Saturday, March 27, 2010

Alive in the Gorge



This past week consisted of some active recovery from Chuckanut and now a week after the fast 50k I can say that I thoroughly feel good to go. I did some swimming and biking along with some gentle running earlier in the week and it reminded me of how I used to love the cross training aspect of triathlons. Luckily with spring break I was able to catch up on lots of quality sleep as well! I was also able to enjoy some solo time as the wife was out of town...it's nice to not have to clean up after yourself or get up out of bed if you don't want to! :o)

So Trevor emailed me a few days back and asked if I wanted to head out to the gorge on Saturday very early to do a long run. Initially I thought it was too soon and not necessary given what we just laid down at the Chuck. But then I thought, "how could I pass up an opportunity to get out there and connect with that special place?" We decided that we would knock the intensity back a few notches but still get in some good climbs and descents and really absorb the "aliveness" that the area has to offer. Not knowing the area all that well I turned to Joe for some suggestions. He passed me down one of his old gorge maps and pointed us in the direction of the Oneonta Trail. This trail starts on the Old Columbia Gorge Highway close to Multnomah Falls and climbs about 4,500 feet to the summit of Larch Mountain. We got there just after the sun came up, climbed to the summit while stopping every so often to enjoy the scenery, and were back at the car four hours later feeling very content for covering the 18 mile round trip on the beautiful trails.

I made a little video on our little jaunt...Hope you like it!


Spring is here officially and spring break is almost officially over. Back to the books on Monday but if you ask me to go to the gorge there is a good chance I'll make the time to join you! :o)

Next Ultra: Peterson Ridge Rumble 60k...April 11, 2010 Sisters, Oregon

Happy Trails!

7 comments:

Rainshadow Running said...

good to hear you're feeling good after chuckanut. i'm wondering if you saw any snow on or near the trail you were on. i'm heading down that way soon and i'm wondering what the snow situation is like there. see ya at the rumble!

shel said...

wow, those moss covered boulders are beautiful! amazing scenery.. you are very lucky to live out there yassine!

Trevor said...

Another great run bro. The video turned out great. It was definitely worth the extra effort (and time) in the snow to get to the top.

amy said...

Tomorrow will make run #3 in the gorge for me this week. It's hard to stay away. Likewise, I'm always up for a gorge run. Congrats on a great race at Chuckanut!

Yassine said...

James! There wasn't snow until we got up around 3,500 feet. Even then it wasn't too bad...pretty crunchy and packed down...we followed some cougar tracks for a while today! Let's get ready to rummmmmmmble!!!!

Shel: I am continually amazed by the green out here...that's one of the benefits of the wet weather :o) I remind myself and the runners that I run w/ often how lucky we are

thanks again trevor!

Thanks and good for you Amy! We should get together some time for a run...us ultra runners gotta stick together. I talked to Mike W. today...we should plan an outing. Have fun!

Olga said...

Yeah, how can you EVER pass on a Gorge run invitation?? I know I am coming to run first weekend of May!
Wonderfully done at Chuck. Made me salivate over the ridge trails.

Anonymous said...

You should try Carson to Stevenson Ridge Run. It's hard but a great workout!