I rarely get the opportunity to camp, backpack, downhill ski, or just spend late nights with good friends when I'm in training season (not that I would give that up, the sacrifices are well worth it), but it is great to spend some time without much of an agenda and let wanderlust take over.
Less than a week after the last races at SuperTour finals, Hallie and I trekked out to Truckee and Mammoth Lakes, California. Our stated reason for the trip was to hop in the Mammoth Lakes Marathon, a 21/42k skate marathon, but really we were there for a vacation with a little ski race on the side. The Cali sunshine proved to be just what we needed, and we had an awesome few days with a group of friends from the Far West and USBA teams. Hallie won the 42k marathon for women, and I was on track to win the 21k when I skied a few extra k's on a wrong turn... whoops! It was still a blast even with the extra distance at 9,000 ft of elevation.
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| Dock time on Donner Lake outside of Truckee- white skier bodies! |
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Mexican food and lake views in Tahoe =  |
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| Crust skiing on Mt. Rose overlooking Lake Tahoe with Hallie, and Patrick Johnson and Maddie Phaneuf from the US Biathlon Team |
I flew back from the Reno airport and immediately turned around and drove down south for a 4-day backpack in Canyonlands National Park with my dad and one of my best friends from college, Kelsey Hoar. It was a bit of a whirlwind with so much travel, but once we made it to our first campsite we quickly settled into a rhythm of hiking, setting up camp, cooking, and exploring tons of ancient Anasazi ruins in the canyon we hiked. Southern Utah is one of my favorite places on earth so I'm always happy to explore more corners of the desert.
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| It was Kelsey's first time to Southern Utah, so we got a kick out of her fascination with every arch we saw, and there were lots! |
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| A side trek to Angel Arch on our longest day, 15 miles, was well worth it and gave the perfect lunch spot |
After my Canyonlands trip, I had a few weeks at home to finally relax. I think my family was happy to have me in one place for longer than a 12 hour stretch. In April, Park City goes through shoulder season, which means that tourists are no longer coming to ski and most of the resorts shut down, but we don't get summer tourists yet. I absolutely love this time of year because the town is so quiet, and you can easily ski in the morning and then mountain bike in the afternoon every day. I filled my days with online class, CrossFit classes, volunteering at the local animal shelter, playing outside, and catching up with friends and family in Utah. Even with some rainy weather, it was one of the longer and nicer stretches of time I've spent at home since moving out East for college in 2009.
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| I got to go on my first real backcountry ski tour in Little Cottonwood Canyon with my friend Logan. It was so fun, I've decided that the minute I retire from skiing I'm buying a backcountry setup and going all the time. Earning your turns is seriously underrated. |
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| Contemplating the drop... |
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| Skinning up with the Wasatch Range behind me |
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| Log and I pretty stoked on skiing powder and perfect corn in the same day |
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| Henrietta, an Australian Shepherd/Blue Heeler mix that I fell in love with at Nuzzles and Co, our local adoption center. My mom is lucky that I didn't bring all the dogs there home! |
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| Powder day at Snowbird! Brock (my college housemate from UNH who was on the hockey team) has very little skiing experience but was a total champ and skied double blacks no problem |
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| Hiking Zion National Park's Kolob Canyon with college housemates |
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| Me and my brother with my new Salsa mountain bike that I'm obsessed with! |
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| A goofball crew |
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| Spotted- the Utah state flower, the Sego Lily (this one's for you, Kait ;) |
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| The Gooseberry Yurt, right on the edge of the mesa |
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| Campfires and good friends |
And finally, I decided that while I was out west I had to get up to Bozeman, Montana, since I have a bunch of friends from college and skier friends who live up there and it's always a good time. Right before leaving for the East I road-tripped up to Bozey and got in my last mountain time with some hiking and mountain biking. The mountains in the Bridger Range still have quite a bit of snow though, so it might be a few more weeks (or months) until you can truly hike and run the ridges there. It definitely made for some adventuring!
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| Hiking in the snow can be fun-- until you start post-holing on the way down and cut your shins and they bleed all over the snow. Emily Atwood is still smiling here because she doesn't know what's coming |
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| Mantana adventures with the biddies- Anya, Kelsey, and Tila Tequila (the dog) |
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| An all-star running crew on a cold and windy day- Kate Dolan, Cam McDermott, Erika Flowers, Jennie Bender, and Anya :) |
This post is now way too long, so I'll wrap things up quickly, I promise! Needless to say, I was happy to end the month of April in a very good place mentally, and ready to hit the long summer of training with renewed focus. A week ago I flew back out East to start the new training year, and I will be in Craftsbury for most of the summer putting in the hours on the road, trails, and in the gym.
I'll try to update with some spring training photos soon. It's been great to see my teammates again and get back to work in the garden with spring planting, and Vermont even cooperated with sunshine for the first week, so we'll see how long that lasts. Thanks for reading!
