First stab at snow camping, Dec 9 - 10

On a completely random night in November I was able to snag the Marmot Thor 3-person, 4-season tent for 42% off from Sierra Trading Post. Although likely a lot of tent for one person, it was too great of a deal to pass up! :-D

Ever since that day, I've been eager to put the tent to use. I soon discovered the opportunity to take a Friday off of work, so I meticulously prepped a last minute snow camping trip up in the Arizona high country. Ignoring the ways of the minimalist, I took everything I could have possibly needed, including a (stretchable) 2-3 days worth of food. My pack weight without water came in at over 63 pounds, weighed the night before -- most of that weight was the tent of course. In the future, I think I may try and rig a pulk to pull behind me and throw the heavy supplies into. For this trip, however, there was definitely not enough snow to cover the many downed trees on the forest floor, which would have limited the functionality of the sled.

My complete route (including off-trail exploration) during the 26 hour trip.

. . .

Snowshoeing backcountry to the peaks, Nov 26th

Arggghhh, it's been awhile since I've had a chance to update this.

Updates, updates, updates...

Well, for one, I am fully recovered from my Oct/Nov bout with mononucle-lameness. I lost almost ten pounds and about three good weeks of marathon training. Getting back into the swing of things has been nothing short of painful. In spite of all the set backs I set a new personal best a couple weeks back, running 12.6+ continuous miles. That's over two hours of continuous, repetitive, painful beating on my calves, knees, and IT band... without stopping or slowing in pace, mind you. Arrrgghhh! My right IT band has been the bane of my marathon existence. Every week, at least one of my runs is met with an immediate triggering of that sensitive strip of not-so-stretchy uselessness. During Thanksgiving week I was only able to complete six miles for the week. So I deemed it necessary to take a vacation...

Mt. Humphreys (12,633') among the San Fransisco Peaks, nestled in the Kachina Wilderness..