Running on Eddie: Lake Blanche

Showing posts with label Lake Blanche. Show all posts

Monday, June 6, 2016

This Week in Running 5/29 - 6/4 + Desert Trail Run

Leppy Hills Trail along the Nevada / Utah border

Day	Mileage / Workout	Comments
Sunday	Off	Off
Monday	7	Trail run along the Nevada / Utah border
Tuesday	5	Medium paced - 1 mile of strides at the end
Wednesday	7	Medium paced with some at tempo pace
Thursday	7	All easy
Friday	Off	Walked several miles though.
Saturday	Off	Hiked
Total miles for the week: 26 - YTD: 1026.5

Week's Summary

Well there isn't a whole lot to report this week, other than I am sort of burned out. Ever since the Ogden Marathon, I've been feeling really slugging and almost unmotivated to run. Feeling unmotivated to run is a HUGE new one for me. I never feel like not running.

I really started to feel it on Sunday. I went to West Wendover for a long weekend run and normally I can squeeze in a run on Sunday morning before we leave . Unfortunately, I couldn't muster up the energy for it. I figured I'd run aways on Monday morning.

On Monday morning I felt bad. Like hang-over bad. But I am a teetotaler and I had gone to bed at a some what reasonable hour. I just felt drained. As I was making my way through the Nevada desert on their remote hiking / biking trail I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to call to have someone pick me up. I just felt woozy. However, about 3 - 4 miles into the run, yes it took that long, I got into somewhat of a groove and managed to complete the run.

Leppy Hills Trail along the Nevada / Utah border

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Leppy Hills Trail along the Nevada / Utah border

Throughout the week I had mixed feelings about running but I am a creature of habit, so I did do my runs. However, on Friday I noticed my Achilles tendon really hurt... like enough for me to put on ice on it. I hadn't run since Thursday and hadn't felt it at all at work. It was as if my Achilles decided to take notice. I had felt a little bit of a twinge on Thursday but nothing all day. I have had Achilles problems before and let me tell you -- they aren't fun. It took me about 3 - 4 months of almost no running to get over the injury in the winter of 2009. I do NOT want a repeat of that.

No Racing This Weekend

I had toyed with going to Casper Wyoming and making a long weekend out of it by doing the Casper Half Marathon. Faithful readers may recall I did the full marathon in 2014 and I had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. However, with the my sagging energy levels, a somewhat cranky Achilles and a friend from out of town coming in, I opted to go for a hike up to Lake Blanche. It was a nice way to cross train and while hiking on a rocky trail isn't really recovery for a cranky injury, it was a good training exercise.

Lake Blanche with Sundial Peak

Ugh, It's Summer

This week also brought us temperatures in the mid to upper 80's. I am really not a fan of summer running. I tend to get off of work by 4 PM and I am on the bike trail by 4:30. Now, with temperatures scorching hot (and in the 90's) I have to adjust my training to either run in the morning or after 7:30 (or beyond). I am not really a morning runner -- I tend to want to get to the first order of business and that is work. So the next couple of months for me are a little frustrating. Perhaps I'll make an effort to do some morning runs. The thought of waking up at 4:30 (or so) doesn't appeal too much to me.

Upcoming Races

06/18: Looking at the Lamoille Canyon Half Marathon

06/24: Utah Midnight Half Marathon - Provo Utah (Confirmed)
10/09: Lake Tahoe Marathon (Very Probable -- hotel booked)
11/13: Las Vegas Marathon (Confirmed)
04/15: Salt Lake City Marathon (Confirmed) (2017)

Sunday, June 22, 2014

June 2014 Lake Blanche / Lake Florence / Lake Lillian Hike

Well today I made another hike. I had been itching to get up into the mountains since Saturday but do to family obligations and such I never made it on Saturday.

I decided to revisit Lake Blanche. I've been up there a bunch of times, but I enjoy the hike. It is a 3 mile hike (one way) and it is a toughie. If you aren't ready for it, it will kick your butt, as it is a solid climb and if it is warm, the heat will take something out of you too.

It is one of the more popular hikes in Big Cottonwood and this early in the season there was absolutely no shortage of people on the trail. What is also nice is with that many people, generally the moose stay away. I think I saw at least one group of hikers every 5 - 10 minutes, which is reassuring, particularly if you are a solo hiker like myself.

I went nuts on the way up. I was passing people left and right, even people half my age were gasping for breath as I climbed towards the lakes. I really have to say that hiking really builds leg muscle strength. I measured my heart rate a few times and my heart rate was consistently in the 130's through 150's. It is like a nice tempo run without all the pounding. According to my Garmin, I made the climb in around 75 minutes. That includes time for pictures, chatting with random people and any waiting I did to get around people and such. I've done this hike with other people and generally it is a 2+ hour adventure, so suffice to say I was booking.

One word of caution to those who read this: bring PLENTY of water on this hike. I brought 32 ounces of Gatorade, at least 64 more of water. I am in pretty good shape so I don't need a lot (as a runner, I am conditioned to not expending as much energy and I feel I have better acclimated to cooling myself off), but if you aren't in shape you are going to need more than a 16 ounce bottle of Crystal Geyser to make the trek. On the way down I realized I had plenty of water and wound up giving / offering water to any who would take it. I found quite a few takers. You really can't bring enough water up there.

I finally got to get up close and personal with Lake Blanche's two sisters, Lake Florence and Lake Lillian. Lake Florence is absolutely stunning, but small. Lake Lillian is gray and seems very lonely. Not very many people seemed to visit it and not a lot was going on there.

Me at the top in front of Lake Blanche and Sundial Peak

Pretty much have to climb up to the snow peaks

Getting closer to Sun Dial Peak

Looking out over the Salt Lake Valley from Lake Blanche

Lake Blanche

More Of Lake Blanche

Waterfall that feeds Lake Florence

Lake Florence

Lake Lillian

Wildflowers are coming up.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Lake Blanche / Lake Florence Winter Hike with Up Close with Moose!

I finally had a moment to go for a hike today. This weekend has been super busy with shopping for new house stuff and while I could ill afford not continuing to pack "stuff" I decided to make a venture up into the mountains.

We've had some unseasonably warm weather here and I remember last year at this time drudging through cold and snow to get my training runs in. This year it is a world of difference: shorts and t-shirts are the norm with temperatures in the valley hovering around 50.

Either way, after getting in my work out, I headed up to Lake Blanche. This is a 2.85 mile hike (one way) with a steady climb of about 2700 feet. This is a "short" hike but tough as the elevation climbs pretty quickly. I had my doubts about whether I'd be able to do this hike on account it is a north facing trail and there tends to be a lot of snow on the trail.

I wasn't alone in taking on this trail, encountering at least 20 other hikers while there. At the base, the temperatures were in the low 40's and warm, while at the top at Lake Blanche, I froze. My guess is the temperature was in the upper 20's / low 30's. It made it chilly because my clothes were soaked with sweat and there was a stiff breeze up there. Luckily I packed heavier clothes, but it was still chilly.

The first mile of the hike was mostly muddy, but not that bad. There were some patches of snow / ice.

At about the mile mark the trail was consistently packed snow / ice. It wasn't bad going up but coming back down I had to do a bit of "butt skiing" in places. I did wipe out a few times, but for the most part it wasn't that bad.

Also at about the mile marker I met another hiker who warned me that there were a pair of moose up on the trail about 200 yards ahead. I think he over estimated the distance to the moose as about a minute or two later I spotted them less than 10 yards off the trail. Two males with huge antlers. They were fighting amongst themselves and didn't seem too happy to see me (and another hiker that I ran into). There was another pair of hikers further of the trail snapping pictures and they had recently passed the moose. I think with that many people on the trail the moose got spooked a bit and gave us access and backed off the trail.

On the way down, there were another quartet of them in the valley. Luckily they were safely in the valley and while they didn't appreciate my presence and the other 3 people that I happened to run into, they couldn't really do much.

All in all, I had a good hike. This is very likely my last hike of 2013. The moose population seems a lot more active and they are in rutting season. Also, I really should be going up there with spikes / snow shoes and the weather is getting more difficult to deal with.

Enjoy the photos: