Adventures in Onionism

I did my first rogaine a weekend or so ago, and I guess I won. [See results . Also, editorial note: Read what the hell a rogaine is . Then come back.] If you want to hear it from me instead of Wikipedia, it's an endurance orienteering event where you get to pick your route to numerous assigned locations with different point values to maximize your score within the allotted time. The event was held in Sierra National Forest a few miles east of Shaver Lake. Shaver Lake is on HWY 168 east of Fresno on your way up to Lake Edison or Florence Lake. To me it's a bit of a shame to drive up HWY 168 and stop so far from the high country that lies beyond, but it was still reasonably pretty terrain if you ignore the fact that California is a giant fireball waiting to happen. Seriously, do you remember that one time you were planning to go camping and have a campfire, and you set up camp, only you realized you forgot the firewood, but then realized that a previous camper left a old dead...

As a general rule. Which is why I typically don't go out of my way to organize group, or even pair running or camping events, but I just did two in a row, and they were great. Maybe even three if you count AC, and maybe four if my orienteering (Rogaine) race with a partner next week comes off. And then Amy and I are traveling the weekend after that, so I guess I'm a regular socialite. Forget those decades of self-proclaimed misanthropy, you were misinformed, dear reader. Anyway, Steve-o is going off to intern at the White House Council of Economic Advisors. Fancy! So we went camping. He held up quite respectably for a non-runner. Which is to say we hiked 26 miles on Saturday, mostly together except for a few at the end. Sunday we split up and I ran 24 more, while he did a short hike on his own. Saturday was in the eastern portion of Carson-Iceberg, up Wolf Creek and down the Carson River. Wolf Creek was only OK, but the High Trail above the Carson had some pretty great view...

I finally ran Angeles Crest 100. It's close, and it's been around for a long time, so it's a bit unclear why I hadn't run it before. Maybe because I don't like Southern California very much? More likely because several years ago they moved the date from late September to early August to try and beat fire season (and instead guarantee that it will be uncomfortably hot). Also, the race director has some very poor policies that clearly seem like they're designed to maximize profit--the race signup takes place the day after the previous year's race, with no refunds, no waitlist, and almost no experience requirement for signing up. All these lead to a very high (something like a one-third) do not start ratio, and a very high do not finish ratio as well. Do not starts=free money! To make matters worse, this year the race was kicked out of the Pleasant View Ridge wilderness. Part of Angeles National Forest was turned into wilderness in 2009. Commercial events suc...

I worked from Florida for a week. One day of that wasn't exactly my work, but rather Amy's, as we had to go to the field and count mangrove seedlings. Mostly I sat in the canoe reading The Cartel , which I guess was exciting, but wasn't that good. I don't think I read enough to read entertaining stuff that isn't good literature. Or maybe it's just that the trash I prefer reading is travel narratives instead of crime novels. Yes, that's probably it. Daytrip to the field Gatorade should sponsor Amy's research Lots of weird flavorings, like the PB+J Amber. Not exactly my favorite. But they've improved the seating and space since last time.  We did some tubing down the Santa Fe river, stopped at a small state park on the way home, and saw four baby armadillos. We also saw Jason Bourne , which was somewhere between average and terrible. Spy movies should focus on one specific spy threat, not the larger issue of whether ...

I ran the Ruby Crest in Nevada in June. I've been hearing about a couple trails in Nevada for the last few years: the Ruby Crest and the Toiyabe Crest . 35 and 70-mile long National Recreational Trails, built by the CCC during the Great Depression, and supposedly still hikeable. Having hiked some epic CCC trails, and with the word "Crest" in the name, I was pretty excited to do the Rubies. It was a very nice run, but it wasn't as great as I'd hoped. Maintenance on the trail is poor (but does appear to happen on rare occasions) so it wasn't too hard to follow, but long chunks, especially in the southern portion, aren't necessarily run-able with the overgrowth. I also didn't think the trail was particularly crest-y, in that it didn't really seem to follow the ridgeline. The northern half is definitely scenic, with high alpine lakes.  The trail is worth hiking, but I probably wouldn't go too far out of your way to do it. Yep, G...