Truckee. This weekend couldn't have been any better. I drove in Friday night and took a quick night run on the PCT. I used my handheld flashlight and my handlamp. It was good practice since I tend to be a very bad night runner. I then crawled in the back of my Subaru with lopi spooned up real close and fell asleep.
I woke with the sun Saturday morning at the ripe hour of 5am. I hung out ate some food got changed and prepared for the long run ahead. I was training so I carried my running backpack with a liter and a half of water for me and a liter of water for lopi. Along with a light jacket a few gels and a headlamp just in case. This weekend was also my time to test out and break in the trekking poles! At first I felt like a baby giraffe learning to walk but the more I ran the more in rhythm I became. It was amazing having the work of my legs being relieved slightly by my arms... Running with poles almost feels like cheating!
I ran a fun loop up the PCT over castle peak across to basin peak back down to the PCT and then over andesite peak. The total elevation gain was only about 3000 feet and 10 miles but each of the peaks reached close to 9000 feet tall. I felt good and wanted to keep running but with my recent injuries I tend to back off once I finish my objective in fear of over doing things. You know what they say... If you feel really good, rest. That's how you get yourself in trouble.
We finished so early in the day that Lopi and I just lizarded around for awhile by donner lake. Later that evening we met up with a friend and climbed at donner summit and the star wall. I was pretty worked and haven't been free climbing very hard lately so I just belayed mostly. It was nice to get out and watch all these guys crush. Got me stoked on free climbing again.
I spent the night in Truckee with little sleep and got a late start around 10am. I headed back out to the PCT and decided to check out a trail that was not on my map. It was called the donner lake rim trail. It turned out to be a mountain bike trail which happen to be some of my favorite running trails. The climbs tend to be short and mellow and the trail just rolls through the mountains for miles! With just a hand held water bottle I knew I couldn't go to far in the heat so I made a short loop out to summit lake and back only about 7 miles which was the perfect amount for me on a tired and lazy Sunday.
After my run I took a really long nap followed by some time out on the dock and ending in more climbing at the star wall or in my case belaying. The guy I was with then drove me up the pass a little farther to show me some sick trails to check out. I'm ridiculously stoked on the Tahoe area right now! So many trails and mountains to run. So little time!!
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