Updated 2008 Race/Adventure Calender

So it looks like I have more or less finalized my race schedule for the 2008 calender year. It should be a fun year of trail running and adventures! With my hamstring injury, we will see how my early season goes. I've opted out of the Kahtoola 50k due to the injury and we will see how my training goes over the next month as I recover. Many of my adventures I won't pre-record, only my races and major trips. However, I intend to include a post-record of all my major runs and adventures for the year. On a side note, I'm am excited to graduate in April from UVSC and although I will continue to work at Runner's Corner for the time being, I also got a job next fall teaching adjunct at UVSC! We will see where life takes me a year from now. Thanks for all the support I get from everyone and here's to a fantastic year of adventures that look something like this:

February 8th-10th UVSC Snowshoeing through the Logan Yurt system

March 11th-16th UVSC Backpacking Trip: San Rafael Swell

March 22nd- Antelope Island 50K

April 1st-6th UVSC Natural History Excursion: Capital Reef Ntl Park

April 19th- Bonneville Shoreline Marathon

April 25th-27th UVSC Backpacking Trip: Hackberry Canyon

May 2nd-17th Backpacking Europe w/ my wife: Greece-to-England

June 7th- Squaw Peak 50

?June 21st- Wasatch Steeplechase 17.5?

July 12th- Devil's Backbone 50

July 26th-August 4th Fastpacking the John Muir Trail 221 miles

?August 30th- Grand Teton 50?

September 26th-27th- The Bear 100

???

Canyonlands Backpacking

With school starting and some friends in town I decided is was time for another winter backpacking trip. This time it was to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. The trip was thrown together a bit quick but on Friday Jan 4th myself, Zanna, and Golden were off to Moab to meet up with Ashley (a friend from my NOLS course) and Landon (her boyfriend).
We weren't able to leave until later so we camped at the trail head Friday night and early Saturday morning we were off on what the ranger termed a 'treacherous' route. With some snow already on the ground and an incoming storm we headed into the park for an adventure. It was spectacular! The route was quite difficult especially with the ice and wind as we had to go over several passes with some scrambling involved but it was amazing to get away from everything. We packed in a little over six amazing miles on the first day and then headed off for a day hike to Druid Arch. There were not even any footprints from other visitor let alone anyone else in the park! Druid Arch was somewhat of a chore to get to but it was one of the most unique and incredible arches I've ever visited. The pictures just did not do it justice.
It got dark quickly and after a nice dinner at our campsite we went to bed early. There were a few scattered showers throughout the night but the snow that was on the forecast never arrived. Waking up on Sunday morning there was hardly a cloud in the sky. We wasted little time and off we went for the last 5 miles of our short trip. I was blown away by the Needles district as it was well maintained yet beautiful and remote. Spectacular views were in every direction and we were able to take in a lot of scenery over the two days we had in Canyonlands. We covered nearly 16 miles in two days and had a great time. I wish we could have done more in the area, just one more excuse to put together another trip. Happy Trails.