It has been a very busy summer — mostly in August. I’m running R4HG again and kicked off training this spring in Bend, OR. It was so idyllic to start training that way.
At one point I stopped to take a picture of a swan. (And then she promptly squawked, honked and chased every other bird away.) Not so beautiful.
Since then, I also ran in California, Colorado, Nevada and of course Idaho. I didn’t run when I was in New York, I was too out of my element, suddenly longing for desolation wilderness like I haven’t in years. Besides it takes no effort for me to get lost. But I walked eleven miles in one day looking at everything.
I also saw the Grand Canyon and biked the Hiawatha Trail this summer.
I think we’ll backpack in the Grand Canyon some day, it was so much more than I expected.
I still managed to get a little writing done but not as much as I had planned. However, I was able to visit a setting in my current novel, Northern Idaho. It was even the right time of the year to match my character’s journey — I couldn’t have planned that.
It was nice to bring Coeur d”Alene to life because it is so different from the mountains of Lake Tahoe.
When I lived in California, we were about 6800 feet above sea level. Northern Idaho is closer to 2200 feet–this makes a huge difference.
Even though it is still mostly pine trees, the ground is moist with ferns and moss. So different from high mountain desert.
I’m in the home stretch though, I expect to finish my historical/martial arts/fantasy by the end of the month… .