If its worth doing, its worth overdoing...

I have an affinity to challenge myself.  I think most people do really; in fact, I think that without challenges in life it would be incredibly boring and tedious.  Most people like to challenge themselves with a reasonable goal, work hard for a period of time, and then succeed due to weeks of hard work and dedication. 

It would be nice if I were able to do this without finding myself in situations such as the one I'm facing this week.  Saturday, I'll be taking on the 2nd annual Wilson Creek Frozen 50K in the Owyhees of Southwest Idaho.  The race is put on by a couple of mildly psycho chicks named Emily and Davina who think its a good idea to run in the mountains in January.  I actually find them quite pleasant and friendly people, despite their obvious joy they gain from torturing poor unsuspecting runners with crazy trail conditions.  This is not the first time I've done this either... I managed to finish a marathon mountain bike race at Galena Lodge in 2009 on 3 weeks of training.  5 and 1/2 hours and 43 miles with 6000+ feet of elevation later I finished the Galena Mountain Bike Marathon for the second time.  I then laid in the freezing cold mountain creek and wondered what the heck I was thinking...


Muddy...

Last winter, the WCF50K went off right after a unusual winter warming period.  A week of rain pounded the mountain with precipitation, and 40 degree temperatures kept the trails from drying out at all.  The result, copious amounts of peanut butter textured mud that basically turned a pleasant 31 mile gallop into a sufferfest from the first climb.  I dragged my sorry butt through that race and immediately wanted to do another.  Well, as many of you know, I have a couple small kiddos that required my attention and 2012 went by without another single event being entered.  Sure I rode and ran more than the average joe, in fact, I just missed 2000 miles of distance as recorded by my Garmin
(I'm sure I actually hit 2000 miles but I didn't use the Garmin every time I rode my bike or ran a bit).

Finally, around the second week of December, I decided that I was going to sign up for the 50K again out at Wilson and see how I did.  I managed to take my weekly mileage up to the mid 30's pretty easily and hit 54 miles during a 6 day period after Christmas.  I've been training pretty hard, but nothing like last year.  The bright side, no nagging injuries from weeks of training.  The down side, we're looking at the complete opposite of last year's conditions for this year's race.  Very cold, snow covered, and maybe even some smog from an inversion to top it off.  Regardless, I'm very excited to test myself again on one of my favorite trails and with some of the best race directors around.  As I think about what I'm about to do, I am reminded of one of the things that I tell my 9th graders from time to time: "if it were easy, it wouldn't be worth doing."  On that note, "if its worth doing, its worth overdoing right?" (Tori Belleci from Mythbusters).  Here's to overdoing it.  Happy tapering all you Wilson Creek trail runners. 

"This is one of those 'What the Hell am I doing Moments?'" (Jamie Hyneman)

(Summit Checkpoint on Wilson Peak during the 2012 WCF50K)

Trail of the Week: China Wall

I do not recommend running with guys this fast... ouch!

This week's post is likely to make some people a bit angry, and that's fine, because the trail I'm posting is somewhat of a hidden gem in the Owyhees that quite a few people know about but seem to have a difficult time finding or figuring out a way to enjoy it.  The route I'm posting up is a very mellow (as much as possible in the Owyhees) 7.4 mile round trip loop to the amazing "China Wall" trail.  Some would prefer it be kept a secret, but I think spreading the word to get more trails and interest in the area would be beneficial and so here we are... To the Canyon and Back.

Go to the left of the pointy rock feature from the parking lot.

Getting the the China Wall is a bit tricky because there is no one trail that takes you right there from the main trail head at the Wilson Creek parking area.  There is quite a few trails that take you in that general direction, and it is easy to get off course and turned around if you are out there for the first time by yourself.  I recommend trying to find a buddy that can show you around if you can.  From Nampa, go south on HW 45 and turn west on HW 78.  Take a left on Wilson Creek Road and proceed south until you are about ready to enter the feedlot.  Just before the feedlot, veer right onto gravel and travel about 1 more mile to the main trail head parking lot where a couple of restrooms are available and a signboard has a map posted.  Upon my last check, there were many free copies of the are map available, but they are not of great detail so use caution to not get lost.

From the parking lot, head east toward the large rock formation.  I recommend that you stay just north of the  feature and follow trail W300.  This is a nice piece of trail with some undulations but is generally flatter than many of the other trails around the area.  W300 will dump you off onto Pigeon Road and you will drop down a small hill and follow the sandy road north.

The view from W300 to the north.

After gaining the small 4WD road you will notice a steep little run-up off to the right that becomes trail W310.  This is a common way to get over to the Reynolds Creek canyon where the China Wall is but I also liked staying on the road and running up and over the small but steep hills on the way there.  You can't really miss the entry into Reynolds Creek canyon and the trail (W600) is really the only way through the steep walled Reynolds area.  Once dropping into the canyon keep a watch out for wildlife high up in the rugged surroundings.  I've seen multiple bighorn sheep down in there and it is truly a sight to see.

From a run in March, looking up the canyon.

Running or biking along the trail at this point is technical and there is some minor exposure as you traverse the canyon on the built up trail surface (hence, the China Wall name).  You will be jumping over rocks and pushing through some minor brush, but all-in-all, it is a truly awesome trail.  At the end of the canyon you'll see a trail leading up to the right and over the rocky, rough, and steep canyon wall.  This exit is a tough little grunt and can be a bit of a hands on the knees pushing endeavor to get up unless you're like the two guys I was running with; in which case, you just slightly slow down and glide right up.

The "China Wall"

This picture is also from the run in March, but this is the way out of the canyon.

After getting up the canyon wall, you'll soon be on the same road you took around to get into the canyon, but you will be at the base of the main Wilson Peak land feature.  You'll take the road back down to the north and follow it until you reach the camp/parking/whatever little area where W400 goes off to the west.  Follow this uphill trail for about 2 miles and you'll soon be back at the trail head and you're car.  I've mapped this route out on Garmin Connect and you can easily combine this with the Wilson Creek and Bingo! loop I mapped two weeks ago.  Click on the links and plan your adventure.  Show me the Trails!

http://connect.garmin.com/course/2554581

As always, if you take a trip on one of my suggested loops, please post comments and provide any feedback you may have about the usefulness of these trail of the week features.

New Feature: Trail of the Week!

Giving my flighty nature and general tendency to move quickly from one thing to another, I hope that I can buck this trend and post a weekly feature one local area trails and loops.  One of the great challenges one faces when trying out the sport of mountain biking is finding suitable trails and navigating along them.  In Boise, its one thing to take on a trail and make a wrong turn, you'll have little trouble getting back where you need to be and often you can seek directions if you find somebody to ask; but in the Owyhees, you're likely to not see any other riders/hiker/equestrians so you'll be on your own.  In no way is this blog guaranteeing that you'll never get lost, however, by taking on routes I feature you'll at least know what you're getting yourself into when you head out.  Enough introduction... show me the trails!

Wilson Peak is at the center in the background.  The road to Wilson Creek is only gravel for a short ways.

I want to start by saying that when you head out on any ride or run in the mountains you need to be prepared and be self-reliant.  What will you do if you get a flat?  What if your bike breaks?  What will you do if you roll and ankle?  Do you know basic trail-side bike repairs such as: fixing a flat tire, repairing a snapped chain, or tightening a loose part?  Go see your local bike mechanic if you don't.  If you're in Nampa, Rolling H Cycles will show you basic repair skills if you ask and bring some cookies for the owner ;)

Parking lot at Wilson

Let's start off this feature with one of my favorite loops in the Owyhees; the Wilson Creek to Bingo Loop.  The overall difficulty of this loop is probably intermediate with some sections that experts will enjoy and be challenged by, particularly climbing up Wilson Creek.  For more information on Wilson Creek in the Owyhees of Idaho, go to the BLM page and click on the map link at the top of the page.  You start in the main parking area and immediately begin climbing on a trail towards the South where W100 exits the parking lot.  For about 3/4 of a mile you'll climb across a couple dips and up some loose sand to the top of a small ridge.  Its pretty steep starting out so if you like a warm up before you begin a climb you may want to consider riding down the road a bit and then coming back to tackle the first hill.

Last little section before gaining Wilson Crk Rd again.

Shortly after topping out the first climb you'll descend a short but fun section until you cross a small drainage and come to a junction where you must go left or right.  At this point you you'll turn left and follow a doubletrack trail East, still on W100.  There is a junction to the right that you'll go past first and then you'll begin the see the canyon carved out by Wilson Creek itself.  Ignore the sign that points to W140 and stay on W100 (Wilson Creek Trail).  This is where you'll begin to feel more challenged technically and if you can ride the whole climb clean to the end then you should stop, pat yourself on the back, and admire what a great mountain biker you are.  The Wilson Creek Trail takes you uphill mostly and you'll pop out back on Wilson Creek Road about 3.5 ish miles into the ride.  Once on the road, turn towards the North and head up the slight incline for roughly a mile until you gain the highpoint of the ride and come the a junction where W500 goes off to the right, downhill towards the East and the Reynolds Creek area.

High Point of the Ride/Run looking back...

Trail W500 is affectionately known as "Bingo!" and you'll see why when you start tackling the two steep, butt rubbing descents in the first mile or so down Bingo!  These are the two toughest challenges on this trail, but the rocks can be a bit sketchy too further down the trail.  If you're on a cross country or trail bike, avoid taking W501 partway down W500.  It gets a bit rough going down W501 and you'll have a bunch more fun on the fast, flowy, and skinny main trail.  W501 does come back to W500 eventually though, so if you take a wrong turn, you can catch back onto Bingo! soon enough.  Enjoy the descent on Bingo! until you come to a dirt road that is labeled Pigeon Rd. on most online map programs.  Take this dirt road straight downhill and stay left at a junction with a branching road that goes off to the right and towards the China Ditch.  After passing the junction to the right you will come to an area on the left side of the road that appears to be set up for camping or other such activity.

You'll find a trail (W400) going up the hill at the end of this circled off area that takes you back towards the start of the ride.  Overall, this loop is about 8.25 miles and is a ton of fun.  It easily can be made longer with different options that I'll post up in future Trails of the Week features.

This is a Garmin course for those of you with a Garmin, however, this particular route is for the W501 option, which is fine on foot but by bike it can be a bear.
Garmin Connect - Wilson Creek to Bingo (501 option)

Rest Week?

One week after accomplishing my goal of surviving the Wilson Creek Frozen 50K, I had to opportunity to head out to the trails for a couple hours.  Not ever passing up on an opportunity to be out there, I decided to head out to Wilson Creek again for a little recovery jog/hike on the 10 mile loop of the 50K course.  Since the race is over, I felt free to explore the trails in whatever way I wanted, not sticking to the "course" and just going where I felt.  I decided that I would head over to the Reynolds canyon again but instead of taking the course, I went up the big rocky hill right off the parking area and then took trail 300 over to the canyon, going basically on the 10 mile "course" but in the reverse direction.  It was a really awesome day.  On the way out there I had to stop for a photo of the hulking Wilson Peak as seen off of Highway 45 as you drop down to the Snake River.

Following my little trip through the Reynolds canyon I went over to trail 500/501 and took 501 up to the top of the ridge where the trail intersects with Wilson Creek road.  From there, I wasn't sure exactly which direction I was going to head, but upon arriving I decided to drop down to Wilson Creek on trail 160 and then onto the twisty trail 100.  One week after the race, the trail was still a little bit roughed up, but there will likely be a quick turnaround for the trails as they are primarly sand and often get washed out by runoff coming down from the Wilson Creek watershed. 

All in all, it turned out to be a pretty nice day out.  My legs feel great except for a nagging pain in my left hip flexor (thanks to 10 lb mud brick shoes last weekend) and my left knee is sore from a tight IT-band issue.  I'll have to take a nap instead of a run tomorrow and ease into next week with some self-therapy on the foam roller and the "stick."  Maybe a few days on the bike would be a good thing.  The primary goal for the next month is to get back to 100% as quickly as possible so that I can slowly build up to a solid block of training going into June.   

Here are a few shots of today's outing... I hope that you find them enjoyable and inspiring in some way.  As always, feel free to leave comments below.  That makes the blog thing a little more fun for me.



The round figure of Wilson Peak lurking near the center, oh the carnage last weekend.  Temps were hovering just below freezing with lots of sun and light winds.  Its amazing what 1 week does for you... Notice the small coyote, or is that a stray dog?



I've wanted to tackle that little rock mound for a while, I just never got around to it.  Today I went straight up that bad boy to begin the run.  Its a nice little rock scramble to get on the tip-top; amazing view though.

Lots of wide open high desert out here.

This is the wonderful little Reynolds Creek that carved out the magnificent little canyon everyone seems to be enjoying.  It is truly a little gem out here in the Owyhees.

Another beautiful shot of the creek.  I just wanted to sit here for a while but unfortunately I was on borrowed time and had to keep moving.  I did hang out long enough to retie my shoes and absorb a little bit of the moment.

I had to do at least 1 self timer shot.  This is the little climb out from the Canyon on Trail 510.

One of the purposes of this little trip was to test out these retro Brooks Cascadia 2's that I got from a friend.  He never really wore them so they are basically new.  Not my favorite shoes, but not horrible either.  They are good shoes for a casual day on the trails such as today.  Can't miss them with that color combo either.