Prairie plunge

More travel, more celebration and more sights to see. Our stop at Palouse Falls State Park was more of a quick detour on the way home from the Tri-Cities in Washington, where we spent the weekend marking my grandmother's 90th birthday.

About 35 miles off the highway between Richland and Ritzville, the Palouse River gouges a canyon through the surrounding prairie and drops about 180 feet into a basalt bowl. Listen carefully, and you can hear the low rumble of the tumbling water before you see the falls.

A few pictures are here.

Distance: Several short paths are beaten along the canyon rim.

Trailhead: From Connell, Wash., drive 24 miles east on Highway 260. Turn southeast on Highway 261 and drive 8 3/4 miles to Palouse Falls Road. Turn northeast and follow the gravel road two miles to the state park parking lot.

Mapping our adventures

I recently updated the map of our trips - it now shows most everywhere we've been this year. It's always kind of interesting to see our travels from this perspective. Check back for more adventures!

Sunset on summer

Last weekend, we got what will likely be our final glimpse of summer for the year while in Tucson, Ariz., for a wedding. There was plenty of sun, and temperatures in the city in the Sonoran Desert reached the high 90s and low 100s.

While we spent a good deal of time seeking the solace of air conditioning, we did manage to get out.

Our first excursion took us up into the Santa Catalina Range via the scenic Catalina Highway. The drive ascends 6,100 feet in 27 miles to the village of Summerhaven and Mount Lemmon, where the temperature was considerably cooler. Here, we took a hike through a fern, ponderosa pine and aspen forest in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness.

Later the same day, we took a short drive and walk through the Cactus Forest of Saguaro National Park's Rincon Mountain District. We timed our visit to see the sun sink in the sky to the west, pictured above, and the moon rise in the east.

The next morning, as we drove to the airport, we stopped in Saguaro's Tucson Mountain District to view some petroglyphs.

The trip was quick and there's more to see, so we'll be returning - albeit when it's cooler. And congrats to the newlyweds!

Marshall Gulch-Aspen Trail, Santa Catalina Range



The trail begins by following Marshall Gulch west through a ponderosa pine forest, parts of which were burned in a 2003 wildfire. At about 1 1/4 miles, the route connects with the Aspen Trail, turning southeast. Just uphill from the junction are views of the Wilderness of Rocks and Tucson. The trail turns east, then north, traveling 2 1/2 miles though through more burn areas, a forest carpeted with ferns and aspen stands before returning to the trailhead.

See photos here.

Distance: 3.7-mile loop.

Trailhead: Drive 26 miles north and west up the Catalina Highway from northeast Tucson to Summerhaven. Follow the road one mile through the village to the Marshall Gulch Picnic Area. The Marshall Gulch trail begins next to the restroom.

Cactus Forest Scenic Loop Drive, Saguaro National Park

On the east edge of Tucson, the Cactus Forest Loop makes for a quick escape. Several trails are located along the paved road, including a fairly level 2.5-mile path that bisects the loop north to south. We arrived with enough time to hike out this trail a short distance and back before staking out a place along to road to watch the sun go down.

See photos here.

Distance: 8-mile loop drive, 5-mile round-trip hike. (We only hiked a short portion of this trail.)

Trailhead: On the east side of Tucson, follow the signs from Old Spanish Trail to the entrance of Saguaro's Rincon Mountain District. The Cactus Forest Scenic Loop Drive begins just past the visitor center. Cactus Forest trailheads are located on the north and south sides of the loop, roughly one-quarter and three-quarters of the way through the drive.

Mount St. Helens or bust

Seven months ago, Jen and I bought permits to hike up Mount St. Helens in southern Washington on Labor Day. Little did we know it would be raining all weekend. Fortunately, there were still permits available for the next day and the forecast was for clear skies.

After spending the long weekend waiting out the weather with relatives in Portland, Ore., we rose early on the morning of our hike and drove to Cougar, Wash., to pick up our permits and sign the register at the Lone Fir Resort. From there it was a quick drive to the trailhead at Climbers Bivouac.



The route up Mount St. Helens is fairly steep, ascending about 4,500 feet in five miles. The first two miles are on a shady trail that rises about 1,000 feet through the forest to timberline. Once out of the woods, the real work begins as the hike climbs 3,500 feet over three miles to the crater rim. The trail fades and becomes rough as you scramble Monitor Ridge's boulder fields, following wooden posts about two miles and 2,200 feet up. The final mile and 1,300 feet of elevation gain are through loose pumice, ash and, in our case, snow from the previous days' storms. The powder wasn't much of a problem - there was only a few inches and earlier hikers had pretty much cleared a path to the crater rim.



From the rim, you look about 2,000 feet down on the steaming lava dome. To the north are Spirit Lake and Mount Rainier. The peaks of North Cascades National Park stand to the northeast, Mount Adams to the east and Mount Hood to the south.

After spending about 45 minutes at the top snapping pictures and eating lunch, we made our way down. The descent went much quicker, as it was easier to navigate the boulders by looking down from above. After returning to Cougar to sign out, we sped back to Portland, arriving in time for dinner.

Permits are required year-round for hiking above 4,800 feet on Mount St. Helens; only 100 are issued each day from May 15 to Oct. 31. The Mount St. Helens Institute has more information, including the fee structure. Check permit availability here.

See pictures from our trip here and here.

Distance: About 10 miles round trip.

Trailhead: Climbers Bivouac is about 14 miles northeast of Cougar, Wash. Drive about 6 1/2 miles east of Cougar on Highway 503 and Forest Road 90. Turn northwest on Forest Road 83 and follow it about three miles to Forest Road 81. Turn northwest on FR81 and drive two miles. Turn northeast on Forest Road 830 and continue 2 1/2 miles to the trailhead. All but the final 2 1/2 miles are paved.

Glacier in the rain

We recently returned from our annual summer trip to Glacier National Park, where we managed to get in a few hikes while dodging thunderstorms. It's been a wet summer here in western Montana, but it hasn't discouraged us from getting out much.

The year, we camped at the St. Mary Campground, which gave us a chance to try our new ultralight tent. We went with a three-person model this time thinking it would be a bit more spacious for backpacking trips with the dogs while about the same weight as our old two-person tent. It stayed dry in the rain, and because all of the walls are mesh, it had the best ventilation of any tent I've slept in.

Our first day in the park, we did a quick scramble up Lunch Creek to a wildflower-filled basin below Pollock Mountain before the rain rolled in.

The next morning was wet and gray, so we decided to take a drive up to Waterton Lakes National Park, just over the border in Canada. There, we poked around the town and took a short walk through the woods to a waterfall. That afternoon, we came back to the States and did another short waterfall walk in the Many Glacier area.

Day 3 was the best weatherwise, with mostly clear skies after a morning shower, so we headed to the Two Medicine Valley for our long hike of the trip: 16 miles on the Dawson-Pitamakan Loop.

The next morning was wet again, so already having gotten in our big hike, we hit the road home.

Despite the nightly storm, the trip was worth it - Glacier always is.

Day 1: Lunch Creek



After arriving at the park and getting settled at St. Mary Campground, we headed back up Going-to-the-Sun Road for a short hike. The scramble up the east side of Lunch Creek is fairly simple, but steep in places. Above, you'll find a couple of waterfalls and a flower-filled basin with views of the peaks and Sperry, Jackson and Blackfoot glaciers to the south. This hike is the beginning of the route up Pollock Mountain in "A Climber's Guide to Glacier National Park."

See the pictures here and here.

Distance: About 1 mile round trip.

Trailhead: About three-quarters of a mile east of Logan Pass on Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Day 2: Lower Bertha Falls and Apikuni Falls



Our second day started out quite stormy, so we spent the morning in the car, driving across the Canadian border to Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. After a stop at Prince of Wales Hotel, the rain abated and we took a short walk to Lower Bertha Falls. The trail runs along the mountainside next to Upper Waterton Lake, then turns up a draw that leads to Bertha Lake. Below the lake, this waterfall cascades down and around a corner.

Distance: 3.6 miles round trip.

Trailhead: Access is from the Waterton Lakeshore trailhead, all the way through Waterton townsite on the north side of the lake. (Bring your passport; you'll need it to cross the U.S. Canada border.)



With the weather clearing some in the afternoon, we returned to the U.S. side of the border and the Many Glacier area, where we took another short walk, to Apikuni Falls. The steep trail leads to a nice cascade down a cliff wall. As the clouds moved in again, we headed back to the car and our campsite.

See all of the pictures from Day 2 here and here.

Distance: 1.6 miles round trip.

Trailhead: The Apikuni Falls trailhead is a little more than 2 3/4 miles inside the park from the Many Glacier entrance.

Day 3: Dawson-Pitamakan Loop



Our final full day in Glacier was marked by much better weather, allowing us to get out on the trail we had set our sights on before the trip: the Dawson-Pitamakan Loop in the park's Two Medicine area. Originally, we wanted to backpack it and spend a night at either Oldman Lake or No Name Lake. We missed out on a permit, though, so decided to try it as a dayhike. It made for a long day, but worth every step.

The route starts out through the trees around the base of Rising Wolf Mountain, then travels up the Dry Fork Valley to Oldman Lake. From the lake, it quickly switchbacks up the valley wall and out of the trees to Pitamakan Pass, just below Mount Morgan, where the real views begin. You can see back down Dry Fork Creek, across Oldman to Flinsch Peak, and just over the pass to Pitamakan, Katoya and Morning Star lakes in the Cut Bank Creek drainage. The trail rounds Mount Morgan topping out above Cut Bank Pass on the Continental Divide, where you can see peaks of the Lewis Range and Pumpelly and Harrison glaciers deep in the park. From here, the path follows the Divide around the back of Mount Morgan and Flinsch Peak and above Nyack Creek to Dawson Pass. At this point the views are of the Two Medicine Valley and Lupfer Glacier. The trail quickly drops into the forested Bighorn Basin, passing No Name Lake then connecting with the Two Medicine Lake Loop. At this point, you can either walk a short distance to the top of the lake and take a boat back to the trailhead area, which we did, or return along the north shore of the lake.

See the pictures here and here.

Distance: 16- or 18-mile loop, depending on whether you take the boat back across Two Medicine Lake.

Trailhead: The trailhead is at the far end of the Two Medicine Campground near the outlet of Two Medicine Lake, 4 3/4 miles in from the entrance station.

The finish line

After four months of training, I ran and - as many have already heard - finished the Missoula Marathon on Sunday, my first marathon.

Officially, I finished in 4 hours, 1 minute and 22 seconds, 245th out of 596 runners to make the timing cutoff. The pace works out to 9:13 a mile, which is faster than what I trained at by about 20 seconds a mile.

The race started in Frenchtown at 6 a.m. - just as the sun was coming up - which meant the alarm clock went off at 4 a.m. The first 16 miles were a breeze (in hindsight, I probably went a bit fast at the start). By mile 20 I had slowed some. I had to walk a little at mile 23 after my iliotibial band tightened up, but soon was running again for the final stretch over the Higgins Avenue Bridge downtown.

One of the best parts of the race was having friends in a relay team cheer me on throughout the course and at the finish with some of my family. I even got my own "GO JUSTIN" sign. Jen worked as an official race photographer and from her vantage shot some video, including the clip of me crossing the line above.

The past few days I've been resting - read busy at work - but I went for a short jog this morning and everything feels great.

Do I plan to do it again? It's a big time commitment, but yes. Mostly I feel like I need to drop that 1:22 off my time to get under four hours, but I've also come to enjoy the longer runs. Insane, as Jen would say.

See the official race photos here.

The big bloom

Last weekend, it was hiking with my mom - this weekend, Jen's mom. With more family in town, we took a short drive up to the Seeley Lake area to hike to Morrell Falls.

We get to the falls nearly every year, but this year our walk coincided with the beargrass bloom. For weeks, I've been hearing through my other blog - WildflowerWalks.com - that the big, white flowers have been particularly plentiful this season, but I haven't been able to get out hiking anywhere where they are until now.



I've seen beargrass on the Morrell Falls trail before, but not like this. Along the path, the trees are fairly evenly spaced a couple of arm lengths apart, and between most of them the puffball-like flowers were growing in patches.

If you get the chance, see it while you can. Oh, yeah - and cool off in the mist of the falls.

See the pictures here.

Distance: 5.2 miles round trip.

Trailhead: From the north edge of Seeley Lake, follow Morrell Creek Road east about 1 mile and then north about 5.7 miles. Drive east again 0.8 miles to the end of the road, turning north where it forks.

Glacier for a day

Last weekend, we headed north to Glacier National Park for the first time this year - just two days after scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road opened for the season. My mom was visiting from California, and the park always makes for a nice day trip.

This early in the season, the trail up to the Hidden Lake overlook from Logan Pass is still covered in snow. It's not that long or difficult of a hike, but it is fun with the last of winter's white underfoot, summer's sun overhead - and wildlife walking your way. While in the saddle between Mount Reynolds and Clements Mountain, we came across a number of mountain goats that were perfectly content up close to us.

This trip was quick, but with the park in our backyard, there are always plans to return.

See our pictures are here and here.

Distance: 3 miles round trip.

Trailhead: Logan Pass is 34 miles northeast of West Glacier on Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Time to taper

After more than three months steadily increasing my mileage while training for the Missoula Marathon, I'm down to the last two weeks and the "taper."

I closed out my long runs over the weekend with a last-minute entry in the Mountain to Meadow half marathon on dirt roads just across the border in Idaho's Clearwater National Forest. With beargrass and camas in full bloom at Lolo Pass, it was a fun and beautiful run. And I finished a little quicker than I thought I would considering the 2,200 feet of elevation loss and gain over the 14-mile course - in 1 hour, 58 minutes and 50 seconds.

In this last part of training, my longest run is eight miles, with the average distance a little more than 4 1/3 miles. The theory is to rest you legs for the big event, but it's a little strange, really, after heading out regularly for runs in the high teens.

My main goal for the marathon itself is to finish. The pace I've been training at should bring me in at about four to 4 1/2 hours. After the half last weekend, though, a co-worker and fellow marathoner tells me I could come in under four hours.

We'll see on July 12.

The long run

I'm officially on the final stretch of training for the Missoula Marathon, having topped out with a 20-mile run this week. And it was quite a wild run.

First, while crossing over the North Hills, I saw that the bitterroots are beginning to bloom (I need to get back up there with my camera). In the residential part of the Rattlesnake Valley, I came across a few deer during their morning munching.

Then, just a mile up the main trail in the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area and eight miles into my run, I rounded a bend and found myself looking at a large bear about 100 feet away - and it was looking back at me.

In the end it wasn't all that big of a deal. I stopped, yelled and clapped at it, it stepped off the path, and I turned around and ran up a different trail. Sure, there's an initial adrenaline rush, but I've encountered bears while hiking before and know the protocols. Mostly, I was thrown off by having to change my route and refigure my mileage - and having to yell "Hey, bear!" - on the run.

As far as the marathon training is concerned, it's going great. I've been able to keep a steady pace on my long runs, and the recovery has gone well.

People have asked me several questions about my big double-digit days: Do I get tired? Not while running; afterward my legs feel like they've had a good workout. Sore? Not really after adjusting to the distance; that's the point of going slow and stretching. That's a lot of energy expended - what about food and water? I take some energy gummies and a hydration pack with me, and yes, it does mean carrying a few extra pounds. What about the final 6.2 miles? My trainer-friend says most marathoners only get up to 20 or 22 miles before the event and think of the last stretch as just another 10K.

I've got a couple of runs in the high teens left, then I taper off until the big day, Sunday, July 12. I'm looking forward to crossing the finish line.