My dryland season job this year is perhaps the best I’ve had yet: junior coach. Three days a week I get to spend a few hours training with the Methow’s up and coming teenage athletes as we run and rollerski and bag peaks in the North Cascades. This past week the Methow hosted the first PNSA junior camp of the year. Ben Husaby brought his Bend Nordic Team group up and led the camp based on his long-standing “Trout Lake model” of training camps: four big-volume days of training, a rollerski time trial and a final BIG day in the mountains. The weather in the valley really worked for us, shifting from rain to sun mid-way through Wednesday and staying beautiful all weekend.br /br /I managed to snap some good shots of our hike on Sunday. We started at the Cedar Creek trailhead and veered off onto the Mudhole Lake trail which shot straight up a ridgeline adjacent to the creek trail, then continued on up until we reached the top of an unnamed peak which overlooks Silver Star peak, Kangaroo and Snagtooth Ridge, and the western depths of the North Cascades. A BEAUTIFUL day allowed for almost seven hours of mountain adventuring, leaving the athletes (and me) tired and happy as we jogged back into the trailhead.br /br /A day off today, and I return to the business of my own training tomorrow. Scott’s in Europe, Erik’s in Alaska, Torin’s in Bend and I’m in the valley; the MOD squad is spread across the globe but we’re putting in the time – stay tuned!br /br /Some pictures from yesterday’s epic:br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/TCkV1ZedY3I/AAAAAAAAAcE/GwnxgzgYMIs/s1600/Methow+PNSA+Camp+2010+004.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/TCkV1ZedY3I/AAAAAAAAAcE/GwnxgzgYMIs/s320/Methow+PNSA+Camp+2010+004.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487941628043551602″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”Ascending the trail at 7am – steep!br /br //span/divbr /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/TCkV2AjajaI/AAAAAAAAAcM/9ytOPKURyU8/s1600/Methow+PNSA+Camp+2010+012.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/TCkV2AjajaI/AAAAAAAAAcM/9ytOPKURyU8/s320/Methow+PNSA+Camp+2010+012.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487941638533320098″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”Our objective in the distancebr //span/divbr /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/TCkV3DmT0SI/AAAAAAAAAcU/axIbH3kQVaM/s1600/Methow+PNSA+Camp+2010+020.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/TCkV3DmT0SI/AAAAAAAAAcU/axIbH3kQVaM/s320/Methow+PNSA+Camp+2010+020.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487941656530637090″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”The final scree-scramble to the summitbr //span/divbr /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/TCkV3la0yoI/AAAAAAAAAcc/JXSctnXqPRM/s1600/Methow+PNSA+Camp+2010+024.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/TCkV3la0yoI/AAAAAAAAAcc/JXSctnXqPRM/s320/Methow+PNSA+Camp+2010+024.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487941665609271938″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”The boys on top of the peak – Kangaroo Ridge as the backdropbr //span/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-4204841767672069937?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
