Public Service Announcement: Moose Are Dangerous

Over the last several years I have run literally thousands of miles on the trails surrounding Pocatello, Idaho where I live. While running the majority of those miles I was alone or with my trusty training partner, a black lab named Pedro. I have seen a lot of incredible things, including some wildlife. I often am asked if I am afraid of mountain lions or bears, to which I firmly respond no. I generally do explain that I am a bit fearful of the dark (you might laugh but go run a trail at night in the dark and see if you don't "quick step" occasionally from the rustling in the trees) and that I am afraid of moose.

I am not sure where the fear of moose comes from, but I have always been a bit leery of them when I spot them on or near the trail. Well as of Friday afternoon I now know why I was always timid around them...because the are big, unpredictable, and in the case of the one I met down right mean. So here's the story:



Not my new friend, but you get the idea...photo by Natures Pics

I wrapped up work just after noon on Friday and took the opportunity of some extra time to get in a nice long run. Since the Pocatello 50 is coming up soon I convinced Tanae to drive me to West Fork (race start) and my plan was to run into town via the first 16 or so miles of the course. The weather was great and before long I was ticking off the miles. As ran past the Beaver Ponds on Dry Creek I commented to myself that it was strange that I hadn't seen any moose yet as they tend to be regulars to the ponds. I didn't expect to see anyone on the trails and was surprised to see another runner about 1 and a half miles up from the Gibson Jack Trailhead. The runner was headed the opposite direction, meaning he had just come from the trailhead, so I let my guard down a bit and really started to roll, particularly after I started the last 1/4 mile descent to the TH. I rounded a blind corner and bam! Not 6 feet ahead of me was a moose on the uphill side of the trail, but with her head and neck blocking the trail. It immediately was obvious that I wasn't the only one startled by the situation.

Now take a second to reflect before I continue on. I run a lot, and to most I am pretty much the opposite of intimidating. I am skinny, really skinny and wouldn't be the kind of guy you would pick to be on your side for a fight. So here I am 6 feet away from a 1200 pound animal that is probably 6 or so feet tall, that must have seen me as a threat. I quickly glanced back to see if I had an escape, which I did, but it was ugly...at this point the trail does a couple of quick switchbacks before crossing the swollen Gibson Jack Creek and then a climb up the far bank to the parking lot. Directly behind me was a steep thicketed hillside with few large trees (none climbable) with a deep creek at the bottom. In the half second or so it took me to look behind me and then back to the moose she decided I needed to die, and when my eyes turned enough to see her she made a weird huff, pinned her ears back and was charging. Without delay I turned and leapt off of the trail into the thicket. My pace would have rivaled anything Usain Bolt has ever done mixed with a bit of duck and weave. I tucked in behind a Doug Fir and it was a good move. As my shoulders got behind it, she came through close enough to brush me as she blew past. I didn't let her gain the advantage and shot off behind her and continued my trajectory towards the creek, crossing the trail on my way.



The section of trail just before my "run-in"

I hit the water with a leap from the shore, it was nearly chest deep, but the copious amounts of adrenaline in my bloodstream didn't allow the water to slow me down. As I hit the far side, the angry moose hit the water, it slowed her more than it had me and I was up the embankment and on the trail before she had cleared the creek. I sprinted to the TH where I leapt into the back of a pickup truck that was pulling into the lot (much to the surprise of the driver) as the moose came into the lot. She ran straight through the TH area and up the trail I should have come down. The whole experience lasted a minute or two but felt like an eternity. The truck driver got out and I explained what had gone on leading up to where he joined the story. The moose had climbed up onto the hillside above the trail with the reason she was so aggressive- a calf! I was pretty shaken up, but convinced the guy in the truck I didn't need a ride home and with one eye on the moose ran up the trail away from her. Not ten minutes later I saw another moose, this time from a distance, and I altered my route to get to high rocky ridge lines sooner than I had planned. My nerves couldn't take another race against a moose.

I share this experience with any and all who will read it so that next time you are out you might be a bit more wise about the locals (wildlife) and what to do if you encounter (surprise) a grumpy mother moose. Here is a link that covers moose safety: http://www.outdoors.org/publications/outdoors/2010/learnhow/responding-to-moose-encounters.cfm

I know I did several things that I shouldn't have (#1 surprise mother moose with her calf) but it is something that could happen to any person recreating in moose habitat. The bottom line is that I am glad i am here to talk about it and that moose really are amazing creatures...but I like them more from a distance than up close!

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Vitamin D Camp Days 3 and 4- All In

After two days of exploring the classics of Zion the time came to really get down to business. Prior to the trip the Matt Hart had suggested that maybe we go for the whole traverse, I was very uncertain as to whether or not I could even run that far, especially with the miles that were planned prior. I hadn't run more than 21 miles since Wasatch last year. It would be a stretch. When we finished on Friday night I felt much better than expected and rolled the dice, I committed to be all in for the whole enchilada.

Day 3: We were extremely lucky to have the support of Jim from Ultraspire who had volunteered to crew us water at the 35 mile mark and to meet us at the finish to drive us back to entrance of the park. Since we didn't have to shuttle cars/water we got the rest we needed Friday night. We left the hotel at 5 sharp and 30 minutes later we were at the East entrance trailhead. After a few minutes shuffling gear and other necessities we hit the trail at 5:45. It was just light enough to see, everyone was pretty lighthearted to be getting started on what would turn into a fantastic day on the trail.



Justin and Bill running towards the sunrise just after the start of the traverse

The miles rolled by somewhat uneventfully, with the exception of the scenery which was simply amazing. It was nice to hit familiar territory when we rolled into the junctions with the trails that we had traveled in the day before to get to Cable Mountain, everyone really rolled the descent towards the Weeping Wall TH. In order to complete the traverse we had to run the two miles of road between Weeping Wall and the Grotto, which would have been the low point of the run except for the amazing scenery of Zion Canyon. We refilled water at the Grotto and set to work climbing Angels Landing and onwards to West Rim.



Bruce, Bryan, and Matt ascending towards the West Rim

Up to this point I had been blown away by the scenery of the Zion, but the climb up to and being in the West Rim are so much better than anything else we had seen, simply put I fell in love with Zion on the West Rim. It started to get hot as we topped out so a few of us headed to the west rim springs to refill bottles, we were lucky to run into a couple of backpackers that filtered water for us so we didn't have to risk it or use iodine tabs. We continued to tick off the miles along the West Rim, although Justin and I stopped several times just to take in the stunning panorama just off the trail. The group spread out a bit as the day went on, but we re-grouped at any critical intersection or amazing viewpoint. We passed a group of backpackers just after Potato Hollow, but quickly put them behind us as they were burdened with very large and heavy packs. I can't help but think that they had to have been envious as we cruised by.



Just a taste of the amazing scenery from the West Rim

After several hours of running we met Jim, who had prepared the most amazing ice water that perhaps I had every tasted. We spent a few extra minutes with him shooting some photos, after all he is a photographer and he had volunteered to come out, it was the least we could do. (hopefully the photos turned out awesome). After half an hour or so we hit the trail again and descended into Hop Valley. The running changed a bit here, it got very sandy. At times very deep loose sand.



Self shot (sort-of) just before the Hop Valley

Once in the Hop Valley we ran along the and in the river as the trail seemed to follow it's course. About the time I was completely over running on the beach we started the brief ascent and descent to the Verkin River. We ran into another group of backpackers that that gave Justin and I quite the show as they stripped boots etc to cross the knee deep 20 foot wide river that we just ran across. The rest of our group rolled in about half way through the circus and stopped only briefly enough to have a near miss with a flying boot.

On the far side of the Verkin I started to smell the barn, I wanted to push the pace a bit. We rolled until we started to climb towards Lee's pass then progress slowed. There were several river crossings, more sand, and just enough mileage for me to completely bonk about a mile before the trailhead. I hit to gels back to back and almost instantly came around. It was just what I needed to feel strong going into the finish. We finished the 50 mile traverse with just over 10 hours of run time, and a total of just under 12 hours out on the trail. It was great to have finished that traverse and to have burned the amazing vistas that Zion has to offer deep into my memory. After a quick stop at the hotel we hit the local Mexican restaurant and began working on recovery.



Justin making quick work of the climb into Hidden Canyon

Day 4: I have to admit that I woke up pretty sore from the previous days effort, but I knew it would be helpful to shake the legs out before hopping in a car and driving home. After quite a bit of debate we ended up heading towards Hidden Canyon, which meant once again climbing out of the Weeping Wall Trailhead. We got our latest start of the trip leaving the hotel just after 8. After the shuttle to the trailhead, I found that hammering the climb felt pretty good, so away I went. Justin pulled in right on my tail with the rest of the group tailing back just a bit. We quickly got to the end of the maintained trail, from where the adventure really began.



Bill, Matt, and Bryan on one of the primo trails of Hidden Canyon

We pushed our way up the canyon another mile or so until we got shut down by time constraints. It was really fun coming back down with a bit of scrambling mixed with running. Before we knew it we were back at the trailhead waiting for the shuttle.



Matt happy to be running in Hidden Canyon

I hadn't quite got my fix so when the bus passed the Temple of Sinawava Trailhead I told the crew I would meet them in a bit (I had packed before we left so I figured I had 30 minutes to spare) and hopped off the bus. I was really interested in seeing the start of the Zion Narrows since I remember my dad talking about them and some of the trips he had done there. I wove through the tourists as I ran the mile path to the start if the narrows which were closed due to high water. I went as far as I could, took a moment to take in the view and the motored on down the path. Just after the bus pulled out it started to run funky, we ended up stopping at a pull out and waiting for the next bus to take us to the entrance. I was then behind schedule, I sprinted through the park entrance to catch a bus that was just pulling out, which took me back to the hotel. I got there 5 minutes before we had to check out, I rinsed off in the shower and with a minute to spare was ready to hit the road.

Overall Vitamin D camp was a HUGE success. We all spent lots of time in the sun (and have the burns/tans to prove it) and got in lots of quality miles. I am certain I will be headed back to Zion before to long, it is too beautiful no to. Huge thanks to Matt Hart for organizing the trip and to Jim from Ultraspire for the amazing support on the traverse.



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Vitamin D Camp Days 1 and 2- Getting Started

This past weekend I had one of the best and funniest 4 days of running that I have ever put into that short of time. It all started a few months ago when there was talk of some runners from the northwest needing some vitamin D and out of concern for their well being Matt Hart started working on the logistics. As the time got closer the 4 days were titled Vitamin D camp and through a series of incredible circumstances, including the hospital that I work in moving to a new building, my schedule opened up enough to be able to attend.

Vitamin D Camp Day 1: I left Pocatello on Thursday morning and got to Salt Lake about an hour before the rest of the crew's flight landed. I headed over to the trailhead to start soaking in a bit of sun. The famous Bryan Powell of irunfar.com showed a few minutes before Matt Hart, Justin Angle, Bryan Estes, Bill Huggins, and Bruce Grant rolled up in Matt's van. Just moments later we were heading up the trail towards mt. Wire. The altitude took it's toll on the guys from the northwest, but everybody climbed strong. We took a super fun technical descent back down to the shoreline trail which looped back to the cars. First run down- 8 miles with 3000' of climbing, it was then off to Whole Foods for some lunch and groceries and then the drive to Zion National Park.



The crew on the top of Angel's Landing

Day 2: We caught the shuttle from our hotel just after 7:00 and headed into the park. First stop was the Grotto and the subsequent ascent of Angel's Landing. We tried to get there early so we could avoid crowds on the technical portion. Our plan worked, we pretty much had the trail to ourselves. We topped out in about 37 minutes, enjoyed the views for a few minutes and then made our way down. We then headed to the Weeping Wall trailhead.



Matt Hart and Justin Angle headed up towards Cable Mountain

From there we first made our way up to Cable Mountain. It was awesome to see Angel's Landing from above. On the way back Justin nearly stomped on a large rattlesnake that was sunning itself on the trail, which in turn upped the pace for the next mile or so as we all had a good surge of adrenaline. It was starting to get hot so we did stop a couple of times to dunk hats and splash cool water on ourselves to try to keep from overheating. As we neared the trailhead we turned out of the canyon and ascended one more time to Observation Point. The group spread out a bit on the climb as we were all starting to feel the miles weighing in. There were a lot more people on the trail at this point and quite a few enjoying the vista. Of all the views of the day I think the one from Observation was the best.




Justin pointing to Observation Point from the structure on Cable Mountain

After all had topped out we put rubber to the road and descended down to the trailhead. We caught the shuttle a few minutes later and headed to the hotel. After nearly 25 miles of running and 6000' ascent I think it is safe to say we all were a bit tired. After cleaning up we headed of to one of the local pizza places and consumed enough calories to make up for the ones we had burned during the day.

Day 3: Here's a teaser for day 3: we did a big traverse

More to come tomorrow!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad