I spent two days visiting BCA accounts in the Bellingham, the City of Subdued Excitement. I lived here for a few years getting a BA from Western Washington University, so I took the opportunity to visit a few friends and eat and drink in a few old haunts. The Black Drop still makes the best coffee; Mallard's the best ice scream. And the Temple Bar has actually expanded and got a liquor license (YEAH!!!), and Archer Ale House is still one of my all-time-neighborhood pubs.
But another thing I got to do was get a trail runner's spanking on Chuckanut Mountain. The single-track trails there can be b-u-r-l-y, and I completely under-estimated my route and over-estimated my legs on this 11.5 mile, 2900 foot monster. Ouch.
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Clair managed to stay in front most of the run. Neo dogged my heals. |
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We broke out of a thin marine layer near the summit of Chuckanut. |
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With two miles to go, our one sight of Mt Baker - its there, in the haze. |
Strava: I've started using an app called Strava to map my runs. Its a GPS application that tracks your bike or run route, then can be uploaded and applied to a map, charting your elevation. It can be a competitive tool, letting people share routes and compare times in a somewhat-official-way. I just like it for the record it let's me keep. Tips - using Strava and your music at the same time eats the battery (at 20%/hour), but Strava alone did not eat it near as much (8%/hour). Also, the GPS will often work even without a cell signal. Its a tool - an interesting tool - but still a tool. And it means you have to run with your smart phone. Online it is possible to add routes in by hand - which is what I'd have to do if I wanted to conserve my phone's battery or if I don't want to carry it. There's even a widget for putting it on the blog, which I'm debating.
Statistics: Chuckanut Mountain, Summit Loop up the Chuckanut Ridge, down Overlook, then around on Lost Lake. 11.4 miles, 2850 feet climbed, on 11 October.