Run. Hike. Poop.

Backpacking the Cold Mountain Loop: Forecasts can’t be trusted

May 1, 2017By y2kemo

Cold Mountain survey marker — Cold Mountain Summit

There’s a saying that if you’re backpacking and you don’t like the forecast, wait five minutes and it’ll change. That was certainly the case on a recent backpacking trip I took to the Shining Rock Wilderness with my brother-in-law, Ken. In the 10 days leading up to the trip we watched the wilderness area forecast change daily from hot to cold, sun to rain, and breezy to gale force winds.

In addition to the weather the Shining Rock Wilderness has a couple of rules that impacted our trip. First, no campfires. It’s a rule, and unfortunately many take it as a “rule” including the ones responsible for the recent fire at Cold Mountain that burned 132 acres. Second, in the past few years the bear population has increased resulting in greater than normal bear sightings and bear encounters (one backpacker had a bear enter his tent and remove his backpack). As a result, the U.S. Forest Service requires bear canisters in the Shining Rock Wilderness.

Backpacking Roaring Plains: April Snow and Swollen Creeks

April 10, 2017By y2kemo

I first read about the Roaring West Wilderness (RPW) when my buddy, Coop, and I were considering routes for our most recent winter trip to Dolly Sods. About a month after that trip, Coop invited me to join him and his brother-in-law, Craig, in the RPW for Craig’s first backpacking trip.

Located in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, the Roaring Plains Wilderness spans more than 12,00 acres of the Monongahela National Forest and is said to have the most vertical relief in West Virginia. To get a better sense of the area Coop and I put together our Plan A using hillmap.com and the GPX from HikingUpward.com. The plan was simple: hike the 12.46 mile Roaring Plains West Wilderness Circuit, climb 2,560′, descend 2,566′, and drive to Amelia’s for breakfast when we finished.

Then came the wrenches.

Backpacking Dolly Sods Wilderness: Permits, mud, and the elusive goshawk

February 21, 2017By y2kemo

Sunset at our campsite at Left Fork Red Creek off Dobbin Grade (TR 526)
*Photo by Coop*

The Dolly Sods Wilderness is a rocky, high-altitude plateau in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia and is part of the Monongahela National Forest. The wilderness has more than 47 miles of trails with elevations ranging from 2,500 to over 4,700 feet. If I didn’t have you at “Hello” allow me to share two other selling points that made the brochure: weather and explosives.

Weather in the Sods is as decisive as a two-year old. Snow can fall from October through April, freezing temperatures can occur at anytime of the year, and the winds can penetrate your soul. As for explosives, the area was used by the U.S. Army as a practice artillery and mortar range and maneuver area during World War II. And, while the National Forest Service and the Army Corps of Engineers did their best to remove Unexploded Ordnances (UXO) from the area there’s still a good chance some remain. Moral of the story: dress for every occasion and don’t touch the boom booms.

In spite of the potential to blow up, freeze, or both, the Sods really are a spectacular place to go. My buddy Coop and I rose to the challenge back in February 2014 when we hit the trails wearing snowshoes and a smile. This year we thought we’d give the Sods another shot and enlisted my brother-in-law, Ken.

Blue Ridge Relay 2016: Tired, Thirsty, and Nauseous

September 13, 2016By y2kemo

Blue Ridge Relay Team GO FAR 2016 — Team GO FAR 2016

The Blue Ridge Relay (BRR) is a 208ish-mile running relay from Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia to downtown Asheville, North Carolina. This year’s race hosted 196 teams of 4 to 12 people who run a total of 36 legs ranging from 2.5 to 10.5 miles per leg over the course of a day and a half; the ultra runners do it less than 20 hours.

On the surface the relay is pretty simple: get a team, rent vans, run a bunch, stay healthy, try not to stink too much, don’t kill each other, and don’t die. OK, it’s not really that simple. It’s actually way more complicated.

Running in the heat is no joke

August 15, 2016By y2kemo

I’m what my sports medicine doc calls a “heavy sweater.” I don’t glisten or perspire, I leak. In the summer, my sweating reaches new heights so I tend to run in the early morning. This is especially true when I go long on the weekend.

This past weekend, for example, I had the option to run two 7-mile laps on a shaded path around a lake on Saturday. I was all set to go through with this plan until my son reminded me that we were supposed to campout in the backyard (by 9:30PM I had moved the tent into the sunroom because it was too hot). Instead, I took another friend up on his offer to run a 15-mile trail run on Sunday (forecasted to be a wee bit warmer) with some folks training for a 50 miler.

Confession, I’m a bit of a Dory (or perhaps an idiot) when it comes to running. I tend to forget things like mileage, forecast, and my propensity to sweat buckets. That said, I put together an ingenious hydration strategy for the big group run. I figured I’d drink two 20 oz bottles over the course of the run, come back to the car to down two more 20 oz bottles, and knock back a 32 oz nalgene on the way home. At best, my plan was stupid.

I’m Just a Lowly Jogger

July 5, 2016By y2kemo

The other day I was a having a conversation with a group of people when the topic of running came up. I mentioned that I ran and one dude followed with “How fast?” “About 7:30 pace when I’m training. A little faster when I race.” I replied. “What’s that, like 5 MPH?” he asked in a seemingly sarcastic tone. “I think it’s about 8 MPH.” I said. “8 MPH? That’s more like jogging. Do you race?” he asked. “I don’t race often. Maybe 3 to 4 races a year.” I said. “Psshh!” he responded looking around the group, “My brother runs a race almost every weekend and he has all kinds of medals to prove it.”

Black Widow, Mailbox Defender

June 23, 2016By y2kemo

Backpacking The Priest Wilderness: A shot at redemption

May 19, 2016By y2kemo

In October 2014, Coop and I planned an ambitious 20-mile hike with nearly 10,000′ of elevation gain through the Three Ridges and Priest Wildernesses. Ambitious because, at the time, I was two months out of shoulder surgery and I hadn’t been particularly active. Still, like my third helping at Thanksgiving, the trip seemed doable.

As the story goes, we hiked 3.2 miles along Mau-Har trail and another 11 miles over Three Ridges until returning to the parking lot at Crabtree. Then my wheels fell off, and we ended up camping about a half mile up the trail. That night, Coop vowed a return trip to finish what we started.

Flash forward a year and a half to a time between new babies and tee-ball practice. Coop asked me if I wanted to give The Priest another go. I agreed and he followed up with a plan that would take us up and over The Priest and onto Spy Rock. We’d spend the night near Spy Rock and hike back down the next day. In total, according to hillmap.com, we’d knock out 14.5 miles with ~5,000′ of elevation gain and loss. Perfect.

Trash Goat

March 17, 2016By y2kemo

There’s a special place in the heart of Spokane, Washington where a mechanical goat eats trash. Go to that place.

Race bandits run like they stole something

December 17, 2015By y2kemo

A race bandit is someone who participates in a race without paying the entry fee. The bandit runs (or jogs or walks) the course, drinks the water, eats the food, and accepts a medal, all things that have been paid for by other participants. So what’s the reasoning behind the bandit?

For some race bandits, money is a motivator. For others, running as a bandit is a principle-based decision. To get a better understanding of these running free riders let’s take a closer look at the arguments.

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