Alex's Blog: Zion National Park

Zion National Park: Now I want to tell you about Zion. Oh, the horseback ride we did was great and it was lead by real cowboys! Although there was a cowboy who was grouchy. Now, we also had shuttle rides around Zion National Park and completed our ranger booklet and got a ranger badge.

The Value Tree Blog

Someone asked me for The Value Tree blog site the other day, and here it is in case you are looking for more blog reading...www.thevaluetree.blogspot.com. THANK YOU for reading, and feel free to comment, as your comments are not publicly shared.

Grand Canyon-Bright Angels Trail

The Grand Canyon is truly breathtaking. It looks like a backdrop for a movie, painted in the distance. Coming here with the kids has been a blast. The Canyon is really developed, which means that it is easy to get around on the shuttles with the kids, attend awesome ranger programs, work toward ranger badges and run the rim trail. The IMAX movie on the park is excellent too. The trails are BRUTAL! I have always wanted to run the Rim to Rim race, which starts on one rim, runs down and across and back up to the other rim, and then back again. I sort of did half that. I ran down Bright Angels Trail all the way down to the Colorado Rover, then across the bridge to Phantom Ranch, and then back again. I started to peter out about 3 miles from the top of the rim, then really petered out at the 1 mile point when the trail goes almost straight up on switchbacks. I refilled water three times at stops. In total, over 20 miles with over 5000 feet down and then 5000 feet back up again. AMAZING views of the canyon, nice interaction with the mules taking people for multi-day rides, and changes in scenery, like the Indian Gardens which are like a tropical oasis suddenly popping up in the middle of the desert, that made the run exciting. Sore today.

Passing through Ivins, Utah

The St. George area of Utah remains my favorite place to run. I love running with incredible views of mountains, but I also like to run, not hike, and I am not quite in the shape needed to pop up 1000's of feet of elevation. So, I love the long trails with views that do not require so much up and down, and St. George is truly the place. There are trails absolutely everywhere you turn, great for runners and mountain bikers. We stopped in Ivins, which is next to St. George, to spend the night with friends. It was quite the luxury to sleep in a real bed, but the highlight of the trip was the hike into the hills. The kids loved it because they could run freely without worrying about tripping over a rock or falling off a cliff. We even passed petrogliphs, hanging out on the side of the rock, undisturbed. After a beautiful hike in the hills, with views of the mountains, morning fog still lifting, we headed out again, off to the steep trails again.

Bryce Canyon National Park

So, I thought that Capitol Reef was the most incredible place I had ever been. And in fact, it was, until a few hours later when we entered Bryce Canyon. We had planned to run an ultra here, but the timing is off on this trip, so once again, we save that for another day. May something go always unharvested (Robert Frost). After some exploring with the kids, I put together a run plan for the following day. The Rim Trail follows the edge of the park, looking down over the tall spired hoodoos, an absolutely stunning sight. It looks like the backdrop of a movie set, something out of Star Wars or an imaginary land. So, I hopped on the Rim Trail and then headed downward toward Tower Bridge, incredible twin rock bridges, then on to Fairyland Trail, running amid the pastels of the hoodoos all around, and then back up a calf killing 1/2 mile to the Rim Trail and then back to the RV. Total a little over 8 miles. I stopped periodically to photograph the world around me, which I imagine will fill my dreams for years to come.

Sunrise Run with Alex

My dream, from long before Alex was born, was to be able to run with my children, to share the trail, the mountains, the oceans from viewpoints only seen on foot. Alex’s many health complications have clouded that dream at times, but still he and Izzy and I run, and as they get older it gets easier. Inspired by the fact that I ran through the Narrows without him, and wishing that he was able to run that far with me, Alex asked me last night if we could sneak off in secret for a sunrise run the following day. He didn’t want to tell Daddy, but imagined a scene where he and I returned from our run, tired and sweaty, to enjoy a hot breakfast just cooked by Daddy. So, of course, I had to tell Erik because the hot breakfast part might have still been sound asleep had I not done some pre-planning. And like a little alarm clock, Alex was up before sunrise, ready to go. We quietly dressed, filled a water bottle, tied our shoes and headed out. The campsite was sound asleep. We quietly jogged along the river to an old access road that led to a trail up the mountain. We followed that, chatting as we trotted along, talking about life next year and what his new school would be like and what our plans for the summer would entail. As we climbed to a good sitting place, I held onto him because the footing was difficult. And then we arrived. Just as the sun was sneaking into view, lighting up the mountain peaks all around us, we sat and watched. Borrowed time, that’s all we have. And this morning, we shared one small moment that will shape our memories for years to come.

The Narrows

Arriving to Capitol Reef is like entering an enchanted world. We traveled through snow capped mountains to get there, climbing some major climbs in Big Bertha, and passed through practical ghost towns. We also passed through an area I plan to revisit at some point, Otter Creek Reservoir, a running gem on an enormous reservoir with beautiful ATV trails in all directions. We were off to Capitol Reef, and could not stop. Saved for another day. You arrive into Capitol Reef heading downhill and all around is the reef, once under water and now exposed. The colors and shapes of the enormous mountains are hard to describe-every shade of orange and red and pink and white. We did a number of runs, but I will only describe my best one. Around noon on our first full day, when the heat was at its spring peak, I set off from the camp, going straight up Cohab Trail. I wasn’t sure if I could do the whole loop I had planned, about 14 miles, just 7 days after an ultra, but I kept an open mind. From Cohab, I went into the Frying Pan, aptly named for its hot, undulating sandstone and incredible views in all directions. It was more of a hike at that point, but I tried to run where I could. I finally reached the peak and started down, now on a gravel running trail, past Cassidy Arch and then down, down, down into the Narrows, also called the Wash, which took me through the river basin between rock that soared a few hundred feet up. The views were so incredible, the trail so challenging yet runable, I just kept going. I had my camera in my camelback, and took pictures often. After nearly 4 hours, I looped back via road and trail to the campsite, exhausted, triumphant. I think that run had been calling my name for months. I will be dreaming of red rocks this winter.