White Sands Post and Bataan Death March

Renae and I walking along the trail at the Death March.


Kristen, Renae, and I half way through the march.

Kristen, me, and Renae getting ready to start.

After Kristen and Renae crossed the finish line.

Me heading to the aide station.

Those aren't cactus, they're short palm trees.

Kaily checking out the Flora and Fauna of White Sands.

Hey what's this Air Force missile doing on a Army post?

Kaily and me checking out the Army missile's at White Sands.

Kaily and Renae checking out a "Scud Buster" at White Sands Missile Range.

Well we headed to White Sands for some fun and excitement and 15.2 miles in the dessert in honor of those that were forced to march from Bataan in WWII. It seems that Renae and I can't go anywhere with a bit of drama attached to it. We loaded up the vehicle and headed out from Grand Junction at around 0740 in the am. Renae and I had been watching the weather but didn't think we'd hit the snow storm until New Mexico well it proved us wrong, not long after leaving Montrose we hit this wall of snow. It was crazy people trying to drive 55 while others were driving 25mph. We made it to Ridgeway maybe 45-60min after leaving Montrose and it was snowing in feet per hour not inches. We stopped at the Shell Station and they said they probably had a foot of snow drop in the last hour and the road crews hadn't even made it out yet. They also informed us that chains were required over both Lizard Head and Red Mountain, which of course we didn't have chains and no one in town sold them because after all it is 4 days before April 1st. So we turned around and headed back to Montrose. We wasted some time to allow the road crews to get out and the weather to ease up and purchased snow chains. Then we turned around and headed back to Ridgeway. Once we got there it looked like we could get over Red Mountain according to the CDOT sign. So we headed to Ouray. The snow had let up some but it had dumped all morning. We creeped up Red Mountain, then up Molas and stopped in Silverton to go to the bathroom. Once everyone was ready we headed up Coalbank pass, which was the best (road wise) of the three passes. On the way up Molas we passed a van from Cali-forn-ia who had apparently gotten one of his tires off the side of the road which then pulled his vehicle off the road, luckily there was a 6 foot snow bank because his car had tipped at a 55 degree angle and the snow bank stopped it from rolling on over. It must have just happened because the road plow driver stopped to check on the driver. We made it up and over Coalbank in record time and sped into Durango so I could meet with my 330 appointment. I was scheduled to do outreach in Durango but the weather had other ideas. We pulled into the hotel at 315pm after 7 1/2 hours of being on the road.

Renae and I watched the weather and the next day decided to go around some weather that was closing down I-25. We headed down through Farmington, veering off at the last second at a Fry Bread sighting yummy, then headed to Gallup. What a desolate road between Farmington and Gallup, depressing indeed. We arrived in Gallup and found a Cracker Barrel which Kristen and Clayton had never eaten at. Then we were off again headed to Las Cruces, we left Gallup around 230pm and arrived in Las Cruces around 8pm, so two long days of driving.

The next day we needed to drive over to White Sands Missile Range to register for the march. So we packed up the van and headed over. I guess I didn't realize that White Sands was at elevation I thought it was at sea level but it was at greater elevation than Grand Junction. It felt good to be on an Army Post again, made me all nostalgic for the military. I think it did the opposite for everyone else though. We followed the signs for the check in and stood in line, got our numbers, our timing, chip, checked the timing chip, got our certificate for participating and a t-shirt. Renae and I had our certificate and dog tag framed and got a few other memorabilia. We were told to be at the post no later than 0430 am for breakfast and to park. So we decided to get up at 0315 AM (I know, geez it was early) and head to the Post.

We followed a long line of cars (we saw Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, California, Kansas ((Sedgwick County)), Indiana, New Mexico (of course), New York, Idaho, Georgia, Mexico, and a lot of others. We parked where they told us (at 415 in the morning none of us were really paying much attention as to where we actually were) and started looking for our free breakfast. We arrived at the tents and found fruit and pastries. I think we were all disappointed for waking up so early and not getting a hot breakfast, but oh well. We got to talk with a daughter of a POW Bataan march survivor. She said her father wanted to come to the event this year so the daughter drove down to bring him and the POW passed away the night before the event at 6pm and his family came in honor of him. It made tears come to our eyes. They were truly celebrating his life. We made the time pass by standing in line for the porta potties, watching space aliens in tin foil walk/run past, and watching various military units. I think I even saw one of the ladies I was stationed at Ft. Meade with. We lined up in our appropriate staging area to await the start. The brass gave their speeches, the Air Force flew over in their new jets, and they told us not to start until directed to. Then the cannon sounded and amazingly our group was the first to start which was completely opposite of the way it was supposed to happen. We didn't cross the start line until about 30 min after then cannon sounded. Along the way before the start line they had the Bataan survivors and we got to shake their hands, totally awesome experience.

Kristen talked about her marathon's and we just kinda watched people as we crossed mile 1 and came upon mile 2. By the time we hit mile 2 quite a few of the military units and teams had gone past us, we had even seen one guy in uniform running barefoot. Kristen pumped at mile 2 and we headed on. I helped pass the time by picking up trash that people had thrown down on the ground, looking at the candy people had dropped, and watching for wildlife. At mile 3 we started to see military people off on the side of the trail taking off their boots and putting on moleskin and band aids, I definitely don't miss that. Mile 3 and 4 went pretty quickly because we would speed up one mile and slow down one mile but 3 and 4 were quicker miles. Around mile 5 they had a fruit station were they handed out oranges and banana's. I got my second wind then and we speed our way to the halfway point at mile 8. Mile 8 is when the 26.2 milers and the 15.2 milers split. I started noticing my feet around mile 6, but it wasn't until reaching mile 8 (which was supposed to be a faster paced mile) did I hit the wall. This was mostly because they had us walk through a sand pit for about 1/2 of a mile. This kicked my ass, but we still completed the mile in 18.5 minutes. Then we had a brief up hill section just past mile 9 and another aid station with oranges and cots. I took this time to sit down and empty the 10 lbs of sand I had in my shoes. I started questioning whether I would be able to make it as my feet burned and my fingers amazingly were swollen to the size of polish sausages. We passed mile 10 and I started slowing down. I told Renae and Kristen that I wasn't trying to be rude by not talking I was just trying to find my rhythm so I could make the last 5 miles. I don't remember mile 11, but as we neared mile 12 I could see another aid station. At this point the wind had kicked up with gusts of around 25 miles an hour. I was just putting one foot in front of the other, my butt was cramping every other mile or so since mile 9, and I could no longer feel my feet. I started thinking about the insanity of doing such a crazy thing as to walk 15.2 miles just because. Then I would try to remember why I was there. As we crossed mile 12 a man stopped me and asked if I were ok. I asked how much further and he said 2.6 miles or so, I told him if he were lying I'd walk back and kick his butt, he told me Sargent Major's don't lie, so then I apologized to the Sargent Major (military bearing). I walked a little bit further then decided I needed to change my socks to hopefully help me feel my feet. Luckily there was a challenge course on the right side of the trail so I sat on a log while Kristen and Renae helped take off my shoes. At one point both of them had both of my feet off the ground. At that point I got really nauseous and told them to look out because I was going to hurl. It was funny to watch them scatter, but I never hurled. Kristen asked if I wanted the Medic people and in a incomplete haze I said yes. I wish now I hadn't because I'm sure I would have been able to finish it would have just taken me about 30 min a mile to get it done. But they took me in to the aid station at the finish line. I had finished 12.25 miles which is 4 miles over what I have ever walked or hiked since the military. So in that sense I was pretty proud of myself. We actually finished the first 8 miles in about 2.5 hours which was amazing considering the course and the amount of people that were on it. The next 4 miles took about 2 hours because we were slowing up a bit. Then Renae and Kristen finished the last three miles in about 1 hour. I watched them cross the finish line and we had our photo taken.

Renae's bib number was 1324
Kristen's bib number was 1325
My bib number was 1323
The times are already posted on http://www.arizonarunningeventsco.com/BataanHonorary2009.htm

So if you get the chance congratulate Kristen and Renae and a job well done.

We went over to get our free after march meal which was a hamburger or bratwurst and headed back to Las Cruces. Renae drove to the long A named town in New Mexico Alburqurue (or something like that, then I drove to Farmington. We got into Farmington at 11pm utterly exhausted. Then drove on in to Grand Junction on Monday. I'm not ready to get back into a vehicle again for a while.

Kristen, Clayton, and Kailynn's Visit to Colorado

Kristen and Clayton in Durango.

Clayton pants go on your legs not in your hands.

Me feeding Kaily with her Browns blanket.

Nana Renae is so excited to hold Kaily again.

Here is the trail map of Sunlight and the run I took with Kristen and Clayton and with me and Renae.

Kristen, Clayton and Kailynn arrived in Grand Junction on Monday around noon. I picked them up at the airport and we met Renae at the Olive Garden for lunch. They piddled around town for the next couple of days then we headed to Sunlight outside of Glenwood for some fresh powder boarding. It was the most powder I've ever seen or boarding on. Kristen and Clayton and I headed up the mountain while Renae watched Kaily. We headed up to the top of the mountain and started down some blue runs...I think the Blue Catwalk to Joslin to Blue Tango. I think the last two runs had moguls somewhere underneath the powder. It was great fun I had a ton of powder ever where. When we got down I watched Kaily while Renae, Kristen and Clayton headed up the mountain. Then Renae and I headed up and came down the same route. I'll post the video's later tonight or tomorrow. It was crazy fun. After we were done we headed to Zumiez in the Glenwood mall because I had been eyeing this snowboard, but it came cheaper in a package, but I didn't need another pair of boots or bindings, so I got Clayton the boots and Kristen the bindings. It's a sweet ride and I can't wait to try it out on Thursday 4/2/09. Roby then met us in Rifle for supper.

The trip to New Mexico is on a different post. Likely I'll post the family trip to Denver on another post as well.

Renae boarding powder at Sunlight.

LIONNESS

No this isn't a weird breed of cat. Sophie (our male Hima-Siam) cat spent the winter getting her coat all matted. So much so that we could no longer brush it out. So we took her to the groomer, which turned out to be quite traumatic for Renae and I but probably not so much for Sophie and now she looks like above. I start laughing when I see her running towards me. She is such a prissy cat.

Sunlight MTN March 15th, 2009

Ah Sunlight what an interesting resort. Roby and the kids meet us over at the house around 0830 on Sunday morning. We all hopped in the car and headed to Glenwood Springs. We pulled into the parking lot around 10am. The lot wasn't very full it was about 40 degrees and sunny outside and everyone had to go to the bathroom but Kaleb, he wanted to hit the slopes. We piled out of the car and hit the restrooms. I got the kids lift tickets ($10 dollars what a steal) and we proceeded to put on all our gear at the car. This is the second time Katie has gone skiing with all of us. We got to the first lift (I guess it would be the equivelant to the EZ rider at Powderhorn only a little higher up) what insanely crazy lifts they have at Sunlight. They are still using the 1973 version of the chairlift which proved hazardous to me later in the day. Anywho. Kaleb and Roby rode together, Renae and Katie rode together, then I was the lone trail person. At 10 am there were hardly anyone on the lifts so we were yelling back and forth from the chairs to communicate. As we reached the deposit point for the lift I see fairly easy down but with a 75 degree turn to make unless I want to hit a wooden fence. Now normally no problem, except for me who has problems getting off the lift. Of course there are swarms of people seemingly dotted right in my way (that's how I saw it in my head) so I just dump and scootch over to the side. We get strapped in and head down this green run (I will load the trail map later this week).



Video from the first run.




I notice as we make our first run down that there is another lift about 1/4 of the way down from the lift we just got off. This other lift looks like it goes all the way up the mountain. After getting down from the first run we head back onto the lift. This time there were a lot more people. I rode a little bit further on my board then dumped getting off the lift, throughout the day Katie and Renae would be down on the ground in front of me as I got off the lift, because Katie would just stop then fall down when she got off the lift, causing Renae to fall down. So we rode down to this other lift and got on to ride to the top. Now is when the old chair lifts really affect my chair lift performance. This lift is only a two seater with a pole in the middle of each seat. So I'm like I'm riding by myself because this is the first time I've even laid eyes on one of these things. But noooooo some lady with skis on (look I'm already coping a boarder attitude) gets on the lift with me, I'm looking back at Renae while still in line with a paniced look and she shrugs her shoulders. So I manage to get onto the chair lift without killing myself or the ski lady. Did I mention the lifts don't have dangle bars to protect you from sliding off the chair. Because the lady had skis I wasn't able to put my free foot under my board to relieve some of the pressure on my binded foot. So by the time we reached the exit my binded foot was numb. As we approach the exit it looks like you dump off the other side of the mountain, with of course a wooden wall forcing a 75 degree turn. I actually ride the exit and half way down the turn and don't fall. Then I watch as Katie and Renae approach the exit, Renae is telling the lift operator to slow down the lift (he doesn't) Katie stops then dumps, then Renae dumps. The lift operator picks up Katie who then skis down to me and here comes Renae. Getting off the lifts was a truly exciting ordeal at Sunlight. Once we buckle in we ride down to where the trail map is to look at where we should go.

Kaleb, Roby, and Katie at the top of Sunlight.



Katie posing as we start down the green run.


Roby jumping off into a powder section.

So I am laying on the ground looking at the trail map and Renae is taking pictures when I hear behind me "RUNAWAY SLED LOOK OUT". I look up just in time to see this skier jump onto one of the ski patrol's sled that apparently fell down and started down the mountain. This guy and sled came to a stop right at my head. Had he not jumped on it to try to stop it I would probably have been hit by a very fast runaway sled. I looked up at the guy and said "nice catch thanks". And here comes ski patrol walking down to their sled like ho hum this happens every day.


So we decided to go down this green run which starts like this

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------------- (obviously blogspot won't let me illustrate, but it was steep)

So I try to make a few turns on the really steep starting section and then look ahead and see a flat section and then an up section. So I try to pick up speed and flat board the flat section. I make it about 3/4 of the way across the flat section before I stop. So I unstrap and "walk" up the up section. Five minutes later and completely out of breath I'm hunkered over trying to breath. Here is a picture at the top of the up section.



Once I catch my breath and strap back in we are on our way down the hill. Renae and Katie are leading the way. It was really nice up top as they got 24 inches of new powder this last week. So it was deep. Roby and Kaleb were in front of me and Kaleb falls throwing a ski. I stop to help Roby put Kaleb's ski back on when I look up Renae is rolling around in fresh powder (later she said she was watching Katie and fell into the deep stuff). So we head down some more, Katie grows increasingly tired as she didn't eat breakfast that morning. Needless to say we were stopped a lot on the mountain which was hard because Katie would stop on the flat sections, which are killer for boarders to get going again. I think I did more crawling to the middle of the run at sunlight just so I could catch some sort of edge. We finally made it down for lunch around 1:10pm. Renae and I had sent Roby back up to the top so he could get a good run in. I think we were all exhausted when we got down. Renae and I sat the kids down at a table while we went and got the cooler. Renae then went and got us adults a couple of adult beverages. We sat around until 2:15 or so just resting, then Renae, Kaleb and I went up a different lift. Again this lift scarred the ever living shit out of me. Kaleb and Renae loaded before I did. I rode solo and was standing waiting for the chair, when I turned around to look at the chair I realized I was standing in the middle where the bar/pole was so got hit squarely in the back with the pole falling into the chair. In doing so this caused my chair to rock back and forth back and forth with an uneasyness of a faris wheel chair. I grabbed and wrapped my arm around this middle pole and hung on for dear life trying to talk myself out of a panic attack. Until I looked up and realized my chair was being held to the line by a weld, one little weld that I'm pretty sure my grandpa didn't do, causing utter fear. Then my chair hit the first pole, CLANG, then the second pole, CLANG THUD SWING, then here comes the third pole and I'm thinking get me the F--K off of this thing CLANG, THUD SWING. The forth pole is coming but my chair had stopped swinging enough that it had missed the pole this time. 3/4 of the way up I released my grip on the middle pole. We get to the exit and I see Kaleb and Renae off to the side but I dump anyway. The lift guy is like "Uh yeah you need to lean into your board man", I'm thinking shut up youngester and go back to smoking whatever it was you were smoking.


We start down a blue run but there was a catwalk to navigate first. At one point I fell and thought I rebroke my wrist, but hopped back up and caught up with Kaleb and Renae. This blue run was steeper than the blue's I've done at Powderhorn but did fairly well at making my turns. There was only one steep section that I rode the edge of my board down which then dumped into a flat section. I did really good building up speed to make it up the two inclines before downhilling it to the lodge. Kaleb on the other hand still looks at his skis so ended up heading in the wrong direction, so I doubled back around and took his skis off. He carried them part way across the hill towards the lodge.


Picture of me after making a heel side turn on the blue run.


Roby then took Kaleb up while we took Katie back up the green runs (instructing runs). Katie did 100% better going on these runs (we think that she is competing with Kaleb in flying down the hill instead of skiing). She was able to make turns following Renae or I on our boards, she followed hand signals as well as voice commands. And after the first run wanted to go back up. It was like 3 min till 4pm so we got back in the lift line and head up the mountain. I think I am first on this run and crash somewhere near the wall, I see the lift operator praying that my head doesn't hit one of the chair lifts and here come Katie and Renae. We fly down the hill this time only stopping once I think. Here is video of me on my board.







The purple lines are the chair lifts to the runs we took. The Maroon lines are the beginner hills that we went on which include Midway and Loop. The Green line is the top run we took which began with Grizzly (green) and we cut of onto a Blue run called "Beaujolais". The bright pink line is the run where I nearly lept to my death from the chair lift. We started on the "Blue Catwalk" (blue) switched to the "White River" (blue run) which dumped into the 2.5 mile Ute Trail run (Green).

Powderhorn March 1st

Kaleb taking a break and making snow angels.

Renae and Kaleb coming down to the lift.

Renae Boarding the end of "Bill's Run"

Roby boarding the end of "Bill's Run"

Me and Roby coming down the upper section of "Bill's Run".

Renae and Kaleb skiing and boarding.

It's best to start this blog with the going's on Saturday because it will make my story much better. So Saturday morning Renae and I decided to work on cleaning the house. Renae was going to focus on the garage and I was working downstairs. We wanted to get the garage done because we have had a family of mice living and playing in the garage. They wreaked havoc in the bird seed and grass seed. Luckily we have two mouser cats and we found were they were getting in. Anywho.....at some point mid morning Renae asked me to help her out in the garage....she wanted me to cut open some plastic on top of a shelve were she thought a mouse was hiding. I didn't know why I got the glorious experience of possibly having a mouse jump out at me but I cut open the plastic and there was no mouse, thankfully. However, by this point Renae and I had already vacuumed up 4 containers of seed and mouse poop....I kept saying were going to get the Hunta Virus didn't you see that movie "outbreak" with Dustin Hoffman (of course that was a monkey). So I helped her a little more and told her since I was helping her when we breaked we had to go to Sports Authority and get her a new snowboard. She has been using her board for the last 7 years or so and while a good board has seen better days. So after going to the dump and talking with the State Patrol, we headed to Sports Authority. Of course she picks out the board that I showed her at the beginning of the season that I liked, but I wasn't jealous as my board is brand new even though it is two years old. So we got her a new board and new bindings.

So Sunday morning we get up and start loading the car and making lunches. We are to meet Roby over at his house between 8-815. This was (emphasis on was) to be Katie's last lesson which was free. We get over to Roby's house and get everything loaded in the car. Katie goes out and climbs in her car seat and nearly falls asleep without even talking with Renae who she hasn't seen in over a month (in hindsight this was pretty weird). So we swing by McDonald's for breakfast and we are headed to Powderhorn. We get there at 0915 or so and change at the car (this threw Renae for a loop because we had only done this once prior to her leaving, but Roby and I had made a habit of it). Renae took Katie who slept all the way up to Powderhorn to the Children's learning Center for her last lesson, while Roby, Kaleb, and I started getting Kaleb's ski package. Probably the last time at Powderhorn and we finally get the system down of how to rent skis. Roby then goes to buy his ticket while I go to find out where Renae is because she hadn't come in yet. I found her still standing in line at the Children's Learning Center waiting to check Katie in. I went and got her ticket and then we all met and headed over to the quad lift.

Renae and Roby both brought their new boards, since it was Renae's first time with her set up I helped strap her in because the bindings were really stiff. We decided to ride up 2 and 2 instead of all 4 just because I had been having trouble getting of the quad lift and there weren't that many people. Renae did her best to boost my confidence in getting of the lift, but to no avail I wiped out hard on solid ice it felt like. Cracked my knee on the first fall, so I worked my way over to the side to strap in. We decided to go down "Bill's Run" which has a few more steeper sections than "Maverick" the run I took last time with Roby. I did pretty well with the flat sections this time only falling once in the three runs I took with them. So we headed down and Renae and I worked with Kaleb in doing more french fry skiing (ski's together) rather than snow plow skiing. The first run I took I don't think I fell once and we worked our way down the mountain. This time I did a couple of turns on the steeper section and faired pretty well. We headed back up again, this time I indicated to the lift operator to slow the lift, still dumped, this time it was because I ended up putting my foot on my binding and was trying to reposition it while getting off. Bad Idea. We strapped in and headed down "Bill's Run" again. We all worked more with Kaleb getting the french fries down instead of the snow plow. At the end of the run I told them I wanted to go over to the EZ Rider lift and work on getting off that lift since I keep dumping.

Roby, Renae, and Kaleb all went back up the quad lift while I headed over to the EZ rider. At this point let me give you an idea of the conditions. This would have been about 1120am and the temp was about 43-45 by this time, not a cloud in the ski, a 42 inch base (although I'm not sure where they were measuring that from), groomed runs, and hardly anyone at the resort. So I head up EZ rider with a young skier. As we approach the end of the lift I see there is slush and slush water awaiting me. I do fairly well getting off until I reach the slush water, never water boarded before so dumped. Oh well. I strapped in and headed down EZ because it was the longest run. I'm not sure what they did to the run, but there were deep grooves all the way down the run in the middle of the run. So I got to practice my loosey goosey legs and did baby jumps. When I finished I went over the bottom of the run they would be coming down and took pictures of them coming down. I send them back up after getting the car keys from them and take Kaleb and we go get lunch. Well once we got to the car Kaleb informed me he really needed to go pee. I asked if he could wait 5 min to get back up to the lodge, but he was already doing the pee-pee dance. Well lets just say we got the situation handled and Kaleb felt better. We took the lunch back up and waited for Renae and Roby. We all ate lunch, then Renae and I went up for a run while Roby and Kaleb took the lunch back to the car.

I actually made it most of the way off the lift this time. Yeah, I rode about 100 feet on my board, before I wiped out. Renae and I strapped in and she kept telling me flat board flat board, finally I said I have no clue what you mean when you say that. I could tell I was tired because I fell at least 3 times hard on this run. But I was working on kicking my back leg out on turns. We made it down in about 25 min or so and Roby and Kaleb were waiting. I told them to go up without me and I would bring Katie over so she could do a run with us. Well I went over to the Children's Learning Center just to find out how we get Katie's ski's so we could take her up when she was done with her lesson at 230. They told me and I left. I sat in the lunch area looking to see if I could see Katie skiing, but never did. I went back into the CLC and she said, "it didn't even register when you were in here, Katie has been passed out ever since lunch, she didn't seem like she felt good" and there she was laid out on a mat dead asleep with kids playing all around her. Her ski instructor said she thought Katie's ear was bothering her. So I went and waited for them to come back down the hill. First came Roby barrelling down the hill and got right back in line for the lift, then come Renae and Kaleb about 7 min later. So I tell Renae about Katie and we wait for Roby to come back down. We send Roby and Kaleb back up while we go put our boards up and get Katie. When we got Katie she was running a fever and was complaining that her neck hurt. Red Flag Red Flag. So when Roby and Kaleb got down we talked with Roby about taking Katie to the hospital to have her checked.

So we dropped off Roby and Kaleb at Roby's house and Renae, me and Katie proceeded to Community Hospital ER. They took a throat culture when we checked in and before we even left the triage area told us that Katie was positive for strep throat....In the back of my head I'm thinking great I have Hunta Virus and now strep throat. You could tell Katie felt miserable. They put a mask on her and got her back in an isolation room with Renae I couldn't go back because there was only one visitor per patient allowed in the back. So I got to sit in the waiting room where there were 3 people laying on the floor moaning, one guy vomiting all over the place, one yelling/screaming child, one 17 year daughter there with her mother and father bitching about waiting for 2 hours, and several other interesting characters. Brittany (Katie's mommy) showed up around 645 or so and around 715 I went and asked the nurse to go get Renae (we hadn't eaten since lunch and I couldn't sit in the waiting room with chaos any longer. Renae came out and said they just started Katie's IV. So about 15 min later we left the hospital and Katie in the hands of Brittany and headed to Applebee's to get something to eat. I don't remember much of supper other than I was dragging as was Renae. Brittany called during Applebees and told Renae they were discharging Katie with antibiotics and everyone else that has been exposed to Katie (ie all family members) should be checked for strep. When Renae and I got home I was showing her my bruises from the day. She said whats that one on your arm, so I looked and it was a perfectly round bruise with a raised center about the size of a nickel on the back side of my arm. So I'm like great now I have Hunta Virus, strep throat, and I've been bitten by a brown recluse and my skin is going to fall off around the bruise, not to mention I pushed myself really hard today and I hurt/ache.

But it was a great day of boarding. If everyone is feeling better and on their antibiotics we are planning to go to Sunlight.


Here is the trail map of Powderhorn. I did 3 runs on "Bill's Run" (pink) and one run on EZ.