Long Overdue Update

While cleaning up the aftermath of the recent bow echo storm that ripped through southeast Michigan on Sunday, leaving about 200,000 households without power, I caught up with the neighbors across the street. Events like this have a way of disrupting the daily routines that keep us from interacting despite the fact we live next to each other. The topic of my hike came up and one of them mentioned she had been watching my blog for updates since the last one at the beginning of April. The fact that she could recall the time frame of my last entry made me realize how I've underestimated the interest in the blog and how neglectful I've been. I'm sorry everyone (and thanks, Rose)!

The past few months have been a rewarding yet trying experience. I won't try to recapture all of the hikes in detail, as my memory is not all that good. But I will try to share some of my general reflections.

It has been great fun watching the woods become inhabited by the bare skeletons of winterized trees to the lush, green forests they are now. The changes were gradual yet readily apparent every Saturday morning. One week there would be green undergrowth sprouting from the carpet of last autumn's leaves. The next, buds on the trees followed by the sparse emergence of leaves. Then came the sounds of frogs and the sighting of sunning snakes along the trails. During the first few weeks of training we were all looking forward to the melting of the snow from our prolonged winter. Then there were a few weeks of beautiful weather, unseasonably warm and bug free. Now we're beating back overgrowth, dealing with the midwestern heat & humidity, jumping out of the way of the mountain bikers with whom we now share the trails, trying to identify what is and what is not poison ivy at our feet and slathering on the bug repellent in vain to combat the onslaught of mosquitos. I want my snow back!

A few weeks ago I was asked by the Hike For Discovery coordinator to be the hike leader for the hike at Pontiac Lake. Usually there is an official, specially trained hike leader for the each of the two groups on Saturday mornings (either East/West or Rocky Mountain/Yosemite, depending on the week). Due to an overlap with the start of the summer HFD season starting up and the unavailability of a guest hike leader from a previous year, they were short a leader for the hike for the Yosemite-bound group. Apparently the staff talked it over and determined they felt most comfortable having me lead the hike based on my past hiking experience, to which I agreed to lend a hand upon being asked...

I now have a much greater appreciation for what the official hike leaders deal with every week. Our group is quite diverse, pace-wise. It's a challenge to make everyone happy; not only do the faster hikers want to hike faster but also with fewer breaks. The slower group, of course, is quite the opposite. Had the situation been a little more "official", I would have broken up the group into two to travel at their own preferred speeds and kept in touch via cell phone if necessary (the wonders of modern technology!). But as I was ultimately responsible for the whole group and didn't want any issues to come to pass that would jeopardize the program (e.g. someone getting lost & hurt -> lawsuit), I decided to keep the group together and just deal with it. In the end, I have a feeling I probably didn't take nearly as many breaks as the slow group would have liked; a hazard of being perhaps the fittest of the group and therefore not being as perceptive of the struggle of others. However, no one got lost, there were no broken bones and no forests were set on fire. I'll chalk that one up in the success column.

As rewarding as the program has been, I have to be honest there has been one drawback that I did not anticipate, or at least properly take into consideration when signing up. It is a significant time commitment. While I do enjoy hiking, it has meant giving up my Saturday mornings, increasingly so as the training hike became longer and longer, eventually also taking up the early afternoon - ultimately 8 hours plus drive time, which can be an hour each way. This has prevented me from spending time in the yard and around the house this spring, as weeds needed pulling, bushes needed trimming and flowers and vegetables needed planting. We put off a much needed kitchen remodel this summer due to lack of adequate time for planning. I haven't been able to go to our local farmers' market since it opened back at the beginning of May, which I was still able to do during my marathon training two years ago. Most importantly, it has prevented me from spending quite a bit of time with the kids, which, though I work from home, is still in short supply and high demand. This, in turn, has affected Jennifer and what she has been able to do on the weekends.

In the end, I still consider this program a worthy cause and use of my time. The blood cancer patients for whom I participate, the honored heroes and the many others I do not know, will benefit from the funds that I have raised. I can't imagine their affliction would fall into the "convenience" category. Any inconvenience I have experienced feels insignificant in comparison.

While I leave for Yosemite in less than two weeks, I am almost certain that that will not be the last time I see the people I have met through the Hike For Discovery program. Okay, so the proposed post-hike picnic later this summer is pretty much a gimme. But I've also made quite a few friendships with people with whom I share much in common: relatively close proximity, a love of nature and compassion for those in need. If nothing else, that is reason enough to do it all again.

Training Updates

Brighton

The past two weeks have been interesting with regards to hiking. Michigan's weather has been predictably unpredictable. Last year's winter was relatively mild. This year we had snow storm after snow storm. We still had quite a bit of snow and cold weather up until about three weekends ago.

Though we had a brief warm spell leading up to the hike at Brighton State Recreation Area, the trail was still covered with snow when we got there. There were a number of patches where snow had melted on the trail but then turned to ice, which made hiking a little exciting... a little too exciting for some. One distracted hiker managed to slip and twist her ankle on a patch of ice along the way. The group had become somewhat strung out along the trail at that point, but fortunately there were about 10 of us around when it happened. After administering a minor bit of first aid, a group of 4 hikers helped her get back to the trailhead while the rest of us completed the hike.

Bald Mountain

In contrast, last week's hike at Bald Mountain Recreation Area started at about 33º F and reached approximately 50º F by the end of the hike. Most of the snow along the trail had melted earlier in the week after a number of warm days. The ground was still cold enough to be firm at the start of the hike but quickly warmed to produce soggy and often times very muddy terrain. Still, it was great to finally be hiking in warmer weather. We were finally getting a chance to see what each other looked like without the many layers of outwear!

Ironically enough, though Bald Mountain is the closest to my house of all the parks we've hiked at so far, it's one of the only ones that I had not visited previously. It's located in a fairly rural part of the county, accessible only by dirt roads as far as I can tell (at least the North Unit that we hiked at). There are quite a few hills along the trailway, which makes it one of the better parks to hike in to prepare for Yosemite (as much as any Michigan trail could).

It was my first hike using a new pair of trail runners that I bought at REI and plan to use for the Yosemite trip. Though I've been using a pair of hiking boots up until this point for my hikes, I wanted something lightweight on my feet to lessen the amount of work required for each footstep. Ever since my John Muir Trail hike, I've been very conscious about trying to stay true to the lightweight backpacking philosophy. I originally wanted a trail runner with a mesh top to reduce the weight. In addition to being light weight, mesh allows the shoe to breath and moisture dissipates quicker than, say a closed leather boot. I went to REI on the last that I could use my 20% off coupon and found they were of stock with the trail runners in my size that fit that description. I didn't want to go much longer without breaking in the set of shoes I'd be using on the trip, as the group training hikes were only getting longer. I tried on a few different pairs they did have in stock and found a pair of Solomon 3D XA Pro XCR trail runners that were light weight and comfortable. They use Gore-Tex (which I have mixed feelings about - manufacturing it is bad for the environment, but it makes it easier for more people to go out and spend time in the environment), which makes them waterproof and breathable, theoretically. Though expensive, with my membership dividend and 20% off coupon in hand, I decided I'd give them a try. I gave them an initial test run by wearing them around the house for a day. My feet became quite warm over the course of a few hours, which made me wonder whether my feet would overheat on the trail. I went online to see what others had to say about the shoes. When I found that most people raved about the shoe, I figured I'd stick with them and give them a chance.

The hike itself was pretty good. I've been trying to find a balance in my expectations for the group hikes. On the one hand, I really enjoy socializing with others on the trail. Indeed, it was a significant reason I choose to join the program (in addition to raising money for a worthy cause, of course). However, I've found that many of the hikers hike much slower than I do and we've been taking a lot of breaks, which makes me worry whether I'm getting sufficient training in for the Half Dome hike. Of course, I do get training in personally throughout the week, but the long weekend hikes are were I feel I get a chance to test my mettle. So for this hike I managed to do a bit of both... I stuck with the majority of the pack and socialized for a good while, then hiked ahead with a small group of the fastest hikers in the group. As a result, we actually completed the hike early enough that we hiked back, met up with the others, then finished the hike again to get some extra mileage in.

Bald Mountain Redux

This past weekend I was unable to make it to the group hike at Stoney Creek due to a conflict with a family trip up to Frankenmuth (we met up with Jennifer's sisters and friends and stayed at a hotel with an indoor water park). So instead, I got a 10 mile run in bright and early Saturday morning, which only took 1.5 hours rather than 4 or so for the hike. I then went back to Bald Mountain this afternoon and solo hiked the same route we did last week (with one minor detour... oops!). Though I realize it's not the safest thing to hike solo, there were a few mitigating factors: I made sure Jennifer knew my route, I was carrying my cell phone, I had extra food & water, and every point along the trail was within about 2 miles of an access point. 

Admittedly, there are some things I like about hiking solo. I can hike at my own pace. I enjoy the opportunity for pontificating without the distraction of being around others. And then there's the wildlife. Hiking alone makes it much easier to hike quietly which in turn makes it more likely that you won't scare away the wildlife long before you even have a chance to see them. This afternoon I was startled a number of times by birds in bushes who hadn't heard me coming but franticly alit as I walked by.

I finished the 8 mile trail in about 2 hours 15 minutes... more than an hour less than the previous week with the group... which illustrates the point I made with regards to the previous hike fairly well. I probably would have been a little faster, too, but I stopped to pick up litter along the way (completely filling a plastic grocery bag I picked up along the trail). It wasn't even close to the 4 hours I was supposed to hike, but since I ran the 10 miles the day before and that same route was good enough for last week, I'm calling it good.

Guest Griller night canceled

Uh, oh. I'm in trouble, aren't I? I haven't been good about updating this blog for the past few weeks so I'll try to provide some worthy updates over the course of the next few posts.

When I left you last, I was planning on having a guest griller night at a nearby BD's Mongolian 

Grill. The plan was to sell tickets to friends and family with a certain number of dollars over the cost of what BD's charged for the meals. This was a new fund raising method from previous years, whereby the group doing the fund raising instead would get the tips from the tip jar at the grill counter. This year's method proved to be a hard sell. I was able to get a decent commitment from friends and family who hadn't donated yet (approximately 13-15), but the other team mates of mine who were doing it with me could not for the life of them sell tickets for various reasons.

Firstly, BD's prices are not cheap to begin with, so adding extra cost on top of their base prices makes it harder for people to justify the expense, even if it's for a good meal and the extra money goes to a good cause. As a contrast, several other restaurants in the area simply have you give away vouchers whereby a certain percent of that night's profits (usually 20%) go to the cause (i.e. it comes out of the normal price, not added to the price, of the meals). 

Secondly, most of the people they were approaching would prefer to give a direct donation so as to be able to include it with their itemized deductions in their taxes. 

Thirdly, many of the people they had approached had already donated in that manner. 

And lastly, my team mates participating in the event are pretty well spread out and didn't know many people near the actual restaurant who might be interested in buying tickets.

In the end, because of the poor overall ticket sales, we decided it was going to be too much work to justify the effort so we canceled the event to focus our efforts on other fund raising opportunities.

In retrospect, I think the guest griller night would be appropriate for a local group near the restaurant (e.g. church, campus group, parents of school groups, etc.) who's sole fund raising efforts were targeted at others in the area and no other methods were planned (such as direct letters asking for donations). But for our situation, BD's new fund raising model just didn't work out well.

Thank you to all of you who said they'd make it out to support me. I'm truly fortunate to have friends and family as generous as you.

Hike for Recovery

This past weekend involved another non-group training hike due to the Easter weekend. We took the opportunity to make the trip across the state to visit with Jennifer's extended family on the west side of Michigan. We headed across the state on Thursday night to get an extra day in there, though I worked remotely all day Friday. It was a good thing, too, as there was a massive snow storm that hit southern Michigan Friday afternoon which prevented a number of family members from traveling until Saturday morning.

Saturday was busy preparing for the family gathering but I was able to get a good 6.0 mile hike in in the morning around the outer perimeter of the Pentwater Pathways trail. I hiked solo for the majority of the trail, catching up with some podcasts for the first hour, then took the headphones off and just enjoyed the solitude. The trail was completely covered by hard packed snow, approximately 6-12 inches deep or so. I was worried that I might start post-holing half way around and that it would be a hard hike back but it never happened. The woods were beautiful with a half inch of freshly fallen snow from the night before and clear, sunny skies.

At around mile 4.25, I came across a man with two dogs in a parking lot abutting an access point along the trail. It quickly became apparent that his VW Touareg had become stuck in the soft snow along the edge of the parking area. I volunteered to help him get unstuck, though it proved much harder than I had anticipated. Though it had AWD, it had bottomed out under the engine and all the wheels were spinning. Using nearby branches we dug out the snow from under the vehicle and put underbrush under behind the tires to try to give it some traction, but it wasn't enough.

About this time, another car came along with a woman and man. We warned them about parking in the lot. They took our word, though as they were turning around they managed to get stuck as well! Fortunately their vehicle was much lighter and we were able to get it moving again.

They then got out and helped us with the Touareg. After some experimenting and several tries, we were able to get it out of the snow by putting down blankets, towels, and reusable grocery bags the owners had in the backs of their vehicles. It also took three guys (including myself) rocking the SUV back and forth while the woman pulsed the gas in reverse.

During the course of the half hour event, the Touareg owner and I struck up a conversation. I told him about my participation in the Hike For Discovery program, that I was from the metro Detroit area and and who I was staying with in the area. As is probably common in many small communities, everybody seems to know everybody. Though he lives in the metro Detroit area as well, it turns out his mother and Jennifer's grandfather have been friends since childhood. After we had gotten his vehicle unstuck, he decided that he still wanted to walk his dogs so he joined me for about a mile or so and we just chatted.

Sometimes life throws the most unexpected things at you. Thankfully this one was a good one.

March Madness and Mongolian BBQ Guest Grilling

I've got two additional opportunities for you to support my fund raising efforts for Hike For Discovery.

March Madness Bracket

I've got a bracket competition up for the NCAA March Madness tournament. It's $10 to enter with 40% of the pot going to my fund raising efforts and the remaining 60% going to first, second, and third place (30%, 20% and 10% respectively). Contact me before the tournament starts on March 20th if you're interested.

BD's Mongolian Barbeque Guest Griller night

Join me for a night of good food and fun at BD’s Mongolian Barbeque while supporting our efforts to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to find a cure for blood cancers. Hike For Discovery team members will be working hard at the 2,000 lb, 600º F grill to prepare your meal. A raffle will be held each seating.


When: Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Where: BD’s Mongolian Barbeque - (586) 726-6655 /13150 Hall Rd, Sterling Heights, MI 48313
Seatings: 6:00-7:30 PM and 7:30-9:00 PM
Meals:
$12 - Kids 11 & Under (unlimited bowls)
$25 - Adult 1-Bowl
$30 - Adult Unlimited (includes 1 desert)

Soup, salad, regular non-alcoholic beverage included with each meal. Tax & tip included in price.

Purchase meal tickets and RSVP prior to the event by contacting me, indicating your preferred seating and number in your party. Tickets may be purchased at the event only if you RSVP ahead of time.

Vasa Trail

This weekend Jennifer and I headed up to Traverse City for a weekend getaway. Since I wouldn't be able to participate in the group hike, we did a little research on trails around Traverse City to see if we could find a nice wooded trail about 6-7 miles long. Based on some pamphlets at the Bed & Breakfast we were staying at, we decided to check out the Vasa Trail, which has an 11 km loop route.

When we got to the trail head, it was apparent that the trail was primarily used for cross country skiers in the winter. In fact, there was a sign posted indicating that walking on the groomed was not allowed. With no un-groomed trails marked on the trail maps, we decided we would hike along the edge of the 11 km trail anyway to gauge the situation and see if we could find any other trails.

The terrain was somewhat challenging, with many rolling hills. The condition of the trail was mostly excellent due to its grooming. However, because we were hiking along the edge, there were a few places that were fairly soft and deep that our feet would sink into. The scenery was fantastic. The woods looked so peaceful and serene covered in a blanket of snow.

We passed a handful of skiers at the beginning of the trail but nobody said anything to us about hiking on the trail. It wasn't until about half way around that a skier went by and made a disgruntled comment about the posting regarding no walking on the groomed trails as he sped by. Occasionally we would pass by a track or two heading into the woods that looked like they could be side trails, but with no maps detailing where they went, we weren't about to set off bushwhacking.

So we completed the trail, trying our best to minimize the impact to the skiers. The snow was well packed due to its use, grooming, and a warm spell followed by colder temperatures, so impact from out footprints was minimal. Additionally, we only walked along the edge alongside the grooves created for track skiers where the only impact was to the snow already cut up from the placement of the track skiers' poles. That said, to clear our conscience when we were done we decided to make a donation of $20 rather than the $8 day use suggestion. Next time we'll bring skis or visit in the summer.

Additional honored heroes

Over the course of the fundraising for both Team In Training and Hike For Discovery, a number of people have indicated that they have had close friends and relatives who have been afflicted with a blood cancer. I'd like to mention them here and let them be additional honored heroes for my efforts.

• The father of my late friend Justin Wojdacki has a close cousin with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (mentioned to me during my TNT training).
  
• My wife's Aunt Brenda's first husband past away of a blood cancer (which I found out this past weekend).
  
• My wife's Aunt Jeanette's contribution is in honor of her sister-in-law Mary Ruth Sanford, who is battling multi myeloma.

If you know someone with a blood cancer that you'd like to have me participate in honor or memory of, please let me know.