Jackson, Wyoming

Spring break is always a great time for a road trip and a good excuse to sample outdoor adventures in other areas. With that in mind, my wife, Molly, and I headed east to Jackson, Wyoming for a week of outdoor adventure. Arriving in Jackson Friday afternoon, we went straight to Teton Village to register for the Randonee Rally Race to be held the next day at the Jackson Hole resort. I signed up for the race division that was set to climb a total of 6185 feet. We woke Saturday morning to clear, cold, sunny skies, which was a shock to the locals after a near record breaking snow year. Driving out of town to the race, the Teton Range lit up in a glorious alpenglow. Nez Perce, Buck Mountain, Coudveil Dome, Teewinot, and the South, Middle, and Grand Tetons were all out in full beauty. After a brief warm-up, the race started with a mixture of mostly alpine touring skiers, a few telemark skiers, and one split boarder trekking up a groomed slope.

I was totally baited. All I had to do was either keep commuting on my bike in the winter (which I did for three and a half years) or train a bit in a spin class (somewhat less likely), or run a bit in the snow. (How hard could that be? I coach high school cross-country and track.) I skate ski a bit and feel race-worthy in the winter.

 
Well, I broke down and bought an $800 Volvo this winter, so Mr. Smith the bike commuter became Mr. Smith, the guy with four pairs of skis in the car who went through headlamp batteries like a (insert simile here).

And Mr. Run All The Time developed a foot ache best described as the "sissy foot" that precluded any running other than down to the mailbox, or over to the coffeehouse, or more frequently, "how fast do I have to run to set a personal record for sliding across the hardwood floor."

In other words, I had no reason not to enter.

Kaleidoscope Run

Ominous clouds loomed overhead as I set out for a run this past week at a park on the west side of town. The sun's rays were hidden behind clouds and my eyes and ears were on autopilot, looking and listening but not seeing and hearing. This can easily happen in the fast-paced world in which we live. We rush through a day's work, then off to sneak in a quick outdoor workout before speeding home to spend time with the family. Cooking, cleaning, chores, a quick read and off to bed before getting up to repeat another day. It is easy to fall into the trap of not taking the time to truly appreciate our surroundings.

Ah, March. The sweet smell of spring is in the air. Flowers are soon to bloom, songbirds are starting to sing, and migratory species - including violet green swallows - are soon to return. And the skies are beginning to clear. The mountains stand tall and proud, displaying their wintry carpets. Sunrises and sunsets are unparalleled. Flaming mosaics paint the morning and evening skies, lighting up the forested foothills and Cascades. This is the perfect time and place for outdoor recreating. Climbing, hiking, mountain biking, running, alpine skiing, road biking, paragliding, skateboarding, snowboarding, kayaking, bouldering, Nordic skiing and many more self-propelled outdoor sports are prime during Central Oregon's springtime.

James Balog Wins Rowell Award

The Rowell award is given out each year to celebrate the lives of Galen and Barbara Rowell, who died in a plane crash in 2002. The Rowells, with their athletic abilities and adventurous spirits, traveled and climbed all over the world. They captured awe-inspiring photographs wherever they went. When traveling through Bishop, Calif., stop in at the Rowell Gallery to take in hundreds of their breathtaking images. Lupine fields in front of Fitz Roy in Patagonia, gnarled Bristlecone Pines in California's Sierra Nevada 'Range of Light,' skiing in the Alaska Range, and cultural photos of Tibetans, Pakistanis, and Nepalese are just a few of the images chronicling the Rowells' lives.