August Running

 I had some great non-Lost Souls runs in August.

Women's Runs:

The women's runs were still covering Lost Souls routes through the end of August, but I was already finished. I still went to all of them, because they are so fun! 

We climbed Kelly Mountain. I took it really easy on this one, because I had just finished El Vaquero Loco.

The top of Kelly Mountain.

It's a fun run down!

Next, we did Horse with No Name and the Butte.

Running along the canal.

We were swatting mosquitos! They were so bad on this one!

Wallace found the only mud puddle on the whole run, and he was a mess! 😂

We went cairn hunting on Sidewinder. We finished after dark, with no headlamps, but we got both cairns!

Big Stinky!

Amanda-Xiaofei Pu-Tricia-Stacey-Jennifer

Stinky #2

Helping Amanda & Georgina Get Routes:

Lost Souls was winding down, and Amanda still had quite a few routes to finish up. We met early in the morning and busted out 4 routes. We did Porter Canal/Snake River Landing and Ryder/Heritage Park. We got caught in a bit of a lightening storm and had to take cover under a bridge for a while. 😳 When we were done with those, we headed over to Freeman Park, and they did their barefoot run in the pouring rain. Good times!

Barefoot running!

It was raining pretty hard!

Helping Georgina on her barefoot run.

We were just a bit wet! 😂

Wind Rivers: Titcomb Basin

We loved the Wind Rivers so much when we camped there, we decided to drive back the next week for a long 30 miler through the Titcomb Basin. We love it even more now! Ahhh, so pretty!

The trail goes a few miles through the trees before you enter the basin ares.

The pond at Photographer's Point.

The run didn't seem like it was 30 miles. It was broken up by so many ponds and lakes. We'd just look at the map and count down the miles between lakes. It made it go by so much faster!

Barbara Lake was the first of many along the route.

We thought Barbara Lake was so pretty, but then they just kept getting better!

So many ponds! I loved them all!

Hobbs Lake was next. It was pretty big.

Mark at Hobbs Lake.

Seneca Lake was really big!

So pretty!

I loved the rugged look with the mountains surrounding the lakes.

Leaving Seneca Lake.

Steph-Tricia-Mark

A pond just up from Seneca Lake.

After Seneca Lake, there was a small lake a little ways up the trail called Little Seneca. It was my favorite lake. This is Mark and Steph walking beside it.

Little Seneca Lake

I got a little carried away with pictures at this one. I couldn't even help it!

Last one of Little Seneca Lake.

We were really starting to get into the rugged mountain area now. It was so pretty.

Another pond.

We finally reached Island Lake! It was stunning! We actually thought about turning around right here. We knew a storm was coming, and we were actually surprised that we had made it as far as we had with beautiful weather. The clouds were rolling in, and they were starting to cover the mountains, which was a bummer. We talked to a ranger at Island Lake, and he said we were close enough to the Titcomb Basin Lakes, that we would probably be fine to keep going.

Island Lake!

Mark

Tricia

This place was amazing!

The clouds and fog were really moving in fast.

Standing on the beach at Island Lake.

I can't even imagine what this view would be like without the clouds. The mountains that are behind the clouds are so huge and rugged!

Lake 10548 (Good Buddy)

The first Basin Lake. This is where we had lunch, and then turned around and headed back. The storm was brewing, and we wanted to be out of the basin area when it hit.

We headed back, and I kept thinking how lucky we were that the storm hadn't hit yet. Then it started raining at mile 22. I guess our luck had run out. I love running in the rain, so I was still having a great time. Shortly after that, the rain turned to a downpour, and then it turned to hail. We finally had to take cover from the hail. Things got a little dicey once the lightening started! Holy crap, we were surrounded by lakes, ponds, trees, and meadows. Not your ideal conditions for lightening. I'm just very thankful we were out of the basin area by this point. It was pouring, and the loudest thunder cracks ever were booming right over our heads! It got so bad, that at one point we hunkered down in little balls at the edge of a meadow. When we'd see one big lightening flash, we'd take off running across the meadow, and then hunker down again. We did this until the worst part of the storm passed over us. We still had rain, but after about 30 scary minutes, the lightening was gone. Whew, that was stressful! 😅 

Soaking wet after the storm.

Some parts of the trail were like little rivers, and some were just total mud. It made our last 6 miles slow going. We knew another storm was on it's way from Pinedale, so we still tried to keep a fast walking pace through the mud, so we wouldn't get caught in another one. 

On our drive out, we saw the fullest, brightest rainbow that I have ever seen. The pictures don't do it justice, but it was amazing!

So cool!

This run is now on our list of top favorites. We want to make it an annual thing. It was super cool looking with the cloudy skies, but now we want to see it on a clear, bluebird day. There are so many more places we want to explore in this area too. I can't wait to go back!