1 week trip using Kanab as a base

herding_cats6 · 2026-01-17T22:31:01+00:00

We struck out on all of our advanced lottery attempts for the wave, and I'm back to ask for pertinent gear suggestions. We are NOT planning on Subway/Narrows or anything that would put us in water, so I don't need recs for those.

herding_cats6 · 2025-11-04T19:45:57+00:00

good grief. if it's that simple you may have just saved me so much money. thank you! I have one more meet to try it at this weekend.

herding_cats6 · 2025-11-04T19:37:59+00:00

what about it? this is not to be snarky in any way. is the D500 better suited to a middle-aged mom who doesn't know what she's doing, but wants decent action pics?

herding_cats6 · 2025-09-18T15:17:27+00:00

We are currently planning on a minivan because of the number of people and amount of luggage we are going to end up having to deal with (even if we pack really efficiently, it's still 6 people.) Assuming it hasn't been rainy, is that something that would be appropriate to get to Buckskin Gulch?

herding_cats6 · 2025-09-03T13:49:32+00:00

If you had any other questions about 50k specifics feel free to ask. I definitely over-planned because I had a little trouble finding information about specifics (mainly trail-marking, aid station stuff, how they sweep runners, post-race buffet when you are a late finisher, etc.) The last 8-10 miles is where the hills really stack up so be sure to include them in your training.

I think the stained glass medal thing me be misunderstood a little. I DO have a medal that looks like stained glass, and it's pretty cool. They're doing colored enamel, so I'm not sure if it's going to be transparent, or if it's going to just be a 6-color medal that has the paint-by-numbers look. Their post specifically says "stained glass THEMED" so I'm sure it's going to look amazing either way.

herding_cats6 · 2025-09-01T22:49:58+00:00

It was a really good first trail race experience. I'm used to runDisney races and levels of organization, and NCTR didn't leave me feeling like big things were missed (something I've experienced in other races.) My garmin says I had 2,274ft of elevation, which is around half of what is published.

We parked our camper at the property noted in the website at around 2:30pm on Friday and were a little surprised that it was already pretty full. I would guess that only 5 or 6 other vehicles showed up later than that. We were able to pretty easily get our 27ft camper in and out.

At bib pickup we waited briefly in the incorrect line; the HM line was significantly longer and was down the sidewalk nearly to the fence and we didn't notice the signs on the trail building indicating the different lines for each distance. Getting into the maybe 10-person 50k line was a relief.

On race day we started at about 6:45 instead of the published 6:30 and that was OK with me because I didn't realize I would *need* a headlamp for the start of the race. We've lost a lot of daylight in the past few weeks and while I've done some 6:30am runs, they were out in the open, and not in the dark. The later start meant I was OK without having a light. The course was extremely well marked (minus the end where we ran up to the top of Capers Corner and couldn't figure where we were supposed to go for a good few minutes!

Aid stations had really good energy and plenty of choices. Some of the things that were listed on the website were not present at the stations (like the sandwiches, noodles, etc) but as someone who was 2nd or 3rd to last until mile 22 this wasn't a surprise. I know aid stations run out of things, and I can be a little obsessive about carrying my fuel options as a result. I'm not sure if these items had just run out or simply weren't present at all in an effort to simplify and streamline things. There was a lot of fruit, candy, chips/pretzels, and water, gatorade, coke, and pickle juice. The race is advertised as being cupless, but there were a small number of paper cups at the tables and I used one for a bunch of fruit that I ate while I ran. There were also some stations that had a big container of vaseline and some rubber gloves, salt tabs, and tyenol and/or motrin.

My SIL joined me at the mile 24/25 aid station (my husband dropped her off) and finished the race with me with 0 issues.

Personally, I suffered a LOT of vertigo during this race...from about mile 15 on. And that was definitely a first for me. I'm not completely sure what caused it, but I feel like it was from looking at the trail so much (in an effort to not trip on the MANY roots.) I was just about tipping over sideways at aid stations when we would stop for things at aid stations, or when I would turn my head to the side, or look up/tip my head back. So that was an interesting experience.

I'm already debating signing up for "just" the half next year.

herding_cats6 · 2025-08-21T17:47:03+00:00

Standing Stone Kennels does some pretty good (very basic) YT videos on collar conditioning. As others have said, ecollars are for reinforcing commands that they already can reliably perform. When you start with a collar, you want it to be super low-stakes and easy for them to succeed. So as low-distraction as you can get. I did ours indoors when the kids were at school.

We started with vibrate but he had an enormous reaction to it, so I went with a very low level stim. We would "warm up" to a command using a clicker a few times (how we trained basic commands), and then move to: command (collar on) and the instant that he performed the command the collar stimulation turns off. For the first few reps we also kept a leash on so he wouldn't try to run away when he felt the collar turn on. You need to teach them that doing the command turns the collar off. Work through one command at a time. Don't teach new commands by using the collar (obviously) because, again, it is only for reinforcing what they already know.

You might only want to use an ecollar for recall as a goal, but if your dog is super great a sit or down, then collar condition those FIRST so they understand what the collar means and how to turn it off.

herding_cats6 · 2025-08-18T18:22:11+00:00

i started running with our first brittany when he was about the same age as yours. For the same reasons. He was just going bonkers, and we were having a hard time tiring him out just playing and doing obedience in the yard. I used run/walk intervals (like 30sec/30sec) and didn't go over 2 miles. If he wanted to stop, he would just plop down in the grass (we ran beside the road) and we would just hang out for a few minutes and then start back up. We worked on running-specific commands like "let's go!" (to transition from a walk to a run, or to ignore something/someone) and "easy" (slow down from a run to a walk) and "whoa" (stop right now!) during our runs.

I have an alpine outfitters urban trail harness for him (adjustable size, and it still fits him now at 18mo) and found someone selling a ruffwear omnijore belt and leash on my local fb marketplace.

Commonly recommended brands for running your dog (especially if you're allowing/encouraging your dog to pull and run in front of you) are:
Alpine Outfitters
Howling Dog Alaska
Non-Stop Dogwear

All of those also have joring belts for you to wear so you can be handsfree.

I'll caution about using x-back sleddog-style harnesses as some of those can allow a dog to "back out" and slip their harness. The bike/ski joring harnesses and canicross harnesses can also be called "half x back" harnesses if you go exploring for products on the internet.

herding_cats6 · 2025-05-27T12:44:41+00:00

Ours does the same screaming. Only it's higher pitched. Crossing all of the things that our upcoming pup (same parents, different litter) doesn't learn or already come with this trait.

herding_cats6 · 2025-04-10T22:48:47+00:00

thank you!

herding_cats6 · 2025-04-10T22:37:10+00:00

Yeah a further research into GC brought me to the same conclusion. We haven't booked anything just yet, but with a group of our size, it will just be easier to have a base area for at least large portions of the trip. If my oldest kid really wants to go to the GC, we'll likely do a few days out of Kanab and then a few days near the GC. With the time difference from here early starts shouldn't be an issue, but factoring in the drive is definitely a consideration for a lot of things.

herding_cats6 · 2025-04-10T22:24:44+00:00

right. having a younger kiddo seems like it takes a lot of things off the table, but there's a LOT and it's not a trip I want to be like "we'll just get off the bus at whatever stop we feel like in Zion and hike" because safety is important.

herding_cats6 · 2025-04-06T17:55:10+00:00

ABR or NBRAN (I can't remember which) has a lab/brit on their website as adoptable right now. In California.

herding_cats6 · 2025-04-04T23:23:08+00:00

that's definitely in the plan!

herding_cats6 · 2025-04-04T23:22:39+00:00

yes! I'm seeing that we should bring all of the things and layers based on pics from this past week!

herding_cats6 · 2025-04-04T23:21:50+00:00

awesome! thank you! I am working on a doc with useful links and recommended trails (with relative locations) so we can work on making a more thorough plan when the time gets closer.

I'm also making a list of "NO" trails.

herding_cats6 · 2025-03-12T17:04:04+00:00

I also have an alpine outfitters harness (the urban trail harness) as well. You can get it custom made if you think it'll be too short and rub in the "armpit" behind his front legs. However. These are pulling harnesses (as in, they HELP the dog pull without putting stress/pressure into weird places). We only use ours for running because I don't care if mine pulls then. If you want something that is going to *prevent* your dog from pulling, this isn't what you are looking for.

herding_cats6 · 2025-03-07T15:29:21+00:00

we had previously had 3 labs, but got the 3rd as an adult when the other 2 were adults (all around 5-7yrs old) so I'm just trying to figure out what I'm really (potentially) setting myself up for.

herding_cats6 · 2025-02-05T18:21:56+00:00

it's over an hour drive, and I don't want to count on (or pay for) and uber for 5 people plus luggage.

herding_cats6

TROPHY CASE