May Runs

Pocatello:

We did a 12.5 miler in the Pocatello foothills. Mason and Bailey were speedy, so they were off ahead on their own, Matt rode his bike on his own, and Carney, Jenn, Mark, and I ran together. It was a beautiful, blue sky, sunny day. I've really been enjoying the Pocatello area for spring running this year.

Jenn, Matt, Bailey, Mason, Mark, Carney, Tricia

The 'top' of  the Over the Top trail.

Stinking Springs Cains:

Dan took Jenn and I up the Sidewinder trail to show us the big cairn that's up there. I can't believe I've done that trail so many times, and never noticed it. Now that I know it's there, it's impossible not to see. We left the cairn and bush-wacked  our way to the ATV road. On the way down, Dan looked up another hill and thought he saw another cairn. I thought for sure it was just a tree or bush. We decided to go check it out, and sure enough it was another big one. On our way down from that one, we found a third one, that was half knocked over. Now that we know it's up there, we can work on rebuilding it. We had a beautiful full moon on one side, and the sun coming up on the other side. Beautiful morning for an adventure.

This is the little tiny cairn at the second bench on the way up Sidewinder. It looked cool with the full moon.

You can see the big cairn on the top of the hill. Ive run this trail so many times, and must have just thought it was a bush or tree.

The big cairn that is now named 'Big Stinky' because of it's location.

It's so tall!

The second cairn we found. This one is 'Stinky #2'.

This one is pretty tall too, but not quite as grand as the first one.

Jenn, Dan, and Tricia

The final cairn. We need to work on this one a bit, but it has great potential. It would be fun to know the backstory behind all of these.

Gibson Jack-Sterling Justice-City Creek:

This is my new favorite trail in Pocatello! If you want to run on the side of green mountains surrounded by yellow wildflowers, then do this trail in the spring. We ran 12 miles from the Gibson Jack trailhead to City Creek, and then turned around and went back for a total of 24 miles. It never got old. I loved the trail the whole way!

Full moon as we started out.

Jenn-Tricia-Mark-Steph

The yellow wildflowers were amazing!

There was a cute little ski swing in a grove of trees along the trail.

This is what we ran through most of the way!

Mark

Tricia

I love that I always have an adventure buddy!

On our way back.

Sidewinder to Overlook:

Jenn, Steph, and I got up early one morning and did the Sidewinder trail, up to the overlook, and back down. We chit chatted, and could care less how fast or slow we went. It was just what I needed; a beautiful, overcast, relaxing morning to relieve stress. We covered 11 miles before most people were out of bed.

Jenn-Tricia-Steph
It was a bit blustery at the top.

The clouds were cool. They looked like a big gray blanket over the whole sky.

IFTR Group Run: Trail of Bones:

The early morning IFTR group runs officially started back up on May 20th. I was beyond excited! The women's runs will be starting back up in a little while too. Ahhhh, life is starting to get back to normal! The first run back was on the Trail of Bones, and was divided into 2 groups at two different times. There was a great turn out! There were 13 of us the first hour, and 5 of us the second hour. We did a few of the trails I had been on before, but then added the Dragon's Back and the 'knee deep' Willow Creek crossing. So fun!

So pretty!

Hahaha, I love Margaret!

A view from the ridge. I would be crossing that creek shortly after I took this picture.

The black cairn.

Hour 1 group photo.

Going down the crack.

My first crossing. I was worried about how high it would come up on me, since I'm only 5ft tall, so Margaret helped me across. It did get up to my crotch at certain points.

Great flower morning!

I was a pro by my second round and didn't need any help.

Trail of Bones with Amanda:

I went back to the Trail of Bones the next day with Amanda. She has been out the last part of winter and the beginning of spring with a knee injury. She got cleared by her doctor to push it for 3 weeks, and has been wanting a tour of this area. We debated going, because there were 30 mph winds that day. Yikes! We went anyway, and it ended up being great. The canyon blocked most of the wind, so it was only bad for the mile we were up on the ridge. We almost blew right off a few times. The flowers were showing off, we had the whole trail to ourselves, and it was a great run!

Amanda is the leader and organizer of our women's runs.

Running through the flowers.

This is what 30 mph winds look like up on a ridge.

Stinking Springs Cairns with Mark:

I wanted a nice easy hike to give my legs a break before our long Saturday run. Mark and I decided to go up Sidewinder, so I could show him the big cairn. After we saw the big one, we decided to just go to the next two while we were already up there. Any later in the season, and we'd be worried about snakes, since it's bush-wacking to get to them. So much for taking it easy on my legs.

Mark meets Big Stinky.

Lots of cute friends on our hike.

Mark meets Stinky #2.

The flowers by the second and third cairns were great!

Cairn #3.

The whole hillside was covered with yellow flowers.

Big Elk Creek:

We checked the weather and had a split second debate if we should go or not. It said 100% rain and snow while we were up there. It was either trying to do yard work in the snow, or running on a trail in the snow. Seemed like a no brainer to me! We started up the Big Elk Creek trail surrounded by green trees and yellow wildflowers, and it gradually changed into a winter wonderland. It was awesome! It was the perfect kind of snow; not too wet, not too cold, just right to make everything look amazing. It was a great 12 mile day. We also go to see the destruction from the avalanches, and the cool snow bridge it created over the creek.

The start of our run. This area is so beautiful!

Some of the avalanche destruction. 

The snow bridge over the creek. It was massive.

Steph-Tricia-Mark

Trees were still standing, and had the tops just snapped off.

Massive trees were uprooted and taken down the slide. Crazy!

This tree was huge. It's crazy the damage an avalanche can do.

We had a couple water crossings. 

The cliff area is where the snow really got started on the way up. It looked totally different on the way back down.

I was standing in two places at once!

This is the cliff area on the way back. There is a little more white.

Everything looked so pretty!

This reminded me why I can endure the Idaho winters.

As we got back down lower, there was less snow, but the trail got more and more muddy. Good times!

Veronika's Giddy Up Challenge- Sidewinder:

On Memorial Day, I helped Veronika with her Giddy Up Challenge. She did a virtual elevation challenge to raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts. She had to pick a trail and climb 1,614 meters (5,295 feet). She had to use the same trail for all of her elevation, and do it all in one shot. She chose to go up and down Sidewinder. She figured she'd have to do it all the way to the top (Kelly Mountain) 3 times to get the elevation. The final stretch to the top ended up being too muddy to get past, so she ended up needing 4 rounds instead. She started at 7:00 in the morning for her first round. Georgina met her for round two, and later in the day I met her for round 3, and 4. She ended up with over 29 miles, and almost 5,500 feet of elevation gain. So impressive! I got to do 13.3 miles of it with her.

It was a beautiful day!

Going down to finish up round three.

Done! Round four didn't have to be quite as far up. We ended at the Sidewinder viewpoint. Now we just had to run the few miles back down.

Awesome job Veronika!

IFTR Group Run: Grandpa Henry's Meatloaf:

We had 13 people again on the IFTR early morning run. I love these, because I learn all sorts of fun new trails. This one was awesome. It was quite a climb, but you could see for miles!

The big climb up Lil' Henry.

Awesome views of the foothills.

Thirteen of us, and we all made it!

Running back down was tons of fun!

We used a branch to swing across the creek. Don't you worry, I landed right in the mud. :)

Upper Palisades Lake Hike:

Margaret wanted to hike to Upper Palisades Lake, and I was lucky enough to go along. We had a fun group of ladies, and a beautiful day. It was my first time in a long time doing the trail without snow. It made me extra excited for summer!

Jenn-Tricia-Allsion-Ginger-Margaret-Steph

We saw a mountain goat on a ridge within the first two miles.

The Lower Lake

We all made it to the Lower Lake, but Alison sprained her ankle, so Margaret walked her back down the trail to wait for us in the car.

I'm loving the yellow flowers on all the trails right now.

So pretty!

The Upper Lake was super low, but looked so gorgeous!

Jenn-Steph-Tricia-Ginger

The trail was so green!

Waterfall Canyon Plus:

We had our longest training run of the season so far, and it's the first one that kicked my butt mentally and physically. It was also one of my favorites! We did 25 miles in some of the most beautiful area Idaho has to offer. We went up the Palisades Creek Trail past the lower and upper lakes, and into Waterfall Canyon. We saw deer, two bald eagles, a beaver, two moose, and a family of mountain goats. We made it to the waterfall, and got a bonus waterfall on the opposite side of the canyon, caused by the snow run off. It was huge, and awesome! We hiked right up to the base of it. We took a couple mile detour up another canyon on the way back to make sure we hit our mileage goal. That part was brutally hot, and drained my energy. We all struggled through the last few miles down the trail, but ended happy and feeling accomplished. It was a day of animals, wildflowers, green trails, extreme heat (over 90 degrees), great company, and tired bodies. It rounded out a 68 mile week for me with a huge amount of elevation. No wonder I was so beat! Mark and I love these trail runs, and are grateful for crazy friends who like to do them with us.

Tricia-Mark-Jenn-Steph-Carrie-Mat

Picture rock!

The lower lake.

Mat and Carrie only planned on going to the Lower Lake, but they ended up going all the way to the Upper Lake.

I did this trail two times in two days, but I still never get tired of this view.

The trail around the lake is gorgeous right now!

Crossing the creek and heading into Waterfall Canyon.

We started hitting snow patches at around 9 miles in.

The snow got deeper the farther up we went, but luckily we could mostly stay on the top of it. As you can see, some post holing did occur.

Jenn, Steph, and I on a fun square rock in the middle of the snow.

Waterfall Canyon's original waterfall!

I spy four mountain goats!

This was the bonus waterfall on the other side of the canyon.

It was loud and awesome!

Hiking to the base of the waterfall!

The trail on the way back along the lake.

We were so hot by this point, I would have gladly jumped in that water.

That concludes a big month of running! Three of our five races have been canceled or postponed so far, but as Carney says, "They can cancel my race, but they can't cancel my run." I'm glad I was still able to get out on the trails and get some good mileage in. I'm super excited for summer running!