Triple B Marathon "Fun Run"

Wouldn't it be fun to run from the Boise River, up to Boise Peak and then down to Boise Brewing?  Heck yes it would!

Date: May 19, 2018.

Objective: Run from the Boise River, to Boise Peak, to Boise Brewing. Training for Mt. Whitney and the McCall Trail Running Classic 40 miler disguised as a "fun run".

Partners: Mark.

Stats: 26.2 miles, 4,200ft gain and one pitcher of Blond Ale. Strava track.

Gear notes: Trail running kit.

Mark and I had bounced this idea around for almost a year until we set out. Our silly idea of a "fun run" lined up well with my training plan for a 40 mile ultramarathon and it also became a key endurance workout in training for Mt. Whitney. We weren't overly concerned with pace or time on this one. The only thing we targeted was the time Boise Brewing opened for business. Get there too early and we would look like sweaty hobo's waiting for the bar to open. Get there too late and we might have to skip beer-thirty.

We got a 6am start at Julia Davis Park and dipped our hands in the cool water of the Boise River to signify the start of our journey.

Boise River.

 From the river we set out across the park, past Zoo Boise (boom, bonus B) and headed though downtown toward the Military Reserve area.

Mark smashing the trail.

 From there we joined up with Upper Hulls Gulch and ran past the famous water fall.

Top of Hulls. A familiar view.

Top of Hulls, near 8th Street.

 We connected Hulls to 8th Street and the Ridge Road. Smooth sailing so far. Steady pace, steady fueling and hydration. Lots of discussion over our up coming Mt. Whitney climb. Boise Peak is kinda famous for its lack of views and awesome terrain. The highpoint is not obvious and requires a bit of bushwhacking combined with the cunning sense of a meticulous peak bagger.

So much fun!

Boise Peak.

Both Mark and I had been up there before so we were quick to hunt down the high point. We took our packs off, refueled and rested a bit while enjoying the shade. It was borderline chilly there but we knew we would heat up faster than a junkies spoon once we started down.

Logs stacked on the summit.

 90% of the way down was the same route, except we bypassed the water fall and took the other - steeper trail back down to Hulls. We were feeling the heat by now, but we were also rationing our fluid. By the time we were back and making our way though downtown we were out of water in temps near 90F. We arrived at the front door of Boise Brewing where Mark's family was waiting, we were about 1/10th of a mile short of marathon distance. We took a lap around the block, hit 26.2 miles, then hit the bar. Fun stuff!

Cold beers at Boise Brewing.

Grandjean v6.0

For the 6th year running, we headed into the Grandjean area for our annual early season overnighter.

Date: April 28-29, 2018.

Partners: Deez and Harold B. Otter aka Harry Otter (silly story for another time).

Objective: Do it.

Stats: 1.7 miles one way from Grandjean trailhead to Baron Creek. 3.4 miles round trip with minimal gain. Strava - Hike in. Hike out.

Gear notes: Testing new pack - Black Diamond Speed 40.

Links: 2017.

Packed up.

Every spring we like to head out for an easy overnight hike. Two and a half hours from our driveway we were at the trailhead and headed into Baron Creek.

Trailhead.

Otter in tow.

The otter is a silly story that I won't bore you with... We passed another couple that warned us of all the ticks. "I had like seventeen on me" was the statement, I believe. The trail was in pretty good shape, other than one short section that ran right though the middle of a large downed tree.

Deez on the trail.

We had a pretty good weather forecast, but we were expecting showers sometime overnight and into the next afternoon.

Trail Beer.

We had mild temps, scattered clouds an occasional breeze. Really quite pleasant.

View in camp.

It doesn't take long to get to our normal camp site, so we roll kinda lux. Beers, fresh sandwiches, camp chairs and what not.

Beer thirty!

We were hanging around camp, playing a few games of Uno when we noticed a really odd sound coming from the forest. It was really low-pitched and had the rhythm of a basketball being dropped. Or a tennis ball bouncing on a Bongo drum but on a much lower register. Its hard to explain, but trust me, it was weird!

I could't place it and I really don't think I've heard/noticed it before until recently. The mystery sound continued though the night and into the next morning. I was sure this wan't some kind of new phenomenon and that there had to be a perfectly logical explanation. Any guesses? Stay tuned for the answer. 

Harry otter not drink so much.

Fireside music, Uno, drinks and chit-chat until the sun went down. Maybe a half dozen mosquito's buzzed the tower. The rain came in sometime overnight and switched to a wet, sloppy rain-snow mix just before sunrise. Fortunately it had stopped around 9 and we were able to pack up in mostly dry conditions. There were just a few sprinkles on the hike out.

Hiking out.

We expected to encounter a tick or two, but in the end the tick count was not-a-one.
Back at home, I went to the Google machine to try to figure out what the heck that strange noise was. Turns out it was a Ruffed Grouse drumming. And now we know.

Happy trails!