Let the countdown begin!

That's right: it's 5 days to my birthday!!

I'm not quite sure what I'll be doing to celebrate yet this year, but I'm sure it'll be something fun!

It's been another typical week down here in the Big Bend, filled with hot springs, hiking, and cycling. I've officially reached 100+ miles of hiking and 250+ miles of bicycling since I got here! Still no word on whether or not the crossing will open, although there's rumors flying around that it might happen soon. But I wouldn't believe it until I see it, if I were you.

In much more exciting news: my foster parents from the U.P., Doug and Ginny Smith, are planning a sudden visit! Due to the snow, they've decided to take the southern route home from the Baja Peninsula and will hopefully be here later in the week! What a pleasant surprise! Hopefully we'll get an informal jam session going on down here because it's been awhile since I've gotten to play with someone else, and most of my friends down here haven't really seen/heard me play/sing at all, so I think it'd be loads of fun.

My parents are talking about possibly coming down for a visit sometime in the relatively near future as well, so we'll see how that pans out.

All-in-all, things are going well, I'm learning how to survive the 90* weather before we amp it up to the 100* stuff, and my house is going to get a good cleaning today because I've officially been here for another month. So, lots of exciting stuff - so much so that I think I ought to take a nap now...

Photo Credit: Mike Coe

Happy Sunday! Happy Friday!

(Oh, and happy birthday to Mom, if you're reading this! :)

It's Sunday, which means that it's my Friday, and I am looking forward to the weekend. Nothing too special or exciting planned - just the usual biweekly burger bike and laundry the following day - but after last weekend I am eager to have the chance to sleep in.

Yesterday I gave my first interpretive talk since I got here, and I was reminded why I do this kind of work: I absolutely LOVE doing interp! I had an audience of 36 (or more - it's so hard to count while talking...) and they were riveted to my every word. When I finished the talk and opened it up for questions, nobody left! They all stayed and I got questions from just about everyone. Afterwards I was on cloud 9 for the rest of the day, just so happy! My next presentation will be on Thursday, and then I think I'm going to be scheduled for the Wednesday after that. It looks like I'll be giving this talk once a week. I wish I could be giving it more often than that, but we'll see.

An update on my cycling and hiking numbers: I've now breached 200 miles on the bike and have logged over 75 miles of hiking! I wouldn't be surprised, with the way things are going, if I get over 100 miles of hiking within the next couple weeks. I'm sure you'll hear about it when I do. I've almost hiked all the posted trails down here at RGV, but there's a few more that I have to cross off my list!

Until next time!

Photo Credit: Amy Gibson

Another week of EPIC

So a week ago I hiked the Dodson Trail. 12 miles. Perfect weather.

This week, I topped that.

On Saturday I patrolled the Marufo Vega Trail, including the river spur, for a total of 15 miles. It took 8 hours and 33 minutes in total, including breaks. It was mid-70s, but I still had to take one break for shade due to temporary overheating around 1 or 2 o'clock. I can't imagine how people due that hike when it's hotter outside - there's really only one shady section on the whole trail.

Of course, I still had to work on Sunday. So I hiked again! I joined some backcountry volunteers for a hike up Pine Canyon, a mere 4 miles round trip by comparison, but steep enough to make my calf muscles scream after the day before's hike!

But I wasn't ready to stop there. Because on Sunday night we decided it would be a great time to hike to the hot springs in the moonlight. It was a great hike out there, though my aching feet made me a bit of a pooper before we got started. But once we were on the trail, and especially once we got to the springs, I felt pretty great. The trick came when the 40mph winds that were predicted came up out of nowhere and we realized we had to hike back, into the wind, with sand blasting on our faces, suddenly finding it a bit more difficult to see the trail... by the time we got back, we all wanted a shower and were on an epic runner's high - that's right, we were actually jogging for parts of it. Me! Jogging! Perhaps I will start running again, but very slowly I think. We'll see.

Tonight I'm hosting the SCA interns for supper again, and then we're hiking to the hot springs by moonlight, as long as these clouds clear up. Otherwise it'll be by flashlight.

This week I'm taking a first aid course, and on Saturday I'll be giving my first presentation since I got here. Wish me luck!