2018 Snowy Birkebeiner Race in Ely, Nevada

 Saturday was the date for the annual Birkebeiner race sponsored by the Ely Outdoor Enthusiasts. We've had a lot of fun at the race in past years and planned to go, snow or not. It was looking like it might be a trail run rather than a cross-country ski race, but Friday night the big storm finally came! We woke up to about eight inches at our house, with reports of over a foot in the mountains.

Our close-knit community reported that a plow had been over the nearest mountain pass, so we decided to see if we could make it. The nearby roads had not been plowed at all, so I was glad we had four-wheel drive. When we got out to US Highway 6 & 50, and it had one lane plowed. Good enough. There wasn't any other traffic. At the pass, the road was plowed both directions. Here's the view at the top of the pass:

The roads were slick and snow was still falling, so even though we left early, we got to the race a little late. Fortunately they started it a little late because others were also having difficulties.

I signed up for the long course, 6.6 km (about 4 miles). Six of us braved the trail. The BLM was going to groom the trail that morning, but because of the government shutdown, didn't. So we took turns breaking trail.

When the front person in our group (one guy went way ahead and stayed ahead the rest of the race), got tired, they moved to the side and everyone continued on.

I was so winded from my turn I got pretty far behind the group. Here they are disappearing into the snow.

But it was fun having the trail all to myself for awhile. it was so beautiful with all the fresh snow. And I wasn't alone. I heard Clark's nutcrackers and mountain chickadees.

I even took a selfie. (I obviously wasn't too concerned about winning the race!)

When I finished, the kids had already started. Fortunately these independent kids were able to get their skis on, practice, and get themselves to the finish line. It helped that there were only three in the race. I skied on their route, waiting to see a skier. And Desert Girl was the first one I saw! She passed me, heading towards the finish line.

Then came Desert Boy. He wasn't in the best mood as his sister was in front of him.

But he persevered, grumbling.

The kids got to go down a hill at the end to the finish line.

Then it was time for awards. Desert Girl was so happy to have come in first. Desert Boy was grumpy.

But then we went and ate the lunch buffet at Twin Wok and he felt better.

It was so much fun doing the course with all the new snow! Ward Mountain Loop D should have a good ski trail on it if anyone wants a little exercise. And the other loops have fresh powder--a lot of it!

Thanks, Ely Outdoor Enthusiasts, for the great excuse to get outside!

2017 Moab Adventure 5K Race

 A few years ago we went to Moab and I participated in an Adventure 5K race and the kids did an Adventure 1K race. It was so much fun I wanted to do it again, and the kids are now old enough they could do it too. We invited our friend, Brooke, who had moved to Colorado to join us, and fortunately she was able to. We met the night before at a hotel and went swimming (warm November!). The next morning we got up and headed to the race site. The marathoners had already started and the half-marathoners were in the process of leaving in waves.

We had time to do a little warm-up dancing.

Brooke got a family photo for us.


And I wanted a photo with Brooke. Can you spot our little photobomber?

The Adventure 5K started in four waves: competitive men, competitive women, recreational, and family and friends. Brooke, Desert Boy, and I started in the third wave, and my husband and Desert Girl started in the fourth wave. The trail quickly became single track.

Soon we were jumping across a creek.

Then it was up a hill and through a cave.

We could see a line forming on the other side of a ravine for the first rope section.

We climbed a ladder and got in line. We had about a 15-20 minute wait.

The line behind us was even longer, and my husband and Desert Girl had to wait an hour here.

Desert Boy was glad when it was his turn, and he scrambled right up.

We had some nice slickrock running on the other side. Here the trail was marked with flour.

Desert Boy started getting really tired here.

Soon we had some downhill, including another roped section.

Then run through a culvert!

Next came the obstacle course. We had to crawl under the cargo nets.

There was even a burlap sack hop.

The balancing was a bit tricky. So was the frisbee golf.

Brooke finished quite fast, sixth woman overall. And a young lady was the overall winner for the Adventure 5K.

Because of their long wait, we had time to go back and find my husband and Desert Girl at the obstacle course.

We've since implemented a couple of these obstacles in our yard!

It would be fun to put in even more.

Here they are near the end.

This adventure 5k race is a little pricey, but a lot of fun. We didn't like the waits for the cliff, so if we do it again, we'll try to be faster in the first part (and not start in the last wave). I'm also really tempted to do the half-marathon, it would be a super pretty course.

Next post: the rest of the Moab trip. You can't go to Moab and just do one thing!

A Trip to Ozark Caves in Arkansas

We're going to take a trip out of the desert for this post. In mid-October I headed to northwest Arkansas. For the first few days, I was at beautiful Blanchard Springs Caverns, an amazing US Forest Service (USFS) show cave. It has huge passageways and huge speleothems. It also has amazing cave biota, including at least two kinds of cave salamanders, plus isopods, pseudoscorpions, and more. 

The reason I was there was to assist with a USFS video for CavesLIVE. This is an educational project, and in mid-February, a free video will be available on their website. In mid-March, there will be a live question and answer session. It's geared towards grades 4-8, but anyone is welcome to view the video and check out all the resources on the website. Plus, You might recognize someone in the video! 

The video was filmed by a professional film company, but most of us definitely weren't professional actors! Fortunately there was a teleprompter and the crew was very friendly. Below are two friends in Tyvek suits ready to do the hydrology part of the filming where they put some dye into a spring. I loved how the yellow stood out!

We had filming in various parts outside and inside the cave.  It was great to get to know these ladies better and everyone else involved.

It was really interesting observing the filming process. We filmed the opening and closing the first day. The next two days it was the middle parts. We hoped we had good continuity!

Next it was on to Eureka Springs, Arkansas for the National Cave and Karst Management Symposium. Eureka Springs is an interesting town, built there because of its 60+ springs, which were thought to have medicinal healing value. Now they are all polluted and you shouldn't drink from any of them. It's still a gorgeous place, and I made it a point to get out and run every morning so I could do some sightseeing.


This little free library was so cute.

A Carnegie librarie. There was moss growing on rocks and building stones everywhere. It was so different than the desert!

The Catholic Church up on the hill.

 We had a field trip one day, and I chose to go on the geology trip down the Buffalo National River, the first national river in the U.S. It's 135 miles of free-flowing water. We just saw a few miles.

We visited a couple shelter caves, saw awesome fossils, and learned more about some of the issues facing the river. Here I am with my paddling partner.

A little more view of the river.

And some friends paddling in to the take-out spot.

Eureka Springs is very hilly, and the Crescent Hotel is up at the top. Sunrise one morning...

I found the trail network near Harmon Park and surprised these deer.

And there are hidden secrets all over.

CaveSim came. This is a trailer with a simulated cave in it. What makes it extra special is that there are sensors in the speleothems and cave critters. Anytime you touch one, the sensor records it. Your goal is to go through the cave without touching anything fragile and as fast as you can. It is so much fun! We're hoping Great Basin National Park might be able to get one to take to various places and teach about cave conservation.

The keynote speaker was Tom Aley, a longtime caver and hydrologist from Ozark Underground Laboratory. He spoke about the history of NCKMS and also related some entertaining tales, such as a house in a cave that leaked a lot. Hmm, go figure.

It was an enjoyable getaway to a part of the country I had never visited before. I did feel a little claustrophobic with all the trees around. And everything was so wet and moldy! I actually missed the desert dryness. But it was a great place to visit, and I'm grateful that I had the opportunity.

If you're every heading to Arkansas, I highly recommend Blanchard Springs Caverns and the Buffalo National River.

Wherever you are, don't forget to check out the CavesLIVE website! The goal of CavesLIVE is to raise awareness and understanding of caves and karst - a resource that is seldom seen and considered mysterious - and connect it to people's everyday lives.