End of Year Notes

A few quick thoughts I had before the New Year:

Snow Shoe Bling

• It’s snowing like crazy outside.  Colorado is getting crushed, New Mexico slopes could use a bit more.  Either way, the course should be set for next weekend’s Snow Shoe Classic 5K/10K up at Norski.  I just happen to have a sneak peak of the hardware on the line for this year’s races.  I won’t be running but I’m bringing my cowbell.  Snow shoe rentals will be available at registration courtesy of REI.  If you're not signed up yet you need to clear your schedule and get moving on this.  

• Swimming is a horrible sport.  Swimming in goggles that leak scrapes the barrel of things that suck.  From what I can tell, swim workouts are not done for fun and enjoyment but rather from a well of pure spite.  

• I missed the once-in-500yrs lunar eclipse last week.  I should have set my alarm in retrospect and am having remorse.

• Tracked my Holiday miles and spending at GoMiles.com - A site that tracks credit card points and travel points.  It's the new start-up of my running/climbing buddy Mike Komarnitzky of climbingboulder.com fame.  Go register and track your stuff people.  

• There are a lot of trails in Seattle, and I ran on none of them while visiting.  Worse, our plane flew right past Mt. Rainier – twice – and because of clouds and/or darkness we saw it zero times.

Deliciousness

• Thankfully Seattle and the Northwest has lots of good beer.  I had plenty from Washington but none were as good as the three below.  Suggestions are welcome in the comments if I’m missing out.  The top three from the trip:    1. Winter Solstice Ale, Anderson Valley Brew Co., CA.  Really good.  Really, really good.    2. Full Sail Amber, OR    3. Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Deschutes Brewery, OR

• Santa Fe Brewing closed its bar and grill out on NM 14 last week.  The brewery and tap room are still open, and a new tap room has opened out in Eldorado.  It’s possible now to run/bike the railtrail from the Rail Yard out to Eldorado, stopping three times for a cold pint. This is a fine and welcome development.

Three Pint Thirteen Miler - Clickable map below:


View Three Pint Half Marathon - Santa Fe Rail Trail in a larger map

Discovery Park - Seattle, WA

Park Overlook and Puget Sound

Wandered through Discovery Park, Seattle's largest park on Christmas Day with Christina, sister-in-law Theresa, and her boyfriend Tiago.  The park was a well trafficked area to be sure, but I enjoyed the forest canopy above, the moss and lichen that had taken root on every surface, and especially the overlook of Puget Sound and the snow-capped Cascades Olympic peaks towering to the northwest.

We followed the South Beach Trail (bit of a misnomer) out to an old lighthouse.  The last section that rolled along the beach was fantastic.  Black sand, dark black foreboding water, weathered bits of driftwood, an old rustic lighthouse, and giant freaking mountain crags blasting up into the clouds on the other side of the Sound. That part of Discovery Park is a lot like the setting of Chronicles of Narnia.  They ought to write that description into their trail maps probably.

It wants me to run on it, but my will is resolute

Christina with distant snow-caps

I maybe didn't get the full trail experience since we weren't running the thing, but it of course was very different from the solitude and reflection of the Dale Ball Trails, or La Tierra, or really any trail in New Mexico since Seattle-metro holds more people than our entire state (nearly twice as many).  However, I did see people running and they seemed to be having a fine time albeit dodging and side-stepping the queues of hikers and leashed animals.  I liked that the trails weren't really all that muddy even though rain had been falling for several days.  Rather than mud there was a soft soggy covering of loam and leafy bits and probably remnants of rotting wood from the trees that surrounded us.

Steven Segal not welcome here

I daydreamed myself running along through some of the tighter faster sections of trail, and recklessly stepping on a damp wooden step or a tangle of tree root, slipping sideways like a shot and into the thick underbrush.  What's in all that thick underbrush and dense forest anyhow?  I'm pretty sure it's a bunch of careless runners from drier parts of the Mountain West.

Christina, family, and our awesome Christmas Day.

Related Posts:
  - When in Doubt Go Higher
  - Arroyo Hondo Preserve

Merry Christmas

Trails for all for Christmas!, and maybe a bit of snow. We here at Desert Dirt also wanted to give a Christmas gift of the Ramones, but in light of their Christmas video being a bit of a downer (not the song which is awesome), we give you Beavis and Butthead.  Merry Christmas to all, except for you Hall & Oates - your video is weak.

Skiing the Rail Trail & Arroyo Chamiso

Friday's snowfall was a welcome sight for as dry as it's been lately.  I biked to work in what looked like 5-6in. of fluffy stuff, and the Santa Fe Ski Area was reporting 16in. from the storm and now has four operating lifts heading into the Holidays.  Wolf Creek is reporting a few feet from the storm, giving it a 60in. December base.

I was like a kid on Christmas Eve watching the snow continue to pile up on Thursday night. I changed out the old 3-pin bindings on my new pair of cross country skis and headed out to the arroyo for an early morning test run of my new gear.  A gorgeous morning with all the snow cover.

Through the Arroyo Chamiso

Looking back on my tracks on the Rail Trail

Retracing my tracks through our neighborhood footpath

I skied out through the arroyo and returned on the as yet unplowed RailTrail, 30min for about 1.5mi of skiing.  I obviously need to get familiar with the different types of wax since my skis were loading with snow and not sliding very well.  It didn't matter though - a morning with fresh snow is a treat all by itself.  Now it feels like December.

Lucy unhappy with not being invited on the ski trip

Skis with brakes are not so good at sliding

Related Posts:
  - Off Piste, Winter Trails
  - Crested Butte Opening Weekend
  - Santa Fe's First Snow


View Zia Rd Trailhead - Cross Country Ski Loop in a larger map

Christmas Gift Ideas for the Outdoors Athlete

We were out with the rest of the town shopping for Christmas gifts yesterday.  It got me thinking to how there are a relatively small set of tools and gear that I use all the time, and most are small and inexpensive making great gifts for friends or family that spend a lot of their time outside.

In no particular order, here's the Desert Dirt Christmas Gift Idea List, all available at local Santa Fe gear shops (see right sidebar):

Headlamp (petzl zipka):  I use this guy just about every day and I like how light and minimal it is.  I actually have three of these.  In the summer I prefer to run at dusk, having this in my pocket has saved me on several occasions.  I've also learned that maps are useless without a light, so there's a built in bonus there.

Maps: If I'm out on a new trail or in an unfamiliar area I always tuck a map in my waistband to help me when I get lost, which is just about every time.  I also like to know the names of peaks rivers and canyons.  There's one great map of the foothills and the Pecos Wilderness available just about everywhere for $14.  There's another great map by Sky Terrain that also shows detail of the Bandelier trails, the Los Alamos and Cochiti Canyons (good for mountain biking), $14.  There's also the Day Hikes in the Santa Fe Area trail book which has maps of individual trails which you can tear out and carry along with you.

Reading Material:  Subscriptions to Outside, Trail Runner Magazine, or the Mountain Gazette are all affordable can't miss ideas.

Hat and gloves - I prefer the $2 cotton work gloves from Allsups, but several good hats are pretty much required gear.  The thin ones are best since there's a tendency to overheat when running with anything too bulky.  A thin profile is also necessary for fitting under a bike helmet.

Water Bottles:  I go through my share of bottle over a season.  A friend and fellow marathoner John Thornell has a company that designs BPA-free stainless steel water bottles and containers great for camping, rafting, kids, and for the race director crowd - road race goodie bags.  www.purastainless.com

Sunglassses:  A cheap pair of UV protected glasses.  They will be inadvertently broken in a few months whether they're inexpensive or brand name.  Required gear either way.

Bike Tubes and Patch Kits:  Mtn bike or Road bike tubes are $6 each.  A patch kit is $4.  Tire levers are another $4.  Sadly, I use all of these on a weekly basis.  Anyone who uses their bike frequently would love you for some of these in their stocking.

Ski Edging Tool:  For keeping the turns crisp and controlled.  Sharpening the edges on your boards, downhill or nordic.  Inexpensive and useful.

Body and Gear repair:  Athletic tape, duct tape, advil.   More a training component than a tool, a massage is a pretty awesome gift.  I recommend Keith Murray at Absolute Nirvana downtown and the folks over at Therapy Solutions (Marc Esposito) who have been trying to keep me healthy and on the trails this year.

Trail measuring Tools:  Nike + chip - synchs with an iPod to measure running distances and pace ($20).  Cats-eye bike computer, uses a wheel magnet to measure speed and distance ($20). 


Socks:  A runner will chew through socks every few months.  A dirtbag runner will continue to run in these socks for several months and complain about blisters and other problems.  A couple pair of $13 running/biking socks make a great stocking gift.

Beer:  Lots of local breweries putting out lots of quality beers these days (Second St. Brewery, Santa Fe Brewing, Marble Brewery, Il Vicino, Monk's Ale, Eske's Brewpub - Taos).  A six-pack or growler of fresh beer cannot go wrong.  For premium or artisan beers head to Whole Foods for a a couple 24oz bombers.  Present gift and stand back as gifted runner/biker/hiker/skier smiles from ear-to-ear.



 

Happy Holidays - get out there and rip it up.