Grand Teton National Park

This last weekend I went to Grand Teton National Park to visit an old friend of mine, Ross, who works in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. I got to the park on Saturday afternoon, got a campsite at Hatchet Campground, set up my tent and then called Ross to meet up with him. A few minutes later and we were on our way to Jackson to get a few groceries and food to grill that evening. It was so good to see Ross since it has been a few years since we had seen each other last. Once back at the Forest Service Compound our changes for the evening changed. The two of us and Ross's brother Warren were invited over to some friends, Judy & Larry, to ride bikes and grill at their place. So we loaded into the car and headed over to their place which happens to be the house at Jackson Lake Dam, which Larry runs. The bike path runs from Moose to Jenny Lake right now in the Tetons. It is a great path and it is so nice to be able to ride your bikes through the park without having to worry about being hit by cars and motorhomes. After a beautiful evening ride through the park we headed back to Judy & Larry's to grill steak, chicken and corn on the cob. We also had a yummy salad, biscuits, brownies and peanut butter ice cream. Warren, Ross and I eventually waddled our way home around midnight. It was an absolutely perfect first day in the Tetons.

Sunday morning Ross and I met up with Judy & Larry again and hiked Death Canyon, which is in the Southern part of GTNP. The hike was GORGEOUS. Plus we saw 1 grizzly, 1 moose and dozens of pikas. Before this trip I had never really done any hiking in the Tetons and I am so glad I finally did. The picture above is from the overlook of Phelps Lake. Me about halfway up the canyon. Larry & Judy coming up the trail. On the way back down the canyon I tripped and scraped my knee up pretty bad. Nothing like taking a chunk of skin! Ha Ha After the hike we returned home to wash up a bit, grab my stuff, car and Warren and then re-united with Judy & Larry for dinner at Leek's Marina. I had never been there before and they have good pizza and amazing views. After dinner I said my good-byes and started the long trek back to Mammoth. I had a great weekend and can't wait to get down there for another visit soon.

Hiking Cache Lake

This last Saturday my friend Andrew and I hiked to Cache Lake. Cache Lake is about a 12 mile hike to a gorgeous lake sitting at the base of a gorgeous mountain.

The day started a little cloudy, with glimpses of sun peaking out every once in awhile. The day ended up being gorgeous, warm and sunny! Yeah!

After we got to the lake, looked around a little, did some bird watching and ate lunch we decided to take a little nap. There's nothing better than napping on a sunny day in a mountain meadow.


After napping for what we think was an hour or so we eventually headed back out on the trail after taking a few more pictures.


On the hike back out Andrew and I took our time. We spent times identifying trees and trying to teach me the difference between the pine trees, we saw and watched a black bear for awhile, came across a Great Grey owl and watched it for a long time and then saw beavers! It was like a National Geographic Day!


Cache lake has moved up to one of the top on my list of favorite hikes to do in Yellowstone. I love summer days like this one and can't wait for our next adventure.

My first Half Marathon!

I did it! I ran and completed my 1st half marathon!

As many of you know last year I really got into racing and over the 2009 season I completed the following: 1 mile race, 4 5ks, 2 10ks, a 12k, a duathlon and a triathlon. For 2010 I set my eyes on completing a half marathon. I signed up months ago to run the Rock n Roll Seattle Half Marathon with my sister Heather. I trained for months and months doing nothing but Crossfit and Crossfit Endurance. Finally the weekend came and I flew up to Seattle, where Heather and I headed downtown to pickup our race packets.


Saturday was the big day and it started early. 4aqm early! Yikes. Anyways we headed downtown to catch the shuttle bus to the starting line. Anticipation was setting in and I was so excited/nervous to get this show on the road. Finally at 7am the race began! It was about 7:30ish or so when my wave finally started. My goal going into this race was to get as close to 3 hours as possible (I'm a slow runner). Well, I am happy to say that my finish time was 3 hours 4 min 59 sec! I did it! I felt great and was so excited to have accomplished this huge goal. I did great throughout the race too and it really wasn't until mile 12.5 that I started to hit that wall. Luckily the finish line was quickly in site and I pushed it out to the end.