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Vetter Mountain
[Featured image: A carpet of clouds near Red Box in the Angeles National Forest.] I did not set out on Sunday to add a new chapter to the San Gabriel Trails Project. I set out to break free from my running malaise, brought on by flat and often repetitive routes that I had been running […]
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The Fine Art of Voluntary Adversity
[Featured image: The runner I am pacing finds a second wind at mile 92 of the Kodiak 100.] Every one of us that toes the line at an ultramarathon gets asked at some point why we do what we do. We all have our own reasons, but there is a seemingly common thread: this sport, […]
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The Joys and Sorrows of Working Away From Home
[Featured image: Camp at Harris Beach State Park, Oregon in May 2018. This was one of several basecamps during my recent work on a wildlife assessment for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.] I have always had an affinity for travel and exploration of the outdoors. It began when I was young with family camping […]
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Three Points to Pacifico Mountain Via the Pacific Crest Trail
It’s been nearly a year since I’ve added a new chapter to the San Gabriel Trails Project. You can ask me why that is, but I would not have an answer for you. There are many miles of high country trails that I have not yet covered, and I haven’t spent much time in the […]
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A Night at West Fork
The degree to which I am enamored with the freedom of backpacking is not reflected by the frequency with which I go. For awhile now, I’ve taken an interest in expanding my knowledge-base of the fauna of the San Gabriel Mountains by backpacking into remote campgrounds, preferably on a weekday when no or few people […]
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Faces of Death – The Angeles National Forest Trail Race
Sometimes you have great races. Sometimes you have bad races. Often, they are somewhere in between. This is the tale of one that was incredibly challenging because of what Mother Nature decided to throw at us. Commemorating the event is why I decided to reawaken my blog after a period of silence. I am not […]
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Rejoining the Club
Featured image: Hugging my wife at the finish of the 2017 Chimera 100. Photo by Howie Stern. PRELUDE After I completed the Zion 100 mile trail race in April 2013, amongst the many Facebook congratulations was the oft-cited refrain “welcome to the 100 mile club!” Since that time, I had repeatedly failed to renew my […]
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The Under-Appreciated Black-tailed Jackrabbit
[Featured image: A Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) attempts to hide on a cold day during the Owyhee Roads Fuelbreak Project in northern Nevada, October 2017.] We are walking our fifteenth mile of the day. The accumulated sun and wind exposure while walking around sagebrush and over unstable volcanic rock has taken its toll. Attentiveness is […]
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On the Potential Interface of Ultrarunning and Pygmy Rabbits
[Featured image: looking toward Lake Elsinore from within the Cleveland National Forest, Riverside County, California during the 2017 Twin Peaks 50k] This Autumn is, for me, an interesting confluence of long-distance trail running and biological consulting. On November 18, 2017, I will toe the starting line of the Chimera 100, a 100 mile trail race […]
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Islip Ridge, Little Jimmy, and Windy Gap
I decided yesterday was a good day to traverse some trails I hadn’t done before, so I grabbed my Angeles High Country map and drove up Highway 39. I sought out a trail the map labeled as the “Islip-Wiwona Trail”. There were no signs where the trailhead should be. The area was overgrown with a […]
England | Ecology 