Jones White's Creek Trail

Jones White's Creek Trail is my favorite local trail that I run on a regular basis. Biggest reason? It's about a quarter mile from my front doorstep. It does have some great hills (well, it's all uphill), and beautiful lookout points. Not to mention that I get to run next to a babbling little stream for most of it, crossing back and forth over it several times on the ~5.5 mile section I like to run. I brought my camera along with me to get a few shots of the trail; I started around 6:30 this day (yes, these are about a month old now).

I usually start jogging up the street after walking for a couple minutes to the trailhead, which is also my boys' favorite spot to throw leaves, sticks, rock, each other, and various other "goodies" they find along the trail.

After about a mile, I cross over Thomas Creek Parkway, and the trail starts on the other side of the bridge with a little sign, half of which I missed. It just says White's Creek Trail.

And the most important photo I wanted to share with you is my favorite rock. There are several that I use as mile markers, but this one I am particularly fond of because it was a MAJOR mile marker when I first started running on this trail. If I could make it to this rock, then I felt like I earned my breakfast that day. Of course now I run past it twice as far, but I'm never above wishing it a good morning and hoping it is visited by lots of other people and their pets that day. It is a nice big rock, and very friendly. :) And although it doesn't quite meet all of the qualifications in "Everybody Needs A Rock" by Byrd Baylor, I still like to think of it as my special friend.

I also run past the fire station,

and here is the view of Mt. Rose at my turn-around point. If I don't get a stitch in my side from running downhill, this is the best part of the morning.

I have other pictures that I took as mile markers for myself, but they just don't look as interesting in a photo as they do running past them, so I left them out.

Here is a link to the profile of the route I run on a good day- it shows the elevation, and mileage. Anyway, I just wanted to share a little part of what starts off a good day for me~ and invite anyone who wants to join me for a little tour of this narrow, twisty, rocky great-smelling path.

Reuniting of Team Library Dork

This morning Team Library Dork headed out to UNR for some track work. We did sprints, drills and bleachers. We haven't been able to get together to train or race for some time now, so it was good to see them and get a couple fun photos (not all of which are appropriate for posting here):

Jogging,

And posing.

Me, sprinting (and tiny!).

Coach Dave, with his stogy and beer.

Team photo!

And then breakfast at Peg's Glorified Ham and Eggs~

Thanks guys for the great track workout today! And Coach Dave for workin' us to the ground. :) Good to catch up with ya'll...

Carson City Library on News Carson City! (yup, a little interview of yours truely)

This summer the Carson City (youth) Library has been filled with reading, prizes, programs, storytellers and a fun Summer Reading Party to celebrate our success! We hosted a homemade ice-cream party at Mills Park across the street where we shook, squeezed and jumped our ice-cream into a solid soft-serve consistancy. We also made home-made root beer (with a 10 lb. bag of dry ice in a clean garbage can), painted a variety of creatures on faces, and raffled off the last of the big prizes. And for a special treat for you, here is a little video featuring the reading participants, and even a little Sean and Ashton face time! I did a little interview at the end~ not the best few minutes of my life (makes me cringe to watch myself, but that's just me!), but you get the idea.

Tried my best to embed a video, but I think you'll just have to settle for a link:

Carson City Library video feed

Hiking Mount Rose

This morning I finally got a chance to go for my yearly hike/run up to Mt. Rose summit, and fellow Carson City librarian Abbey came with me to share the morning beauty. It was the perfect morning- we got up to the trail head by 6:45 a.m. just as the sun was lighting up the trail, and we started on a brisk pace to warm up chatting happily. Here is our first view of the lake:

And a view of the canyon as it started to warm up with the sun:

I love this waterfall! I love the shapes of the rocks, all blocked and rectangular that split the water in a dozen different streams on its way to the stream below.

This next picture is from the back (west) side of Mt. Rose, of one of the 4 lakes I don't know the name of, just peeking over the next hill. :)

Abbey and I at the summit! (with Tahoe in the background)

And Pirate too! (This pic came out well, didn't it? Best close up I've ever taken of him!)

Finally, a nice easy-paced run finds us back at the beginning of the trail, showing 10.6 miles round trip. Thanks Abbey for sharing this beautiful day with me!

Cast your vote to name a snow leopard cub

It's time to vote for a name for the baby boy snow leopard! And don't forget to enter to win a cool prize package!

Woodland Park Zoo Blog | Naturally Inspiring: Cast your vote to name a snow leopard cub