Adventures in Onionism

I'm in Fairbanks. I watched Sirāt on the airplane. Holy shit it's good. I'm at the hostel close to the airport. I've got 30 hours to buy cheese (I'm only vegetarian on trail), Fritos, a water bottle, camping fuel, bear spray, a pen, and a pad to sit on.  The snowpack reading is down to 6 inches!      

Woohoo, the snowpack measurement is down to 8". Snowpack data: https://www.weather.gov/aprfc/snow_depth I used temp and precipitation data from the Alaska Climate Research Center to help me decide between June and August: https://akclimate.org/data/air-temperature-normals/ I look at Sentinel-2 satellite imagery via a pro paid subscription to CalTopo.com: "Imagery from the Sentinel-2 satellite covers the entire earth from the same viewing angle every 5 days with a 10-m horizontal resolution. The date that the image was taken is displayed on the raw image, although you may have to zoom out a bit or pan around to find it. We license this layer and don’t know precisely when the next image in your area will be taken, but it is typically within 5 days." Googling reveals...

After much deliberation I am headed back to Alaska. I am sad to miss Western States (Jim, Killian, and Zack running an hour from where I used to live? That will never happen again.) But it's probably better to have my own adventure than to spectate someone else's (even if I've admired them for ten-plus years, watching as the sport grew exponentially.)  I initially planned to go to Alaska last week, but there was a late snow storm that took the snowpack in the Brooks Range from below-average to above-record. It's mostly gone now (10" at Atigun Pass as of this morning) but ideally it would be *completely* gone. The data station at Atigun Pass is at 4750 feet or so. About 10% of my route is higher than that. I could stay lower by staying further south, but that is likely to be super brushy, gnarly bushwhacking.  I considered delaying to August, but August is typically rainier, has less daylight (everything has less daylight compar...

The second morning Second Sunrise   Despite my having hated every minute of the Massanutten 100 the first time I ran it in 2019, I ran it again this May. The price and logistical ease made it too easy to sign up for. Plus it's put on by VHTRC and I'm starting to get to know more people in the club, so I knew I'd see friendly faces at aid stations. I enjoyed the first 50 miles, running them in 12 and a half hours. Then my feet got wet and completely macerated when my absurdly expensive shoes didn't dry out and it took me 20 hours of figuratively stepping on Legos barefoot to finish the second half. I took an hour and ten minutes off my 2019 team, but I wouldn't consider my time "good." I've got a better time in me, so I guess I'll be back again in a few years. I'm off to the Brooks Range with Nano on Sunday. The snowpack at Atigun Pass isn't melting like I need it to, which is concerning. Here's hoping that 24 hours of sunlight does its ...

[I started writing this post two months ago am only finishing it now. My foot still hurts a little, but I'm still running.]  Greetings from the couch, dear reader. I have a sore throat, and I am a little worried that I have a stress fracture in my foot. I am icing it and wearing a boot, and I made an appointment with the podiatrist (but that's two months out, so I expect the situation will have changed by then.) How did this happen?  The short version is: I ran a lot.  The long version is: I ran Hashawha Hills 50K Feb 28 (see my previous blog entry), Elizabeth Furnace 50K March 14, Hone Quarry 40-miler March 28, and Gorge Waterfalls 100K April 11. The full-length version is: Elizabeth Furnace 50K was a nice VHTRC fatass. I got a ride out there with H & N. I started out at the very front--the instant I pulled up my shorts from a poop in the woods that happened to be in the direction of the course, people ran by me--I guess we're going! Obviously that didn't last long...

Running has been hard this winter. The snowcrete storm at the end of January was followed by nine days with temps not getting above freezing. Trail running required traction devices so I got my screw shoes out of the closet, and eagerly scanned social media and run-group e-mails as we reported on trail conditions and road plowing updates. It reduced my mileage by maybe 20 miles one week and 10 another. Not that bad, but it took a lot of mental energy and reduced quality runs waiting to pass people on single-shovel width sidewalk paths and constantly scanning for ice. I had plans to go run The Wild Oak Trail (Cold TWOT) President's Day Weekend, but the event was cancelled due to snow conditions. I also was stressed by almost getting off the wait list at the last minute for an event in Tennessee which I hadn't planned for. At the last minute since both of those were out, I decided to keep the rental car and dogsitter I had arranged and go to Shenandoah National Park and work on m...