Day of Rest

WYOMING LIFESTYLE

Awoke from my slumber at the trail head to Death Canyon in Grand Teton NP. I never would ventured out to this remote canyon, not so much because of its location but mainly because of the name. "Death" is not usually a name synonyms with great hiking, but Mark highly recommended it, so I ventured out. The canyon sits on the southern end of the park and is accessed by driving a long, winding, pot hole riddled dirt road. I had to make the drive in the pitch black and was constantly on the look out for wildlife that may become parallysed in my high beams and quickly become an unwanted hood ornament for the Pilot.

My dream of linking togther miles of trail for an epic trail run were dashed due to my lack of water and a little thing my dad likes to call "crotch rot". This has been brought on by my poor hygine (my only bath in the past 4 days has come from bathing in the 40 degree Snake River) and one too many sweaty runs in the same pair of running shorts. So I shortened the hike to a mear stroll and headed up to the Phelps Lake overlook.




After the hike I retreated to town where I spent the afternoon dodging rain drops and catching-up on some work at the Teton County Library, quite possibly the best library in Western States. I drafted dozens of emails to Seattle based running clubs in hopes of promoting the upcoming Lake Chelan Shore to Shore Marthon, Half Marathon and 10K in Chelan, WA on September 19th. Registration is open so sign-up today! (thought I would plug the race).

I spent the night with Mark and his family at their home overlooking the West face of the Tetons, trading stories about parenting and mountain adventures. Mark cooked penne pasta in a light pesto sauce with fresh tomatoes and olives. It was truly one of the best meals I have had in weeks and one that allowed for leftovers that I quickly stowed away in my cooler.

With a full belly and the midnight hour approaching I retreated off to sleep with hesitation knowing that tomorrow will award me with 7 hours of driving on my way to Boise. Until tomorrow.