Trail Running in Washington's Finest

After questioning enough local endurance fiends about trail running and pulling together all the information, I found a gorgeous and intense trail only 5 min from work. (That's 10 minutes from home).

Just past Northwestern Lake, our local kayak instruction spot and take-out for the Middle White Salmon rafting trip, there is a mountain. I knew there were mountains around here but it seems as though the grandiour of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams caused me to overlook the ones in my backyard.

Bouncing on Red Rock Canyon Floors in Arizona, December 2009

A similarly great find in Sedona, AZ.

First, I drove a friend to the top for a downhill bike shuttle. He had kindly taken me and friends up to the put-in for the Green Truss a few days earlier. And it took forever. The road kept bending and climbing for a solid 10 min. longer than I expected.

Next I ran into a friend, returning from a run up the same mountain. After some general directions to trails, I found a trailhead and went with it.

Running along a clear blue creek then slicing up the lush mountainside, my legs just couldn't stop turning. I would cross another trail, wanting to turn to explore but also feeling pulled ahead. Next time, I'll go there, I would tell myself. The air seemed to be filled with the crispness of the dew still on the bright green foliage.

It doesn't take much to find some beauty around here that I can go and run around in.

Rivers in the Columbia Gorge

Its official:

P.O. Box 334

Husum, WA

98623

I'm in love with yet another place.

Washington living, thus far, is like the tropical ecosystems of Ecuador merging with tall, thick Ponderosa Pine groves of Idaho, sprinkled with the snow-capped volcanos of Peru with Pennsylvania's meandering roads through lush farmlands, add an outdoor sport community that rivals Asheville, Fayetteville, Vail, Flagstaff and Jackson Hole COMBINED.

Not to mention some of the best kayaking I've ever seen.

Curt heading toward the take-out on the Miracle Mile, outside of Eugene, OR

Taking part in the Eddyflower Total Vertical Challenge (check it out if you havn't heard about it) has allowed me to paddle more rivers in a shorter amount of time than I could have imagined. I essentially dropped into a community of already motivated paddlers who won the competition last year.

We've lapped lots of local stretches of river as well as traveling to a few more just for fun. The photos in this post are from the Miracle Mile stretch of the Willamette outside of Eugene OR. I did 6 laps of this short but intense stretch, each time trying out new places and growing more and more familiar with every move.

Warm-up stretch on the Miracle Mile, typical Oregon/Washington full green coverage on the river banks

More local to me is the White Salmon, a stretch of spring and glacial fed river that flows through lava tubes that once carried the magma flows off of Mt. Adams. The river canyon is deep, jagged and like nothing I've ever seen. And its in my backyard.

Heading toward a boof, Miracle Mile stretch of the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the Willamette (love the names of river stretches here)

Most incredible Washington River Moment:

Two Bald Eagles followed us around a bend of the Wind River, landing on tree branches nearby with the food they just caught for their young. The juveniles soon joined the party as we sat in a nearby eddy and watched it all go down.

This kind of stuff happens every day here if you are looking for it.

For a list of all the rivers I've hit since arriving in this paradise check out the Eddyflower page where I have to enter in each river I hit. A great way to look back on the past few weeks and remember how lucky I am to be here right now.

Don't forget you can show your support by donating to my team, Femme 45. We are almost at our goal of $1000! Its a great cause....tax deductible!