Apologies for another late weekend post … and let’s get
right into things. In honor of the
season, I’m converting the customary weekend fare into a Random Shots of
Christmas:
(click to enlarge)
This one’s a family tradition: a table full of decorated
sugar cookies that my wife spent a full day baking, and all of us spent most of
the evening decorating. Unfortunately,
the “eating” part doesn’t last nearly as long as the preparing part, but we at
least manage to save a few of these to pass around as gifts over the next week
or so.
Longtime readers will recall there’s often some imaginativenonsenseinvolved with my cookie decorating, but this year the creative torch
was passed to our kids, who came up with some pretty clever things …
… such as these, clockwise from top left: a Rastafari
snowman, an apparently quite overweight Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes fame),
Beaker and Dr Bunsen Honeydew (from my 11-year-old Muppet freak). The last one is something called Steve the Minecraft Player, courtesy of my 14-year-old son. No, I didn’t know that one offhand – and the
fact that I have to Google my kid’s Christmas decorations is a sign that I’m
getting either too old or hopelessly out of touch. Probably both.
Thankfully, my kids managed to keep in mind the reason for
all this holiday busy-ness:
As you see in these Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus
cookies. Sure, it’s a beautiful thing –
but I’m already cringing at the inevitable debate in the near future about who
gets to eat Baby Jesus.
**
We also have one order of business to wrap up: announcing
winners of the Injinji sock giveaway contest.
Running Farmer, Jessica (Book of Life), and Maggie Wolff: e-mail me your
contact info – you’re the winners!
Thanks very much to everyone else who entered; normally I’d say to stick
around for the next one … but with the current state of things here, I’m afraid
this is probably the end of the contest posts.
So, um … yeah. I
guess goodbyes are awkward sometimes. I’ll
try not to make a fool of myself over the next couple of weeks – but there’s
probably as much chance of that happening as those cookies making it past
Christmas.
It’s hard to spend any time in Zion National Park and not
start thinking about the Narrows.
You’ll see images and read descriptions of it from pretty
much any informational resource you choose.
You’ll overhear people in the nearby lodges and restaurants talking
about it. And you’ll see passengers on
the Zion Valley bus wearing waders and carrying walking sticks (more on those
later) and automatically know how they’re spending the day.
Zion Narrows; click any photo to enlarge
The Narrows are as iconic to Zion as Half Dome is to
Yosemite – but with practically zero elevation gain and the flexibility of
doing as much or as little mileage you want, it’s far more accessible to the average
Joe Hiker than climbing up some massive bald rock.
Unfortunately, it was also one of the areas I missed on my first pass through the park a couple of years ago – so this time around, with a family
full of kindred souls looking for adventure, I knew which hike would be at the
top of our list.
And just because the adventure is accessible, that doesn’t mean
it’s easy; the challenges of hiking in the Narrows are still formidable, but in
a more unique way than most hikers are typically accustomed to. By the end of the day, your legs will be just
as tired as if you spent a long day climbing and descending on regular trails –
but the memories you keep with you afterwards will be far more distinctive.
But before we talk about the end, we should talk about the
beginning – and at Zion, the starting point for a day hike of the Narrows is a
paved trailhead at the last stop off the public bus line that runs through Zion
Valley.
The paved portion is only one mile long, and is gently
rolling, without anything that really deserves to be called a hill. Basically, it’s an extended warmup walk to
enjoy some nervous chatter, and to take the measure of the river you’ll be
spending the rest of your day wading through.
Before getting to that part, there’s a transition zone of
sorts where you can gear up for entering the river. Prior to our arrival, it was this aspect of
the trip that caused the most uncertainty (and occasional anxiety) for my wife
and me, in that we had no way of knowing what exactly we might need.
Here’s the deal with the Narrows: the hiking route essentially
goes straight through the Virgin River.
Not adjacent, not criss-crossing … but literally walking in the river. Therefore, you’re guaranteed to spend the day
wet – the only question is how much of your body is going to be submerged at
any given time. And when you talk to
people or read reports about the Narrows, you’ll hear about the possibility of waist-deep currents or hidden sinkholes where you risk being completely
submerged.
Accordingly, pretty much every guide to hiking the Narrows –
especially those that are affiliated with one of the local rental shops - will
tell you that you shouldn’t attempt the hike without canyoneering shoes, thick neoprene
socks, drysuit wading pants, and a sturdy walking stick. However, since I’m 1) a minimalist at heart,
and 2) cheap, I wasn’t convinced that shelling out big bucks to outfit everybody
was really necessary.
Truthfully, this assessment wasn’t a complete shot in the dark; with
some advance research, I was able to make a reasonable guess as to what the
water conditions might be like. Zion
uses a USGS water volume measurement of cubic feet per second (CFS) to gauge how
much water the river is carrying on any given day. If the flow is above 120 CFS, the park won’t
issue through-hike permits, and any day under 75 CFS is considered reasonably safe for hiking. On the
mid-October day that we targeted for our outing, the river was a measly 35 CFS.
So we took our chances.
Instead of renting shoes and socks and pants, we wore … something else,
which I’ll indicate shortly. The only essential piece of gear you need is a walking stick …
… and you can most likely save yourself the rental cost and just grab one from the “take a stick, leave a stick” rack that’s just beyond the
transition area. Once you select the size and style you like …
… it’s time to make your way into the river.
When water levels are low, there are portions of the hike
where you can avoid the river via rocky paths along the bank …
… but it won’t be long before your side trails disappear,
and you’ve got nowhere to hide from the water.
Here’s what NOT to use for footwear: a pair of princessy
high-heeled sandals, as the owner of this abandoned pair at river’s edge can
attest to. As for me …
… I went with VIVOBAREFOOT Ultras, which were designed as a hybrid
aqua / land shoe – in other words, exactly the conditions you find in the
Narrows. Eschewing my traditional Vibram
hiking shoes also allowed me to wear merino wool socks, which provide effective
insulation even when wet. Water
temperature in the Virgin River was in the 55 to 60 degree range, so keeping
your toes warm is definitely a priority for this hike.
(As a family, we were evenly split between Merrell Barefoot
and VIVOBAREFOOT – and there’s one more note on footwear coming soon.)
On the subject of keeping warm: as you journey into the
Narrows, you’re not only spending the majority of your time in frigid water,
but the high canyon walls on either side effectively block the sun and keep the
entire route cold …
… so anytime you find a narrow sliver of space where
daylight actually reaches the ground, that’s occasion to stop and soak in some
rays to bring your body temp up just a bit.
The further you go into the canyon, the more the walls seem
to close in on either side of you, and the more surreal the entire scene
becomes. You also gain a heightened
appreciation for the park service’s regulation of this route – because if there
are heavy rains or flash flooding, you’ve got absolutely no place to hide.
Approximately 1.5 miles upriver is a junction for a side
canyon called Orderville; this also marks the beginning of the most famous
section of the Narrows, known as Wall Street.
Also, one final footwear note: if you click to enlarge the
photo above, you’ll notice that the two people pictured are barefoot. They weren’t the only ones we saw with naked feet, and I also
found some people wearing Vibrams. Obviously
this was encouraging for me to witness, and it also completely dispels the notion
that you need specialized shoes to navigate the Narrows.
There are some precautions, however. The slick river rocks cause your footing to constantly
be unsteady, and you often slide unexpectedly from the surface of one rock to
another. Even with a walking stick, bashed
toes are probably inevitable if you go the barefoot or Vibram route. Also, a full day of this kind of unsteady
walking on rocks is a pretty high-demand activity for your feet and especially your ankles, so if you’re a
newbie minimalist, you’re going to have some soreness afterwards.
Inside Wall Street, the river is less than 25 feet wide in
places, and the vertical sandstone walls on either side rise up to 1500 feet
overhead. If you’re a Star Wars freak
like me, you’ll have flashbacks to the trash compactor scene in Episode IV –
and if you’re a normal person, you’ll probably have an overwhelming feeling of
smallness when staring up at the cliffs looming overhead.
When you’re day hiking* the Narrows, the turnaround point is
wherever you make it; a popular turning point is the far end of Wall Street
when the canyon opens up slightly again.
(*As opposed to through-hiking, where you can start at the
far upstream end and hike the entire 12 miles down to the transition area where my
family’s hike started. You need a permit
for through-hiking, but not for day hiking as I’m describing here.)
You also want to budget some extra time on the way back …
… to make a side trip up Orderville Canyon, which is
narrower and has less water flow than the main canyon …
… but has some distinctive features all its own, such as a
couple of low scrambles over logs or rock piles. You can go about a half-mile into Orderville
before day hiking is prohibited (but through-hiking with a permit is OK) …
… and it’s time to turn around and head back through the
main canyon towards the transition area.
By the time you finish the day, your vital stats won’t be
very impressive; the trip described here is probably only 7 miles round trip,
and took us the better part of 6 hours to complete with a few rest and meal
breaks. However, this hike isn’t about
the numbers – it’s about venturing into surroundings that are unlike almost any
other hike you’ll ever do, and taking in one of the best experiences that Zion National
Park has to offer.
There’s a reason people talk about the Narrows so much – and
if you ever get the opportunity, it’s definitely worth spending a day to see
what all the talk is about.
I’m back from Zion this weekend … and as the lack of posts
here this week would indicate, I’m also a little behind on my blogging
schedule.
Accordingly, I’m combining a couple of regular staples – a Random
Shot of Beauty and a giveaway contest – into a single post this weekend. However, the subject matter of each is somewhat related, as I’ll explain shortly. First, our newest RSOB:
Another shot from Zion National Park – this one showing my
family ascending the spine of Angels Landing, one of the park’s most famous
destinations.
As for the giveaway, it’s the first of what may turn out to
be three separate contests from my friends at CLIF Bar. And if you’re wondering what this has to do
with Zion, allow me to explain: Our family did three days of pretty intense
hiking last week, all of which were fueled by CLIF products.
Many of our breakfasts consisted of Builders Bars on the way
to the trailhead, and our lunches each day included some combination of CLIF
Bars and MOJO Bars (and for whatever it’s worth, the mountain mix MOJO flavor
has become my absolute favorite trail snack).
Most importantly, however, was that our energy levels on the trail were
easily maintained thanks to CLIF Bloks – especially for my 8-year-old daughter,
who is the littlest hiker in the photo above, not to mention one of the
youngest we saw in Zion.
I’ve described before how my wife and I have relied on CLIF
blocks to rally our tired little hikers on long treks through Yosemite, and we
employed this strategy again in Zion last week.
Whenever our youngest began to lag behind or get discouraged, a few block-sized
doses of sugar and electrolytes (as well as a half-shot of caffeine) proved to
be the perfect remedy.
Throw in the fact that CLIF products are among the
healthiest snacks you can bring on long road trips, and our family is basically
a bunch of CLIF groupies. But that doesn’t
have anything to do with you or this contest – so let’s get to what’s in this
post for you.
This fall CLIF is doing another installment of its Meet the Moment contest that it first introduced last spring. It’s essentially a photo contest where you
submit an entry that reflects your love of the outdoors, and CLIF donates $5
for each uploaded photo to one of five non-profits dedicated to protecting
outdoor recreation. Visitors to the
website will select the 25 finalists (based on the number of likes and shares –
I believe those are social media terms, yes?), and then a panel of CLIF folks
will choose one winner who will have $10,000 donated in their name to one of
CLIF’s non-profit partners.
It takes about 5 minutes to submit a picture; here’s the one
I did this morning:
(Yes, it's from Leadville - I'm having a hard time moving on.)
But as I said, this contest isn’t about me – it’s about
you. In conjunction with their Meet the
Moment contest, CLIF has agreed to provide a cool prize pack to one of my readers
who submits an entry. I don’t know
exactly what’s in the prize pack, but if CLIF says it’s cool, I believe them.
The instructions for this contest are different than my
usual ones, so here’s what you do to enter: go to CLIF’s Meet the Moment page
and upload your own photo on the site.
Then come back here and leave the URL of your Meet the Moment page in
the comments field, and I’ll pick one of them to receive the prize pack. I’ll pass your contact info along to CLIF, and
they’ll mail your prize pack.
My criteria for choosing the winner doesn’t have anything to
do with likes or shares or anything digital - rather, it will be a purely subjective ruling by Running and
Rambling’s distinguished panel of judges: me, along with the hikers you saw in
the first photo. Score high marks with
us, and enjoy some CLIF love as your reward.
So, to recap: you enter the contest, CLIF makes a donation
to a non-profit of your choosing, and you also have a chance to win a prize pack from
me and a $10,000 donation from CLIF. If
anyone sees a downside to this, I’d love to hear it.
CLIF’s Meet the Moment contest closes on October 31st,
and my own contest winner will be announced the following weekend (November 3
or 4). Remember to copy your contest page URL here in the comments so I can
find them.
Very big thanks to CLIF for sponsoring this contest, and good
luck to everybody!
What my running has lacked in quantity lately - and believe me - there's a lot lacking - it has more than made up in quality; case in point is this weekend's Random Shot of Beauty:
A scene from a sunset 5-miler I took with my 11-year old daughter in Point Lobos State Reserve this week. It occurs to me that I've never done a photo tour of this area, which is one of the most spectacular in all of the Monterey Peninsula. Perhaps some day I will ... but in the meantime, to make up for the past few weekends of Internet silence, here are some bonus shots from the same run.
Low mileage, beautiful scenery, and magic moments with my daughter - this is the kind of training I could really get used to.
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-Luke (Paul Newman), from Cool Hand Luke (video
clip after post)
*
For the past few weeks, doing nothing has been a very cool
hand indeed.
I make it a habit to take a pretty extended training break
after running a 100-miler, and sometimes that promise of extreme laziness is
the only thing that motivates me through periods of extreme fatigue during the
training and racing season.
No writing. Hardly
any running. No ridiculously early alarm
clocks or constantly aching legs or falling asleep at the dinner table. You get the idea. It’s the kind of thing I could get used to –
you know, if I didn’t also happen to gain about 5 pounds per week while doing
so.
It’s actually kind of a good thing that I’m not in training
mode, because here’s where I’m spending the vast majority of my leisure time
lately:
This fall, my wife and I have become bona fide water polo parents - a
distinction that isn’t quite as popular as soccer moms or NASCAR dads, and one
that requires a remarkably high threshold for watching your kid get pounded.
The good news is that I’m really becoming a fan of the sport,
and don’t really mind spending all day watching consecutive games at a
tournament somewhere. The bad news is
that with all the time he’s spent in the pool, my son has developed a much
better tan than me. I thought I’d be OK
with this … but apparently I’m not exactly there yet.
With the number of workouts he’s doing, it may not be long
until he’s a faster swimmer than me as well – so it's probably time for me to start
getting in the water or hitting the trails at least every now and then. Which
means it’s also time to get the blog rolling again as well.
I’ve got some product review posts that are piling up, as
well as the other assorted odds and ends you’re accustomed to finding around
here. I’ll also indulge a couple more backward
glances at last month’s Leadville 100 – starting with my next post, which will
be a responsive effort to answer a variety of questions and comments I received
after my superlong race report.
In between, there may be also be some prolonged periods of nothing …
but rest assured I’m still out there doing something pretty cool.
*
"A Real Cool Hand," scene from Cool Hand Luke (click to play):
-Sly and the Family Stone, “I Want to Take You
Higher” (video after post)
Unlike our last trip to Yosemite, the hike my son and I took
last weekend wasn’t about anything particularly symbolic or epic. Instead, the whole point this time around was
simply to go higher – and perhaps to mimic the Family Stone and have a little
bit of fun in the process.
The idea was hatched shortly after starting our descent from
Half Dome last year, when I pointed out Clouds Rest on the nearby horizon and
told my son that it is usually recognized as the highest point in Yosemite
Valley.* It was an intriguing enough
notion – there’s someplace higher than Half Dome? – that hiking to Clouds Rest
shot to the top of his list for our next Yosemite adventure.
(*This distinction is sometimes debated, on the argument that
Clouds Rest isn’t really part of the Valley, but more properly belongs to the
High Sierra region to the north. You
can access it from both sides, but the northern route we took is the shortest
and most common access point. Either
way, at 9930’, it’s definitely taller than the more iconic Half Dome by more
than 1000 feet.)
So the objective for the day was simple: this year, I wanted
to take my son higher – and with that, we’ll get to the report.
(As usual, click any photo to enlarge.)
In terms of pure elevation, our hike brought us higher than
Half Dome almost from the very beginning.
Our starting point was on the shore of Tenaya Lake at 8,150 feet – and
since it was just barely daybreak, it seemed fitting that the trailhead was
called Sunrise.
Before you set foot on the main trail, you cross an outlet
stream from the lake. Depending on the
time of year and the amount of snowfall the previous winter, this can sometimes
be a thigh-deep crossing; thanks to a light snow year, we didn’t have any
problem keeping our feet dry.
Once you’re on the official trail, it’s just over 7 miles to
the summit, making the entire hike a nearly 15-mile day. At first the distance comes easy …
… because the trail is generally flat and rolling for the
first mile and a half or so …
… before you start slowly gaining altitude on some early
switchbacks.
The elevation gain is hard to appreciate at first, until you
get brief glimpses of neighboring summits such as this one of Tuolumne Peak in
the distance.
Before long, however, the climbing is a serious kick in the
teeth; over the next mile, a series of super-technical switchbacks lift you
more than 1000 vertical feet; in both directions, this is definitely the most
challenging part of the hike.
After the switchbacks, the trail levels off at a crossroads
at nearly 9100’. From here, you have the
option of turning towards an area called Sunrise Lakes …
… or giving some of your elevation back to follow the trail
downward on the path to Clouds Rest.
After descending for about a half-mile, the trail levels off
and meanders through a pleasant High Sierra valley, complete with a tranquil
little mountain pond …
… but soon enough, the trail turns upward again for the last
2-mile stretch to the summit.
The interesting thing about hiking to Clouds Rest is that for
the vast majority of your time on the trail, you can’t really see your
destination. Even when you finally glimpse it, it’s little more than a sliver rising above the tree line.
On the other hand, the views of nearby peaks get better and
better, such as this one of Mount Clark to the south.
Continuing upward, the trees get a bit thinner …
… and the views get a bit more amazing. If you look closely, our starting point of
Tenaya Lake is a blue dot at right-center in the photo above.
A few hundred feet below the summit, there’s one last level stretch to catch your breath a bit …
… before venturing up the final foot path to the top of
Clouds Rest. The final ridge is one of
those mind over matter things; it’s roughly as wide as a single-lane road,
which would normally be plenty of space to maneuver …
… if it weren’t for the fact that the ridge is completely
exposed on both sides, as this view from the top illustrates.
In other words, if you have issues with heights, this might
not be the place for you. My son wasn’t
quite as skittish on this climb as he was on the Half Dome cables, but on more
than a few occasions he dropped into a crab walk for the reassurance of two
more points of contact on the rock.
Clouds Rest has something of a false summit – and after
cresting the first one, a very familiar sight emerges. Or as my son discovered, Hey – that’s Half
Dome down there! Notice that he wasn’t
excited enough to completely let go of the rock, however.
At that point, it’s just a short scramble to the true summit
of Clouds Rest, where even more spectacular sights awaited us.
The most compelling one, of course, is looking down into the
entire Yosemite Valley, with its massive granite icons appearing as if
in miniature from our lofty vantage point.
However, the views were almost equally impressive in all directions,
such as this one to the south …
… or this one to the east …
… or this one to the north, where it seemed like an ideal spot to have a little bit of fun. Boom
laka-laka-laka.
The two of us spent about 45 minutes alone on top of the
rock, snacking on trail mix (and feeding some local fauna) and wondering if
there was anyplace else with a view as awesome as this one. Between the two of us, we couldn’t come up
with many possibilities. Even though
they’re not especially instructional, these are usually my favorite kinds of
conversations with my son.
However, we still had half of our hiking to go, and the day
was getting warm, so we took in one last glance of the iconic mountain behind us
…
… and made our way back down the narrow ridge in front of
us.To this point, we hadn’t seen a
single soul on the trail – but after we descended from the summit, we finally
started encountering hikers coming up behind us.
And then a funny thing happened – or as I told my son, Hey,
I know this girl!
It was Catra, a sweet-as-pie and tough-as-nails (and honestly,
a pretty easy to spot) ultrarunner who was getting in some last minute
preparation for Western States this weekend.
Seriously. She was making great
time, but paused for long enough to take a picture before powering her way to
the top.
Meanwhile, my son and I made our way back down the hill, plodding
through steep switchbacks, sweltering heat, and the increasing leg soreness of
a long day, until finally …
… we returned to our starting point at Tenaya Lake. Speaking of which: can you think of anything
more inviting at the end of a long, hot day on the trail than plunging into a
beautiful alpine lake?
Me neither. One thing
about these mountain bathtubs, though: the faucet’s always stuck on cold.
After a few minutes of rinsing, all that was left to do was dry
off on a nearby rock before climbing into the car to head home. A few miles down the road, we found a cool
spot to pull over and see exactly where we had been …
… and to appreciate just how high we had gone. Perhaps the most telling thing I can say about
Yosemite is that every time my son and I come here, I wonder if our experience
will be as impressive or rewarding as the time before – and every single time,
Yosemite delivers.
*
Sly and the Family Stone, “I Want to Take You Higher” (click
to play):
*See other photo tours under tab at top of page.
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