Blizzard of 2009

Washington DC got 16+ inches of snow yesterday, which is a record for December. Thankfully it came on a Saturday and did not cause major disruption to commuters. Our church was canceled this morning, the school (faculty) Christmas party was canceled yesterday, and school for tomorrow has already been canceled. Since I am scheduled to give all my exams tomorrow morning, that means the students will take them Tuesday instead - and I have one less day to get my grading finished before Christmas. We played in the snow with Calista yesterday and today, and today I skiied around Greenbelt Lake a couple of times - something I have only been able to do once or twice before in the 6 winters we have spent here (counting this one, which technically just started). I uploaded some more pictures here. Often it warms up to 40+ degrees the next day after a snow here, but the forecast calls for low-to mid 30s as a high all week, so the snow might stick around for a while. It's going to be tough to go running.

Christmas tree

We got a real Christmas tree for the first time! Our house was to small to make a larger tree work until last year, and with an 11-month old we did not want to try last year. Calista helped us pick out the tree from a vendor who operates out of the parking lot of our local supermarket . . not quite as romantic as "cut your own", but it works. We decorated it this afternoon. Calista helped some, and mostly managed to stay out of trouble.
Things are finally settling down for me now. We had our cross country team banquet last Tuesday, which mostly concludes the events of the season - other than making arrangements for purchasing championship jackets for the team members. Exams start on Wednesday . .

Thanksgiving and beyond

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. The weekend before Thanksgiving, I went to NY for a cross country meet - we were victorious at the Jesuit championships, beating several other very good teams. We headed to Chincoteague for Thanksgiving, and went from there to North Carolina for the southeast regional cross country championships. The team did well, finishing 7th in a region that spans from the Mason-Dixon line south to the Gulf coast. After two days of classes I went to the Loyala Retreat House to help lead a 3-day retreat for seniors at Gonzaga. Looking forward to some more free time in the coming weeks!

State championship race

My team raced in the Maryland-DC state championship for private schools today. In Maryland and Virginia, unlike in most states, the private schools do not compete in the state-sponsored championship events/tournaments. This has an unfortunate effect on overall competition, by splitting the best teams. This time around Gonzaga was vying for first place, against strong competition from St. Albans. We had narrowly defeated them a few weeks ago, and felt confident that we could repeat that performance, but we came up short. Several runners fell apart in the last mile and we ended up being edged out for 2nd by fellow Jesuit school Loyola.

I continue to be frustrated by near misses at state championships in my coaching career. At Wilmington Christian we finished in 2nd place three years in a row, and in each of those years we were as good as the team that won, but in each case the other team had a better day. Last year we ran our worst race of the season at the state championship and came in third; champion Calvert Hall definitely had a better team, but winning was not out of our grasp.

On the positive side, Tatiana and Calista were able to come out to cheer for the team. Calista had fun exploring the recently-harvested corn field and checking out the goats and pigs.

Little Cabin in the Woods

We rented a PATC cabin this weekend, along with several friends from church. Most PATC cabins are rustic structures in the Blue Ridge, most of them close to the AT. This was one of the few "modern" cabins, with electricity and running water. It was the perfect choice for a relaxing fall weekend. We had a living area and kitchen and one small bedroom, plus a gigantic porch. The cabin was totally surrounded by trees with various shades of fall color on display. It was located just over a mile from the AT, halfway between Caledonia and Pine Grove Furnace State Parks in Pennsylvania. We did a battlefield tour at Gettysburg on Saturday and some hiking on Sunday. Nathaniel and I hiked from 10 miles Caledonia State Park back to the cabin on Sunday afternoon, while the rest of the group opted for a variety of shorter options.

Here is the approximate location of our adventure. Check out some more photos.

Update from the trail

I have a limited time while on a re-supply to give a quick update on my trip! I am at Vermillion Valley Resort, which lies across a lake from the trail. I arrived here by ferry this afternoon. The hike has been awesome so far - views are almost continuous, and weather is excellent for hiking. I should have some outstanding photos when I get back, so I am looking forward to sharing them.

If all goes well, I will leave here tomorrow morning, then hike for 5 more days. I should hike through Tuolomne Meadows on Saturday and then arrive in Yosemite Valley on Sunday.

Anniversary

As of today, we have been married for 6 years! Hard to believe. To celebrate, we did a short backpacking trip in western MD. It was our first trip in two years, unless you count Cumberland Island, which consisted of no more than 1/2 mile carrying a pack. We hiked the Savage Loop, which is approximately 25 miles on (mostly) state forest land in Garrett County - near Deep Creek Lake. A map of the area can be seen here. The route was varied and quite unusual. We started with a couple of miles of traditional hiking trail through New Germany State Park - an area that has groomed ski trails in the winter. The next segment was an old CCC road, now open to ORVs and high clearance vehicles. There were numerous campsites scattered along the route, which follows a stream through deep forest. The road crosses the creek multiple times, most of them without bridges. We had to "ford" the crossings, since they are clear of rocks to allow vehicles to pass. We ended up walking in sandals for several miles.


The next segment consisted of 5 miles along a little-used, scenic paved road. The road follows a larger stream through state forest land and past a few houses. After passing through a primative campground at Big Run State Park, we merged onto the Monroe Run trail. This trail also features multiple stream crossings, most of which were fairly easy to traverse by rock-hopping. We counted 24 crossings in all. We found a campsite partway up this trail. The next day we climbed the rest of the way up the stream and then steeply to the top of Meadow Mountain. The rest of the route was a wide, grassy trail (pictured above) which is used by snowmobiles in the winter but open only to foot and bike traffic the rest of the year. There were several views towards long, forested mountain ridges that are typical of the central appalachians. There are some more pictures posted here.

Summer is here . . .

Exams were wrapped up for me at Gonzaga before Memorial Day. It's nice to finish early . . although the trade-off is that we start around August 20th. I went out to Lincoln, NE again to grade AP exams during the first week of June. It was the last year for grading in Lincoln - we grade at the state fair grounds, which will be torn down later this year. Next year will be in Cincinnati. The rest of the month I have been taking care of Calista during the day. We have been exploring the area with our jogging stroller, and reading lots of books (some of them multiple times in a row).

Other things toing on:
I got a chance to go hiking in Shenandoah last week one day because our school-year baby sitter was available to watch Calista. I hiked with a group from the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, and we did 17 miles and roughly 5000 feet of climbing in the southern part of Shenandoah.

We visited Tatiana's parents yesterday. Calista got to ride in a wagon and plan in a "pool" (the liner for a pond).

My brother Mark will be visiting this week. And Calista will go to swimming lessons. So there will be plenty to keep us busy.

I posted from photos from this month.

May adventures

Last weekend (May 9) we visited Thompson Wildlife Management Area, which is in the Appalachians (and bisected by the AT) just south of Sky Meadows State Park - about midway between Harper's Ferry and Shenandoah. This area is known for a profusion of trilliums and other spring wildlflowers. We parked quite close to the AT, and did a short (~2 mile) loop hike. We stopped at a trail shelter at Manassas Gap, and Calista enjoyed stomping around in the shelter. We decided to give her the trail name Itty Bit, which is also the name of her favorite stuffed animal (a bunny). We signed her name, along with ours, in the trail register at the shelter. We were also startled to find a couple of rather large black rat snakes in the rafters of the shelter! Calista was not bothered by the snakes (although I don't know how well she saw them) but she did freak a bit about the large bumblebees near the picnic table.


Yesterday (May 16th) we spent the afternoon at Antietam Battlefield. I went for a run through the pastoral countryside, and we checked out the visitor center and part of the auto tour route. We also drove through Shepardstown and Harper's Ferry on the way home.

I have posted some pictures from these two trips, as well as some other April and May pics of Calista enjoying life.

One Day Hike

On Saturday, April 25th we hiked from Washington DC to Harpers Ferry. I can't believe I am actually writing that, but yes, we did manage to hike that far! It was a crazy event. Calista went with Tatiana's parents and her Aunt Irene to Chincoteague for the weekend, so we were free to make the attempt. We got up at 1:00 on Saturday morning and drove to the metro, taking the train down to Georgetown. More than 100 other people were milling about at Thompson's Boathouse, getting ready for the hike. We started the hike at 3:00, after signing in and getting instructions. The first 12 miles were in the dark, strolling between old warehouses that have been converted to upscale apartments and shops in Georgetown, and then out to the tree-lined, crushed gravel path that borders the C&O Canal. I used my headlamp sporadically, sometimes relying on streetlights from nearby Canal Road. The first water break was at Old Angler's Inn, and after a short break I was soon passing Great Falls. The first food stop finally appeared at mile 22, and by mile 30 the sun was beating down. The heat index eventually topped 90, an unusually warm day for April.


Somewhere around mile 25 I started seeing runners with numbers heading the other direction. At the next rest stop I learned that they were part of a 200 mile relay event, with 10-12 person teams each running several 5-8 mile legs along a route starting in Gettysburg and ending in DC. They were raising money for something.

By the mid-point I was dealing with some pretty serious blisters, but I was determined to press on. I maintained close to 4 mph for the first half of the hike, but slowed quite a bit afterward. The heat took its toll on the other hikers too, and many dropped out before the finish, with less than 50% reaching the goal. I felt like I was in slow motion after my last break at Brunswick, less than 10 miles from the end. Darkness fell around the time the canal towpath intersected with the Appalachian Trail, coming from the north. Tatiana and our friend Nathaniel met me at the base of the hill in Harper's Ferry, and we slowly made our way up the long route past the ATC headquarters, the NPS facility, and into the adjacent town of Bolivar. Upon finishing, I suddenly felt overwhelmed with exhaustion and had to lay down for a few minutes. Eventually we made our way to a nearby campground, where we stayed with Christal and Nathaniel in a small cabin for the night.

I uploaded some pictures. Also in the album are a few shots of Philadelphia, where we spent the weekend May 2-3. Tatiana had a conference for the American Association of Museums. I biked on Saturday from Center City Philadelphia to Valley Forge, along the Schuylkill River. The route is mostly a paved trail, except for a few miles following a canal towpath in the Manyunk section of Philly. Distance to Valley Forge is ~20 miles, but I actually did another 5 to Phoenixville, where the trail currently ends, before turning around. There are plans to extend the trail to Port Clinton, where it would intersect the Appalachian Trail.

There are also pictures of the One Day Hike here and here.

Spring Break

The Gonzaga spring break was last week, and we decided to drive down to Georgia to visit Mike and Susanna. Mike is at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Academy (FLETC) for 4 months. We left mid-day on Friday so that we could get a jump on traffic and spend some more time with Mike when we arrived Saturday. Traffic was light, and we camped at Jones Lake State Park in North Carolina that night. It was cold, but Calista loved wandering around the campground and did not complain at all. We arrived in Brunswick on Saturday and hung out with Mike and Susanna and the couple Susanna is staying with.



Sunday and Monday were spent at Cumberland Island National Seashore, which was a beautiful spot. The old Live Oak trees were all twisted from the wind, and hung with Spanish Moss, and Palmettos carpeted the understory. Mike had to go back to work, but Susanna travelled with us to Osceola National Forest on Monday night, and we explored the national forest and the Okeefenokee Swamp. We hiked 6 miles of the Florida Trail, and saw alligators, snakes, and a variety of birds in the swamp.

At the end of the week we headed to Atlanta, and camped for two nights at Red Top Mountain, where we stayed in 2005 before our backpacking trip on the AT. We saw the Atlanta Aquarium on Friday, and met up with Aunts Andrea and Regina and cousins Alyssa and Renee at a diner for dinner that night. We headed home on Saturday, driving 7 hours in steady rain before giving up for the night at a hotel in Durham. An easy drive home on Sunday was the conclusion to a nice trip.

We have more pictures here.

Winter adventures

We spent the last weekend in February in Blackwater State Park. Snow was a bit sparse this year, so we spent the time hiking, exploring new areas of Canaan Valley, and hanging out in the cabin with friends. Several of us hiked a section of the Allegheny Trail, which stretches across West Virginia from Peters Mountain on the Virginia border, near Pearisburg and on the AT, to the Pennsylvania border. We hiked from Canaan Valley State Park to Blackwater, about 8 miles
. As we drove home last night we noticed salt trucks and snow plows hovering around the highway shoulders and exits, and as we arrived home it had begun to snow. We woke up to around 8 inches on the ground . . making this perhaps the first time that DC has had more snow than the West VA high country. There was no school today, which in my case did not cancel classes but an in-service day with other Catholic schools in the area.

Calista is having fun wandering around and exploring new things. We played with her in the snow a bit today. She went for a hike with Tatiana and our friend Laurie on Saturday -- a real hike on a natural surface trail with roots and rocks to navigate. Some pictures are here.

Silly Girl

Calista likes to do some silly things these days. Recently she decided she wanted to wear one of her bibs while playing. She knows where the bibs are stored, and she took of from the basket. She could not figure out how to properly fasten it, so she walked around instead with the bib tucked under her chin! She has done this several times now. She also enjoys getting plastic containers from one of the kitchen cabinets. Last week grabbed a plastic lid and then decided she should put it into an open bag that was on the other side of the room - so she walked over and placed it there. She proceeded to walk back and forth, bringing one more lid each time, for at least 10 rounds. Each time she would carefully close the cabinet door before walking across the room to deposit her lid. We have some (more) pictures here.

Winter fun

We had 4 days off over Martin Luther King weekend, with an extra day because of inauguration. Gonzaga's parking lot was being used by the National Guard and the Hirshhorn is right on the mall . . so we journeyed north to Lake Placid to try the skiing there. We had never been in the Adirondacks in winter, unless you count Lapland Lake, on the southern edge park. I hiked in the high peaks area numerous times while taking summer classes at RPI, 10 years ago now! We stayed in a little cabin just outside Lake Placid. Tatiana and I did "tag team" skiing, while one of us hanging out with Calista inside. We skiied at Mt. VanHoevenberg, where the 1980 Olympics were held, and on the Jackrabbit Trail, a long-distance linear trail that connects several backcountry and groomed ski areas. On the way out we also made a stop at the Adirondack Loj, which is a classic backwoods lodge that provides trail access to the high peaks region. More pictures here.

Christmas

We enjoyed visiting family during Christmas break. Calista got to hang out with both sets of grandparents, as well as Uncle Tyson and Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Mike and Aunt Susanna. We went skiing at Muskegon State Park and at Big M between Cadillac and Manistee, and also stopped at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and Cuyahoga Valley National Park for breaks between Michigan and Maryland. Calista got lots of gifts from grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even great aunts. Check out more pictures.