2015 Delta Triathlon

Delta, Utah had its second annual Ready, Set, Tri, a super sprint length triathlon, in September. For adults, the swim was 300m, the bike was about 6 miles, and the run was 1.5 miles. For the kids, the swim was 100 yd, bike 1.5 miles, and run 0.25 miles.

I did the triathlon last year but got lost on the bike and didn't finish so I could watch Desert Boy do his first triathlon. He was so happy doing it, so I thought it would be fun to sign up the whole family. Fortunately this year the race organizers waited to have the kids compete so that adults could compete first and then watch their children.

I jumped in the pool when it was my time (we were seeded by times we submitted), and then I was off. The bike route was different this year and had pink arrows spray painted, which made it much easier to follow than signs that had folded over, obscuring the arrows (like last year). I enjoyed the swim and bike, but the run was not fun. That is always a difficult transition for me.

I finished the bike just in time to let my husband use it. The road bike is a lot faster than a mountain bike, so he was glad to see me. I had recovered enough to get a photo of him coming back into the transition area.

Before long it was time for the kids. They had 14 sign up, so they divided them into two groups. Desert Boy was with the first group and did a great job swimming the whole 100 yards with a mixture of backstroke and front crawl. Then he ran out with my husband supervising his transitions.

I stayed with Desert Girl as she did her first triathlon. She did back float kick and doggy paddle with a life jacket. She was slow. Very slow. But she did a 100 yards.

Her transition took awhile because she insisted on putting on leggings. Those are not easy to put on when you're dripping water! Finally she got going and I rode the 1.5 miles with her.

I told my husband he would have the privilege of being her buddy for the 1/4 mile run. He wasn't too thrilled, but he did it. And Desert Girl finished! She was the very last person to finish, which she wasn't happy about, but we kept telling her how good it was that she finished.

Desert Girl was still unhappy about being last until they did the awards and she won a coupon for some breadsticks and a drink. She was the only one to get the breadsticks coupon, so she was feeling special. We went and redeemed them right away, and had a great lunch together. 

I love these small races where the emphasis is on having fun. (Although I have to say there was quite a lot more competition than last year. Last year I was the only one to bring separate biking and running shoes and this year there were quite a few people who did that.) We took an after photo with our matching t-shirts. When I saw how it came out, I thought we probably should have done it as a before photo!

The racing season is slowing down. We'll do a turkey trot race (it's a great way to start Thanksgiving!), but don't have anything else planned for this year. Maybe an obstacle course race for next year!

Happy Fourth of July!

 EskDale, where we usually celebrate Fourth of July, observed it a day early this year because the fourth falls on Saturday, their Sabbath. Fortunately I had the third of July off, so we could go partake of the festivities, which began at a very, very early hour (we had to leave the house at 5:30 am!). We went out to run the 5k and kids' run.

Desert Boy had decided to run the 5k, and since his last one at the Snake Valley Slither had taken 52 minutes, I asked if he would like me to run with him to pace him. He said yes, and I told him our goal was to get 40 minutes or under. He started out kind of fast so I had to reign him in. We then did jogging with walking breaks. Of course getting the camera ready produced some bursts of speed!

He really wanted to run with his fast friend Adolfo, but Adolfo was quite a ways ahead (in the red).

Eventually we did catch up! This is what a lot of the runs out here look like--hardly any people! It's been so long since I've run in a crowd that it would be a really strange experience.

We didn't manage any finish shots, but Desert Boy finished in 36:28, and we were both really happy with that.

After a relaxing day, we headed back out to EskDale in the evening for delicious food and a fun program. The kids formed packs and wandered around.

I was part of the Snake Valley Shufflers, a tap dance group, and we performed Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars. Hopefully someone got a good recording of it! It was so much fun, and so nice to perform after months of practice.

The next group up, the Friday Night Pickers allowed the kids to dance, and they were so happy.

I played the trumpet, then John the trombone.

The variety of musical numbers was quite entertaining.

It was a good-sized crowd.

The most amazing violin player!

The musical acts were interspersed with balloon games, with money in the balloons.

They passed out glowsticks to the kids, who had lots of fun being creative with them.

After the program we went to the field to the southeast to wait for the fireworks. The nearly full moon put on a show as it rose in orange majesty.

Then the fireworks started, and we were transfixed.

The kids had fun hopping from our truck to the next one.

It was a great night.

Happy Fourth of July!

Camping and Biking and Trail Running at Sacramento Pass Rec Area

 Last weekend we had Saturday night free, so I came up with the grand idea of camping at Sacramento Pass Rec Area. It was camping night #7 for the kids (12 is our goal for the Desert Survivor's Get-Out-and-Camp Challenge, so we're doing really well!). We decided we would catch our dinner at the Sac Pass Pond, where rainbow trout are stocked by the Spring Creek Rearing Station.

It didn't take Desert Boy long to catch three trout and then Desert Girl two more. They were on the smallish side, but we decided we'd eat them all.

Meanwhile the almost-full moon came up.

And Desert Girl had fun being silly. We moved to the upper campsites to get further away from the road. They were recently redone with money from a SNPLMA grant, and the whole area is so nice. Even though it was a Saturday night, we had it all to ourselves, which was quite surprising because it's so easy to access and free.

We had our little camping trailer, which creaked all night. We might get a better night sleep in our tent, but it still is kind of fun to be in the trailer.

I woke up before everyone and decided to go scamper on the nearby rocks to take advantage of the great early morning light.

The road up and over Sac Pass looked especially pretty, with the Schell Creek mountains in the background.

A bit later I left to go mountain biking. I really wanted to check out the Mineshaft trail, a 4-mile long loop trail that departs from the Lucky Boy spur off the Sacramento Pass trail. Desert Boy and I had biked much of the Sac Pass trail last fall, and so I knew it would be technically difficult. But I found I can only take so much technically difficult. Once I got to the loop part of the Mineshaft trail (1.5 miles from the trailhead), I decided I would be much happier if I just did the loop as a trail run and didn't have to worry about going over my handlebars as I navigated the rocky course.

The views were terrific on the Mineshaft trail, and I enjoyed it so much (even though I didn't have a camera!). It was obvious that the trail doesn't get much use, so I built up some rock cairns marking the trail that had toppled over. If you want technical singletrack all to yourself, this is the spot! If you want a trail run all to yourself, this is also your spot! And the trails are designed for equestrian use, but I don't think a horse has been on them yet.

If four miles is too long, there is a shortcut--a wash connects the trail at the narrowest spot, so you could  make it a much shorter loop. There's also a two-track road that crosses the southwest part of the loop, so you could bail out there if you're bike riding and the singletrack is getting too much for you. 

You can find the Sac Pass Trail map here. 

Time to head outside!

Kershaw-Ryan State Park - Spring Break 2015

 We were headed home from Las Vegas, a five-hour prospect, and the sun was setting quickly. We had to make a decision: drive all the way home or spend one more night out? The plan had been to camp one more night (night five), but being so close to home, we could also feel the pull. When I thought about driving so far in the dark, though, with lots of animals along the road, I decided we would stay one more night. That way we would have time to explore a little more. And I'm all about exploration.

I started with the beautiful Joshua tree forest along Highway 93 west of Caliente. This isn't a forest like you see in the Eastern United States or in the Pacific Northwest or the Rocky Mountains. A Joshua tree forest is spectacular in its own way.

The setting sun really lit up these trees. Then I noticed two hawks talking to each other from the tops of two trees. I went a little closer to get a better look and found they were Swainson's hawks. These hawks winter in Argentina and are now back! Hello!

The flowers on the Joshua tree come in big terminal clumps.

The individual flowers themselves might not be so showy, but altogether they make for an impressive display.

We had to decide where to camp. We had several options: trailheads for the Silver State OHV trail, Kershaw-Ryan State Park, or Cathedral Gorge State Park. We ended up choosing Kershaw-Ryan, as I had never been there and it was only two miles from Caliente. We pulled into the 15-site campground and selected a site. The kids put up the tent all by themselves while I made their meal of choice: top ramen. Yep, we were living it up!

The very nice ranger stopped by and gave us a brochure and told us about the pay showers (8 minutes for 50 cents) and the firewood. We availed ourselves of both, then went to bed.

The next morning was chilly, so I started a fire and roused the kids to eat some hashbrowns. Yum!

I got just a little bit of attitude.

We wanted to get home by lunch so we could see my husband and have the afternoon to unpack, so we packed up and headed further into the park. We were amazed at what we found. A small wading pool was near the end of the road. Since it was March, it didn't have water in it, but we could imagine how much fun it would be in summer.

We also found a playground, which the kids loved.

We decided to take the Canyon overlook trail, about 1.4 miles long. But since we didn't have much time, I told the kids we were going on a trail run. They were good sports and started running.

The trail was great, with nice views.

And benches for resting and goofing around.

We kept climbing higher, getting a view of more of the park.

I wondered what was up the side canyons. Although the principal vegetation was sagebrush and everything seemed quite dry, these canyons are subject to flash floods. In fact, nearly all the park facilities were wiped out by two back-to-back flash floods in 1984, and it took a long time for the state to appropriate money to rebuild.

The canyon was originally developed in 1873 by Samuel and Hannah Kershaw, who called their ranch Meadow Valley Wash Ranch. In 1904 they sold it to rancher James Ryan, who then donated it to the state in 1926 as a park. The Civilian Conservation Corps developed facilities in 1934, and it became a state park in 1935. Although in some ways you feel like you're going back in time in the park, the frequent trains (we heard about ten during the night) remind you that progress is chugging along.

Leaves were just appearing on some of the trees.

When we finished the trail run (which the kids rocked!), they checked out the fish pond.

The ranger let them feed the fish, which they loved.

I'm looking forward to visiting again in the summer to check out all the rose bushes and for the kids to take a dip in the wading pool. This is truly an oasis, and the bird life is terrific. Kershaw-Ryan isn't far off the beaten path and definitely worth a stop. It was a wonderful way to end our fun spring break.