Halloween in the Flathead
Valley in northwest Montana can be a scary time. Dress your
daughter as a princess, and chances are pretty good that the costume will end
up hidden under a large winter coat and hat. Dress your son in a warm gorilla
costume and chances are just as good you will need to treat him for heat
stroke. You just never know.
October 31, 2012 dawned in a fickle mood. It could have gone
either way, cold and wet or partly cloudy and warm-ish. It was with this
uncertainty that I decide to hit one of my B-list adventure runs (my A-list
runs are in the alpine zone of the surrounding mountains, and currently have a
slushy snow pack). The Logan Creek loop, according to the Flathead National
Forest Mountain Bike map, is 9 miles of forest service roads and single track
trail. The climbing looked to be about 1800 feet. I figured it would take about
3 hours. I would find out that this map was the first trick.
I emailed my wife my itinerary and headed out the door with
my running pack and supplies. It wasn’t until I was about 3 miles from the
trailhead that I noticed there was still snow in the area. I had hoped that it
had melted off at the 3000 to 5500 foot levels I would be running in. I parked
my car at Tally Lake
(the deepest natural lake in Montana)
and I headed out unsure if I was going to complete my loop. Perhaps this would
be an out and back. The run begins on a Forest Service dirt road (#913) along the
lovely Logan Creek. There was about 4 inches of snow on the road, but hunters
in trucks had cleared two rutted tracks. The climbing was constant but easy.
Turning left on to the only section of pavement brought me
to more climbing along Star Meadow. This is the only place I saw a cars. It is
the heart of the hunting season and I expected to run into more traffic. I took
a left on to Forest Service Rd
#313 and then another quick left on to #2912. I was pleased to see someone had
driven up this remote road in the recent past. The snow was getting a little
deeper, and it was nice to run on dirt ruts cleared by the trucks. The road
forked and I went right on to #2912b.
Here is where things started going a little sideways. As I
climbed the dirt road the snow started to decrease as I went up in altitude. This
is counterintuitive, but helpful. I had to leap multiple puddles and little
streams in the ruts. The map said the trail began where the road ended. The
road steepened a little, but I made good time. I got to the end of the road,
but no trail. I was now 8 ½ miles from my car on a planned 9 mile run.
I circled the area for about 20 min looking for any sign of
a trail. Fortunately, it was still early (about 2:00) and mostly downhill to
the car. I always try and leave a little extra in the tank on these adventure
runs, so running back to the car wouldn’t be pleasant, but it wouldn’t be
desperate. My GPS showed the car only 2-3 miles away, but that was straight
line distance. I knew that was 2 to 3 miles of up and down, over downed trees
and a few swamps and cliffs. Nope, there was nothing to do but turn back.
Going downhill I made good time skipping over puddles and
such. A mile and half into my return… there it was! How did I miss it? It was
right on the turn with a standard, reflective forest service sign. I was
expecting the trail at the end of the road, not midway up the hill, and I was
looking at my footing not the side of the road. All told, I ran an extra 3
miles.
I ran up the trail and came to road. “Oh, I wonder where…”
Crap, the same road I had just ran down. The trail continued again in caddy-corner
direction across the road with another… yep, large reflective sign. That will
teach me. Three tricks this Halloween. I hope the single track is a treat.
And, it was. The single track was beautiful with yellow larch
trees and medieval fog, but little snow. The climbing got steeper, much
steeper. I kept my eyes peeled for the junction with trail #800. It should be
easy to see, but with my luck I didn’t want to miss it. There were many trees
down across the trail after the last storm. I kept climbing until I came to the
“summit” and the trail junction. I had another 2 ½ miles to my car - all of it
downhill. I had ran 12 ½ miles and climbed 2800 feet. The trail was fantastic
and I worked on keep my fatigued form in check. There where some wonderful
views of Tally Lake
and the Salish Range.
All and all this was a fantastic adventure. I got out into
the mountains in the fall and did a nice run. I accomplished my goals of 1)
having fun, 2) burn fat, 3) don’t get hurt. The lesson learned is to pull my
head out of my arse. I was never lost, just misdirected, but it could have been
a bad deal if it had been later, or I hadn’t left any fuel in the reserve tank.
But, I guess if everything went perfectly it wouldn’t have been an adventure. I
need some tricks and treats on my Halloween run.
. I found the book in the Kindle owners lending library.
You make some good points but there are some other considerations I'd like to propose.
On one side are the folks more interested in having a good time while doing some running (without a specific objective or goal) for whom a well organized mud run might be a great option. That can take some of the 'pain' out of constant training. To your point about injuries, someone I know was very recently injured in a mud run and looks like surgery is now being planned... that is a real risk of obstacle courses!
The team building aspects (or opportunities) of preparing for and completing a 200 mile relay race, with 6 or 12 people running (one at a time), is pretty special. It takes a certain amount of preparation and committment for that to come together in a way that many in EMS are not well tuned for, that is setting and achieving long term goals.
The bonding opportunities are many and not everyone needs to keep the same pace or have the same level of preparation for it to work. This is obviously going to be more attractive to those willing to put a bit more into it than a 5K project.
There aren't many team/group opportunities for runners unless you join a running group or otherwise make friends... and not many chances to do 'fun stuff' especially if you have a spouse and/or kids that can't keep your training schedule.
Cheers,
Nick