Dates: 7/18/22 – 7/24/22
Training Week: 1
Miles: 8.1 running + 18.7 hiking

Commentary: Training for the Dead Horse Ultra 50-miler unofficially started this week! Probably won’t start training in earnest until after the high route, that’s why I say unofficially. This gives me 18 weeks to get ready. I’m hoping to be up to 50 miles a week by Week 14, including running, walking and hiking. I plan to do some intervals and some hill work, but for the most part I won’t be following much of a training plan this time around.

Monday was a much needed rest day. Sunday night I didn’t get home from the Teton Crest trip until almost 10pm. My husband’s friend was visiting, and he woke me up three times in the middle of the night. Once while coughing his brains out, and twice from vomiting. He is not allowed to drink while visiting us ever again!

Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, I managed to get up early to run. It felt so good to run again! I felt great and my pace was quicker than expected. Maybe it’s because I’m in good shape. Maybe it’s because I spent a weekend at altitudes over 9,000 feet. Whatever the reason, I felt pretty proud of myself after each run.

Thursday evening, my husband and I drove out to a trailhead in the Wind River Range and slept in my car. Friday morning we started our hike to a lake my friend had been talking about it. The mosquitos were absolutely horrible, so we doused ourselves in bug spray. It was also hot and dusty, so the six-mile hike up to the lake wasn’t the exactly awesome.

The lake itself was gorgeous, and we found a decent campsite. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch any fish. We didn’t even get a hit! But we did rinse off, get a nap in, and enjoy a few thunderstorms and a double rainbow.

Saturday we ventured down the trail with just our fishing gear to check out another lake. As we walked along the shore looking for signs of life in the water, I heard a blup in the water. I saw some ripples and hoped it was a fish that caused it. I made my way down to the fading ripples, tossed my line in the water, and BAM! Fish on!

After tossing the line in the water for an hour or so, my husband and I decided to pack up camp at the other lake and set up camp at the fish-filled lake. We also found a way better campsite at the fish lake. Most of the afternoon was spent fishing. And the fish were so aggressive! They fought so hard, and even after wearing them down a little bit in the water, as soon as we got ’em to shore they would thrash around nonstop. It made it a wee difficult to get a good hold on them to remove the hook, but we managed.

We usually catch and release, but my husband kept one for dinner. Like an idiot, I didn’t bring a fresh fuel canister for our stove. Luckily, some a-holes left an old grill by the fire pit that was perfect for our pot and pan. And who doesn’t like campfires?

Sunday morning we did a bit more fishing before packing up and hiking out. Again, the mosquitos were atrocious. I wanted to go to the brewery in Pinedale for lunch, but the place was packed! So, we found a little hole-in-the-wall a few miles down the road, and man was it good! The best part of backpacking is the post-backpacking meal!

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