Finally, another vlog! I plan on making a new one every long run during CIM training.
Showing posts with label lava beds national monument. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lava beds national monument. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Lava Beds Camping 8-7-09 to 8-10-09
A few months back, my friend Beej invited us to his group camping trip to Lava Beds National Park, in Tulelake, CA. I'd never been, plus he was inviting some of our friends from college, so I said sure! I knew the kids would have a blast.
Along with camping, the kids had a total blast exploring caves. While they weren't all appropriate for kids, they did get to see a few caves. We took them through Hopkins Chocolate Cave, Sunshine, & a few others over the course of two days.
I managed to forget to pull over for a picture of Mt. Shasta, so I took one from the car.
We stopped in Mt. Shasta City for lunch on the way home.
All in all, another great camping trip. Here's a video of some of the fun our kids had.
Along with camping, the kids had a total blast exploring caves. While they weren't all appropriate for kids, they did get to see a few caves. We took them through Hopkins Chocolate Cave, Sunshine, & a few others over the course of two days.
I managed to forget to pull over for a picture of Mt. Shasta, so I took one from the car.
We stopped in Mt. Shasta City for lunch on the way home.
All in all, another great camping trip. Here's a video of some of the fun our kids had.
Monday, August 10, 2009
CIM Training Week 2, Day 1: REST!
Technically Mondays are supposed to be cross training days, but I really didn't have much of a choice but to rest today, seeing as it was the ~8 hour drive back from Lava Beds National Park. It was a great weekend, we were all pretty exhausted. The kids slept a good amount of the way home, but what did they do when they got back?
Spent the night at Grandma's. That actually turned out to be a pretty good thing, it gave Mom & Dad a much-needed break so we could get to bed in peace last night.
Spent the night at Grandma's. That actually turned out to be a pretty good thing, it gave Mom & Dad a much-needed break so we could get to bed in peace last night.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
CIM Training Week 1, Day 7: 8 miles
This morning was to be an 8-mile long run. I decided once again, with the elevation being 4700', and after not only running 5 miles yesterday, but exploring the Catacombs as well, I'd take it a lot easier today. I also did some sightseeing along the trail.
I won't bother posting the exact numbers, it's obvious I did a lot of stopping, taking pictures, and shooting video along the way. Elevation gain & loss was a lot less today, but still a challenge.
Even though I did a bit of meandering and didn't go the way people recommended I should go, I still managed to end the run at right around 8 miles.
The trail, while rugged, was really good. The views were outstanding.
At Symbol Bridge, there were a good amount of petroglyphs, which I'd never seen before. I got a nice, closeup view of them.
On the way back, I stopped at Big Painted Cave, which supposedly had a depiction of a battle. It just looked like natural formations to me.
Unlike yesterday, I wasn't so lucky in the injury department. I tripped not once, but twice, and fell both times. I suppose I was lucky in the sense that I didn't fall on any large rocks (there were plenty on the trail), I just skidded along the ground pumice trail. Still, it skinned me up pretty good.
I won't bother posting the exact numbers, it's obvious I did a lot of stopping, taking pictures, and shooting video along the way. Elevation gain & loss was a lot less today, but still a challenge.
Even though I did a bit of meandering and didn't go the way people recommended I should go, I still managed to end the run at right around 8 miles.
The trail, while rugged, was really good. The views were outstanding.
At Symbol Bridge, there were a good amount of petroglyphs, which I'd never seen before. I got a nice, closeup view of them.
On the way back, I stopped at Big Painted Cave, which supposedly had a depiction of a battle. It just looked like natural formations to me.
Unlike yesterday, I wasn't so lucky in the injury department. I tripped not once, but twice, and fell both times. I suppose I was lucky in the sense that I didn't fall on any large rocks (there were plenty on the trail), I just skidded along the ground pumice trail. Still, it skinned me up pretty good.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Lava Beds National Park Caving 8-8-09
Ah yes, caving. Lava Beds is full of caves, formed by lava flowing underground so many years ago. We took the kids to Hopkins Chocolate Cave & Sunshine.
We didn't get to finish because I felt it was too difficult to go through with the paltry shoes my youngest daughter was wearing.
Back at the campsite we had lunch, and around 4pm, me and 4 others (Beej, Tom, and a guy whose name escapes me at the moment) headed off to the Catacombs. Here's Beej in the Sunshine cave.
I was given all sorts of warnings & descriptions prior to going in about how it was famous for ripping up clothing, getting caught, about the small passages. Beej asked me if I get claustrophobic (I do, but only in crowds of people).
Here's a map Beej scanned in (click for a larger version).
My apologies for not having any more pictures inside the caves. I could have brought my Canon, but I didn't think it'd be a good idea, given the hardness & sharpness of the rocks. My Palm Pre did pretty well, but it was also extremely dark. Beej took some pictures that I'll post once he sends them along.
We made a loop through the Catacombs, entering one side, and exiting the other. We got to see Cleopatra's Tomb and the Elephant's Rump, passing between at the Upstairs Crossover. Some of the passages required navigation on our bellies, as the crawlspace wasn't much bigger than our bodies. Inching over what's called the AA Floor, there was no way to crawl without heavy duty gloves to grab the sharp floor, moving forward in sort of a half pushup position, and moving forward with our feet. Other times, we crouched down as low as we could get; quite often, we were doing a bear crawl, crouched down on all fours with our heads up so as to avoid scratching our backsides with the sharp ceiling.
Surprisingly, we found that someone had been smoking in one of the rooms. This was after crawling up what my companions lovingly referred to as the vagina, and out another of their terms, the anus. Oddly enough, those titles were perfect descriptions of our situation.
Beej hurt himself when he tried to crawl to the second to last room, so we decided to head back. While he said the return was easier, it was more or less the same kind of navigation.
My thanks go out to Beej for his knowledge and guiding skills. I probably could have navigated with a map, but certainly wouldn't have been in near as good hands. His guiding skills would be well paid for in other situations.
While it was hard work, I quite enjoyed navigating the Catacombs, although it'll certainly be a few years before I feel comfortable taking any of our kids through.
We didn't get to finish because I felt it was too difficult to go through with the paltry shoes my youngest daughter was wearing.
Back at the campsite we had lunch, and around 4pm, me and 4 others (Beej, Tom, and a guy whose name escapes me at the moment) headed off to the Catacombs. Here's Beej in the Sunshine cave.
I was given all sorts of warnings & descriptions prior to going in about how it was famous for ripping up clothing, getting caught, about the small passages. Beej asked me if I get claustrophobic (I do, but only in crowds of people).
Here's a map Beej scanned in (click for a larger version).
My apologies for not having any more pictures inside the caves. I could have brought my Canon, but I didn't think it'd be a good idea, given the hardness & sharpness of the rocks. My Palm Pre did pretty well, but it was also extremely dark. Beej took some pictures that I'll post once he sends them along.
We made a loop through the Catacombs, entering one side, and exiting the other. We got to see Cleopatra's Tomb and the Elephant's Rump, passing between at the Upstairs Crossover. Some of the passages required navigation on our bellies, as the crawlspace wasn't much bigger than our bodies. Inching over what's called the AA Floor, there was no way to crawl without heavy duty gloves to grab the sharp floor, moving forward in sort of a half pushup position, and moving forward with our feet. Other times, we crouched down as low as we could get; quite often, we were doing a bear crawl, crouched down on all fours with our heads up so as to avoid scratching our backsides with the sharp ceiling.
Surprisingly, we found that someone had been smoking in one of the rooms. This was after crawling up what my companions lovingly referred to as the vagina, and out another of their terms, the anus. Oddly enough, those titles were perfect descriptions of our situation.
Beej hurt himself when he tried to crawl to the second to last room, so we decided to head back. While he said the return was easier, it was more or less the same kind of navigation.
My thanks go out to Beej for his knowledge and guiding skills. I probably could have navigated with a map, but certainly wouldn't have been in near as good hands. His guiding skills would be well paid for in other situations.
While it was hard work, I quite enjoyed navigating the Catacombs, although it'll certainly be a few years before I feel comfortable taking any of our kids through.
CIM Training Week 1, Day 6: 5 miles
Today's run was supposed to be a 5-miler at marathon pace, but with the elevation being 4700', and the run being a trail run with lots of hills, I decided to forego worry about pace and just run.
Obviously, I went out too fast. I should have been keeping about an 11 min/mi pace, because that first mile just took the breath right out of me. I wasn't used to running at 4700'! I haven't been out of breath running for a very long time, so ended up doing a liberal amount of running. Then, of course, it was downhill on the way out, and uphill the way back.
Splits
Mile 1: 09:38
Mile 2: 10:21
Mile 3: 11:59
Mile 4: 12:58
Mile 5: 13:57
I tripped SIX times, but managed not to actually hit the ground. That was a good thing, because we were to be doing some caving later in the day.
Obviously, I went out too fast. I should have been keeping about an 11 min/mi pace, because that first mile just took the breath right out of me. I wasn't used to running at 4700'! I haven't been out of breath running for a very long time, so ended up doing a liberal amount of running. Then, of course, it was downhill on the way out, and uphill the way back.
Splits
Mile 1: 09:38
Mile 2: 10:21
Mile 3: 11:59
Mile 4: 12:58
Mile 5: 13:57
I tripped SIX times, but managed not to actually hit the ground. That was a good thing, because we were to be doing some caving later in the day.
Friday, August 07, 2009
CIM Training Week 1, Day 5: REST!
That's right, it was a rest day. Good thing, because I was driving ~8 hours to our vacation destination, Lava Beds National Park. I'd never been there before, so I was relying on directions my friend Beej gave me. Luckily, he gave detailed instructions on how to get there.
Driving up I-5, I took the Hwy 299 exit and drove to Burney, took a left towards Burney Falls, and drove around Medicine Lake to get there. It was a beautiful drive through forests of trees growing through old lava flows! While not technically part of the "official" monument, it was certainly part of the same formation.
Once there, I met up with some other friends and set up our tent. By the time that was done, it was too late to do any exploration, so I fixed dinner. We spent a little time by the fire, and while my wife took the kids to bed, I went with my friends to the campfire, where the ranger gave a talk about Lava Beds.
Driving up I-5, I took the Hwy 299 exit and drove to Burney, took a left towards Burney Falls, and drove around Medicine Lake to get there. It was a beautiful drive through forests of trees growing through old lava flows! While not technically part of the "official" monument, it was certainly part of the same formation.
Once there, I met up with some other friends and set up our tent. By the time that was done, it was too late to do any exploration, so I fixed dinner. We spent a little time by the fire, and while my wife took the kids to bed, I went with my friends to the campfire, where the ranger gave a talk about Lava Beds.
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