Monument Valley 50k
The Monument Valley 50k was the race I was training for. Kris and I made a weekend trip of it, going to stay at The View Hotel in Monument Valley itself, and it was amazing. Just staggeringly beautiful.
One of the awesome things about the race is that runners get to go through some areas that normally either require a guide to access, or they are completely off-limits to non-tribe members altogether.
The weather was a little less than ideal… there was wind that varied from breezy to pretty gusty, and intermittent rain that got heavy at times. The 50k was a good distance to do, with only one real major pounding from the weather (just as I was climbing up to the highest point in the course, which was also the most exposed). After I finished, there were several more rounds of strong wind and rain, and I was really glad I wasn’t still out there in it doing the 50-miler.
The huge upside to the not-great weather was that it made for some amazingly cool photos.
Mt. Ord Backpacking
I also got out for a quick overnight backpacking trip to Mt. Ord with some friends toward the end of the month. We did a fairly short hike up (around two miles), camped in a nice spot, and left the next morning. It was a little breezy and cool that night, but it made for a nice, snuggly sleep and was great.
