Training Log Archive: biggins

Setting flags for Wednesday night training at Prosser.

Thunderstorms during the afternoon knocked out our power, so I didn't print maps, we were just copying over top of random old maps I found. My map was from the night-o here last November, and while setting I ran by a couple of extra circles just for fun. They both had flags at them, then I remembered we never picked the flags up from that day (they were quickly buried in snow and all). So I reran that course and grabbed all those.

Finally declared the road bike knee healthy enough to start on the big hills, so I went for a loop down around the lake, through town to the airport, and back up alder creek. Everything felt ok, except for the expected haven't-ridden-hills-in-a-year feeling.

Went down to watch Jonis do the Donner Lake half ironman, and went out for a couple laps around the lake while he was on his bike leg.

Long singletrack run up the mountain and then around the valley.

Easy ride with Carol and Jon up to the wiggly trail and down into the valley.

Easy ride around TD with Carol.

Hiking Mt Baldwin from Convict Lake. This was the same area we went backpacking last summer, and we were going to dayhike this one that trip, but from our ridgeline across the valley it didn't look passable, so we bailed. Afterwards the internets confirmed that it really was class 2, so I came back to do it, but from the other drainage this time.

The trail from Convict Lake used to be a fairly popular stock trail, but the bridge a couple miles up the creek kept washing out and they finally gave up and abandoned it. The trail is in pretty good shape for not being maintained, but the stream crossing has a slightly notorious reputation for sweeping the unworthy downriver during melt season. No troubles this time though, likely due to the super bad snow year.

The trail turns away after Mildred lake, but there was a pretty good use trail pointed in the right direction up the valley and towards the peak. Not consistent enough to follow, but I kept running across it here and there which was fairly reassuring. About a thousand feet short of the summit there's a big vein of clear calcite tumbling down the mountain; apparently Bausch and Lomb used to mine it here for optical grade calcite. Lots of cool crystals all over the place, though all the big ones left were fairly milky. Lots of clear little ones though. From there up to the summit was best described as a sand pile covered in golf balls, lots of work for very little altitude.

Down was easy, it was loose enough to slide without bashing the knees too much. Found a pika in the meadow at the bottom, along with lots of other critters.

pictures.

Wednesday night training by Carol up on Fiberboard.