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Observation Point

This past week I visited observation point at Zion National Park

It was a very beautiful day. The rest of my pictures can be found here.

In RAAM’s 31 year history, 462 people have attempted the race. The average finishing rate is just over 50%. This means that at best I have a 50% chance of finishing the race. Right now I would say that number is much lower.

So It Begins

Much is not dared because it seems hard; much seems hard only because it is not dared.

- Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg

I’m pretty sure that RAAM doesn’t seem hard, it is hard, but I’m going to dare it anyway. I’ve surpassed my goal of $20,000, so training for RAAM has officially begun. I’ve gotten an apartment of my own in St. George, so I will no longer be living out of my car or renting the occasional room. I’ll keep you posted on how the training goes.

Pine Creek Canyon

This past week I hiked the Pine Creek slot canyon at Zion National Park. The pictures didn’t turn out the best, but they can be found here.

Kolob Canyon

This past weekend I went for a run in Kolob Canyon. Kolob Canyon is in Zion National Park. Despite being part of Zion, the crowds at Kolob are much smaller. I saw about 14 people during my 14 mile run even though it was the 4th of July weekend. Kolob Canyon has one of the largest free standing arches in the world.

Kolob Arch

The rest of my pictures from the canyon can be found here.

Texas

I went down to Texas this weekend to visit my grandparents. It was a very good time. On the way home I stopped at the Iwo Jima museum in Harlingen, TX. It was interesting to see and some of the volunteers at the museum actually served at Iwo Jima.

Grand Canyon

This past weekend I went to see the grand canyon. My pictures can be found here.

On vacation

After several month of hard work in the Utah wilderness,

I decided to take a vacation. I spent a few days in Leadville where I climbed Mosquito Pass, Mount Sherman and Hope Pass. I am currently in North Dakota visiting my parents for a week.

Hurricane Rim Trail

Here are some pictures from one of my favorite running trails in southern Utah.

Change in plans

I was struggling with figuring out how to pay for RAAM while still having enough time and energy to train for RAAM. Since I don’t buy lottery tickets, I decided to push RAAM off until 2011. I’ve taken a job with a wilderness therapy program for troubled teenagers just north of Saint George. I work 8 days and then have 6 days off. I think I should be able to stay in decent shape that way, because most of the days I am working, I will also be hiking.
In other news, I went mountain biking today with a former pro downhill mountain bike racer. I don’t care how easy someone like says they’ll go or the fact that they haven’t raced in 9 years, I wouldn’t recommend it. I could keep up in the non-technical flats and uphills, but anything downhill or technical (or horrors of horrors, both) and he was gone. The non-technical downhills I would sometime see him riding with no hands, I on the other hand had a death grip on the handlebars. I think my shoulders and hands are the most tired at this moment.