August Adventures

 Devil's Staircase-Hurricane Pass-Alaska Basin:

I kicked off August with round two of this trail. I had done it the previous week, but Joyce couldn't go. She wanted to do it while the flowers were still blooming, so I went again with her. I was supposed to be tapering for my race, so we just mostly hiked. I couldn't believe that the flowers were even better than they were the week before. So gorgeous! It was 22 miles of pure stunning beauty! I love doing stuff like this with Joyce, because she is always in just as much awe as I am.

Starting up Devil's Staircase, looking back into Teton Canyon.

We saw two moose right at the start of the Devil's Staircase climb.

It was such a gorgeous day!

The flowers were insane!

💙💙💙

Dropping down into Alaska Basin.

The trail was lined with flowers.

We were a little slow, because we kept stopping to take a gazillion flower pictures.

Sunset Lake

The trail past Sunset Lake had crazy amounts of flowers.

I was in heaven the whole time!

Climbing to Hurricane Pass, and looking back on Sunset Lake.

Hurricane Pass

It never gets old.

Rock N Brew 50K:

This was our 3rd of 4 ITUS events we were going for this year. I ruptured a disc in my back a week and a half before this race, so I was really nervous about it. I opted for the 4:00am early start time, expecting to have to walk most of it. I was kind of nervous about being out on the trail totally by myself, in the total dark, with just my headlamp lighting my way. I ended up loving it! It was so peaceful, and gave me a lot of time to just think and enjoy the solitude. I ran the first hour really tense, but once I relaxed and stopped worrying about my back, I had a great time. There was an out and back section, so I saw Mark going out on that when I was coming back. It was fun running by all the other runners on the out and back, because they thought I was winning. 😂 I got lots of cheers, and I eventually stopped explaining that I was not actually in the lead, because I had started an hour ahead of everyone. I just owned it and enjoyed my 5 seconds of fame. 😂 My back ended up holding up really well, and I ran good enough to get second in my age group with was. total surprise. I feel like on a normal, healthy body day, I could really compete at this race. I finished in 6 hrs. 50 minutes, which I was thrilled with. I didn't take very many pictures at this one, because the Boise foothills aren't anything exciting to look at in the summer.

Me and the cute RD at 3:50 in the morning getting ready for my start.

The sun started coming up on the out and back section.

Boise foothills

Mark finished in 7 hrs. 10 minutes, and was not a big fan of the heat. It got up in the 90s.

3 ITUS races done! One more to go!

Women's Runs:

The Butte Persieds Meteor Shower Run:

Such a fun women's run! We met later than usual, and started up the Butte at sunset. By the time we got to the top, and partway around the rim, it was full dark. We had a totally clear night, so it was perfect for the tail end of the meteor shower. We saw several really good ones! We would all be standing there in the dark, gazing up at the sky, then all erupt into cheers when we saw one. So funny! We even got an amazing look at starlink. I didn't get home and in bed until after midnight, but it was totally worth it. Such a fun night.

The sunset while we were climbing the butte.

Getting started.

Such awesome ladies!

Climbing around the rim of a volcano at night is so fun!

Star-gazing.

Huckleberry Run:

We always do a huckleberry run in Kelly Canyon. It was a weird year for huckleberries, so we didn't have much luck. We each got a few to eat, but not enough to collect. It was still a beautiful evening and fun run.

Picking a fe berries.

The flowers are still hanging on up there.

We did other cool adventures in August, like Lake Solitude, The Beaten Path, and Glacier National Park, but they got their own blog posts. The month started out rough with a disc rupture, but ended with so many amazing adventures.