Bill Grabert's Tour du Mont Blanc 2024

  The trailhead going up to Fiske Peak, July 29, 2024,  There are lots of warnings but it's actually a really nice trail. Yes, I had a birthday last week.  And as I promised, I am including how old I am now: 70.  It is kind of a difficult milestone.  It feels to me like, when you are "in your 60's" (i.e. the week before last) if you feel fine, you can easily be in a little self denial about age.  However, when you are "in your 70's", there is no avoiding it.  You... are.... old.  I remember my parents when they were in their 70's.  They were old.  Before I was in my 70's myself, everyone in their 70's was... old.  On the other hand, I remember my mother saying that 70's are not so bad.  She said that most things don't really start falling apart until your 80's.  So I guess that's good news...  Still, crossing over the threshold of my 7th decade does come with a bit of a stigma, both internally (the way I view myself) ...

  Mendocino Bay We went to the Mendocino Coast of California last week and escaped the heat of the Sacramento Valley.  The training over the last week has consisted mainly of jogs and easy hiking.  I still got in a few miles though... Current running totals since July 1: Distance: 100 miles (147 Km) (goal: 200 miles) Ascent:  12,096 ft. (3,687 m)  (goal: 20,000 ft.) The real reason we went to Mendocino, was to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.  It is a beautiful coast and a beautiful town.  Fortunately, Vicki also likes to hike and we went on some nice hikes on the coast, and the botanical garden, and up "Russian Gulch".  We also did some other fun stuff like take a "Murder, She Wrote" (a popular TV show from the 80's and 90's filmed in Mendocino) walking tour from a local young historian.  She (the historian tour guide) gave us lots of information on what it was like to grow up in a little town so dependent on tourism.  It was pre...

From the summit of the Valley Vista Trail looking out to the Capay Valley and the Sacramento Valley over the next ridge. It's been a few days since I posted, but I haven't stopped training. I went back to Peña Adobe , Vacaville, for a few more laps up the mountain, I went for a jog to the Davis Farmers Market, I rode a stationary bike for an hour or so, and today I Hiked the Valley Vista Trail . Current running totals since July 1: Distance: 65 miles (105 Km) Ascent:  9,474 ft. (2,887 m) It's still hot, but not unbearable when I go out in the morning and carry lots of water & Gatorade. If you're sweating a lot and you are on a ridge with a little breeze, it can actually get some nice cooling.  Valley Vista is about an hour's drive from me.  It lives up to it's name in several ways.  When you get up a ways you get a beautiful view of the Capay Valley in northwestern Yolo County, with Cache Creek running through it.  When you get higher, however, you can see ...

Stebbins Cold Canyon, July 7, 2024 I think I'll start posting running totals of the number of miles I'm covering during my training, just for fun, and in case anyone is considering donating per mile of training or even per foot of climbing.  Over the last few days, I've been up to the ridge at Stebbins Cold Canyon , Winters (4 miles, 1,389 ft. ascent), and the radio tower at Peña Adobe , Vacaville, twice (8 miles, 1,556 ft. ascent).  I have also been walking and jogging in the morning in Davis.  I do Pilates once a week or so too, but I won't include that. So... here are my running totals since July 1 until July 10: Distance: 41 miles (66 Km) Ascent:  4,790 ft. (1,460 m) My goal for training before I embark for Mont Blanc is: Distance: 200 miles (322Km) Ascent:  20,000 ft. (6,100 m) More on hiking around here: The Tuleyome trails area to the north and west of me is beautiful in the late fall and winter. In the spring, however, it just explodes with intense beaut...

It's been very hot, which makes it hard to hike, particularly around Davis, Yolo County, and the general Tuleyome / Northern Inner Coast Range / Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument area.  As I write this, it's 113 degrees F (45 degrees C) at 3:30 PM.  I went out for a 10 K jog this morning, but I won't be doing any hiking today. As I train for the TMB, I am going to try to hike some of the fantastic   trails in Tuleyome's region , but this time of year, with these temperatures, it's going to be tough.  I may have to spend more time at the coast or up at higher altitudes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Over the last two days (July 4 & 5), I was able to hike at the coast, in Marin and Sonoma Counties.  It is MUCH cooler next to the ocean.  The closer you are, the cooler it is.  Vicki and I went to the mouth of the Russian River to hike the Kortum trail yesterday (July 5) and it was cold and foggy at 10 AM.  It takes more than 2 hours to ge...