April/May in Tucson

This is something of a photo dump from the past couple of months in southern Arizona.  We have enjoyed ourselves, it's now getting hot and almost time to skedaddle for the summer.

One of my favorite murals in Tucson:

Tie-dye art project at John's work picnic:

I've tried to make a point of getting pictures of the desert flowers this spring.  "Flower season" lasts months, with different varieties blooming at different times.  Mostly not an instant explosion, but a gradual change of colors and shapes over time.

Ocotillo is one of the prettiest, in my opinion, from the long green stems (that are brown the rest of the year) to the bright red tips:

I don't know what most of the flowers are called (including these), but I do know that this is a view of the Catalina Mountain skyline from The Loop trail on the north side of town:

I believe this is a Palo Verde tree, back in April when they were in bloom.  Plus of course Tug-E, at a Rivian charger on our way to an adventure race:

The Phoenix orienteering club put on a 12-hour event at Alamo Lake, way out in the middle of nowhere.  It was worth the drive - very pretty, interesting terrain, and wild burros to keep us company!

The race itself was a tad on the warm side, so it turned into an excellent heat acclimation day.  John did the adventure race version (bike, packraft, and on foot) while I happily took the all-on-foot option.  In both cases we could get as many (or few) of the checkpoints as we wanted.  We both took advantage of most of the 12 hours to cover most of the course and enjoyed the heck out of the experience.

Back in Tucson, I happened to spot this little guy during one of my runs on the Robles park trails:

Also some lovely cactus flowers:

John and I did a "key swap" hike/run where he started on one end and I started on the other.  We both got to see the Finger Rock and Ventana trails, while I detoured to the top of Kimball and he went to check out the Window instead.  Fun day and the snow was finally gone from on high (at the end of April).

Along the way - pretty flowers:

John's version of The Window, along with The Bagel:

Back down in the low country, two Rivians at Trader Joe's, gotta love all of those things:

One of my favorite saguaros on my local trails:

Cholla flowers of different colors:

The Caris Mirror Lab tour!  It's back on and we were excited to get it booked.  The university creates and polishes gigantic mirrors for giant telescopes, quite a huge and exacting undertaking.

If you're ever in Tucson, I highly recommend looking into the tour.  Lots to learn and you get to see the process from inside the giant addition to the Wildcat Stadium.  Super cool.

Another trip into the Catalinas - John getting ready to trek up to Window Peak and then down to Sabino Canyon (where I did the Bear Canyon Loop).  If you know where to look, the "finger" of Finger Rock trail is almost visible on the horizon:

A photo from John from the top of Window Peak:

Someday he'll make it over to the top of Cathedral (I'm not committed to the fixed rope climb there, at least not yet):

And back to the desert trails, where the saguaros are blooming, yay!  It's hard to get a close-up of the flowers while still showing the entire cactus, but you get the idea:

Ah yes, a weekend in Phoenix.  I decided to run a night version of a 50k as a way to get some ultra training without quite as much heat training at the same time.  Aravaipa has a series of races that start in the evening, that's perfect.  I got to race in McDowell Mountain Park for the first time, another plus.  It seemed to go pretty well, a bit slower than prior 50k's (I blame the darkness, maybe?), and with views of a wildfire in the distance that was thankfully blowing smoke away from us instead of in our direction.

Bringing my drop bag across the finish line at the end of my last lap:

The next morning it would have been nice to sleep in, but I made the mistake of booking a tour at Taliesin West.  We've been wanting to see it for a while now, and afternoon heat suggested it made sense to start on the earlier side.

We did thoroughly enjoy it, and we weren't even too hot or sleepy.

Wonderful shapes and architecture (and stories about Frank Lloyd Wright):

They even gave us umbrellas to keep the sun off, that worked well and made for a fun selfie:

Back to Tucson, where I have no idea what this is but it sure is interesting:

Last weekend (almost caught up now!) I attempted the Tucson Eastern Skyline Traverse (TEST) FKT.  I wasn't sure how far I'd get, mostly looking for some good training and interested in seeing some new trails.  John came with me to the east side of Mica/Rincon and took a picture at the start:

We climbed together to the first saddle (I called it "Mi-Con saddle" even though it's officially called Happy Valley or something).  I'm pretty sure he wasn't as tired as this pose suggests, at least not until later in the day:

I turned left to head toward Rincon Peak - hello Rincon!

One (hard to see) comment in the register made me laugh: "3 miles my ass".  Yes, it's quite a steep and slow climb up from the saddle!

At the Rincon summit looking over toward Mica, still with the tag sticking out the back of my hat...

Keeping on the "flower" theme:

I went back to the saddle and started up the other side, new trail for us!  John was already up in the Mica area, treating water at Manning Camp to stash for me on my route.  Now THAT is one Super Crew Man!

We both were taken by these stairs leading up to the ridge, so well-constructed (maybe by the CCC?):

John went past the Devil's Bathtub and got a neat picture of it.  We should return when water is flowing:

Another of John's photos, this one at Manning Camp (maybe you can rent a tent?)

Hello husband, happy to see you!  We did a quick status update before I continued upward and he started back toward the truck.  Thank you John, I love you this much  :)

A view back toward Rincon Peak from the Mica trail system:

This is apparently called Man Head, I wonder why...

Yay for the top of Mica Mountain!

I was making good time, and the timing was good because the sun was getting lower as I dropped elevation.  We escaped the heat that day, thankfully.  I even had some longer shadows to shade me as I descended to Cowhead Saddle and then went up the ridge and over to the top of Tanque Verde, another new spot for me:

That rock behind me was notable for the number of ladybugs hiding out in the shade, wowzah:

Little cactus flowers:

Nice view of Mica on my way back to the saddle:

And it's getting darker and cooler as I come down to the lower trails in Saguaro National Park East.  Looking back at Mica one last time:

I took the trail past Ernie's Falls and then did a short (but thorny) bushwhack down to the creek.  John met me at Redington Road with a report that there was an area closure unexpectedly blocking our way.

Hmm, no camping where we wanted to camp, no taking the next route I wanted to take (based on a couple scouting expeditions in the next off-trail section)... what to do?  We decided to head home to sleep, and on the way I decided I had gotten plenty of great training.  No need to try to force anything, which would have meant extra driving, less sleep, worse bushwhacking, and probably being out there a lot longer into Sunday.  Another time, perhaps!

And finally (finally!) some pictures from my run today.

I see roadrunners all the time, they are so cool to watch, and I haven't been able to get a decent photo.  Here's the next best thing, a tribute to modern day dinosaurs:

This looks like an old sign but it still fits (Go Solar!)

One of the stranger pieces of yard art I've come across recently:

And the story it's reading:

"The End of the Chapter" - an appropriate way to finish this post.  Thanks for sticking with me all the way to the end!

Don't Run Boston again

I've done the "Don't Run Boston" race a few times and I freely admit that it's one of my favorite events.  Trail running, navigation, views of Boston while spending time in the woods, and a chance to briefly experience the city on marathon weekend.  It keeps calling me back.  Last year's 50K with Taylor was so much fun, I was even more inspired to come back and try the 50-mile version again.

Of course, when there's an eclipse in the area only a week beforehand, that's an obvious link-up in the travel arrangements!

I had a day to spare, so I decided to visit the JFK library just south of Boston.  It has a nice combination of history, politics, science, and Kennedy's Boston accent on the TV screens.  An excellent choice for a morning stroll.

View of a presidential campaign rally on one of those TV screens:

This picture has a bunch of things that I recognize - a hand mixer, Etch-a-Sketch, the game of Life - and a few things that are slightly before my time:

Looks like all-electric cooking was a "thing" in the 60's:

I did not expect to see a coconut.  It turns out JFK was in the Navy during WWII and his PT boat was sunk by a destroyer.  He and his crew swam to an island, found some locals, and inscribed a message on a coconut for one of them to deliver.  That was enough to get them rescued.  A story I did not know!

More election coverage:

A few states have switched colors in the years since this election map!

Hey, it's cellist Pablo Casals on a visit to the White House!  I learned about him while we were scouting for an urban race in Puerto Rico:

A political cartoon caught my eye...

...when I noticed the phrase "Boston Strong" on the little sign - I guess that has been a local characteristic since well before the marathon bombing;

Of course my favorite section related to the Space Race:

"We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard"  (or more accurately, "hahd")

Ah, another excellent topic - the Peace Corps.  I wouldn't exist if it weren't for that program, because that's where my parents met (in Afghanistan).  So thank you for that, Mr. President!

A Peace Corp recruitment poster:

A piece of the Berlin Wall, with the west side facing front and the blank east side shown in the mirror (untouched because people on that side were not allowed near it during the Cold War):

The requisite replica of the Oval Office, with a photo of the actual office in the background:

Here's the view of the city skyline from inside the library, calling to me to take a walk along the water:

Duck!

Looking back at the large building that houses the JFK library:

Happy to be in the sunshine, with an excellent forecast for race day tomorrow:

I briefly considered trying for a ticket to the Red Sox game that evening, but it didn't seem (quite) prudent to stay up past my bedtime the night before a race.  Maybe another time.

On to the topic of this blog post, the actual race!  I don't have any photos for this one, just a short report.

The weather was fantastically awesome.  Cool the whole day, starting sunny then cloudy then drizzly.  Most of the rockiest sections (early in the day) were dry.  There had been plenty of rain in recent days, so the trail had some puddles here and there.  And one pond crossing in the later miles.  Overall everything was in excellent shape and I had a lovely time running and trekking.

It has been interesting watching the progression of technology in this, the event with no race markings.  The concept of navigating for yourself is a big draw for me, so I'll always carry and refer to the maps.  Right at the start, a group ahead of me almost missed the first turn, so I wasn't sure just how scattered the field would get.  Then I never saw anyone get lost (not to say it didn't happen), but I suspect more runners these days are downloading the gpx track onto their phones and following along on their wrist.  More power to y'all - but I'm sticking with "old school" because that's why I'm there.  Way more fun (my version of fun)!

I fixed a few of my nav issues from last year (thank you again to Taylor for her patience with my wrong turns!) and even fixed a long-standing problem I've had in the final 13 miles (the way down from the overlook).  Finally!  Just one spot remaining that needs some work (getting back to that same road from a different direction, oddly enough).  I was very pleased.

My legs did really well.  It was good training for upcoming races.  The current race cutoff time doesn't allow for much slow-down from my previous efforts.  I managed to match my first DRB time from 13 years ago, to the minute actually.  Again, very pleased.

I had only one misstep (which is also on par with previous experiences here).  The blue Skyline Trail has the bulk of the rocky, technical parts.  I was picking my way down one of them when I met some hikers who asked if I was trail running?  Well, not at that moment, but in general, yes, I was.  They told me I was smart to take it easy on the tricky downhill.

Yes, smart, I try to be smart (or "smaht").  Apparently not smart enough, because not 10 minutes later I tripped over something, my water bottle went flying, and I rolled to the side of the trail.  Let's see, no major injuries, just a slightly scraped knee and a bruised palm (and a cramping calf that didn't appreciate the rapid change of direction).  That slowed me down for the next several miles (taking it even more carefully) but otherwise, no problem.

It reminded me of a previous bloody knee at DRB (again from a Skyline stumble).  Way more people noticed that one.  That was the first time I heard the term "digga", from a guy I assume was a local.  As in, "I see you took a digga!"

The previously-mentioned pond crossing was a surprise.  It's a trail that goes between two ponds, except the trail was under a couple inches of water.  OK, just slog on through!  Then around to the other side where there was a footbridge... which was also under water.  At least this was within a few miles of the finish.

The volunteers at the one aid station (that we visited 3 times) and the pond (came by twice plus the finish) were wonderful.  The whole event is low-key and well run.  Major thank you to Howie for continuing to put it on over the years.

To close this out, a picture from the airplane - I think Niagara Falls is down there somewhere:

Yay for Boston and a wonderful trip to the Northeast!