morning - 13.75 Sand Hill/Bracken’s Loop. Good morning in the desert. The last two evenings we have had significant rainfall right in top of us in Washington. And last night was one of the biggest storms I ever remember - not even speaking in hyperbole, I would guess we’ll over an inch in half an hour and then continued rain for another hour or more. In the desert, that is a lot of rain. So I went down to Main Street to see the destruction. It was like what you see on tv - red mud everywhere, chunks of cement from sidewalks in the middle of the road, roads undercut and washed out, mud up into people’s houses; bumma. Into the desert you could see where all the mud came from - all the day washes were washed out, trails had been turned into flash flood washes, all loose sand was gone and rocks were everywhere. The power of the water must have been amazing. Sand Hill was in the best shape I’ve ever run in it. The only other tracks were a set of small coyote or large fox tracks that went all the way up and down the backside. And I crushed it. 9:39 up and 5:22 down. Both records. But when I added them for the total I was slightly bummed to see that I was at 15:01... ahhh! Way good though, especially after feeling so heinous on Monday. This coming Monday, I plan not to pushed hard up, rather station myself part way to help encourage the team, so I won’t get a time in it then. Decided to continue around Bracken’s Loop. Hiked up one of the big sandstone outlooks and just chilled for awhile. There is nothing in the world like the morning after a rainstorm in the desert - so peaceful, clean and fresh. I just meditated up there for a good half hour. After hiking down, I continued around the loop. The trials had been pretty washed out, but all things considered were in great condition. (Sense 358.5)
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