October Adventures

 I had some really great adventures in October. Fall is one of my favorite times to run in Idaho. We're coming to the end of our training program, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm burned out (both body and mind). I've just got to hold on for a little bit longer and then I'll get a nice big break. I'm starting to cut back my running a little bit and I'm not following my program as strictly as I normally would. I just want to be fresh and free of aches and pains once the race gets here. We hit our peak couple of training weeks in October. We hit some big mileage with some great runs!

Kelly Canyon:

Ashlee, Ashley, Becky and I did a fun 8 mile route in Kelly Canyon. The colors are so great up there right now.

Palisades:

I normally do something in the Palisades area the week of my birthday, and this year we did an evening 10 miler on Palisades Creek. The colors had peaked the week before, and the leaves were mostly already off the trees by the time we were there. That was a bummer! We usually hit it perfectly about this time.

Women's Run: The Great Pumpkin Run:

Between bottle feeding baby cows, cross country practice, Airbnb guests, living farther away, and following a specific training pan, I have missed a ton of women's runs, and I hate it! I can't wait until next year when I can go to all of them again. I did manage to make it to one in October. I love running through the sand dunes looking for all the pumpkins and ghords Amanda hides. One is better than none, but I can't wait to be back for good!

Next we did a 50 miler in the Grand Canyon! That was our longest training run, and it was amazing! So amazing that it deserves it's very own blog post, so that's what it'll get.

Bechler River Trail:

We did the Grand Canyon on a Saturday, and on Tuesday I went to Yellowstone, and ran the 31 mile Bechler trail with a fun group of ladies. I covered 90 miles that week, and my body held up pretty well. 

This trail goes from the Lone Star Geyser to the Bechler Ranger Station. It's beautiful, with a little bit of everything Yellowstone has to offer. There are thermal areas, forests, lots of water crossings, beautiful waterfalls, meadows with Teton views, rivers, and even an amazing hot spring we soaked in. It was a great day!

The Lone Star Geyser goes off randomly every 4ish hours. I've only been to it twice, and both times it started going off right as we got there. Super cool!

We had to run by this big ole frosted guy.

Mr. Bubbles
We had a nice soak in this hot spring.

One of many big water crossings. The water is pretty cold in October.

Lots of gorgeous waterfalls along the way.

Big Elk Creek:

Mark, Jenn, and I did some miles on Big Elk Creek. I stuck to 10 miles, and I think they did 12. Big Elk still had a lot more leaves on the trees than Palisades did.

Kelly Heart Loop:

Ashlee, Ashley, Becky, and I did the Kelly Heart Loop. Grateful for these ladies getting me out, because it's always easier to go with people when I'm feeling drained.

Lost River Peak:

This was the 4th Idaho 12er for Joyce and I, and it was a crazy one! I was dreading this one after reading about the insane super gully we were going to have to climb up. We heard the scree makes it a one step forward and two steps back kind of climb, and man they weren't kidding! Plus my body has been tired, we heard there were a couple scary parts on the ridge line, and it was supposed to only be a high of 10* on top, with clouds and 25-35 mph winds. Ugh!

We ended up having an amazing day! We started off not being able to find the trailhead in the dark, so we finally just parked and added an extra 4 miles to our hike. 😅 I'm not gonna lie, the climb was mentally draining, but Joyce and I did great! The ridge was awesome, and we handled the scary parts like champs. We had perfect weather, blue skies, and not much wind. The downhill was a blast, and we feel like we're getting better with each climb. I'm so happy with how our day turned out, and I'm excited to finish busting these 12ers out next season.

Once we made it out of the tree line, we could see the super gully and the trail up to the ridge line.

We just focused on a certain point to make it to, then we took a rest and picked another point to work towards. Slowly but surely we made it!

Amphitheater of the Gods

This video does a good job of showing just how steep and slow going it was! But don't worry, it got even steeper the higher we climbed!

Here's what the last push up to the ridge was like. Just nuts!

We finally made it to the ridge!

That was quite a climb!

We took this ridge line very serious. We put our phones away while we were crossing it, and just concentrated on being safe.

We made it!

We really had to work for this one, and standing at the top was a sweet feeling.

We read that other than 'chicken out ridge' on Mt Borah, this super gully is what defeats the most climbers that are trying to get all the 12ers.

We were a little nervous about going back down, but as soon as we got comfortable with the scree skiing, we had a blast!

We took advantage of the snow fields too and slid down them on our butts.

It was a great late season summit, and I'm so glad we decided to push forward and do it!

Ashton-Tetonia Rail Trail:

We wanted flat consistent running, so we did 20 miles on the Ashton-Tetonia Rail Trail. We had perfect weather, but I really struggled the last 5 miles. I'm feeling the long training program and high miles. I'm definitely ready for the tapering to start. 

We started in the dark and had a beautiful silhouette of the Tetons.

Jenn-Cris-Mark-Tricia-Stella

I did a lot more treadmill running this month too. Sometimes I just need quick and flat. It was a great month!