Training Log Archive: JanetT

Preemptive note so I don't get nagged by AP tomorrow. I'm going to do some errands and will have a few quick trips between the car and some stores. Will try to not freeze to the pavement.

In other news, the ice block surface (a good 2" thick, partly in shade on the north/approach side of the house) of our driveway will take some lengthy melting to get rid of. I'm not looking forward to Monday's snow (even if its only a couple of inches) which will disguise the ice underneath. Ready for spring!

Recovery day, but we spent it walking on the Strip in Las Vegas, from Bellagio as far as Treasure Island, and then back to the Paris Casino across the street from Bellagio (free parking garages at most casinos, because they want you to come in and spend money either at the casinos or in the restaurants or stores). Inflated prices all over ($3.80 for a tall coffee at Starbucks????). We popped into the casinos to see how they differed (not much as far as games and tables, but some were nicer inside than others). Lots of smoking and drinking going on inside as well as on the street.

The Venetian was interesting, with both outdoor and indoor gondoliers--the indoor "canal" was on the second floor! (No, we didn't take a ride.) The indoor canal was surrounded by shops and places designed to look like Venice, and the ceiling was painted like the sky for an illusion of being outdoors. There was a small group doing a mini-opera on a stage, and the gondoliers sang to their fares at some point as well.

From 2014-LasVegasStrip

Lots of folks hawking "girls" by handing out cards with "alluring" images (most of which we saw scattered on the sidewalk). There were also trucks with billboards on their sides also advertising girls or hot babes. We didn't take in a show; the one I was most interested in only ran Monday through Thursday.

Dinner under the "Eiffel Tower" at Mon Ami Gabi's was tasty and we were close enough to the street to see a fountain show across the street in front of Bellagio. Some of those fountains shoot the water up really high!

From 2014-LasVegasStrip

We probably traveled three miles by the time we did all the up and down the Strip and ins and outs of the casinos.

From 2014-LasVegasStrip

Event: Go Wild! Valley of Fire 3 hr, 6 hr
 

Valley of Fire Rogaine presented by Rex Winterbottom / Terraloco. Temps in 60s and abundant sunshine.

Magnetic North-adjusted USGS topo map at 1:15000, contour interval 10m, which doesn't capture much of the incredible detail in this state park northeast of Las Vegas (my comparison is Veedauwoo on steroids). We were warned ahead of time that the washes (mapped as "streams") were usually the most dependable passable route, but one let us down and we ended up bypassing the control then skipping it completely. And we spent more time than we probably should have on a high-point control which we never found. Another mixed team did find it by taking a different route and beat us by its point value...ah well.

From 2014-Valley-of-Fire-NavRace

For excitement, we traversed a super-tight slot where we had to remove our Camelbaks to pass through, several scary descents, and survived one tumble by me which also involved a rolling boulder. I apparently knocked it loose, lost my balance and rolled, landing with my head below my legs in an amazingly soft and non-pokey bush on the hillside so took some time getting up. Glen, who was ahead of me, said he turned and saw me falling and the boulder rolling and thought the worst, but fortunately all I have to show for it is a couple of scrapes and bruises and several new holes and tears in the seat of my favorite rogaining pants. My guardian angels were busy today. :-)

From 2014-Valley-of-Fire-NavRace

We finished up by climbing a 6 or 7 contour small peak visible from start/finish where the value was small but the view incredible (light colored peak in the right-center background of the photo above). We got 425 of a possible 1400 pts and missed 150 more that we attempted. Vlad (tundra/desert) won with 1000 points.

From 2014-Valley-of-Fire-NavRace

Will update time when I download my watch (which lost satellites a couple of times). UPDATED.

Distance from my watch (which lost signals) is 13.612 km; Glen recorded 14.2 km. Climb is what the FR calculated from my data.

Other pics from the Rogaine

C • Wow! 7

A last jaunt along the rim trail at Grand Canyon, looking at the rock samples from all the layers, along the Trail of Time between the Village and the Geology Museum. We took the shuttle back from main visitor center to where our car was parked.

Time to drive and rest up for the Valley of Fire.

Short trip down the easy part of Bright Angel Trail to the first bend past the first tunnel. Saw a mule trip team start just ahead of us and then pause on the opposite side of the reentrant before continuing. Lots of folks hiking...I can't imagine the zoo this must be in summer months.

The view from the top...

From 2014-GrandCanyon

From Visitor's Center parking to Geology Museum to see the exhibits and listen to a ranger talk. Exhibits were interesting but ranger droned on.

After driving along the rim west of GC Village we hiked from Hermit's Rest back to Pima Pt taking the older non-paved (and occasionally gnarly) rim trail on the way out. The newer trail is multiuse (bicycles allowed) and paved and not as exciting or scenic.

Had my GoreTex short winter boots on, mostly to keep my feet warm (temps ranged from mid 20s to 40 F by my estimate), which are sturdy for hiking but tough on my soles. Good thing tomorrow is a rest/travel day.

At the big ditch of the Colorado. Hiking tomorrow, maybe? Or just walking along the rim. High of 44 predicted, so coldest weather since we got to AZ.

Pew research quiz on science

I'm relieved that I got all 13 questions correct. Guess I've paid enough attention to these things (and/or remembered correctly from high school).

In Sedona, we hiked from the parking area (recently paved?) just off Dry Creek Rd along the jeep road to the trailhead for Devils Bridge, up to the arch and back, and then returned via Stagecoach Trail. I left my FR in the hotel room so distance is from Glen's.

Temps in the 60s and gorgeous blue skies with just a scattering of clouds. Worth the time to climb up to the bridge (50' above the bottom of the arch, probably 125' long, and maybe 6-8' wide at the narrowest point). Glad we went earlier as the trail kept getting busier as we returned.

FR track from Glen's log

From 2014-Sedona

Another hike in Sedona, after a refreshing Starbucks frappuccino. This one was on the Broken Arrow singletrack bike trail to Chicken Point. All sorts of Pink Jeep tours were on the parallel-ish jeep road that also terminated at Chicken Point which overlooks the valley to the south. Neat singletrack with lots of vegetation to keep us cool (Arizona holly, prickly pear, mesquite, manzanita(?), and junipers), occasionally crossing open slickrock areas. Stopped to look at the Devil's Dining Room sinkhole along the way, said to be 60-90' deep (til you hit rubble) and about 30' across. We didn't take the side trail to Submarine Rock, a large and long open rock area, which we could see from some of the open areas on our route.

FR track from Glen's log

From 2014-Sedona

Stopped to see Montezuma's Castle National Monument on the way to Sedona. Pueblo cliff dwellings, occupied from ~1000-1400. No entry fee due to the federal holiday. :-). Lots of folks there. We also went to see Montezuma's Well. Montezuma was nowhere near either place; the folks who named the locations were extrapolating.

"Classic" green course at Catalina SP, nominal distance 3.9 km

If I'd been ready a bit sooner I could have started before a group of JROTC kids and their leader all going out on Green. As it was I only saw a few of them. They did not cause my one big error; that was all my own fault for losing focus. Instead of climbing to a saddle I saw some clear running in a reentrant, nevermind it wasn't going in the right direction. Lost about 6 minutes based on Clare's and Marg Ellis's times.

Did well on all the others including some requiring bearing across a wash...I paid attention to the north lines today (except on number 6). :-/

Event: Catalina State Park
 

Green course, nominally 4.5 km, at Catalina State Park. Did pretty well considering I never noticed the north lines weren't parallel to the side of the paper. Glen pointed the north lines out later. I don't remember the course notes mentioning the non-standard angle either.

The legs requiring bearing more than terrain reading are the ones that I missed, to the right each time. I didn't lose more than a minute or so on each one. I'll have to double check that tomorrow.

Encountered prickly pear spines early on (just like last year) and was more careful after that. I'm still picking out the remnants; it's Arizona barberry. :-) No cholla encounters yet. Took it slow on the rocky descents too.

Results

Splits

From 2014-Sedona

We actually walked more than this, and took the tour of several of the hangars (listened to a volunteer docent talk about and tell stories about some of the planes there) at the Pima Air and Space Museum near Davis Monthan Air Force Base, but this is the part where my watch was on; turned it off when I got a "low battery" message. :-) I think we were at the museum about 5 hours total including lunch (mmmm, almost-hockey-puck cheezburger).

My favorite aircraft at the museum was the Blackbird --

From 2014-Tucson

Resting our feet today. We drove up Mt. Lemmon instead of hikng and stopped at overlooks along the way. We'd done this on our first visit to Tucson a few years ago so no need to take scenery pics. Temp varied from 82 at Sabino Canyon after we descended, to 57 at the ski area near Mt Lemmon. Not much snow on the ski trails though you could take the ski lift to the top if you wanted to. We passed. Summerhaven hillsides still pretty bare 11 years after the big fire there.

From 2014-Tucson

Sabino Canyon hike with Glen. Tired about halfway through, but it's not like I've done much exercise in the past month. Time to get back into it, and mid 70s temps don't hurt. ;-)

Now if I could just ditch this cold for good. Thought it was almost gone, but the airplane flight might have set me back a bit.

Another short hike, up to the Sabino Dam overlook and back, while Glen ran trails. He passed me on the way back to the car. I was at the overlook just in time to see him cross below the dam.

From 2014-Tucson

Might get some exercise walking in airports today.

I hope the weather cooperates with our plans for the next few weeks. Let it snow in the Sierras, not in the East.

C • not off to a good start? 4