A Year of Hiking: 31 - 40

In my quest to hike or run 52 trails in 2020 - and during COVID - I've been searching out isolated places to stretch my legs. 

We camped at Timothy Lake, scoring a last-minute spot on the lake. The 13-mile round-the-lake trail is a treat to run: rolling but no big elevation gain and forested with beautiful views of the water. 

No. 31 - run around Timothy Lake, Aug. 3:

The start...

Oak Grove Fork of the Clackamas River:

All done!

No. 32 - Pacific Crest Trail, Miller Trail, Aug. 4:

No. 33 - Timothy Lake Trail, Aug. 5:

I ran a section I'd never done before - across the highway to the dam. A really great 5ish-mile run:

34 - Portland, Lone Fir Cemetery, Aug. 9:

35 -King's Mountain, Aug. 10:

I left the trail head at 8 a.m. and had the whole place to myself! I spotted my first human on my way down from the summit.

No. 36 - Hoquarton Nature Trail, Aug. 10:

After conquering King's Mountain, I drove the 28 miles to Tillamook for lunch. Then I explored Hoquarton Park and Nature Trail on Highway 101.

No. 37 - Mount Talbert, Aug. 12:

No. 38 - Canemah Bluff, Aug. 12:

Fall poison oak is beautiful!

No. 39 - Angel's Rest, Aug. 13:

COVID closed Angel's Rest, one of my favorite Gorge hikes. I learned it was reopened and planned to run it the very next morning.

I left home before dawn so I could be there before the inevitable crowds. On the hike up, I passed one father-and-daughter team making their way down. That was it! I had the entire place to myself until I returned to my car.

No. 40 - Mount St. Helens, Aug. 22:

OK... 4 months left to explore 12 more trails. I think I can do it! :)

Nos. 52 - 61

July reading roundup...

No. 52 - A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny:

No. 53: An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz:

No. 54 - Killing in C Sharp by Alexia Gordon:

No. 55 - Odd One Out by Nic Stone:

No. 56 - The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny:

No. 57 - This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jerkins:

No. 58 - Clean Getaway by Nic Stone:

We accidentally listened to this road-trip book while on a road trip! 

No. 59 - Land of Shadows by Rachel Howzell Hall:

I recently searched for Black mystery authors and found very, very few. I ordered this Howzell Hall mystery - with a Black lead homicide detective - from a Black-owned bookstore. I really liked the story and plan to order more Detective Elouise Norton novels :)

No. 59 - No Ashes in the Fire by Darnell L. Moore:

No. 60 - Catch 22 by Joseph Heller:

No. 61 - The Burn by Kathleen Kent:

:)

Tigard/King City/Tualatin/Durham Half Marathon (4/4/20)

For my first race of 2020, I debated the downhill Vernonia Half Marathon or the more-challenging Silver Falls Trail Challenge half marathon - both the first weekend in April.

Previously, my longest trail race was 10K (6.2 miles), so I was really nervous about doing a longer event (13.1 miles). But, with the prompting of runner friends, I decided to push myself and choose the trail half.

Training went well. My friend, Tina, was also prepping for the Silver Falls race, so we did some long runs together and also commiserated about our weekly hill repeats. 

On March 7, Brad and I ran 10ish miles on Forest Park's Wildwood Trail. It was a terrible run for me - one of those runs that makes you doubt everything. But then the food poisoning hit! Brad and I both had a bad, bad stomach bug - we think it was food poisoning from Sweet Tomatoes. Well, that definitely explained the suffer fest on the trail!

Later that week, COVID-19 shut down school and shut down my trail runs. Running on single track (narrow trails with room for just one person at a time) felt very unsafe, so the rest of my training was solo and on the street and treadmill. Soon, the race was canceled, but I decided to finish out the few weeks of training and just run the 13.1 miles on my own.

On April 4, I strapped on my hydration pack and hit the road, running through Tigard, King City, Tualatin, and Durham:

Mom and Eryn saw my live track online and surprised me around mile 11. It was a good boost at the end of my solo "race."

And they were waiting for me at the end with a rope strung across the road for a finish line!!

All done:

It definitely wasn't the trail race I was planning, but I was pleased with myself for completing my training and following through with my race - even without the deadlines and crowds and swag and scenery and infrastructure that comes with a real event.

Then I celebrated with a Beyond Burger, fries, and Dr. Pepper from Carl's Junior - eaten at home, of course, because restaurants were closed :)

Runners are a tough bunch. It's as much a mental sport as a physical one, and COVID added an extra challenge. I'm happy to say I didn't let it stop me :)