Two Week Countdown

Watching the sun come up as you are running across the side of a mountain is always a great way to start your day. The hard part, obviously, is getting out of bed in the dark so that you are on the trail early enough to enjoy such a sight. I have really been enjoying all the running this summer, and with the last couple of morning feeling a little cooler than the others I can’t help but think that it won’t be long until summer is gone, and soon the morning air will have a cold bite to it. I am really looking forward to that though. Looking forward to being able to run in the mountains again when it is safer for the dogs. Soon enough…

Because of kind of a hectic work schedule lately I have been only making it into the gym for Jiu Jitsu on a sporadic basis, at best. As a result I have been a little frustrated with my Jiu Jitsu lately. Last week was the first consistent week that I have had in about the last six, so that was a nice change. These days I am really motivated by our crop of Purple Belts coming up. They are technically progressive, physically aggressive, and very motivated. As a Black Belt I feel like I am learning more from them right now than anyone else, and their passion is motivating. I am really excited for another consistent week in the gym, and am excited to open up my game a little bit. I think that lately I have fallen into the trap of only using the techniques that I am really comfortable with, but my goal for the week is to play around with all the techniques that I know, while not worrying about the result of that.

If you live out west there is a bird season of some kind opening up in just two weeks. I don’t know about you, but I am ready to go. Dogs are in shape, gear is organized, ATV is serviced, and I could be out the door ready to hunt in less than 5 minutes. It couldn’t come soon enough….

Dog Training, Desert Exploring, and Vicious Allergies

It’s been a little while since I have ran the dogs on birds and it is good to know that nothing has changed. Tuesday I ran the dogs with my buddy Paul and his dogs on some planted pigeons. Nothing too exciting about that, unless you are a dog. The little training session went perfectly and there wasn’t a word spoke in regards to corrections to the dogs. They have done this before….

 Cash backing one of Paul’s Setters.

Porter pointing in the low morning sun.

Cash on point.

 This weekend I headed east with my buddy Darin to go look around the area that I drew a muzzleloader deer tag this fall. Darin knows the area like the back of his hand, so I got the quick tour, and hopefully I can remember some of what I saw. Big thanks to Darin for the great weekend. It is really smoky out in the desert right now as there are lots of big fires wreaking havoc on a lot of good mule deer and sage grouse habitat. It is really a bad deal for the wildlife and they will certainly feel the impact of these fires for years to come.

While some of the country that I saw this weekend looked fairly healthy for mid August, I can say with confidence that I saw areas of the state that I have never seen as dry as they are now. A lot of country is just dead, and when I say dead I mean it literally looked like sand dunes, as that is basically what it has become. Anyone who cares about wildlife also cares about habitat, as you cannot have one without the other, and it is sad to see so much habitat being destroyed by fires, and destroyed by drought.

A red sunrise due to all the desert smoke.

The bummer for me is that between the smoke, the dust, and pollen allergies, I am a complete wreck now. One more night in the desert might have finished me off for good. I am not sure what is an acceptable level of just dealing with allergies, but I think that I am well beyond that.
The good news is that in preparation for hunting season I have done the responsible thing and grown a beard, which by the way won a highly regarded award for the “best beard” at the international Glacier Glove headquarters. Just saying….

Jay Kincaid

Outdoor Retailer

"Nothing could be more lonely and nothing more beautiful than the view at nightfall across the prairies to these huge hill masses, when the lengthening shadows had at last merged into one and the faint after-glow of the red sunset filled the west." - Theodore Roosevelt

Paolo (co-worker, friend, all around good guy) and I were shipped off to the Outdoor Retail Show in Salt Lake City this past week. For the most part I find something enjoyable about all of the business trips that I take, but this one in Salt Lake is one of my favorites. I attended my first O.R. Show around 15 years ago, and I am very fortunate to have a lot of friends in the outdoor industry. This is always a good time to see some of those people, even if it is only briefly.

Salt Lake, much like Reno, is unique in that it is very easy to get away from the city and quickly into the mountains, especially considering that it is indeed a city, not a small mountain town. I was able to hook up with Gary Stott, who is the first boss that I ever had, at the first real job that I ever had, at Cascade Outfitters back when it was located in Springfield Oregon. Gary has run something like 20 ultra marathons, so not only was it fun to run with him, but it was educational as well. It was really nice running on some new trails in some new mountains. I am looking forward to running in the Wasatch Range again as it looks like the trails are endless.

Back in Reno it is relentlessly hot and dry. The river is warm and the fishing is slow. On the trail, I have been running right before dark as that is the only time cool enough to run with the dogs, unless I was to run before work in the dark, which I would rather not. I have been really lucky (and careful) with snakes all summer long, and I hopefully that luck will hold out. Because of this I am basically running the ditch trail every night which at this point in the summer has become a bit repetitive and boring. I am really looking forward to getting back in the mountains and off the flat ground.

This is going to be a busy week for me, but I have a bunch of fun things scheduled. Dog training, deer scouting, and of course trail running. I should have lots to write about next week.

Jay Kincaid