Tubing the river

A couple of days ago, Sarah and I took a float down the Spokane River in tubes. This is something, for whatever reason, I never contemplated doing until this summer.

Back on the fourth, my crew was called to go check on a supposed campfire. The couple who called 9-1-1 met us at the Sandifur Bridge and directed us to the "confluence of the Spokane River and Latah Creek, about an eighth of a mile - that way." We parked the engine at the gate and hiked in about a half a mile carrying shovels and a pumpcan. The fire turned out to be a propane stove. Perfectly OK. On the very hot hike back, numerous tubers passed by in the river. We stopped and talked to people who were getting ready to enter the water at Sandifur, and it looked like a blast.

Sarah and I bought a couple of tubes at the General Store. We decided on the ones with cup holders.

We put in at Peaceful Valley. Near a garbage can were the deflated remains of a tube of the same make and manufacture of the ones we had purchased. Not a good sign.

ROW was at the site with their bus. Folks were getting in rafts and inflatable kayaks to go on their professional adventure. We probably didn't help ROW out by launching next to them in our half-assed flotilla adquately stocked for the three-hour tour, the three-hour tour.

The water was cold. And as the river picked up steam, I was glad to be wearing the mandated life jacket. You have to pick your line pretty well to get through the rapids without scraping your ass, the river is so low.

I've been on a lot of rafting trips, and although the water was fairly tame, being in tubes made the river pretty exciting, at times. It's amazing how small a riffle looks from the bank, but when you are in it, it seems huge.

We floated under the old bridge at San Succi. We bobbed past many places where I've helped pull people out of the water, put out fires, stumbled upon little meth labs, etc. From the middle of the river, I couldn't even imagine any of that ever happening. The banks were devoid of litter. No shopping carts jutted out of the current. No flotsam or jetsam. Nothing creepy or gross peered up at me from Davy Jone's locker. It was cold, beautiful and fun.

We took out just past the TJ Meenach Bridge, apologizing to fly fishermen and transients for the disturbance.

 

 

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Hose sandals test run

I made some running sandals yesterday from some scrap five-inch hose. This is the hose we use to get water from the hydrant to the fire engine.

The design was pretty straight forward. Trace your feet on paper, add a little buffer and then trace the paper on the rubber. I used a drill to make the holes for the shockchord laces. The tricky part was figuring out how to tie them. Seems like everyone has a favorite way of doing it and they have all made videos to show you how.

I had to move one of the holes because my right foot was sitting too far back on the rubber.

This morning I took them for a run - once around the park and then onto the High Drive trails.

I found myself sprawled out on the east end of Cannon Hill Park. I had, apparently, ducked just in time to avoid planting my face into the end of this sawed-off branch. It did catch the top of my head, leaving a scratch and a bump. I don't think I lost consciousness but was dazed for a bit. And my head hurt.

I dusted myself off and continued on for a little run on the trails. I found the sandals extremely loud on pavement. On the trails they protected my feet pretty well from rocks. One thing I worried about was picking up pebbles between the sandal and my foot. This did happen, but the pebbles came out really quickly while running. Encountering some sprinklers in a final lap around the park, my feet slipped around on the sandals. This makes sense because the tops of the sandals are the interior of the hose. It is purposely slick to reduce friction loss for better water pressure.

All in all. I think they worked pretty well. I wont run in these every day, only occasionally. I have an idea about using some other discarded material for the next pair, something a little more soft and grippy. These hose sandals are something I will probably wear as a daily replacement for flip flops and to weddings.

 

 

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Dolezalmania!

Say what you want about the whole Rachel Dolezal story, no matter how you slice it, it's a great story. And I really like the questions it raises, the conversations it's started and that it happened here in Spokane. I am proud of our city and the thoughtful way we have handled this. Supporters and detractors have all stated their cases eloquently, logically and with passion.

But, I saw this at Wolnick's yesterday and thought that it was just too serendipitous to go unmentioned.

 

 

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Bead Lake Run

 

Sarah and I moved out early for a run around Bead Lake. I haven't been there since I was 19 (old enough to buy beers in Old Town on the way). Back then, I was fishing for burbot. I never caught any and I still haven't. I've only seen pictures of this "fresh water ling cod." I dont think it ever dawned on me when I was 19 to run around the damned lake. I don't know if that means I have become tougher in my old age or just more demented.

 

It was a beautiful run, with lots of stops for pictures. There are some really nice campsites along the trail, as well. The Discover Pass is no good at Bead Lake. If you park in the parking lot you pay $5. Same to launch a boat. The boat launch used to be a Washington State fish and game launch, but years ago it shut down. Recently it has been resurrected into a national forest pay deal. I guess it hasn't been that recent - 10 years? Recent to me. But you can still park for free at a trailhead that is in the forest and run to intersect the main trail. That is what Sarah and I, unwittingly, did and it worked out fine.

 

Bead Lake is very deep, as I remember. It is also crazy clear and extremely cold. That didn't stop Sarah from swimming. It did me.

 

The almost 9 mile run is an out and back. Apparently, there is no trail all the way around the lake. We could've gone a mile further to make it an 11 miler, but hey...

 

Lots of dark, dark cedar groves. My favorite kind of place.

 

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Rosauers Remodel

It's been fun to watch the remodel activity. Grocery locations change on a daily basis. The produce section has become very very small. There are unearhed artifacts to be ogled.

 

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Avista campsites on Long Lake will knock your socks off!

Sarah and I paddled our kayaks 3.5 miles from the DNR boat launch and campground to a boat-in campsite close to Long Lake dam (North Shore A & B on the map). The DNR campground host told us we were the first non-motorized boat campers they've had since Avista put in the campsites.

The sites all have docks, shitters, campfire rings with grates and picnic tables

I forget sometimes how beautiful Long Lake can be. The water was great for swimming.

It seemed very remote, even though it really wasn't.

Of course, some of the sites were pretty trashed. I think a "pack-it out" sign might help. One fire ring had empty water bottles, among other things, thrown in it. "Hey, let's leave these empty plastic bottles in the fire pit. The next campers might want to use them to roast marshmallows over." Dumb asses.

And it looks like the lake knocked the socks off of many a camper.

The fishing was really good. This smallmouth was 19" and weighed in at about 4.5 pounds

We had a great time and will do it again!

 

 

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Spring Version of Brew Run Run...

 

Not as big of a turnout this time. Still, a lot of fun. Cyclists were smarter than those of us who ran. It was very warm. Those of us who knew Terry Canfield were still dealing with the shock of the horrific events suffered by him and his family and I think that hung over our heads and our hearts.

It was the usual route - the garbage goat start to NoLi and then Iron Goat, Budge Bros, Ramblin' Road, Black Label, River City and concluding at Steam Plant. I think we might have had 15-20 of us at one point. But in the end, there were just four of us who made it to Steam Plant. We lost a bunch after RR when they diverted to Perry Street. It would be nice to get Perry Street in the lineup, but that would be a very long uphill run between beers, not so bad on a bike, though.

I was thinking about a brew run every season, but am rethinking that. I'm now exploring the idea of a website (possible app?) where we could share our biking and running routes between breweries. There could be an option to invite others, share maps, post pictures, etc.

I am still stoked about running and drinking, about Spokane's awesome breweries and its international reputation as a running town and a city that now embraces bicycling as a valid transportation option. The Brew Run Run is a good start, but the concept needs to be opened up and played around with.

 

 

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