State #36, Run With The Horses, Green River, WY, 8/19/17, Part 1

We arrived in Wyoming on Wednesday (Sounds like the title of a Magic Tree House book, doesn’t it?). We flew into Jackson Hole, and right away we knew we were in the west. The view of the mountains from the airport were gorgeous, and we snapped a few photos before we went on our way. We needed to get to a town called Green River for the marathon, and that was approximately 3 hours from the airport. Onward we went! 

View of the Tetons at the Jackson Hole airport.  

Antler arch at the airport.

The town of Jackson was so much fun to drive through though. There are all kinds of restaurants and shops, including a deli (Creekside) that is owned by relatives of good friends of ours. We will stop back there when we had back to the area after the race is over. 

Once out of Jackson Hole, the drive to Green River was long and fairly desolate. We left the mountains behind and made our way out to the high desert. The topography was grassy and polka dotted with low, scrubby desert brush. 

Convenience store we stopped at on the way to Green River. Too funny!

Our hotel in Green River was a Hampton Inn nestled in the wild horse loop area of the town. The hotel was at the base of a large hill that led in to the high desert lands. Large painted rocks surrounded the hotel area, and we couldn’t wait to do some exploring around them. I was grateful to arrive on a Wednesday so that I would have a couple of days to try to acclimate to the higher altitude. I learned from my race in Colorado that the thin air at high altitude was no joke while trying to run a half marathon. This race in Wyoming promised to be similar per the warnings posted on the race website. I was concerned, but figured I’d just plug along slowly and do the best I could. This wasn’t going to be a PR race. 

Painted rocks directly behind our hotel.

More views of the rocks next to the hotel.

After settling in to the hotel, we had dinner at a local spot and ended up turning in pretty early. The travel had been long and tiring for all of us.

The next day, we took a drive along the Wild Horse Loop road, which was the same road I’d be running in the race. In fact, right in front of our hotel and at the base of the giant hill was the sign marking mile 2. We drove up into the hills of the high desert to check out the difficulty of the route and to hopefully spy some of the wild horses. Our drive didn’t disappoint. We came across three different herds of wild horses and saw some amazing scenery along the way. 

View from the top of the race route looking down over Green River.

Wild horses in the area along the route.

Periodically along the side of the road were historical markers that told the story of the history of Green River and information about the topography and horses. It was a breathtaking route, and we stopped many times to take photos and read the various placards. 

Views from the top of the plateau.

Pilot Butte off in the distance.

Green River off in the distance.

We could even see Pilot Butte off in the distance, a formidable sight. I snapped some shots of the amazing views to post on the blog so I wouldn’t have to stop mid-race. What a fun adventure! The horses were stunningly beautiful. 

Desert sagebrush.

More views from the high plateau. 

And more wild horses!

Pilot Butte, closer view. Now that's a big butte!

After the drive, we did a few errands for mostly food supplies so we could make sandwiches back at the hotel for lunch. Our hotel had a nice patio in the back that looked out on to the rocks and hills. It was a great spot to hang out. We relaxed over lunch and then decided it was time to take a hike up in to the rocks and hills. It would be a fun activity for all of us and a good way for me to gauge my breathing in the altitude. We ended up walking for about an hour and a half, and that was pushing the limit of our youngest. She was fading fast on those high desert trails, and the only thing we could get her to do to keep going was to promise she could add rocks to the cairns along the trail and to let her start some new ones of her own. The walk down was much easier, and I spied a rock with a fossil on it as we descended! That really make our littlest one very happy. Everyone was happy in the end.

Hiking behind our hotel.

After freshening up, we headed out to dinner at a local brewery, Bitter Creek. The food was great and the atmosphere was fun (much better atmosphere than the restaurant we went to the first night). Our waiter, Drew, was very friendly and full of personality. It made for a delightful night out for dinner. We turned in early again after all the hiking and horse excitement. 

Friday morning after breakfast, I decided to try to do a test run up the hill a bit to see how my breathing felt. My husband took the kids to the pool, and I set my phone timer for 20 minutes, figuring I didn’t want to overdo it the day before the race, but I really felt like I needed some practice. I started out in front of the hotel, and while running up hills isn’t really my favorite thing, it wasn’t so bad. I was parched; probably a bit dehydrated despite the fact that I’d been trying to drink lots of water. (Note to self…pound more water in the desert!) Some parts of the hill were steeper than others, and I was able to run without stopping almost the whole 20 minutes. I had to stop just before I hit the 20 minute mark to walk and recapture my breath. Once I turned around, I felt great! Downhill was fine. In fact, I ended up running past my hotel to the end of the road for about an extra half mile. I finished with 4.25 miles clocked on my RW:GO app. Better than I thought, and breathing wasn’t as hard as it was in Colorado. At least now I had a sense of what I was in for. 

The rest of the day we spent taking a trip out to the Flaming Gorge/Red Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. The drive out to Utah from Green River was largely desolate desert views, but once we arrived at the gorge, the vistas were unbelievable! All along the drive up to the top of the gorge, there are signs that inform you of various scientific and/or land facts in the areas you drive through. We saw signs announcing that the oldest fossils in Utah were found in a particular area, or that dinosaur prints were widely found or ancient shark species or ancient sand dunes. It was really mind boggling to soak in all the information about the area surrounding us. Our kids were amazed. We stopped once on the way up the gorge to snap some photos. What views!

Flaming Gorge as we drove up.

Another view along the drive.

We arrived at the visitor’s center at the top of the gorge, had a quick lunch in the car and then set out to hike the Canyon Rim trail at Red Canyon. The views of the gorge from here were sublime. The recreation area below in the gorge was created when the Flaming Gorge Dam was built on the Green River. Far below we could see boats and some folks tubing in the water. We hiked the rim trail which was largely flat but a bit rocky and uneven. The area surrounding us was a campground, so periodically we would see campsites or tents, but largely it wasn’t crowded at all. What a beautiful, unspoiled place to visit. We cut our hike a little short because the kids were getting hot and tired. 

View of the gorge from our hike on the rim trail. So incredible!

Topography of the top of the canyon in the campground. 

On our drive home, we took a different route that brought us by the Flaming Gorge Dam. It was cool to show the kids what it looked like and to talk about how hard it must have been to build. The dam was built to help Utah, but apparently it was very unpopular with Wyoming because it affected water flow on the Green River. One of the first explorers of the Green River area was John Wesley Powell who gave Flaming Gorge its name. The drive out was long, but the scenery and learning made it totally worth it. 

Flaming Gorge Dam on the lake side.

Flaming Gorge Dam on the Green River side.

Returning to Green River, we stopped so I could get my morning Starbucks coffees (and some treats for the family) before heading over to pick up my race number. The race registration and pick up took place at Expedition Island in Green River, right on the river. There was a park and playground nearby, so the kids were excited that they’d have something to do race morning while I was running. After that, we headed back to the hotel to relax and change for dinner. We ate the Coyote Steakhouse in Rock Springs, the next town over from Green River. We had a nice meal, and our waitress told us about another place in town called Cowboy Donuts where she also happened to work. Craig and the kids pledged to see her the next morning at the donut shop. 

Back at the hotel, we did our best to pack up our things so we would be ready for check out after the race. I gathered all my race necessities for the morning, and despite our early bedtime, I tossed and turned all night and had a terrible sleep. Not what I was hoping for, but what can you do?