Playing at Tahoe...and waiting to Dance.

Boy, it's been quiet over here on this blog.  No particular reason for it.  Just some travel, work and running getting in the way, I suppose...Here's a little ketchup:

Before heading to Tahoe and the start line of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, I had to throw one last BBQ in the backyard.  A great group showed up, brought a lot of food and drink.  I discovered quickly that I clearly didn't have enough wine glasses, forks, napkins and plates for this kind of event.

En route to Tahoe my traveling companion, Josh Brimhall, and I spent an adventurous night in Tonopah, Nevada.  We both enjoyed a nice spin through the high desert and on the local, rutted and flooded cinder track.

Driving into Tahoe and the locale of Western States 100 Mile start line, we were greeted by mountains that have clearly not let the idea of winter go.  Snow levels sat at nearly 7,000'!

Here's a look at my snow melt guide.  When I arrived (June 10th) only the top fourth of these abandoned skis where exposed.  This photo was taken on June 17th.  Clearly some melting going on.  Today (June 21st) both the skis (Who could pass up a free pair of skis?) and snow are gone.

A photo of my training partner, Zoroaster, and mobil training unit (after having survived being rear-ended in the town of Fallon, NV several days earlier) in front of the ski-house that has been my home for these past two weeks.

A great photo of the lush backyard and conveniently provided ice bath.  Daily dips in the creek have seemed to help the legs.  However, I can only stay in for three minutes before valuable parts began to freeze. 

Looking up at the mountains and ski slopes at Alpine Meadows, one drainage over from Squaw.  Folks were up there skiing and snowboarding this mid-June day, no lift tickets required!

In order to avoid snow (I'm not a fan of the post-holing, sliding and slipping), I had to find the trails that were south facing and sunlit.  One of these were Nevada's ever classic Flume Trail.

Looking down on Sand Harbor's beach from the Flume Trail.

I tried a jaunt into the Desolation Wilderness (Meek's Bay entry point).

All was good until I encountered too much snow, raging creeks and finally lost the trail near Lake Genevieve.  Still a most beautiful run!

Here's video and brilliant commentary taken by Nick Clark on our last little jaunt along the Western States course from Foresthill to the Rucky Chucky river crossing.

Special Updates:  Rumor sounds like we're running the snow route at Western this year.  Take a look here for the latest updates.

ALSO:  Take a look at Scott Jamie's blog regarding the newly announced Pearl Izumi Challenge at Western States.

A race-day webcast will give very accurate progress of each runner as they move along the course.  Tune in on Saturday June 26th as more than 400 runners make the 100-mile trek to Auburn!