Way Too Cool 50k Race Report 2014

This past weekend weekend was my first race of 2014, or I should say training run as I knew going into this event I was not focused on a PR (personal record). I was focused on seeing where my fitness was and I didn't want to break myself, I wanted to a run a smart race a hard race, but also a race where the following the day I would be able to run.

Going into race day I was a bit nervous, as my last long run which was suppose to be 26 miles ended up only being 19 miles as I had fallen and was pretty bruised and bloody. That meant my longest run going into Cool was 22 miles. I had a few goals going into this run, my first goal was to run a 5:45 as I figured my fitness was around this time goal. Second goal was to get Trailmomma a PR as we would be running most if not all of this race together.

Now let's fast forward to the race day. It was going to be a beautiful day. Trailmomma and I lined up in the middle of wave 1. I was excited as you could feel the energy coming from the crowd. I was also nervous because I knew with the amount of runners in the race that there were sure to be some conga lines along the single track trail and I told myself to use it my advantage. The one thing I really didn't think about and probably should have was all the mud as it had rained the week prior and it would be pretty muddy out there.

The first 8 miles take us down the haul road before we reached the fire road and our first stream crossing at Knickerbocker creek. I knew from past experiences to go wide left as there is congestion with a lot of runners using the rocks so as not to get their feet wet. I went left and quickly passed runners. I hit the single track and sure enough the conga line had us stopped in our tracks. I was a bit upset as this section of trail was very runnable, but with all the runners I wasn't going anywhere fast. I settled down and just went with the flow. I knew that I didn't want to spend a lot of energy trying to pass as there was a lot of miles left so I relaxed and got comfortable and soon enough the congo line would run for a bit and then come to a screeching halt. Bust soon we hit the fire road which gave plenty of room for others to pass and or be passed. Eventually we arrived back at the Start/Finish and it was here that I exchanged my hand held for a fresh handheld as my wife Rachel was waiting for me. At the aid station I enjoyed 2 bananas and was on my way as the next aid station at Lower Quarry was only 3 miles away.

As Trailmomma and I started the descent my stomach started to knot up. I had to use the bathroom. I love this downhill section, I like to open it up and let the trail take me only I wasn't able to as my stomach was really bothering me. I managed to peel off and as I did I yelled to Trailmomma that I would catch up, she kept going and I made a necessary pit stop in the bushes. After my much needed pit stop I felt so much better. I quickly hit the trail and let it open up. I was probably doing sub 8 on this section. I made it to the HWY 49 crossing and spot Trailmomma at the port-o-potty. I shouted to her that she can catch me on the fire road as it isn't my favorite section. I hit the aid station and filled my hydration pack, grabbed some bananas and some granola bars and was back on the fire road where to my surprise Trailmomma was right by my side. We set a nice and steady pace for ourselves and hiked the large hills and ran everything else.

Our next aid station was Maine Bar which was 5.6 miles away and at mile 16.7. I was fueling with prepetuem in my handheld and relying on the solid food as I really wanted to see how my body would react with solid food as I haven't been enjoying gels. Trailmomma and I plugged away and soon enough the aid station appeared, only it was at mile 15 which now meant we had 6 miles to Auburn Lake Trails (ALT) instead of 5 miles. At this express station I again grabbed some granola bars as those were tasting really good.

I knew that this next section had some climbing and that I needed to stay focused. Trailmomma and I had a nice rhythm going, and my legs during the climbs felt very strong and I could keep a nice strong cadence. We would run and hike run and hike. I was feeling pretty good but slowly I could feel my energy level slowly dropping. I didn't take a gel in and in hindsight I should have. I was trying to wait until the Aid Station. I hit the climb to third gate and plugged away at it, again keeping a nice strong cadence and pushing myself a bit on this climb. It was after this climb that I really wanted that aid station to appear. Only it didn't and I started to get a bit angry. I should have taken in a gel, or something as I knew I needed some fuel. I kept plugging away and eventually we arrived at the aid station.

At ALT aid station, I took in some food as well as refilled my handheld with perpetuem and took in some more food. Trailmomma and I took off and walked a bit so that we could finish what we were eating. I knew that this next section was very runnable and I had been looking forward to to it all day. This section would just take you if you let it and you could really pick off some runners. Only that wasn't the case for me. I tried to increase my pace, but it wouldn't happen. I would like to think I managed a nice steady clip. I just kept plugging away. We were nearing goat hill and that was all that I was focused on. Get to goat hill and from there only 5 more miles. But I was really low on energy and I knew I needed to do something about it. At the initial climb to goat hill I took in a gel. Then I took in another gel. And my energy came back to me.

Trailmomma and I hit goat hill and I was feeling really good. My legs felt strong and I just put my head down and power hiked up the hill. We climbed goat hill in 9 minutes with the conga line. At the top of goat hill I was pumped. I quickly filled up my hand held with what Trailmomma calls "crack"...which is actually coke and looked at her and we took off. I was on top of the world. I hit the descent and shouted to her that this was very runnable. We took off.

We were now on our way to HWY 49 crossing. We were slowly passing runners and picking off runners who had passed us on the section to goat hill. At one point though I started to dry heave, it didn't slow me down I kept right on running. I was probably a bit dehydrated when that happened. Trailmomma was really funny and wanted nothing to do with it. (Note to self for when she paces me at TRT.)

I saw the grandpa tree sign and knew we  had 4 miles to the finish. I also looked at my watch and knew that a 5:45 was out of the question but that Trailmomma could still PR. So I did what any good friend would do, I pushed the pace. I encouraged us to run a bit more of the hills and to power hike quicker. I'm not sure if Trailmomma was cursing at me, but if she was she didn't tell me.

We hit the 49 crossing and I filled my hand held with more coke and took off. I had us running the hill longer then I normally would have. I was focused on Trailmomma's PR. Then I transitioned us to a power hike and kept shouting encouragement to Trailmomma. I think other runners thought it was obnoxious, but who cares. I was energizing myself and had my eye on the goal. My legs were feeling great and really strong on the hikes. We had 1 mile to go and I pushed the pace even more, telling Trailmomma to run up and over this hill and you look good, nice and strong. Now only .5 to go. We hit the home stretch and I told Trailmomma "Let's open up." Trailmomma did. I knew we had more to give so I said "Push a bit more, pass those 2 girls."   and she did, then Trailmomma said "This is good enough", but when I heard that I said "Push some more." and she did. One final hill, and I told her "Up and over, keep going, push it." And we did. Then Trailmomma turned on her fuel jets and sprinted. Luckily I saw the acceleration and matched her foot step for foot step. I pumped the crowed up and the crowd yelled louder.

We crossed the finish together and I threw my arms in the air. We crossed in 6:14:09. A new PR for Trailmomma. I was proud of her, proud of how she pushed. I was pretty happy with my time, considering that my last long run was 19 miles. I ran within my ability. I pushed myself on the climbs and I pushed myself those last 5 miles to see what was left in the tank. Honestly when I finished I felt really good physically. This wasn't my target race, and I kept my eye on the ultimate goal TRT100.

As for how I thought my fueling was, I could have used a few more calories. Obviously that was a given. I did enjoy not having as many gels, but I needed a bit more solid food. That I can work on. I never got sick of the solid food. I took in a lot of salt, about 2 an hour as it was warm. I should have had more water as I was a bit dehydrated at the end. The perpetuem I got sick of. I think it was having the same flavor and consistency. Overall I learned a lot and that was what I was looking for. I ran a smart race. I ran within my fitness which was great and I was able to run a solid recovery run on Sunday.

Now to focus on AR50 as again this will be a training run for me.

Thank you to the volunteers who were out there all day and to my wife who has supported me from the beginning. You believe in me which makes me believe in  myself. Thank you to Trailmomma for all the training runs and for being my running partner. We have laughed, we have cried, but most off all we have fun each time we hit the trail.

Believe and You will Achieve

2 Loops of Fun

Yesterday on my running schedule was 22 miles. Trailmomma and I decided that a few loops would be best for our long run. One of the cool things about doing loops is the aid station at the car, which also means we didn't have to carry as much water and fuel, only enough for each loop. I enjoy doing loops every now and than as it makes my long runs not seem so overwhelming.

Trailmomma and I met up and carpooled to the base of stagecoach as this would be our starting point and mini aid station. I was excited about today's run because I was going to be showing Trailmomma some new trails that I had been running on since last summer.

We had and early start of 7am which meant it was cold out so cold that when we started we pretty much were sprinting and didn't realize it for bit until we both sort of looked at each other and said it seems we are running rather fast. We ended slowing down knowing we had plenty of miles left. Our first loop I was taking us on was the Clementine loop. This loop has some climbing which was going to be our theme for the day. Lot's of climbing. It is a pretty tame loop, nothing to technical but it does have a nice steady climb at the beginning which we would run and then power hike run some more and power hike some more. I was focused on my power hike and noticed that my legs were responding really well and felt strong. Must be the previous weeks worth of hill repeats.

We hit the green gate and I told her now we are going down, as I wanted to show her the boat launching area and the Clementine lake. Once at the lake I took a quick restroom stop, and Trailmomma took some photos and then we were off to start our second climb of the day. Again we tackled it like before, run some power hike some. This climb has a nice gentle grade and is very runnable. I even took the time to point out where we had been. I always enjoy doing that, just to get a different look on things. Instead of looking at how far I have to go, I look at it like wow, look how far we/I have come (or climbed) or whatever the case the may be. I seem to do it every run, I will stop at a random spot and point out over the horizon where we just came from and it blows my mind some time.

At the top of the climb we hit the descent we took the short cut trail this time as there are many options available. The descent was nice and smooth and my legs were feeling great. I was fueling with a handheld of perpetuem and I had a packed some gels and salt and my hydration pack of water. The single track trail brought us into the sun light and warmed us up. The sun felt really nice. We arrived back at the car in no time and quickly grabbed a snack, filled our bottles, used the restroom, and took off our long sleeves and we were off for loop #2.

This time we were going up stagecoach, which is also very runnable. Again, I found my legs were responding really well with the climbing. There was only one mishap when a mountain biker came flying around the corner, I was on the left side of the trail and trailmomma was on the right. I looked up and just about froze, well I did freez but quickly regained my composer and ran over to the right side of the trail just in time as the mountain biker flew past us. Trailmomma and I both laughed about this for a bit. In fact most of the day we were laughing and in really good spirits.

We hit the top of stage coach and made our way through town and over to the overlook where we would hit the single track trail and on over to No Hands Bridge. The descent felt great, again my legs were feeling strong, I was fueling properly and most importunely I was having a great time on the trail.

We arrived at No Hands in no time and from there we decided to climb K2. Which is a pretty steep climb. We started climbing and my legs felt strong. I quickened my pace and kept things lively. I joked about each false summit as we arrived, I even started singing and once on top just let out a taadaaaa. I was feeling great.

We took the Western States Trail back down to No Hands Bridge crossed the bridge and ran the trail along the road to the base of stage coach. 21 miles never felt so good. I am liking where my fitness is. My legs are getting stronger each week and my mind is getting focused as well. I have my eyes on the big picture called Redemption and I can't wait to get there in July Tahoe Rim Trail 100.

It was a great day on the trail for us both and I can't wait to do it again.

Fueling:
-Fruit and Spinach and Flax Seed Smoothie when I woke up (I wake up really early due to work 2:30am)
-Oatmeal and blueberries for breakfast about 1.5 hours before the start
-Banana at the start
-2 bottles of pertuem, one on the first loop and one on the second loop
-1 Mojo bar at the aid station

I found it interesting that I didn't take in any gels or salt, I felt a steady flow of energy during my entire run.

Missouri Trip

The past week and half has been very busy in the Pigeon household. My wife and I had to fly out to Missouri   last minute on New Years Eve. I have never been to Missouri, but I knew and was told many times that it was going to be cold, very cold. It was pretty stressful getting ready for the trip, luckily our friend was able to dog/house sit for us as we do not ever want to board our boys in a kennel. My wife found the airline tickets, rental car, and hotel and booked them 2 days prior to our departure.

Our flight out of Sacramento was delayed about 20 minutes, we were flying into Salt Lake City and had a connecting flight that originally would give us a 40 minute layover. We arrived at Salt Lake City and grabbed our things and took off running to our connecting flight. We ran so fast, it was like a impromptu speed work at the track. We ran to our gate with minutes to spare. I think we were close to the last passengers on the flight. But we made it as I didn't want to be stuck in the airport all night.

We arrived in Missouri later that evening and before leaving the baggage claim to get our rental car my wife had me bundle up, jacket and gloves and she made me put my hood on. It was cold, but this wouldn't be the coldest day, in fact it might have been the warmest day. While in Missouri we spent a lot of time with her family. I met a lot of family I have never met before. One day we drove over to her parents house which was about 3 hours away from our hotel. We spent  most of the day/evening there and left just before dark. There was a snow storm coming in, which if you lived in Missouri you would call it "A light dusting." The interstate was down to 1 lane and we were driving 30 miles an hour at one point. I was scared that we were going to slid off the road, get sandwiched between the other cars. We eventually arrived home but it took about 4 hours of stressful and painfully slow driving to get home.

As the week drew near we started watching this massive storm come our way, hit Missouri and then continue onto the East Coast. This storm canceled thousands of flights and delayed thousands of flights as well. We knew that there was a possibility of our flight leaving Kansas City could get delayed (Which it did) and also the possibility of our connecting flight in Denver being delayed or cancelled overall.

We left Kansas City late which meant that we were going to have to hussle to our connecting flight in Denver. Once on the plane we were waiting for our pilots arrive as they were coming from the East Coast and once again we were delayed roughly 20 minutes. We left and settled in for the flight. We arrived in Denver with no time to spare. We had 5 minutes to get to our connecting flight which was all the way at the other end, and the bad news was we were last passengers off the plane. We took off running, using the moving sidewalks so we could cover more ground faster. Rachel told me to run ahead so I did. I ran my little heart out. I neared the gate at the end of the terminal and looked out the window and I could see our plane. Only it was slowly ever so slowly backing away. The gate agent apologized saying they couldn't hold the plan as they needed to get the planes back on schedule. I had arrived exactly at 7:55pm right when our plane was due to depart. Really, you couldn't hold the plan. There were at leases 8 passengers on our flight and numerous other passengers that were heading to Sacramento. Agh, frustration sets in.

Now we have to walk all the way back to customer service to try and get on a different flight. The line at the customer service counter was long. It took us 4 hours to get to the ticket counter. And guess what? There were no flights leaving Denver that evening. We were stuck in Denver. Also, the hotels were booked so we were sleeping in the air port.

We were really tired by now. While waiting in line at customer service I made some calls to make sure our boys (dogs) were taken care of, as our dog sitter was leaving town the next day for New York. Luckily my brother in law was helping us out. Rachel and I found a corner near the terminal where our flight we were flying stand by on would leave and tried to get some sleep. I was unable to get comfortable and I think I managed 2 hours of sleep sitting in the chair, while Rachel was out like a light as soon as her head hit the suitcase.

In the morning we checked in as stand by passengers on the early flight and luck was on our side. We were able to get on the flight. We finally arrived in Sacramento after a long 2 days of traveling.

It felt good to be home again and our boys were super excited to see us. I am glad that I was able to make the trip with my wife. I learned a lot about her grandmother. Even though she is no longer with us and I never had the opportunity to meet her, I know that  she will always be looking over us and is apart of us to this day. If you were to describe Rachel's grandma in one word....that word would be perseverance. When I heard that I smiled as I have a tattoo on my left arm that says perseverance. She will always be with us, and right now she is with my mom looking out for us and smiling.

Our Wedding Day

 

Let me go back to September 21, 2013. It was a crisp cool morning with not a cloud in sight......who am I kidding. It was a crisp cool morning with plenty of clouds in sight. The back yard was set. The high bar tables were around the pool, we had moved the work bench from the garage to the pool deck to be the bar for the evening. The chairs were set up for the ceremony, the tables were in place under the gazebo for the buffet. We were ready, we were both filled with anxiety as the weather was not cooperating. We were looking at intermittent rain showers through out the day, but secretly deep down in our hearts we were hoping the showers would blow through and not interfere with our wedding day. When was the last time it is has rained in September in California????? My biggest concern when we choose this date was the heat, hence a evening ceremony so the big Oak tree would provide shade for our guests.

This was our wedding day. I was going to marry the love of my life rain or shine. It was about 1:00 pm and Rachel my fiance at the time was outside placing the table clothes on the high bars and the buffet tables. I looked outside and the weather had moved in and then it happened, it started to rain; slowly at first with just a drizzle. I looked at Rachel and I could tell she was holding back the tears, the frustration was overwhelming. I went to her and just hugged her saying "It's going to be Ok, the rain should pass in time for the ceremony. All that matters right now is us and that we are together."

We stood there holding each other trying desperately to keep the tears back, standing there in the rain feeling defeated. All I was thinking about was what were we going to do. I knew I couldn't shut down and that we needed to come up with a plan in case it did rain. We both went inside knowing that we each needed a little space, some time to decompress. I turned the television on and watched something on DVR, what, I don't remember and Rachel played a calming game of tetris. About an hour later I looked over at Rachel and said "We need to come up with an option 2. We are running out of time, the caterers will be here around 4 and the photographer will be here around 3." Rachel knew it, but I think she didn't want to accept the fact that we might be having our ceremony in our house, nor did I for that matter. I had a few ideas and I looked deep into her eyes and said "Rachel, let's walk." Yes, I was using work terms.

With those few words we stood up walked into the living room and frantically started rearranging the furniture. It was still pouring outside and everything was soaked. We moved the dinning room furniture into the spare bedroom as this area was now going to be the buffet room. We removed everything from the kitchen counter and this space was now the bar. We than removed all the furniture from the living room and placed it in the family room as the living room was now going to hold the high bar tables and potentially be where we would have our ceremony if it came down to that. We moved so quickly, it was amazing how fast we moved the furniture. We brought the high bar tables inside, the buffet tables and quickly put the table clothes in the dryer. I immediately jumped in the shower as the photographer was due to arrive at any moment. I walked out to the living room and it looked amazing. We had completely transformed our house. The flowers were out, the candles were in place, it literally took my breath away.


Our photographer arrived a little before 3 pm. At this point the tears and disappoint are about to be shed, it was still raining. She immediately went to work and started getting the photos before we had to finalize getting ready and the family pictures.

At this point my friend Trailmomma arrived. I had asked her to come a bit early to help keep me calm and together and to do any last minute things we/I needed. She already had her hands full as I had called her twice already. I needed a vase for my mom's bouquet. She brought two vases with her. She also ran to Target and gathered all the black umbrellas we had. We would potentially need these umbrellas. What a life saver Pam was as well as Rachel's two friends who were staying with us.

Rachel and I finished getting ready and it was time for pictures with our dogs, as they are family. We had them dressed up with their bow ties. We were able to get pictures out side with Rachel and myself and the dogs, but it was a challenge.

The black umbrellas came in handy as it was drizzling a bit on and off again. After that we drove over to the park near our house and it was time for family pictures. Luckily the rain had stopped. Just as we finished up the family pictures and arrived back home it started to rain again. And when I say rain the skies opened up. We still had hope though that we would be able to have our ceremony outside. Our guests were arriving and were enjoying themselves. I could hear the laughter and see the delight and happiness on their faces. The rain let up and then the most amazing thing happened. Rays of sunlight started to appear as the clouds parted. It was at this point I knew that all was going to work out. We had weathered the storm and it only made our relationship stronger.

Everything was going to be perfect. The rain had stopped. The ceremony was just about to began. I was nervous I wont lie. I was more anxious and excited because I never thought that this day would come.

That I would never meet someone who made me as happy as I am today, who loved me as much Rachel loves me. Someone who loved me for me; even if I am a nerd and a bit random at times. Rachel, brings out so much happiness in me. She is my light. When I see her my face lights up. We were about to began our lives together, to travel down a road that I thought I would be traveling alone. She understands me and accepts me for me and never questions that. I love her so much and all I want to do is spend the rest of my life with her.

The ceremony was special to us. The officiant was a friend of a friend and he did an outstanding job. During the ceremony he made a last minute change that just about melted my heart. You see, my mom passed away when I was 14 from endometrial cancer. Even though she wasn't physically there I know spiritually she was there that day. She made her presence known through the words. Rachel as her gift to me is refurbishing my mom's guitar. Our officiant didn't know anything about this. When we came to this part of the ceremony I about cried.......

I surprised Rachel with cufflinks! Her reaction was price less.

"Love one another, but make not a bond of love. Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other’s cup, but drink not from the same cup. Sing and dance together and be joyous,
but let each one of you be alone. Even as the strings of the lute guitar are alone, though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping for only the hand of life can contain your hearts and stand together, Yet not to near together for the pillars of the temple stand apart.
And the oak and the cypress Grow not in each other’s shadow"

I looked at Rachel and Rachel looked at me with a twinkle in her eye. How did he know? We asked him afterwards about using the word guitar and he said it just came to him during the ceremony. 

Trailmomma signing the paper work!

That day I will never forget. I married the love of my life, in front of my family and close friends. The weather challenged us that day, but we came out on top. We made our relationship that much stronger. Now matter what is thrown in our path, together we can do anything. 

Michael our officiant signing the paper work!

We enjoyed the rest of the evening laughing and talking. There is a long standing belief that it is good luck for a couple to marry on a rainy day. A knot that becomes wet is strong and hard to untie and some in the Hin-du tradition believe the same about a wedding in the rain. We tied the knot on a rainy day and our knot will never become untied for it is as strong as ever. 

A special thank you to our photographer Gabriella Clavel, all photos you see were by her.

GSMCLAVEL@YAHOOCOM

A special thank you to Anthony Brantley for the music

Thank you Michael Hill our officiant

To our Family and Friends for joining us on this special day and for celebrating our love and commitment to each other. 

To Trailmomma, Kortnie and Emily...Thank you so much for all that you did that day.

21 Miles For The Week!!!!!

This past week I would say was pretty successful. I managed to log 21 miles in running which is a huge jump from the previous 10 miles the week prior. Overall I am excited that I am able to run again and even more excited that Trailmomma and I are meeting up on Sunday's for our "long run."

Yesterday I went to work about 3:45am and worked until 11:45ish. Once I arrived home I immediately changed into my running clothes grabbed some water and then headed off to Trailmomma's house. Trailmomma was all ready to go and she even had a surprise for me. A new route that she wanted to try. I was looking forward to trying a new route. This new route would take us to Brown's Ravine and a small loop over by the lake and then we would tackle the hills on the last mile back to her place.

The run was pretty great, it felt like we were in the middle of the woods when in fact we weren't. It was also warm out there about 84. I of course didn't bring any water for the run which was a mistake on part, but Trailmomma being a great friend let me have some of hers. The route took us on the road and even some dirt trails. It felt great to be back on the dirt again. We even got a little silly and took our classic JC Penny pose while out there. You will have to check out her site for the pictures though. 

All in all, it is tough getting back in shape, but what makes it easier is having a training buddy who can keep you motivated and focused. I am sure that if I hadn't made arrangements to meet Trailmomma yesterday, then I probably would not have run as far as we did. 7 miles is a big thing. I do know that soon I will start incorporating some hill work to rebuild my leg power and next week we have plans for hopefully a 10 mile run and yes, I will bring water next time. Thanks Trailmomma for the run and thanks to my wife for all the support.

Running Again

After being not able to run for the past 2 months due to a hip flexor injury and also my wedding, I am pleased and excited to say that I am back to running once again. Oh how I have missed it. I can actually feel that my body missed it.

It has been a challenging 2 weeks of a lot of emotional lows in trying to get my brain and body to remember how to run. My first run was 4 miles, I knew I didn't want to push my body and that I needed to rebuild the milage. 4 miles was a long ways. I had plenty of walk breaks which was disheartening and I had no power. I knew that this was due to not running.

At the time of my injury it was actually pretty difficult to walk. To bring my leg forward brought pain and I walked with a limp for a few weeks. In fact the joke around the house was, "You better not have that limp when we get married." Oh the pressure was on. Actually not really.

After the pathetic 4 miler I was mentally in a funk. But, I kept at and my next 4 miler was just as bad as the first. It was like my body forgot how to run. Which I am sure it did, but I knew that eventually on one of my runs everything will click.

This past weekend, I emailed my friend Trailmomma and we made plans to run together. During that run everything felt better. I was actually running. We made plans to continue to run on the weekends in fact we are getting together this Sunday and will actually try some dirt fire roads.

It feels great to be running again. I have missed it. Now I just need to focus on building my strength and leg turn over. I know my fitness will come back, I am sure that this 2 month break was needed. I am looking forward to racing again but most of all I am looking forward to spending some time with my running friends.

Cascade Hike/ Rainbow Trail Hike

We have been home now for almost a week. It is really hard to go back to work because all I really want to do is be home with my wife. We had a blast in South Lake Tahoe. We did a bit of hiking, some horseback riding, some relaxing but most of all we were with each other. Our last day we were there we did the Cascade Lake Trail hike. It is moderate 1 mile stair case hike to a overlook that overlooks Cascade lake. Which is a private lake for the residence. It also gives us spectacular views of Lake Tahoe in the back ground. We took our time on the way out and really enjoyed the views. 

This is right before the hike

Here I am on the left jumping for joy and on the right Rachel is at peace with the view and sun. 

Rachel really wanted to do some rock climbing. 

Cascade Lake with Lake Tahoe in the background. 

Here I am practicing my JC Penny pose.  

Pretty neat tree

The view without the lake. Any view in Tahoe is beautiful. 

We also went to Taylor Creek visitors center and walked the Rainbow Trail. During early/late October the Salmon are running as it will be spawning season for them. If you are lucky you might get a glimpse of a bear enjoying some fish. 

Unfortunately the Salmon weren't running, but soon. 

We did though see a family of bears. A momma bear and her two cubs. In the middle of the picture you can see the last cub. That was pretty cool. I wonder if that was the same bear I saw last year? We had a great time and I can't wait to go back again.