And, we're back.

All that writing about exertion was completely exhausting last night, particularly after my very strenuous recovery day, largely spent sitting in the sun drinking (let's not kid ourselves- I may run sometimes now, but I still have priorities). After a good night's sleep and waking to a blessed day off, I'm now ready to continue documenting this summer's little victories.

Awesome Test #4- Desolation Wilderness Backpacking and Pyramid Peak

After the Mount Whitney extravaganza, my leg muscles wouldn't really function and I was completely filthy and, yet, I seemed to have come down with a slight case of the Outdoor Spirit. Though I was perfectly happy to spend some quality time re-establishing my city girl identity by cocktailing my way around New York for two weeks, I also agreed to go to Desolation Wilderness with Steve, Eric, and Mike over Labor Day.

Only this time, we would be BACKPACKING. Gasp. And shudder.

Since I had previously expressed 100% disinterest in backpacking - ever- I really was not equipped to carry all of my things on my back through the woods. Nancy offered her external frame backback circa 1971 (still in mint condition, I might add), but Eric (correctly) assumed that I had a better chance of enjoying the trip if I thought I looked cool. So, we bought a fancy-pants backpack to go with my high tech Mount Whitney hiking boots and super sweet trekking poles. I certainly looked the part.

So, off we went. You know what? Backpacking is not that bad! Revelation!

Desolation Wilderness is a beautiful, completely untarnished wilderness area near Lake Tahoe- highly recommended for anyone who occasionally enjoys looking at pretty things. We camped near one of the many lakes and set our sights on the summit of the Holy Grail of Desolation Wilderness- Pyramid Peak.

There are no trails to the top of Pyramid, so we set out on our old-school bushwacking excursion with only a map, a compass, and our wits to guide us. This was not a Mount Whitney-I'm-Seriously-Going-To-Kick-Your-Butt long hike, but, you guys, this hike was HARD. We successfully navigated our way to the top, scaling walls, climbing over car-sized boulders, crossing streams, and scrambling up giant piles of rocks while the terrain got steeper. And steeper. And steeper. Pyramid Peak did not mess around.

At the top, we celebrated with our fellow pioneers, including a wee seven year-old girl (Un.Believable.), and then began what would prove to be the most difficult part of the adventure- finding our way home. To start things off, Pyramid decided the whole thing would be a lot more fun if I was bleeding a lot, so it loosened one of its eight billion rocks just enough to send me catapulting into another extremely sharp rock. Thank goodness for Steve and his A-plus first aid training.

Then, we made several group decisions that led us down the part of the mountain that was basically vertical. Scary stuff, but when you're lowering yourself down a sheer rock wall, you can come up with some pretty amazing strength you had no idea you had. It wasn't "fun" at the time, but looking back at what we did, we felt awfully proud. Except that we weren't back to camp yet and it was basically dark. Oh yeah, and remember how there was no trail?

Headlamps on, we walked and walked and climbed and climbed in the direction of our camp, knowing that at some point, assuming a bear didn't eat us for a midnight snack, we would stumble on our tent. Sure enough, around 9 pm, we made it and no bears got to sample our tasty meat. After a day of hanging off the side of a mountain being lost but not lost in the woods, I can attest that dehydrated pasta primavera tastes pretty freakin' good.

Awesome Test #5- Ragnar Relay!

Finally, we arrive at this weekend's incredibly fun adventure: another 200 mile relay. Although my knee is still a little busted (torn hamstring attachment = not good times), the doctor gave me permission to run as much as my little heart desired, so Van Deuce remained basically intact, including yours truly playing the role of the Requisite Female.

This relay began in San Francisco and then wound its way around Napa Valley. Each van supports its runners half the time and "rests" the other half. There is much farting and giggling 100% of the time. From an outside perspective, sitting in a van for 36 hours with six sweaty boys telling mildy offensive jokes may not sound like a great time, but there's really nothing better. And, then there's the running, which, turns out, makes you feel pretty great, as long as you don't mind a little indigestion from eating so many bagels and packets of Gu.

Despite being unsure whether my slowly healing knee could handle it, I was determined to give my three legs my best shot. Friday afternoon, I ran 4.3 miles (ranked Very Hard) through the hilly farmland of Nicasio. Then, around 1 am, I completed 4.2 miles in Santa Rosa. After a couple of hours of sleep, I faced down what I knew would be my most difficult opponent: 7.9 Very Hard and hilly miles in Napa.

With my team cheering me on the entire way (we're not all jokes in Van Deuce- we're the real deal), I pushed myself through mile after blazing hot mile. I even passed people and cheered them on! It was unbelievably thrilling to reach that finish line. At the risk of getting all gooey and mushy, I truly hope everyone can experience something like that. A few hours later, Eric led all twelve members of our team, plus our awesome drivers and navigators, across the finish line in Calistoga. With our sweet Ragnar medals/bottle openers around our necks, we stuffed our faces with pizza and beer and started planning the next one. Ragnar SoCal- you're ours!

That's it! I figure I have a day or two to bask in all of this awesome-ness and then it'll be time to start thinking about the next big thing. If I've learned one thing about this alterate reality called Living in California, it's that no one likes to sit around for long. So, I think Eric and I will enjoy this for another minute or so and then head back outside to dominate something else.

Or at least I'll head to the pool- I am taking the day off, after all.