Bear Reconnaissance (Part 1)

I arrived in Logan on Thursday evening after driving across the Southwestern deserts of Utah. My plan is to spend the last two weeks before the Bear 100 previewing the course and making my final arrangements for the run. Because there is so much going on right now (actually there is always so much going on) I figured it might be worth updating my blog more than weekly. Since I had originally imagined this as being a blog dedicated to my adventures, not just running, I figure it would support my aim to include my daily life and reconnaissance notes while I am preparing for my race.

At this point I have reconned a little more than 12% of the race course. My focus has been on checking out the parts of the course that I will be running in dark, then on reconning the final miles. I have left the beginning of the race up to the joy of discovery on the day(s) of the race. I suspect that I will be checking out that part of the course when Brenden and Maryann come to up the day of the pre-race brief.

My impression of the race course so far is this: The course will most likely be dusty. There isn't much water on the course and the trails are heavily traveled by horses and cattle. I have occasionally mistaken a fresh cow plop for an old, dry cow plop. Luckily the trails have been dry enough that the manure dries and falls off well before hitting the trailhead.

All but one of the aid stations is accessed from Highway 89 (the Logan Canyon Scenic Byway). Along the Byway are several places to camp in campgrounds or pull off onto an unmarked FS road and there are many places to camp without having to pay. In addition, there are picnic sites (at least one with water),  historical houses, and trailheads, all with great pit toilets to use as one is driving by. All of these things make Logan Canyon a great place to stay and camp while reconning the route. This will also make crewing much easier as we can have a base camp midway up the Canyon for crew to go back to to sleep, eat, and relax.

The only downside to camping up Logan Canyon Scenic Byway is that there are a large number of other users from the redneck category: Hunters, Horse packers, ATVers, Four Wheelers. I have been bothered by loud swearing, and gunfire from the neighbors several times in the four nights I have been here already.

At the mouth of Logan Canyon is the City of Logan with all of its amenities. On rest days one can go into town and get food, coffee, check email, buy supplies, etc. All very handy. From a needs-based perspective the Bear 100 is well set up for runners.