Highland Lakes

Went for an 8-hour "dress rehearsal" for PQ on Saturday. My loop took me from the Arnot Creek trailhead near Dardanelle to the Highland Lakes and back. Track on MB.



There is still plenty of snow above 8000ft in the Sierras. And this was a very low snow year. I'm starting to wonder how PQ is going to work, given the mountains in Montana are at similar altitudes, but much farther north. Perhaps they do not get as much snow there.

I spent several miles walking on snow with little evidence of the trail. Snowshoes would have been a hindrance and were not needed due to the dense spring snowpack. Check out the full photo album to see what I mean.

In other news:

• Two weeks ago I went for a crappy training run in the Ventana Wilderness. No trails, no fun, no nothing, just poison oak. See track.
• Last weekend I raced in NORCAL AR #3 at Henry Coe State Park. I was with Tim K. and Wendy W. We took it easy and placed fourth. Not too shabby. Tim and Wendy are also going to PQ, both on different teams (Dancing Pandas and Marmot).

Sunshine on my .....

We had a great training weekend in Boulder and Golden, Colorado. On Friday, Kimo, Licia and I met with Craig Luebben for skills training on the ropes and rock. Craig is an instructor, experienced guide and author of several books and articles. He is also very patient and his help was valuable from the start. After he helped me with the gear and gave me a few pointers, I felt like I was climbing rungs on a ladder. Incredible! Afterwards, we made it to Boulder to attack Sunshine Hill and it was a different experience and soooo much easier than last time. On Saturday, I ran for 45 minutes on the trails around the reservoir and today I ran Mesa Trail---most of it--then went to Mount Sanitas again to try out some approach shoes. I bought a pair of 5.10 shoes at Montbell and the grip on the rock is impressive. It really helped my confidence.

Humbled on the Sunshine Canyon Climb

Just when I thought I was doing pretty good I am reminded that "we're not in Florida anymore". This was a 9.14 mile climb on the mountain bike with 3200' of elevation gain. The average grade was 7.6% and the maximum was 23.1% finishing at 8426'. I was looking for air and stopped 5 times. Once for the above picture. I'm looking forward to doing this climb again after being here a while to compare my performances.

It was a nice day!

Mount Sanitas

I believe "sanitas" in spanish means good health. This is a 3.1 mile loop starting at 5520' and peaking at 6863'. I hiked at a steady pace stopping only once for "critter cam". I made it to the top in 37 minutes and it was HOT or the doxycycline was working me over. (feeling much better mom).




This is a bull snake and it is not poisonous. There were rumors amongst the hikers that a mountain lion was seen on these trails last week.