dirt mountains

took the little man hiking today (check out his killer imitation designer shades). it's been a while since i've been out, what with spring break in Texas and all. it was great. hiking with the little man is like having running narration. he talks a ton, describing in detail what is happening.

as we drove up canyon road he saw Flat Top and stated, "That's a big snow mountain. Can we go up there?" i let him know that's where we were headed. as we swung around to the back (south) side the rocky slopes were exposed. "Dad, that's a big dirt mountain. Can we go up and kick it DOWN!" i said we could try.

as we headed up the little man called out "Hello Mountains!" and later declared "Daddy...I live on a hike." as i haven't gotten out in nearly 3 weeks we only made it about 1/2 way up but the little guy was restless and wanted to get out anyway. he proceeded to send as many rocks down the mountain as possible while we sat there.it was sunny, about 42˚ or so and amazing. i was using the Vasque Transistor shoes i won on the irunfar blog. there not really designed for hiking with 35 pounds on your back but the fit and feel was great and the footing secure on the snowy/muddy slopes. i'll get out more in the next couple weeks and get some real runs in.date: March 29
mileage: <1
elevation: around 600'
time: 40min.

details: peak 1 w/ R, Jax, Mals; 42˚ sunny, vasque transistors

oh AK

so, one awesome thing about AK, it was light out when i got to work at 7:16...but unfortunately it's still only 30˚ and i'm parked next to a snowbank two times as tall as me...please spring, i'm ready for you

little man in a backpack

been hiking a few times this spring with the little guy in a backpack. he really seems to love it and now almost every time we get in the car he says "we're going on a hike" or asks "we going on a hike?" it's great that he gets such a kick out of it. it's good exercise for me to as he weighs about 35lbs. now. i can run if it's level or a downhill stretch but i don't think it's too comfortable for him so i haven't done it much. maybe when the snow is off the trails it'll be a bit smoother ride.

the first time a couple of weeks ago there was a lot of snow on the little spruce trees and he thought it was hilarious for me to knock it off and watch it fall to the ground. since then we've hiked (w/ Mom and friends) on the Winner Creek Trail in Girdwood, and he and i on the Turnagain Arm Trail (last week).

today though we hit up the Wolverine Bowl Loop, my still 'new' favorite. it is quite a bit longer than anything we've done so far but we had a great time. towards the end i had to keep him distracted with looking for the yellow blazes (that mark the trail) on the trees and pull out a few fruit snacks (his favorite), but overall we looked at the trees ("Dad it's a giving tree"), the birds ("God made the birds too") and the mountains ("I love the mountains"). it was really a blast to be out with him. i can't wait to hit up the trails with he and Tiff this summer. yeeeeeeeahhhhhh!

date: March 1
mileage: 3.95
elevation: 585
time: 80min.

details: wolverine bowl loop w/ R, Jax & Mals. vasque boas. 40˚, overcast, occasional snow flurries