Stranger Than Fiction

A very bizarre fire was recently fought and extinguished in the Foothills where I like to run.  The cause of this fire is so strange it seems to ridiculous to be true.  Yet it is true!  Here is the clip from the headline in the local papers:

A cyclist stops to poop, ends up starting wildfire

No joke!  This is copied and pasted straight from USA Today's website!  This really happened.  What he did was try to burn his toilet paper when he was finished and....... well what else would you expect when you strike a match in dry, dead grass?

So, a few days after the fire Michele and I ran in the area to check out the damage.  It was pretty bad.

So for Heaven's sake!  We all nee to "go" sometimes when we are out there on the trails.  But what ever you do, don't strike a match!!!

Photo from the News

We started off so early!  There were zero cars in the parking lot!

Burnt Hills in the distance

The trails were torn up pretty badly in order to get the fire crews in.

Serpiente...Schlange....SNAKE!

Today was an easy trail run.  Michele had just recently gotten back from running the Dublin Rock and Roll Half- Marathon (yes in Ireland) and I had just returned from a week long family vacation.  So we were both tired form vacationing.

Before I write about the trail run.... WooHoo to Michele and her race!!

 She said it was interesting to be around SO MANY people!!!  I definitely do not like crowds like this!

We planned a Saturday Trail Run and headed to Camel's Back.  That's a nice easy trail run for when you haven't been at it for a while.  Like usual, the first 1.5 miles is a killer!

 Michele ran in her new race shirt which is a super neon and nice looking. 

Red cliffs are blocked by Michele's thumb!!

Today was a unique run because we saw something we have NEVER seen before on the trails.....

SNAKE!

First I stopped and took a great picture of it.
Then I put my phone away and went to grab it. 
Michele started to yell at me to knock it off!  She said it was upset and to leave it alone.
I catch snakes at my house all the time.

"I can easily grab it," I said.
"I know, but don't!"  Michele exclaimed as the snake slithered away.

As we resumed our run I said, "You know I was going to grab it and then chase you with it." 
"I know you were!"  Michele yelled.  "Why do think I was yelling at you to leave it alone!"

In retrospect, I should have grabbed it.