West Coast=Trail Running Heaven

The pursuit of one of my other passions, seeing the Dave Matthews Band live, took me to beautiful Washington state over Labor Day weekend. (This is an annual trip to one of the most beautiful amphitheaters in the country, the Gorge Amphitheater, for a weekend of great company, music and relaxation. These concerts marked the 32nd, 33rd and 34th times I have seen this particular band. Again, I wasn't kidding when I said 'passion').

Like most of the West Coast, central Washington state also has incredible trail running. While this was supposed to be a relaxing weekend, I did sneak in a nice long run at Gingko State Park. The Park is directly adjacent to our campsite and I simply could not resist. I ran an out an back and was either going up or down hill at all times. Definitely no flat trails around there. Even though it was in the low 80s, sunny and the park doesn't even provide as much as a hint of shade (it's the desert after all), the weather was a nice reprieve from Atlanta, where we had been suffering through a ridiculous heat wave in August. (Btw, heat and especially humidity are not passions of mine).

Gingko was completely desolate. I did not see anyone but my girlfriend, who ran the first couple of miles with me, for the 3+ hours I spent out there. The views were breathtakingly gorgeous. Words cannot describe the beauty of this area, so I will leave you with a bunch of photos.






I'll be back out West next week. Not sure if I'll have the time to hit the trails. We'll see...