Sunday, March 30, 2014

Trail Running in Death Valley

I always like to take a little time to do some yoga. i find it gives me a better feeling for the area. Sound odd? Try it!

Death Valley: definitely a must do trail running adventure for those that enjoy the heat. In late March it was perfect temps, 90 degrees with a slight breeze. I picked up the National Geographic Death Valley map (foreshadowing???) a few days before at a map-shopping spree in Las Vegas (that's about as exciting as my party-in-vegas gets). Glad I did because as far as I could tell from the trails I ran on, they were more of a rocky wash that followed the contours of the land toward the pass than actual trails. I was able to use the map to discover which contours and mountains to run around, over, and past.

I imagine that to a child who has never seen the desert, Death Valley would be a sort of low saturation, almost black-and-white dreamscape of the moon. I loved every minute of my adventure. A big thank you to my intuition for giving me the heads up! After leaving the park it was as though I was energized from head to toe with something powerful and deep, did I tap into the energy of the land? The rocks were really incredible. Truly the whole area had a kind of intense otherworldly feel and doing yoga on top of one of the highest points in the valley was cathartic.

If you watch the video I will explain how I happened to find myself in Death Valley on a side trip running some trails playing hooky from a day of rock climbing clinics at Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas. In short, I was unable to resist the adventure when I saw the sign for the park. Sometimes adventure beckons and the best thing to do is to allow it to seduce you.  Enjoy the pics and let the mountains, the desert, the forest all beckon you to explore their earthy bodies.

For more on the park, see the NPS website: Death Valley



The pass is up over there, see it? Indian Pass
The trail I took, National Geographic map

Looking down into the valley from atop a huge, mountainous pile of gravely-rock. I'm sure it has a name. 


Saturday, March 29, 2014

The Wedding



The Wedding

Two days
Nine hundred miles
Hearts of Palm
In a can
Rehydrated wakame
Raw salmon cubed
on a old bag of plantain chips.
My running shoes
Dusted with sunshine
from desert running.

I kept passing turnouts
Maybe that one was a trail?
How many trails would I pass
before I slowed down
just to try one out?

The sign said 20 mile Beach
Sounded so good, yet,
Red and blue lights
Spinning Frantically
Like I was back in Vegas

I was on to the next trail
Another beach pullout
This time it was a man
Glued to his small black car
Standing there staring at me

Back on the hunt for a trail
I knew was there.
A trail that would give me
a view on top of a mountain.

And there it was:
Shooting up the mountain of gravel
like a groomed rock slide.
Perfect

My car key beneath a cairn
Nothing to bring with me
Nothing to hold me back
Just me and the Mountain,
Naked

Breathing like I was flowing
Through Vinyasa
Breathing, running
Unsure how far I would go,
Unsure how far I wanted to go

As I ascended,
Joy in the movement
Mirrored the ripening sunset
I was close to the top
When I saw the herd of nine white
Mountain Goats

They told me my story
Standing stoically
on the hillside,
Powerful.
And I was scared
for a brief moment

With a glance
they had me return
To the lake
To my car
To my possessions.

I ran down the mountain
A stone let loose from the hillside
Free to tumble and crash into its new
Home.

Around the last corner
A wedding party of four
Circled around a pastor
A Red Rose between her fingers
And now I was the goat
Wondering what was happening
on my Mountain.










Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Red Rock Canyon Running

Quick update about my trip to Las Vegas. As you can imagine if you know me, I'm not here for Vegas high rolling. I'm on day 3 of a rock climbing adventure and soon to be running adventure that will culminate in the Zion 100. Currently I'm climbing and running at Red Rock Canyon. I took some pics today, enjoy! I hope the sun and fun shine through and inspire you!


 











Monday, March 17, 2014

The Passing

I noticed you as you flew past
Breaking all the rules
I was speeding
Yet you, so bold and careless
Made me appear still
Not many people can make me 
Look like that
Feel like that

To my satisfaction
I saw you 5 miles down the road
Stopped with red and blue flashing
When I peered back,
I only saw myself sitting still
In that stopped car
Completely unaware
Of my passing.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

My Descent

I am a drop of water
on a pine needle
How I got here is fading.

I remember a long descent,
a violent landing
the comfort
the security
of the pine needle
breaking my fall.

As time passes
more rain falls,
I grow
the pine needle shrinks

Until it can no longer
hold my weight
And I fall again.