Shawnee 40 miler, Downtown Sightseeing, & early summer vibes

A few of us got together last Saturday to run the Shawnee Backpack Trail.  We started a little after 5AM from the lodge and ran down to the trail.

A lot of the time you are in dense tree-cover, but occasionally pop out for some amazing views from the ridges. Temps were perfect with morning temps in the mid 40s and we warmed to mid 70s in the afternoon.  So it did get a little warm, but manageable. 

This is one of my favorite spots.  It is Campsite #6.  It is one of the most remote places to camp and backpack in the state.  It is nestled in a hemlock grove next to a stream.  

All-in-all it was a great run.  With nearly 9,000 feet of vert, this 40 mile run was the hilliest run I have done so far.  I signed up for the Shawnee 50 (technically 54 miles) in October and that will be about 12,000 feet of vert.

Summer graduated from preschool last week.  She was blessed with amazing teachers the last 3 years at Cypress Christian Preschool.

Dawn, my wife, was battling a cold last week and I got up with the kids both mornings over the weekend to let her catch up on some rest.  Friday night I camped outside, in the backyard, with the kids.  We were all awake by 6AM with the birds and sunrise, so we loaded up and ran around Downtown Columbus to check out the sights. They were wearing their matching elf pajamas.

Yesterday we reached 89°, so we filled up the pool and had lots of fun in the backyard.  Probably doing more of that this week.  Tuesday looks to be the hottest day for it. 

Our hot weather will be sticking around a few more days then a cold front later Wednesday will finally change our pattern. Be sure to check on plants and that they are watered because this early heat is stressing plants that do not have existing root systems. We will be mostly cloudy today with about a 30% chance for any given location to see some pop-up isolated rain. The best chance would be in the afternoon as our highs warm into the upper 80s. Our humidity will make it feel a little hotter. Higher humidity sticks around through midweek. The additional clouds should keep us a little cooler than Sunday, when we reached 89. Partly cloudy tonight with most of the rain winding down once the sun sets. Warm night with low temps in the upper 60s. Tuesday will be hot with high temps trying to reach 90 for the first time of the year. Mix of sun & clouds and only about a 10% chance of a stray shower or storm popping up. Wednesday starts warm and we should warm into the mid 80s before scattered showers and storms arrive, mainly for the second half of the day. This rain is with a cold front and finally getting our weather pattern back into a zonal flow, or west to east flow, of weather patterns. Thursday looks fairly dry with highs in the lower 80s and partly cloudy skies with lower humidity. Then an area of low pressure heads our direction on Friday and it is looking like some on and off showers and storms throughout the day. Highs will be cooler, with the rain, and going with a high around 70. The weekend is looking nice with a very low chance of rain. Once the rain kicks out later this week we should see some clearing for the weekend with partly cloudy skies and low temps in the mid 50s and high temps in the low-mid 70s. We will need to keep an eye on the timing of the Friday rain and hopefully it kicks out in time for a mild Memorial Day weekend. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael