Day 7: This is NEVADA?! One of 15 stream crossings in the Alta Toquima Wilderness. My balance was off all day, requiring a pole for help.

Day 7: Wildflowers while climbing up Pine Creek on way up Mt. Jefferson

Day 7: 12,000 feet. Brian running down Mt. Jefferson towards Jefferson Canyon

Day 6: Mini-interview prior to climbing final ascent up Table Mountain from saddle.

Day 6: Arriving at the flat summit of Table Mountain, just before the trail disappeared for 5 hours.

Day 6: On top of the endless Table Mountain - A huge herd of elk end their siesta.

Day 5: Herding cattle out of Jumbled Rocks

Piece of spaghetti to follow. We could see them coming from 6 miles away. A jetstram of white dust pouring out of their tires. But the had no clue where we were

And the sun was starting to set. There are only a few roads in these valleys and they are all dirt 2 track. Nome are straight so it's hard picking the right

We were in a valley 8 miles across and hundreds of miles long. There were no landmarks to describe our location. Only sage bushes as far as you can see.

Be met by the crew. They had a 2 hr drive back down and around the mtn. The run was great and we got down quickly. The sun was setting.

So Hewett agreed to run w/ me. It was 4 pm. We packed sleeping bags, radios, water and jackets. The plan was to reach the saddle, run down the backside and...

The truck couldn't go any higher b/c there wasn't enough oxygen. None of us knew if the jeep road continued down from the saddle or where it would come out.

(6/6) of me to mark the trail in the canyon and thought we were off one ridge but it was correct. Just very overgrown. Flat stuff tomorrow to Duckwater ind rez

(4/6) Yest. I only had a single clif bar for bfast and one freezedried dinner. The rest of the day i drank hammer powder and took pills. Pretty crazy. Same

(5/6) today. I notice that i don't have the sensation of eating but that if i don't take the stuff then i get tired. Need to pace that better. Ted went ahead

(3/6) downed trees, pokey things and thick bushes neck high. Finished @ 8:45. Happy w/ mileage. Body seems to b cooperating. Taking Hammer nutr. Supplements.

(2/6) west of cave lake state park. Camped next to 3 other ADT hikers! Today, day 2 ran 45 mi. Last mtn range descent was a slot canyon with lots of water and

(1/6) Quick catchup: a beautiful sunrise start yesterday @ the UT line. Warm reception and cake @ silver jack inn in baker. Ran 40 miles to cooper canyon just

Day 2: 45 miles. 40 yesterday. Today got interesting when I heard the radio crackle... "Brian, this may not be Waterton Canyon."

Hoka One One, Mafate Unisex Trail Shoe Review: If you're gonna go for it, go for it

I'm no expert. I couldn't explain what EVA is beyond "squishy stuff" vocabulary. I can't remember which side pronates and which supinates. And I certainly couldn't contribute much to the debate over minimalist shoes versus traditional. BUT, I have sold shoes. I sat through a four hour seminar on socks. I can measure a foot six different ways, including with a Brannock device. I'm a trained boot modifier and I can mold custom corkbed Superfeet to your foot after aligning your metatarsals.  Mostly, however, the reason I have something to say about running shoes is I've worn a lot of them. I know what works for me and for the past three weeks, a pair of Hoka One One Mafate Trail Shoes have worked for me.

Dust Storms: A hint of wild weather yet to come

In 2001, as my wife and I prepared to go to Mexico for 9 months, we put our car in storage in a rural Arizona storage lot. Being a cheapskate, I didn't want to pay for security cameras, gate codes, and razor wire. We ended up finding a storage lot on the edge of town. It was, in all respects, a bare-bones operation. There was a guy in a trailer living in an ocean of old boats, cars on blocks, and rv's. The land was unimproved, with sloping desert terrain and brush growing up everywhere. To gain access to the lot, you parked on a nearby cross street, walked up to the chainlink fence and screamed, "Ed!" If Ed didn't hear you,  you just had to walk along the fence shouting his name repeatedly until he did show up. After most of a year in Mexico where things like Ed's lot aren't unusual, we returned to the secret garden of automobiles and shouted his name once more. He had to think for a second about where our car was, but finally remembered and found a way to get the gate open. After having been parked for 9 months in the open desert, our gray and red 1989 Chevy Corsica looked like a military vehicle prepped for Iraq. The entire car was a solid sheet of sand.

Last night, in Phoenix, we had a dust storm that was so ferocious, an entire city was coated within minutes as if everything in this capital had just spent a year on Ed's lot. As I went for an 8-mile run this morning, I jogged across a small city park on my way to the Arizona State University campus. When my foot hit the manicured lawn, plumes of dust-smoke billowed from the blades of grass. There was a heavy layer of dirt on everything in a city of 1.5 million people. The Lotus, Maserati, and Ferrari dealership down the street from me, which always boasted the shiniest lot, suddenly looked like the target of nuclear fallout. This must be a hint of what something like Katrina was like, except this was a flood of dust. And it can be washed away, doesn't cause mold, and life goes on after a good workout with a garden hose.

Still, it reminds me of what could await next week as I cross Nevada. We were safe and clean inside our house as the storm raged on. The windows and doors mostly sealed out the storm creating patterns of dust on our bbq grill and patio. In a tent in Nevada, I won't likely be so lucky. But at the same time, I look forward to experiencing such weather, without the safety of home. At last report, the snowpack in the Nevada mountains was melting so fast that high clearance vehicles were sinking up to their axles in the runoff. That will be fun to run through, I think.

Bring it on! My family is packing and moving from Phoenix to Tucson tomorrow, then next Wednesday, I fly to Vegas to begin experiencing weather, basin and range topography, and the limits of my body. Sounds pretty great.