Toaks "wood gas" stove. I opted to try this alternative cooking setup for the Sky Islands Odyssey. In addition to some small weight savings, this setup eliminates waste and expenses in the form of gas canisters. It definitely takes some practice to get used to lighting successfully and is not time efficient as gathering sticks and establishing enough heat to boil water requires some time.

Sky Islands Odyssey December 2024 "big loop" with Elephant Head singletrack alternate. Four days + three nights solo bikepacking

purple prickly pear cacti + $0 homemade frame bag

Trail critters I’ve met over the last two days

Podium & chill. If you have to choose 26.2, might as well stick a 12,800 ft pass right in the middle and try to crush one of your idols on the descent (it almost worked - I got buried on the flats!)

Back to gaze at alpine lakes

Silverton Colorado is magic

This post just about sums up my weekend in Silverton

Handies Peak (14,050 ft.) When in Colorado, run 14ers! We took the Hardrock 100 approach from Grouse Gulch, my second run on said 100 milers course and I gotta say, anyone who can put in 100 miles on this is beyond brutal. Hats off.

Just because we’re desert rats doesn’t mean we’re afraid to run through hail and thunderstorms above tree line. We didn’t come all this way for nothing Colorado.

It seems the organizers of my hometown marathon will only be offering half marathon and shorter distances for 2019. I’m really bummed for several reasons but at least now I don’t have to run Phoenix and Sedona back to back. This was my first marathon in 2017 and I’m grateful I was able to snag a podium spot for 2018 as it turned out I won’t have another chance.

a lil dusk slickrock with my boy

Roscoe nailed my feels. Last work day of nine straight. Looking forward to a bunch of days off to reset and race!

Sketchy exposure, flowering cacti. Love you Grand Canyon

Ran an 18 mile out and back at Grand Canyon to visit the brilliant blue waters of the little Colorado at its confluence with the Colorado. The actual round trip from the south rim would add 18 MORE miles of brutally steep, waterless rim to river trail so I opted to backpack that stretch making “basecamp” at Tanner Rapids to ease the logistics.

Rim to camp via South Canyon

Lots of flowering cacti at Grand Canyon this weekend