deception pass 50...{er} 25k.

"You should totally sign up for this race with me."

"Sure," I answer. "Which race?"

Megan and I are sitting around enjoying a beer after a Trail Factor run. Our conversations tend to go this way when we are high on endorphins. 

"Deception Pass 50k. You get to run over a bridge."

"I totally want to go run that."

"Cool," she answers. "Let's see if Bunky wants to join us."

And just like that, we've got another race on the calendar.

"Dude, you know that's like close to the Canadian border, don't you?" I ask her a few weeks later when we start to plan the trip.

"Really? I had no idea where it was. But you get to run over a bridge."

Megan has a thing for bridges.

Thankfully for us, we decided the five hour trip was worth it. Because it certainly was.

The view at the start line.

The Deception Pass 50k and 25k is another brilliant race from Rainshadow Running. Now we knew that Rainshadow races have a reputation for being tough. But for some reason, we convinced ourselves that this race would be fairly flat. After all, the highest point was only 400 feet above sea level.

After a few dire warnings about deadly falls, slippery rocks and narrow bridges, we were off. Right away a huge "seagull" swept across Cranberry Lake and landed in a snag just above us...and showed us his beautiful bald eagle head. And just that quickly, I knew I wasn't going to be racing. This was the kind of day that you sit back, relax and take some photos.

Early views of the bridge.

Climbing up to the bridge.

Within the first 2.5 miles, you cross the Deception Pass bridge for the first time, running 180 feet above the water. Sea lions cavort in the water below; later we would see sea kayakers. The experience of running over the bridge was worth the trip alone.

After crossing the bridge, you start out on the first lollipop, running along Bowman beach out to Rosario Head. The trail was somewhat technical and overgrown, and the out and back sections were at times a tight squeeze. But the new and ever increasingly scenic views did not disappoint.

Stink beach.

Sometimes you just have to stop and enjoy where you are at.

A cathedral of trees.

Rosario Head.

After a couple of lollipops, you head back over the bridge for the second half of the race. At this point, I wasn't sure which way I was facing.

Snow capped peaks of the Olympics. I think.

Climbing up Goose Rock.

400 feet above sea level. A much tougher climb than anticipated.

After reaching the top of Goose Rock, you quickly descend and are faced with the choice - 1.5 miles to the finish of the 25k, or another 16 for the 50k. I started off on the 50k path - well, at least I thought I did - but my heart wasn't in it. I called home, trying to decide what to do. And that's when the girl in front of me, Susie, called out that she thought we might be lost.

What.

Sure enough, there were no more marking ribbons. So we backtracked and noticed a pink ribbon high in the tree. And a trail...sort of.

So we followed it. Right into a swamp.

But still, there were ribbons on the other side, so we hopped on through. Crazy route, I thought, but that's part of the challenge, right?

We followed the trail up to a road...wait, what?

Down the way, we saw runners popping out on the road and an obvious sign - so now we knew for sure we had been off course. We wandered down to where they were coming from and realized that this was where our cozy cabins were. The cabins with clean clothes, soft beds...

Backtracking to where we had gone off course, we hit the 25k/50k decision point again - we had added at least a mile. Argh.

Any resolve I had to finish the 50k was gone. But I was at total peace with that decision. My main motivation for this race was to see the trails around Deception Pass, and this I had done. I was not there to race or push hard; not every race has to be about reaching a new PR. Sometimes it is just enough to run, and this was one of those days. I have a feeling that I have a lot more of these days to come.

Susie was determined to soldier on, and I admired her tenacity. After some other folks came to help her towards her goal, I wished her well and headed to the finish line.

Self portrait?

Cranberry Lake.

A bonus of finishing early was that I was able to cheer in Megan and Bunky, as well as loads of other folks.

Megan finishing.

Bunky finishing.

That night we shared our tales of the trails as we camped out with the other folks at the ELC - including Susie. We shared high fives and silly name games with the kiddos. A fine way to round out the day.

The next morning, we were up early for a 30 minute recovery run and a chance to run over the bridge again. I could do that every day, I think.

Recovery run the next day.

The bridge that made it all possible.

klickitat trail

I am afraid I have done you a disservice, dear readers. I'm forever posting photos from the Columbia Gorge featuring deep green forests, cascading waterfalls and neverending climbs. You might think that this is all that the Gorge trails are made of. And while it is true that many of my favorite trails do feature these things, there is much more to the Gorge than just temperate rainforest.

The truth is that much of the Gorge is surrounded by dry plains and scrub reminiscent of California. Just 75 miles from Portland lies the Klickitat Trail, a converted rails to trails project nearly 31 miles in length. As soon as I heard about the trail, I knew it would be one I would have to explore.

Thankfully I roped faithful running buddies Julie & Sarah into joining me this weekend on an out and back from the start point in Lyle, Washington. We had no idea what to expect.

Within a mile of the start, we were drawing in sharp breaths at the beauty of the wild and scenic Klickitat River. Our appreciation for the beauty of the place was quickly replaced with fascination for the tribal fishing we could see on the wild river below us. Turns out that this is a culturally important spot for the Yakama Indians.

Traditional steelhead fishing on the narrows of the Klickitat.

With a gentle grade, the running was fairly easy along this beautiful river. While late fall rains have claimed most of the fall foliage, we could still see sparks of color along the banks.

Enjoying the view.

We decided to turn back at the 8 mile marker; while it was tempting to keep going, we knew we couldn't spend all day on the trail.

We were spared the heavy rain of the day before. Low lying clouds danced across the rocks for us.

Large stands of oak dotted the hillsides. This would be a stunning run in October.

A lone apple tree along the trail. 

Before we knew it, we were back at the car. A full morning of beautiful vistas, good running, better conversation - does life really get any better than that?

More information on the Klickitat Trail.

strange things are afoot on devil's rest

November in Oregon means grey, threatening skies and the dull light of persistent cloud cover. It is the time of year when your love of the state begins to be challenged by the bleak reality of a climate that sees too many dark, dreary days to count.

But then you go on a run like the one I did today, and you fall in love with the beauty of the state and the quirkiness of its inhabitants all over again.

We started at the Angel's Rest Trailhead, a popular jumping off point for many of the gorge's best trails. A quick climb and you are already witnessing your first waterfall.

As we climbed higher into the gorge, we were rewarded with a sneak peak of the Angel's Rest rock formation.

Looking west towards Camas, Washington and Portland. 

Angel's Rest is about 2.5 miles from the parking lot and would make a fine adventure in itself. But you can't really go to Angel's Rest without hitting Devil's Rest too, right? 

After a nice respite for photos, we continued our climb up the Foxglove Trail towards Devil's Rest. It's a pleasant enough trail, but there really wasn't much to look at.

Finally we popped out at Devil's Rest, only to be greeted by a strange sight.

Garden gnomes. With creepy red eyes. Pumpkins hanging from trees. I found four gnomes, though I have a feeling there were more. How funny that folks took the time and effort to hike these things up to Devil's Rest - we're talking at least 3 miles and 2,000 feet of climbing from the nearest trailheads...ah, this is why I love Oregon. We do keep it weird.

Even in the dull light of the overcast sky, Oregon is a beautiful place. Hitting the trails always reminds me of how lucky we are to have these trails to explore whenever we would like.

Route details:

Angel's Rest/Devil's Rest loop

franklin ridge, revisted

I did not have a chance to take many photos as I spent most of this running well behind my friends and wallowing in self pity. At least I really love the two I did get.