Winter Biking Scenes

It's that Time of Year...

Actually, it's always that time of year. I am that dork who has her short and long term goals posted on the refrigerator year round. But since this is a hiking blog and I know some of my handful of like-minded readers enjoy stuff like this, here's my 2014 goals list.

1. Buy a house by spring. Cough.
2. Run the San Francisco Marathon on July 27th.
3. Start the Court of Master Sommeliers program in March (now that I passed my WSET Advanced!) and get certified.
4. Summer Hiking (let's face it, the rest of this stuff is just filling time until the snow melts).

       The big hikes:

• July - lead return trip to Mount Adams w/Steve and Helena
• Summer Shasta climb, nontechnical Clearcreek route 
• August Enchantments Traverse
• August Climb Mount Daniel 
• August/Sept Tank Lakes via Necklace Valley
• Aug/Sept Mt Baker/Shuksan long weekend: Ptarmigan Trail to the Portals; Chowder ridge or
  Chain Lakes Trail above Bagly Lakes; Heliotrope Ridge
• Aug/Sept/Oct Squamish/Garibaldi long weekend trip

      Any of these:

• Partial Bailey Range Traverse, Olympics
• September Rachel Lake/Rampart Ridge/Alta tarns - requires fording creek
• Mt Hood Hogsback
• Tattoosh Peak/ Plummer, Rainier
• Spray Park, Mt Rainier - off trail to alpine lake below Observation Rock 
• Yellow Aster Butte, Shuksan
• Vesper Peak scramble - very late season
• Matterhorn, Wallowas
• Indian Bar, Mt Rainier
• LaBohn Gap
• Snow caves on Mount Hood
• Middle Sister, Bend 
• Gothic Basin/ partial scramble up Gothic Peak? late season
• Maple Pass Loop, North Cascades
• Goat Lake, North Cascades 
• Barrett Spur, Mt Hood - late season
• Minotaur Lake, Stevens Pass
• High Pass
• Hidden Lake Peak
• Spectacle Lake backpack

I've got 2015 planned, too, but I'll spare you.

Random Smattering Of Images To Show That I'm Still Alive

Crater Rock attempt. Great day but respiratory infection makes you prone to AMS, and I could walk maybe 20 feet at a time. MSR snowshoes worked great on the steeper parts but those damn straps drive me bananas. Partner made it to Triangle Moraine, where there was ice and wind. Allow 4 hours unless you're a BEAST.

Better than being at work. Practiced self arrest and had some mac n cheese.

Beach babe. Haystack Rock with out-of-town family.

Turkey day bike ride with the hubs, in which we were surprised to learn that after 1.4 million trips to Sauvie Island there are still things to discover.

Bay bridge at sunrise, Halloween. back again to take the WSET Advanced.

MSH

Cathedral bridge in No Po.

Back in business, hitting the trails again despite some ACL issues. I need a smaller cassette on the Cannondale - why don't I listen?

Down Time

In the winter, I don't post many trip reports on here. If we get another patch of nice weather like this, there may be a Barrett Spur post coming up, but until then, you can find my cycling, running, whatever pictures on Instagram under annescalamonti. See you next year!

October Color Weekend

My recovery from the marathon was what I expected - I walked funny until Wednesday, and by the weekend I was more or less back to normal. Encouraged by a promising weather forecast, I joined my husband and his friend (who are both much better riders than me) for a butt-kicker Rock Creek ride. It was amazingly beautiful, and almost made me forget that I need to get a bigger cassette on my new bike. Oh, and the downhills? Pure fun!

On Monday I had the crazy idea to drive all the way to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness for a hike I'd already done... just to see some larches.I invited my summer hiking buddy, and we found the trail to be a frustrating mix of ice, slush and deep snow. Neither of us brought our trusty microspikes, and I struggled with my snowshoes throughout Headlight Basin. Nevertheless, it was a gorgeous day, and one that I didn't expect to have again this year. Almost enough to take the edge off ten hours of driving in one day.

Oh hey, I signed up for the 2014 San Francisco Marathon. No big whoop.

Portland Marathon Writeup

I had a great time today running the Portland Marathon. Tapering had been difficult for me, and yesterday I was full of doubt. But this morning I woke up in a good mood, and Dr. B played "Eye of the Tiger" while I crammed a banana and peanut butter bagel into my face.

We took the Max in before dawn, and it was full of other suburbanites in fluorescent shoes making jokes about pooping and chafing. The weather was clearly cooperating, with start temps chilly but not enough to warrant the extra layer I made my husband schlep. He was able to sit with me in my corral and see me off (although the tight security would mean later that no one could see us cross the finish line). At 6:30 the lines for the bathrooms were basically backed up into our faces, so it was somewhat of a relief to get going.

My approach to calm my nerves was to view this run as just another training run. For the most part, it was familiar ground. There was a rather large hill at the end of Naito Parkway which I hadn't practiced or even anticipated, but adrenaline carried me through. I felt a bit tired in the flat stretch around mile 7 or 8 doubling back through the industrial district, but folks on the sidelines and the fast people racing in the opposite direction kept my interest. There were plenty of water and Ultima stations (and port-a-porties with surprisingly short lines) available almost the whole time, with maybe one limited stretch between northwest neighborhoods and the St Johns Bridge. At 13 miles, I realized I'd shaved over twenty minutes off my half marathon time at the Timberline Half.

The hill for Germantown Road at mile 17 didn't hit me too hard, since I'd practiced going over that bridge several times. In fact, I think it tricked my body into thinking I hadn't been running as long, since it usually fell at about mile 10 in my practice runs. Plus, the mountains were out, with Adams perfectly framed in the arch.

After a slight dip and climb up to Willamette Blvd., the course flattens out for a while, and is much more scenic. Those neighborhoods are some of the prettiest in Portland, and the spectators were great. Here there were gummy bears, pretzels (the hard ones) and candy corn.I was feeling damn good sailing down Greeley into a headwind with my playlist changing from NPR podcasts to KMFDM.


After another modest climb from Interstate Ave. to the Broadway Bridge, I was in the home stretch. I knew I was ahead of the pacer for a 4:25 finish, but I wasn't believing it. I had resigned myself to thinking that it was silly to expect to run faster than your training runs. But I did just that, with a final time of 4:24:38. And I didn't even cry! I just felt a little... well, broken. The last two miles of every long run are the hardest. Dr. B had a smile and a bouquet of flowers waiting for me at the end of the security gates, which was the best part.

Cons: The whole security/Boston thing was frankly irritating and overwrought. No spectators at the finish? Come on! 

Also, the live tracking and results websites were glitchy and slow. Not a big deal. 

Pros: Portland in great weather is a thing of beauty. 

Gear: Pretty basic. Wicking tee and knee-length leggings, ankle socks and Brooks Pure Flow 2. Phone holster and headphones, SpiBelt with 2 Powerbar gels and a pack of Shotblocks, small medical kit, i.d. cards. Brooks running cap and sunglasses. Wore sunblock and chafe cream. Handheld Nike water bottle. Carried running jacket/windbreaker to the start but didn't need it. This all worked for me because I practiced with everything.

Lakes Basin and Eagle Cap, Wallowas

The end of summer is coming, and I actually think I'll be ready after this last backpacking trip of the season. I have a couple more day hikes in me at most, including the Enchantments Traverse. I know this might surprise you, but these weekends of marathon training followed by several-hour sleepless pre-dawn drives to backwoods trailheads, backpacking in and out of the wilderness and getting home by dinnertime the next night are sort of... well, exhausting. And I miss my husband, my dogs and my bed when I'm out there, which I guess is part of the allure of the mountains. I had a soul-crushing 20-mile run on Saturday morning, and was tempted to cancel the Wallowas trip due to swollen knees and mental fatigue. But I didn't, probably since I'm feeling regretful about Tank Lakes, and I'm so glad for that. It was great! The drive took six hours on boring I-84... boy, does that part of Oregon feel remote. We hit Two pan Trailhead at 10 a.m. and after about the first rather rugged two miles the hiking was fairly easy. The East Lostine Trail took us straight to our awesome camp at Mirror Lake; in the evening Steve and I hiked to Glalcier Pass for sunset, and then summited Eagle Cap in the morning. Zero bugs, lots of horse poop, and relatively few crowds. Really gorgeous and unusual mix of granite and sandstone everywhere, with views of Sacajawea and Matterhorn. On the return trip we heard the scream of what was likely a large cat echoing off the valley walls, which was very cool. Drove back Monday afternoon. I'd say that Glacier Pass was the highlight - that whole area around Glacier Lake and the jagged ridge leading over to Eagle Cap is just astounding.