2016 Ely Bristlecone Birkebeiner

The Ely Outdoor Enthusiasts resurrected the Bristlecone Birkebeiner, a cross country ski race. They have cool photos on their Facebook page from past Birkebeiners. Birkebeiner is a name for a cross country ski race, with its origins going back to the year 1206, when the 18-month old illegitimate son of the King of Norway was smuggled to safety in a backpack by soldiers on cross country skis. For some Birkebeiners, racers carry backpacks with a weight simulating the infant.

You would think that with how cold Ely is, it would be easy to hold a cross country ski race, but it seems that warming trends and lack of snow the past two years have made it really difficult. This year the organizers set the date and said the race would be held no matter the weather--if it was warm, it would just be a mud run. That made it much easier to plan and save the date. Fortunately the weather was great, and over 30 people turned up with their skis.

The long race (12.2 km) started at 9 am, and then the short race (6.1 km) lined up to start five minutes later.

The race was held at Ward Mountain Recreation Area near Ely. I had never done the loop, so it was fun to see what the course was like. Most of it was a narrow path through pinyon and juniper, siwht some open areas. When we started the race, there were some people who took off so fast I didn't even know it was possible to move that fast on skis! I shuffled along, hoping to finish in time to see the kids' race, which would start 55 minutes later. The race had lots of little ups and downs. I crashed on one turn at the bottom of a little hill since I didn't want to ski into the sagebrush. I wasn't exactly smooth, but I really enjoyed being outside and getting some exercise. My friend Brooke finished ahead of me and got this photo of me near the finish--in about 55 minutes! Woohoo!

I went up to the Kid's Ski route, a 1-km out and back.

They had started it just a few minutes earlier (I needed a few minutes to recover at the end of my race), so it took a while to catch up to the kids. But I eventually did, finding Desert Girl in her tutu and Desert Boy with a very determined look and not minding that one of his boots wasn't very secure in the ski binding.

They both wanted to win a ribbon for being in the top three, even though they had very little experience with cross-country skiing (like two practices and that's about it).

They fell a lot and complained some, but they kept moving.

Desert Girl got passed and at the end was very frustrated because she finished fourth. It was a hard lesson for her to learn, but a good one, that you can't always win (and as a six-year old in her very first cross-country ski race, she shouldn't expect to!). I tried to emphasize that just participating and finishing made her a winner.

They soon awarded ribbons, and Desert Boy got second for the kids.

It was great to see kids enjoying the outdoors so much!

We did a photo of all the ribbon winners.

I think this girl was the biggest winner of all. She was the last person to finish the course, but she was nine years old and did the 6.1 km race and finished with a smile! Way to go!

I asked the kids afterwards if they wanted to do the race again next year. 

They didn't hesitate to say yes. I think we'll be spending more time outside, so it's already a win for all of us. Thank you Ely Outdoor Enthusiasts for getting us outdoors!

Nevada Northern Railway's Plein Air Outdoors Art Festival

 A couple weekends ago I had the opportunity to participate in Nevada Northern Railway's Plein Air Outdoors Art Festival. This is the fourth year they've had the event, but my first to attend. I went as one of 16 vendors that included artists, photographers, food vendors, crafts booths, and product booths.

The weekend kicked off with a train trip pulled by Steam Engine 93. It sure is magnificent.

We left from the East Ely Depot.

This logo is on the tickets, too.

We went with friends, which made the trip even more fun. A highlight for the kids is getting the tickets torn and later stamped by the conductor.

Harold narrated the trip, telling us about the history of the train and Ely, as well as information about some of the sites on the way.

The girls were all chill.

We sat outside briefly on the way up the canyon, but that's when they're really shoveling coal, so you get a lot more cinders on you. So we stayed mainly inside going up but mainly outside heading back down the canyon.

Angie was the engineer for our trip and we had a smooth ride.

A game of I-Spy was lots of fun on the way down. We looked for and found lots of holes in the rock, both mines and little solution caves.

The kids posing. I don't get many of them this way (sitting down together).

Everyone on board seemed to have a good time.

Deanna and her girls.

A highlight of the trip is going through the two tunnels. Here's the older tunnel. Some people were preparing for the cinders. They weren't bad.

The next day Deanna and I set up canopies and displayed photographs and books. I didn't have any train photos, but Deanna had quite a collection from her Western Mountain Photography.

The kids constructed a train out of boxes and other kids were encouraged to help.

It was nice having both of us there because we could take turns watching each other's booth and then wander over to the other booths. I met Colleen Reynolds, an artist from Salt Lake City, who was painting the scene in front of her. This was so impressive to watch!

It was a fun weekend and we learned a lot about being at an art event in a capacity different than a visitor. Thanks so much to Dany Feinstein of NNRY for organizing this event!

The railroad has the Ghost Train coming up in October, which people who have been on it have told me is really fun--and spooky!

Your Most Important Gear for a Hike

(This is a post sponsored by The Clymb. Although I am being compensated for this post, all ideas and content are my own.)

What's your most important piece of gear you take with you or wear when you take a hike? Take a minute and think about your priorities. (Are you really taking a minute? How about 15 seconds? Okay, maybe just 5?) What hiking gear or clothing can't you leave behind? What is the deal breaker for you, something that if you don't have, you simply won't go out hiking?

Although I usually grab my backpack, water bottle, chapstick, camera, and sunglasses, I would have to say that I wouldn't even be going for a hike unless I had something for my feet. Long ago, I could go about anywhere barefoot. Summertime included the ritual of stubbing my toe at the public swimming pool, to which I walked barefoot, getting stung by a bee as I ran through a clover patch in the backyard, and not worrying about shoes at all.

Now I'm not so tough. I might tiptoe around the yard occasionally, but I live in the desert, where there are lots of poky, spiny, nasty plants (even around my not-so-well-manicured yard). If I venture further, I definitely need to have some foot protection. And if I want to go for a hike, I want some footwear that's going to be comfortable and keep my feet safe.

I get along well with my hiking boots. In fact, for a very early Fourth of July run, so early that I was clearly not thinking straight, I managed to arrive at the race start without my running shoes. They sat near my front door, forgotten in my early morning daze (some days I wish I drank coffee!). What was I to do? I was wearing flip flops, which clearly wouldn't be appropriate for a trail run. Fortunately I had my hiking boots with me, and they worked just fine for the race. I didn't have any blisters, sore spots, or other problems afterwards. That's when you know you have a really good hiking boot.

Finishing the run in my hiking boots. Photo courtesy of Sharon Conrad.

Maybe you already have your perfect hiking boot. If you don't, or you'd like to grab a deal on a new pair because yours are in imminent danger of wearing out, you might try www.TheClymb.com . This is an online retailer that offers deep discounts. I always like sales, and many of their prices are half off or even more. I couldn't resist and just ordered from them a couple weeks ago. I was so happy when the box with my shoes arrived. I smiled when I saw that the box said that it had been delivered carbon neutral. Why should that matter? Because when I go out hiking, I want to enjoy my outdoors, and when a company is environmentally responsible, that's one step towards a better world for all of us. If you need some hiking boots, or other gear on your top priority hiking list (or for that matter climbing or cycling or yoga gear), check out The Clymb.

Then head outdoors and enjoy a hike!

What's Blooming and Singing up Strawberry Creek, Great Basin National Park

We've been glad to get out and stretch our legs while still doing social distancing. A good place for that is the Sage Steppe Loop Trail, a 1.3-mile loop at the end of the Strawberry Creek road in Great Basin National Park. There are options to make the hike longer.

I wanted to see what flowers were blooming and what birds were singing. So here's a quick look at what the trail looks like in early May.

When the snow melts, one of the first flowers to emerge is snowy buttercup (Ranunculus nivalis). 

 Another yellow flower, not as pretty, but more widespread, is creeping barberry, also colloquially known as Oregon grape (Berberis repens). The leaves turn a beautiful red color.

This next flower is extremely tiny, the small-flowered blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parvifolia).

We hadn't come far by this point, we had simply crossed the foot bridge and entered the large meadow.


Many of the flowers were unobtrusive, like this carrotleaf desert-parsley (Lomatium foeniculaceum).

This tiny clover, hollyleaf clover (Trifolium longipes) is easily overlooked.

Here's some Nevada biscuitroot (Lomatium nevadense).

In 2016, a lightning strike started a 4,500-acre wildfire in the Strawberry Creek watershed. The sign survived, but the hillside behind it burned. I like seeing how the landscape is returning.

The sagebrush bluebells (Mertensia oblongifolia) were just starting to bloom.

Continuing up the trail. The kids had decided I was taking too long and were way ahead of me. We were the only vehicle in the parking lot (good thing, as it's not a big parking lot!), so I didn't mind them going ahead.

Then I started seeing more color--arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata).

And a little long-leaf phlox (Phlox longifolia).

This tiny flower is slender phlox (Microsteris gracilis).

This West Coast Lady butterfly seemed to like it a lot.


Desert Girl had waited for me, so I pointed out some flowers as we crossed the creek and headed back through the forest to the vehicle. I had challenged the kids to find at least five different flower species. They were not interested. Sigh. At least they were outdoors!

A variety of birds were also out, like this male Mountain Bluebird.

A green-tailed towhee fluttered into the shrubs. I like the red tuft of feathers on the top of his head. I also saw lots of chipping sparrows flitting about the ground.

A yellow-rumped warbler stopped for a moment.

A female mountain bluebird isn't nearly as bright, but is still beautiful.

A female Cassin's finch is a bit non-descript; the males have a bright red head. The females of many bird species are more camouflaged so they can sit on a nest and not attract attention.

The kids like the sage steppe loop as they know it's short. When they were little it would take a couple hours to do. Now we can do it in way less than an hour--unless I'm looking at all the birds and flowers! It will be fun to visit periodically as the flowers will change notably through the season.

On the way out of Strawberry Canyon, we noticed a large herd of elk in the fields across the highway. We've seen the elk on both sides of the highway in this area, so be careful traveling through here.

I hope you've enjoyed this brief glimpse of what's going on in this corner of the world! Have a good day!