July Adventures

 July has been so awesome! My friend Ashlee issued a few of us ladies a challenge to get 200 miles and 40,000 feet of elevation in the month. It was just the challenge I needed! My final numbers were pretty dang good! I ended the month with 210.76 miles, and 47,526 feet of vert! 🙌 Here's how I did it:

Devil's Staircase-Alaska Basin:

I kicked off the month on the best trail! The Devil's Staircase-Alaska Basin loop is always gorgeous! Rhonda, Tonya, and I had a perfect day! It was full green valleys and wild flowers, views of the Tetons, sliding down snow, eating lunch by a beautiful mountain lake, crossing water, lots of waterfalls, and even getting lost for a little while because there was a lot of snow in the basin still. 17.5 miles of stunning views and great company is just how I love to spend my days.

The valley at the start is so green!

Climbing Devil's Staircase.

Making our way across the shelf.

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Teton views!

The switchbacks were snowed over, so we went straight down the mountain.

Lunch views!

I've never seen so much water on this trail. There were waterfalls coming off the mountain in places that don't usually have water. Things are melting fast!

Oliver Peak:

Joyce has been picking out peaks for us to climb to get ready for the rest of the Idaho 12ers. We did Oliver Peak, and it was such a pretty trail. This was my first time doing it.

The trail was lined with flowers for a lot of the way.

😍😍😍

So pretty!

We had a little sneak peak of the Tetons.

Made it to the top!

More flowers on the way down.

Kelly's Heart Loop & Bigelows:

I missed doing this one the day before with the girls, so I asked Joyce if she wanted to do it with me. This one has two really big climbs, so it was perfect training for us.

Climbing Bigelows.

The top!

Coming down Little Kellys.

Kelly Canyon 21 Miler:

Ashlee, Ashley, Becky, and I got up early to do a 21 miler in Kelly Canyon on the 4th of July. It was fun hooking all these routes together. Beautiful morning!

Being patriotic at the top of Bigelows! 

The flowers were still going strong in Kelly Canyon.

The view while climbing up Kelly Mountain.

The top of Kelly Mountain.

😍😍😍

Cress Creek Loop X3:

No pictures, but I went and did some quick loops at Cress Creek to get some extra vert and miles.

Bigelow's Beast:

I did a quick solo climb up Bigelows.

Women's Run: Cress Creek Canal:

I miss being a consistent face at the women's runs, but with feeding times and Airbnb guests coming down to see the animals, it's hard for me to make it these days. I was able to go to one at the Cress Creek Canal since it's so close. 

I miss these ladies! This is the most welcoming and inclusive group I've ever been a part of.

Buckskin-Rolly Polly-Gnarly Climb:

Ashlee and I did a speed/hill workout. We warmed up on Buckskin, and once we got to the rolly polly sections, we did hill intervals all the way to the end. It was tough! We ran the hills back, but without intervals, and then at the end we threw in the Gnarly Climb for extra vert. It was a hard 10 miles, but I loved it!

Sidenote: there were a couple guys on ATVs with hounds tracking a bear. We went down the rolly polly stretch, and on the was back, we saw the bear tracks on top on our footprints. It must have come running through shortly after us. 😳

Cute little guy with velvety antlers.

Kelly Heart Loop & Bigelows:

We started before 5:00 AM, and had a pretty sunrise. This is the only picture we took.

Point Lookout & Fallover:

Ashlee, Becky, and I went to Fall Creek to get a couple Lost Souls routes done. We did Point Lookout first, and the 4:00 AM wake up time put us in the perfect spot for a sunrise over the Tetons.

An early start!

Look at those Tetons!

Next we did Fallover. It's one of my favorite trails in the Fall Creek area. I love how green it is, and that there's plenty of climbing. I love dropping into the Conant Valley, and running through the meadow. It's just a great trail!

Green Lakes Hike:

Rhonda organized a hike with a bunch of ladies that love to be in the mountains. I had never done the Green Lakes Loop, and it is now one of my favorites. It was stunning! I only knew a few of the 14 ladies at the start, but walked away with so many new friends. It was such a great day! 16.5 miles of pure beauty!

I knew right from the start that this was going to be a great one!

Such a fun group of ladies!

Cute Joyce at the most beautiful spot!

Me and Christy.

I just love Tonya! I met her at the Tahoe 200, and I knew we would be good friends.

The lakes were so pretty!

The flowers were insane! We went at the perfect time!

I love getting to be around so many strong women who build each other up!

This trail is going on my list of ones I like to do each year. I can't wait to take Mark.

Bannock Pass to Copper Queen via The Continental Divide:

Ashlee, Ashley, Becky, and I did a 28 miler on the first half of the Beaverhead 100K course. I love this route, but instead of views, we got lots of thick fog! I thought it gave the run a fun eerie kind of feel. It burned off later in the day, so we got some good views at the end of our run. I'm not gonna lie, this run kicked my butt! I have to push myself to keep up with these ladies, and I was holding on pretty good until mile 22. Then I think all the miles and vert I'd been getting this month finally caught up to me. I also don't think I was drinking and fueling very well. It took everything I had to keep them in my sights for the last 6 miles. My uphill climbing was still pretty good, but the consistent running was killing me. I don't have a lot of bad running days, so I try not to complain much when I do struggle through a run. Sometimes it's the struggle that makes it great.

Starting on the Bannock Pass.

Continental Divide

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So much fog!

I love this picture!

Finally some clear skies towards the end!

Beard Wheatley-Fred's Mountain-Mary's Nipple:

This was a fun one that Joyce and I did! So many new ones that I want to take Mark on.

Fred's Mountain

At the top of Mary's Nipple.

Half Ass Hike: Big Elk

This was Clover and Willow's farthest hike so far. They went 5.25 miles up Big Elk Creek. I'll write more about it on my farm post.

Leatherman Peak:

This was our first 12er of the year, and it makes 5 of 9 done!

We left my house on a Monday afternoon in Mark's truck, ready to tackle the worst road in Idaho. After the hour and a half drive to the dirt road turn off, we had 3 hours on a 23 mile dirt road that lived up to its label. Holy cow, the drive in was way worse than the climb! We took it slow and steady, and after what seemed like ages, we finally made it. I was tense the whole way! 😨

The road was terrible, but the valley was gorgeous! We saw a moose right here on the way in.

We quickly set up our beds in the back of Mark's truck, rolled the tonneau cover over us, and tried to get some sleep. 

We had a 4:30 AM wake up and a 5:00 AM start time. I loved starting in the dark.

Once the sun came up, we could see where we were headed.

So pretty!

We made quick work of the 2 mile approach, and then it was time to climb!

If you zoom in on this picture, you can see the trail going straight up to the saddle.

The scree made it slow going. It was like taking one step forward and two steps back.

This peak lacked in the adrenaline rush factor. There was no scary ridge walk or even any sketchy spots. It was my least favorite as far as the climb goes, but it was my most favorite as far as the views from the top. It's so funny how each one has unique pros and cons.

We made it!

Stunning views from the top!

One more checked off the list! 🙌

It was cold at the top, so we only stayed long enough to take pictures and sign the registry.

I stopped filming just as Joyce fell on her butt. 😅 We did plenty of that on the way down. We were literally crab walking (sliding) for a good portion of the way down.

We got to see all the flowers on the way down that we missed because it was still dark on the way up.

Next week we are tackling Donaldson-Church. It's a double summit and many people think it's the sketchiest of them all. I'm a little nervous about it. Stay tuned...

Bigelow-Little Kelly Loop:

Ashlee, Ashley, and Becky went a lot farther than me. I bugged out early because I had just climbed Leatherman, and I was trying to save my legs for our 30 miler on Saturday.

Cute little Tessa on top of Bigelows as the sun was coming up.

We spent a long time trying to get a good picture of us with all the dogs, and this is the best that came out of it. 😂

This is a terrible picture, but I was running as I took it. We saw two moose. One was right across the road from the Bigelow's start, and this one was in Little Kelly Canyon.

Half Ass Hike: Glen's Grunt-Buckskin:

This may be my favorite donkey hike so far. Clover was especially fun and full of spunk on this one. I'll detail more about it on my farm blog post.

The Wind Rivers-Titcomb Basin:

I was so excited for this one! It's one of my all time favorite trails. We left on Friday evening and drove to the trailhead just outside of Pinedale, WY. We slept in our cars, and got up for a 6:00 start. This is a 29 mile out and back route with the majority of the way being above 10,000 feet. It's a tough one! But it's just lake after lake in the most rugged mountains. It's just incredible! This was my 3rd time on this trail, and it's the best I've seen the wildflowers so far. I loved everything about this day!

I love how excited we look to get started. There were a couple of really speedy guys that were doing it too, but they were driving up that morning, and were just going to catch up to us on the trail.

The pond by Photographers Point.

Seneca Lake is the biggest one we pass, but you can only see parts of it at one given time.

I love all the ponds!

Island Lake
This is one of the best views I've ever seen. There is one spot in the Sawtooths that rivals it, but holy cow, it looks like a painting!

Ashley-Ashlee-Tricia

Ky and Nat caught up to us about 6 miles in.

One of the Titcomb Lakes. This is the turn around spot. We had lunch on this rock before heading back.

This is one of those trails that I want everyone to see! There is still a group of ladies that haven't done it yet, so I'm sure I'll be back again next year. This run finished off the miles for my challenge! I was already done with the vert.

Harriman State Park:

This was my last run of the month, and it was a great one to end it on. David invited Jenn and I to run in Harriman Park with a buddy of his that was visiting from Utah. Beautiful morning. 

David-Mike-Jenn-Tricia

That's a wrap for July! It was a huge adventuring month for me, and I loved it. Now I'm going to rest up for a couple days so I'm ready to tackle Donaldson and Church. That is the 12er double summit that I'm nervous about.