Ok, so it's not a good place to be (9th) on the list of the saddest cities to live in the U.S. Men's Health magazine did a statistical analysis on various factors to determine the saddest cities in the country. Reno—the closest "biggish" city to me—finished 9th, just ahead of Las Vegas. Who's on top (bottom) you wonder:

100. St. Petersburg, FL 
99. Detroit, MI 
98. Memphis, TN 
97. Tampa, FL 
96. Louisville, KY 
95. St. Louis, MO 
94. Birmingham, AL 
93. Miami, FL 
92. Reno, NV 
91. Las Vegas, NV 
.
And at the other end of the spectrum:
10. Plano, TX
9. Burlington, VT
8. St. Paul, MN
7. Sioux Falls, SD
6. Madison, WI
5. Boston, MA
4. Omaha, NE
3. Fargo, ND
2. Manchester, NH
1. Honolulu, HI
.
Apparently, weather has little to do with it. Fargo? Omaha? Wow.

On Sunday, the group conquered McTarnahan. The run up was great: spectacular weather, good trail, only getting lost a couple of times... The only drawback to the entire day was the events that occurred near the end. A subset of the group decided to split off and head back to the vehicles at the 7-mile point. Unfortunately, they headed off into Deliverance With Dogs. They ran across some creep who's been living out there in a ramshackle trailer with 8 dogs for the last seven(!?) years. One of them (a dog) decided Courtney was a delicious morsel and decided to sample. A couple of "nips" later and she had a puncture wound and torn pants. 

Of course, Creepy Guy wanted to "take a look" and decided that Courtney was just "too embarrassed" to let him. Look in the mirror (if you have one) Creepy Guy. I wouldn't let you look at MY leg, and I'm not exactly a young attractive female like Courtney.
Of course Deliverance Man never had had any of his dogs innoculated against anything, so Courtney needed a bit of additional care over and above disinfectant. A rabies shot and (I think) a tetanus shot later, she was good to go. Sorry Courtney. Wish the end of your run could have been as good as the start. :-\

I missed the encounter, and most of the talk with Creepy Guy, but he was at our vehicle when I finally finished. Apparently his truck has hydraulic leaks and he was asking if we had some. He didn't know we were with Courtney & Co. I initially cared about trying to find some fluid, but after hearing about the biting incident and the facts that (a) it wasn't the first time that dog had bit someone, and (b) none of them have had shots, I gave up caring. He could rot out there.

I understand that when Courtney got her medical care, Animal Control and the Carson Sheriff's office were notified. Good. If I am in error regarding what I described above, let me know and I'll modify as needed. I wasn't there for all of , but I was there for parts and the parts I was there for had Dueling Banjos for backdrop music.

Yesterday I got out for a short jaunt. The plan was a 4 miler with a day of rest (today) before a longer run on Sunday with a group. (Being the first run with a group in several months. We'll have to see how that goes.) I planned to do the CMS Short (& Steep) Lasso (route is on ccrunners.com in the downloadable kmz file). As I started out, I met the Ladies von Rumph out for a walk with their dogs, and in the brief chat, I was told in no uncertain terms that Today Would Be The Day, and the Kamikaze Grasshopper would be run, by me, to the top, for the first time. 
To make a not very long story even less long, that prediction proved out. I was able to run to the top. (average 26% slope (max 37%) for .25 miles, on a rough single track). I wasn't worth a crap once I got there, as my overall time was probably slower than when I would walk parts. Regardless, I conquered it. Now, to repeat. And do it faster. And do the whole lasso faster. And no blow chunks in the process.
See ya Sunday on McTarnahan.

Mars was always of interest to me. When I was 12 or 13, I received a small refractor telescope for my birthday. I would set it up in the backyard of my suburban Denver home and try to focus in on the brighter objects in the sky until the wee hours. Actually getting it to stop jiggling and moving with something in the field of view always took longer than the object would remain visible, though, due to the non-technical nature of the mount. Basically, all I had was a flimsy tripod. But, when I did manage to get Mars in the view, I was quite a thrill. 
I had forgotten that thrill for many years, until the first images appeared on the Internet from the paired Mars Rovers: Opportunity and Spirit. The one that really got my imagination running was the sunset photo. I could well imagine that being my view as I sat on my back porch after a day toiling in the Martian soil, á la Heinlein or Clarke.As is far too often the case, the thrill of exploration and discovery was lost to me again in the thrust and parry of everyday life since that day (2004—wow.), until this week. 

Yes, I am taking the week off and having a good time getting out and about. I revisited McTarnahan today as a scouting trip for a group run on Sunday as a post-Thanksgiving fat burner. I found a nice 10 mile loop that had numerous cutouts for shorter distances (5K, 5M, 7M, 8M, 9M). As the weather on top today was much nicer than it was on Friday, I took the time to snap a series of photos which I then stitched together into a 48MB panorama. If you want to take a look, have at it. The location is identified on the map, below. (You'll have to switch to satellite to see anything.)

Yesterday, I bought the December puts on Groupon (GRPN) at a strike price of .35. Today, I sold them for $1.15. Thanks Groupon for being such a dog! I know there are some that will chide me for not holding longer for a better price, because, let's face it, Groupon is a dog. 
I'm not greedy. And, since it will likely rebound in the short term, I'll buy them (or others) again when the rebound hits. 

I was very ambitious this weekend. I did a run on Friday in the wind, tried and failed a run on Saturday (made it 1/3 of a mile, got blasted by wind and and sub freezing temps with no potential let up for the entire planned route and wondered "WTF am I doing out here?", gave up and went home), and gave it another go on Sunday.
Of course, I tried to prepare a bit better for Sunday, as it was snowing at my house when I prepped. Three layers, (two on the arms, the full three on the torso) and a hat and gloves. The prospect of snow didn't bother me, and the front had completely passed through on Friday and Saturday, so the potential for much in the way of wind was pretty much nil. 
Again, I decided to try someplace I hadn't been before. I liked McTarnahan Hill on Friday from the east, I thought I would explore approaches to it from the west. I didn't have the intention of summiting — and I didn't, I stopped a few miles short — but the climb was more than the summit achievement two days previous in less distance. Tough, tough climb.
The climb was on a 4x4 road. For a road heading up a canyon and a fairly steep ridge, it was surprisingly un-dug out. The only part of the climb that was tough was the climb itself. Footing was stable, and there were no deep whoop-de-doos to deal with. Of course, pegging the old HR at 165-170 for a 40+ minute climb isn't for everyone. At times, I didn't think it was for me, either. Walking was tough enough in parts, thank you.
Along the way, I found an old, collapsed mine shaft. Pretty cool. 

I reached the top of a couple of hills, and saw McTarnahan in the distance. I knew I wasn't going to get there on either the energy level or time available, so I bid it adieu with a snappy salute and turned around to head back the way I came. In a very short while, I saw a motorcycle track veering off the road, and decided to take it. Glad I did! It was a blast cruising down that canyon. I wouldn't want to come up that way; it was quite sandy. Taking it as a downhill, though, the sand provided a nice soft surface for my 12 min/mile speed pace. 
The canyon was narrow and twisty and the one photo I did snap doesn't really capture either aspect. Oh well. run it yourself if you want. I think I'll do that one again.

Below is the route and elevation profile. If you have a hard time distinguishing where to go, contact me and I can give you the Garmin data. Though it appears not, the highest point was at the 

This weekend I had the chance to get out and try a couple new places again. On Friday, after watching the tragic destruction of the Caughlin Ranch Fire in Reno on the television, I headed up Brunswick Canyon to the east of Carson City a bit, parked and started my jaunt to the top of McTarnahan Hill. 
McTarnahan is the tallest point immediately to the east of Carson City. After driving up through Brunswick Canyon, it's not nearly the climb to the top it would be from the west side. Fitting my wimpy self, it was the approach of choice! However the view from the top looking north and west was pretty damn nice. Especially with the storm approaching from the west.

The route I chose would approach the sadde to the south (on the left in the photo above) and climb up from there. From the top of the northern tip, I first took the photo below, then I went all cross country and busted through the piñon and sage on a generally easterly course until I hit a 4x4 track which brought me back to my approach route. Heading back to the car, I closed the lasso. 

I didn't spend more time on top than it took to extract my phone from the pack, take the shots and boogie. The wind was pretty strong for the entire run, and was howling on the top. I wasn't wearing appropriate stuff (2 layers, neither windproof), and as a result was freezing in the short time it took to snap the photos. I did cower in the lee of the top rocks while snapping, but was still buffeted about by the wind. I had to retrieve my hat the couple of times it blew off.
This might be a decent winterish run if the snow isn't too bad on this side of the valley. Views are nice, and the trail is good. In fact, the whole top of Brunswick Canyon lends itself to decent running in the cold months. Lots of trails and roads to make any length route you want.
Route and elevation profile of my jaunt below.

As I went for a late afternoon jaunt up the Stairway to Hell yesterday, I was thinking about the recent spate of mountain lion sightings in the area. I wasn't nervous — if I had been, I don't think I would have been on that trail, as anyone who has been on it would attest. However, I would say I was a bit more vigilant than normal, due to both the recent sightings and the fact most big predators are crepuscular by nature.
When I run, I do look around me a lot. I tend to notice small animals, prints and other spoor, off-shooting trails, birds, interesting trees and cloud formations that seem to be unnoticed by some others. During my run last night, I noticed all this, and also looked behind me a fair amount. Along the way, I saw 4 bucks and a doe on the hillside, one of which had been radio-collared and ear-tagged. That was the first time I'd seen a tagged and/or collared mulie. So maybe my heightened awareness made the run a little more interesting. It did make it a little slower. It's hard to maintain pace while gimballing my head around 360°.

In the last week, there have been two separate incidents of cougars and people. And no, I am not talking MILFy cougars; I'm talking about the ones that want to sink real fangs, rake real claws, and draw real blood. Last weekend, Department of Wildlife officers shot and killed an eighty pound male not a mile from my house, and yesterday, a man running in King's Canyon was paced by another.
Both incidents occurred in places I frequently run, and I run solo. Am I nervous? Nah. I'm too skinny and bony to be of much interest to a mountain lion - and too old to be of interest to a cougar.