We checked out of the hotel in aka an and drove most of the day. It was hot outside so I was glad the car had ac. 🙂
AZ & UT Day 10: long drive to Ft. Huachuca
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Category Archives: Travel
AZ & UT Day 9: Zion – Angels Landing
After we packed up the cabin we headed back to Zion. It was still crowded , but we actually got a parking spot in the park this time! We took a shuttle to the Grotto, and hiked up Angels Landing, which has sections with chains to hold on to, and 1000 foot drops on either side. It was a day with near record heat, and we all ran out of water. About a mile out I ran down to get more water and bring it back up, and passed EMTs heading up to help someone out – presumably and hopefully for heat exhaustion.
After we hiked down, we got some refreshments at the lodge, and took the shuttle back toward the car. We ended the 100F+ day with some time in the Virgin river.
Photos below:
AZ & UT Day 8: Escalante and a little more Bryce
Today we said goodbye to the Reeves, who headed back to CO. We made the (long) drive past Escalante to the Escalante River trailhead, and hiked to a natural bridge. The return hike was VERY HOT, we ran out of water, and we’re all very done when we finished. Luckily there is a very cool coffee shop very close by, which is odd because it’s in the middle of no where. We got some cool drinks and a snack, and drove back towards Escalante, where we stopped at a mini grocery and grabbed enough things to fill up on, drove back to Bryce, and walked out to sunset point. Tomorrow we leave the rental and will head back into Zion.
Photos from the day:
AZ & UT day 7: chill
After the races we needed a day to chill a bit, but after a relaxing morning we packed up, headed down to Orderville, ate at the German restraint (Backerei Forscher), and found a secluded slot canyon to hike (Red Hollow). We also hung out at the rock shop for ice cream and coffee for a bit, before heading back to the ranch for some more chill time.
AZ & UT Day 6: Â Bryce Half Marathon and 50k
Today was about the Bryce half marathon that Kelly ran, and the 50k that Ben ran. I was glad to be able to be present, rather than laid out in bed if I had finished the 100. :-). Allison took Ben to the early 50k start, and I took Kelly to the half start. After a bib number snafu in which we had to leave the start and head 95% of the way back to the house to get the bib from Allison, Kelly got to the start with about 0 seconds to spare!
After the races, the adults drove over to Cedar City for dinner – what a crazy drive! Gorgeous, though we didn’t take many pictures… And the wild life was insane. On the return trip we saw countless deer, several pronghorn (including one just a few feet from the car that bucked at us), jack rabbit, fox, divebombing birds, etc. We had an excellent Thai dinner at Sweet Basil Thai.
Photos from the day:
AT & UT Day 5: Bryce 100M (which turned into a 100k for me)
Day 5 and 6 were going to be about the 100 mile race, but it wasn’t my day so I called it. Physically I feel like I was prepared, as I have little soreness today after stopping at mile 60 and getting to bed by midnight. I’ll write a proper race report later, but I wanted to get some photos of the course posted, as it is stunning. For now here’s what I wrote on FB:
Hi everyone, thanks for all the support yesterday… I decided to pull the plug at mile 60. I thought about it from 30-50 and was ready to stop there, but my family (especially R1) and friends wouldn’t hear about it. Ben Reeves actually jumped in and paced me 9 miles getting me back up and over the biggest climb, even though he has a 50k today. I really treasure the friendship we’ve shared over the years — and the many adventures! We were reminiscing over some of them on the car ride home…
I’m not sure exactly what happened, maybe a combo of the heat and altitude and a bit of dehydration (ran out of water going in to 28) conspired against me, but the “bathroom services” of my body where just not happy. Every time I ran I got super uncomfortable.
Power hiking at 15-17 minutes per mile was fine, but I didn’t think walking all night sounded fun, so I called it a day, got showered, and was in bed by midnight. Now today I’ll get to participate in Kelly Allenbaugh Butler’s half and Ben’s 50k.
Today I have pretty minor body soreness, the feet check out, etc. So I was physically prepared, but sometimes things just aren’t meant to be. It’s my 1st DNF, but I am perfectly ok with it.
BTW, the Bryce course is simply amazing… I’ll post pictures later!
Here are some of those photos:
AZ & UT Day 3: Zion
Zion is majestic and beautiful and stunning, but today it was also tremendously (over) crowded. Lots of traffic and parking was full. We had to park outside of the park itself and shuttle in. We still did a couple of easy hikes – Emarald Pools lower, middle, and upper, and the Riverwalk. Reece, Ben and I also went about 10 minutes up the Narrows. Photos below:
I hope to get back to do Angels Landing but it may have to be another trip.
AZ & UT day 2: Â Willis Creek Slot Canyon hike
After a good nights’ sleep in an excellent VRBO cabin, we had a quick bite to eat and heading out to Willis Creek in Escalante National Monument, one of the recommendations from the race director of the Bryce 100 in the race guide. Our good friends the Reeves had left CO at 2 a.m. And were driving down, so we thought we’d get at least one hike in before they arrived. We messaged them info on the house as well as where we were hiking, and they decided to drive out there to meet us. In the end, we had finished hiking when they arrived, but we headed back out to show them a couple of the slots.
I don’t recall ever having hiked slot canyons in my life, and they were simply fantastic. I took a ton of photos but will only share a few here…
The next shot is from a bit of a precarious climb up to a “window” that we could look out… It was maybe 65-70 feet up but we all made it.
AZ & UT day 1: Sedona
On the way to Bryce 100 and other family adventures…. We drove from Pittsboro to Charlotte instead of flying from RDU, as we were able to get a direct flight and business class. We arrived in Phoenix, picked up the rental car (upgraded to a Cadillac SRX!!) ran a couple of errands (picked up non perishables, etc.) and drove to Sedona. We checked in and took a hotel shuttle to the Javelina Cantina (excellent carnitas and mahi mahi tacos). Here are some shots from the evening:
In the morning Kelly and I both got out for runs along the Adobe Jack trail, and then took the kids on a short hike on Soldiers Pass to the Devil’s Sinkhole. Here are some shots from that:
After cleaning up and checking out, we drove over to the Church of the Holy Cross, before driving north to Bryce/Zion. A few more photos from Sedona:
London
On a recent work trip, I got to run around Hyde park, on a sunny day which is a bit of a rarity.  Here’s a couple shots.
That same day I was to meet some coworkers over by the Eye of London, about a 3.5 mile walk there, so I took a few more shots… The coworkers always seem surprised that I’ll walk that far.
Of course I walked back, but I took a bit of a longer route so I could go by Big Ben and Westminister:
London is really a great walking city! Â Walking + Run was just shy of 14 miles…
2sparrows 