30 plus 11

I'm really down to the wire, and I'd intended to do this in monthly intervals, but I figure since I started my 30th year with the notion that 30 was going to be fabulous, I should recap all the ways in which it was.

Here goes:
The joint birthday party
Roller coasters!
Steph comes to SF
Hiking Mt. Rainier and a long-overdue visit with Cat. There was a street fair and a surprise birthday party and sunny days in Seattle!
July - September were a little bleak, though, given prostate cancer and Lou Gherig's disease and some family stress, and then the endlesses viruses and pink eye and shingles. But there was also that Labor Day visit home and four days spent sitting on the couch. With my whole family. Including the dogs.
Yosemite was a blast, even though it rained.
The two Thanksgivings were tons of fun, and the Espositos were so nice to this random Thanksgiving-day stranger. And they liked my apple crisp. A lot. And somewhere in there I got promoted, but who can remember when since that new job only just started.
In December there was ice skating, in the ballpark no less.
Christmas at home and New Year's in Bodega Bay were an awesome end to the first half of turning 30.
January brought the great computer liberation of 2008, which was one of the lower points of the year, but I did throw a party to celebrate my crime scene, and that was lots of fun.
In January I also signed my life away to Hike For Discovery, and have been training and fundraising like a fiend since then. But that hasn't stopped some other entertainment. And a breakthrough on the stage fright front. And some baseball. And lots of eating. And I still haven't done karaoke, but that's on my list for the first few weeks of 31.

I feel I can say pretty accurately at this point that 30 IS fabulous. Now it's time to line up the pre-31 festivities. Any suggestions?

First-floor tenant

Upstairs neighbor, could you please take off your cinder block slippers and cease dragging your furniture across the floor every evening before hosting the conga line or tango class or whatever causes dings in my ceiling? The sound is infuriating, and your constant movement is messing with my spotty television reception.

Not the only one

You see, all over San Francisco, people are pondering crazy. I'm not the only one who watches people acting peculiarly and wondering if they're nuts, or just locals.

Birthday gifts for the endurance athlete in your life

Bella Cantare has already gotten a start on gifts list for the hypothetical May birthday girl, but lest anyone forget that my birthday is the same day, here are some possible things you might want to consider for the endurance athlete in your life:

The George Foreman grill
Yes, I'm serious. As an endurance athlete, I need to eat a lot of lean protein, and there are only so many ways to broil steak or saute chicken, and, frankly, they're getting old. And this grill has removable grilling plates that could be easily washed in my sink. Next to lots of water bottles.


Hiking socks
Because you can never have too many, especially when hiking near (or accidentally in) bodies of water.

A gift certificate for a massage at her gym
Because after four days of travel and lots of hiking in the desert, even her hair will be sore.

Where do all these middle-of-the-day shoppers come from?

I'm home sick today, the combined result of a little dehydration this weekend and eating something yesterday that wasn't quite right. I ran out of milk and wanted some soup, so I went up the street to Trader Joe's. I figured, at noon on a Monday, the store would be pretty empty and the lines wouldn't be that long. And I was really, really wrong.

The line of cars to get into the tiny parking lot was as long today as it usually is on Saturdays, and most of the checkstands were lined up three or four people deep. I understand the retirees shopping in the middle of the day, and, since the University of San Francisco is pretty close by, lots of students were probably there too. But who was everyone else? I guess they could work the night shift, or work from home, or be currently unemployed. But, really, shouldn't a lot of those people be at work?

When "what's your name?" really means "would you be a suitable prospect for my single, Jewish, attorney son?"

I went to the gym on Friday wearing my Harvard University tank top. I've had this top since the summer I toured Harvard as part of a tour of Boston when my dad went to a conference there. I'm pretty sure I was 12 that summer.

In any case, it's comfortable, and I wear it a lot. And every time I wear it to the gym and see this older woman, she asks me if I went to school there. Our conversations usually start with her saying something like "ohhh, you must be smart." And every time, I tell her I didn't go to school there, and then I think she's a little sad.

Her name is Mimi, and she's from New York City. She's Jewish, which I know because we had a long chat one evening about being a Jew in NY versus San Francisco. If life had been different, she'd have stayed in New York. I work out at the Jewish Community Center, so lots of the members are Jewish. And just in case you're new to this website, I am not.

As I was changing into my swimsuit on Friday, Mimi started talking about something related to Harvard. At first, I didn't realize she was talking to me, and then I mentioned that I hadn't gone to school there. Obviously, Mimi's lacking some long term memory capacity. She must have been talking about something related to a big gift Harvard recently received, maybe related to a will or something, because then she mentioned her son, an attorney. He works with trusts, but she doesn't think he gives to his alma mater, UC Santa Barbara, even though he has the money and he doesn't have a family yet, but then they don't talk much about his finances.

And then she looked at me. "What's your name," she asked.

"McDevitt," I replied.

Then she stopped talking about her single, Jewish, attorney son, because I am not a suitable prospect.

Team Hike #8 - Important lessons from Cataract Falls

We started this Mt. Tamalpais hike from Rock Spring along the Cataract Trail. We followed the Cataract Trail to the end (about three miles), then traced our way back along the Cataract Trail to the Helen Markt trail. Our views were amazing - huge redwoods, waterfalls that were more than trickling, which was surprising since we've seen little rain the past few months.



We hiked about 10 miles under sunny skies with temperatures that might have hit 80 degrees. The trail was beautiful, but it was much warmer out than I'd been expecting, and this trail had lots of tricky parts, mostly steps - most of them old stone ones embedded into the hills to break up what would have been miles of straight up (or down - depending on which way you were headed) hill. The hike was supposed to be 5.5 hours. And the first five went really well. I felt great, my group was making good time, and our lunch spot, along a large lake, was just beautiful.



But that last hour - including an additional half hour's travel time back to the start that I don't think anyone anticipated - was really rough. I got tired, due, I think, to lack of a snack stop after lunch, and I ran out of water. I carried more than 125 ounces in two hydration bladders, but this was a good lesson: when it gets hot out I will drink A LOT. As I got tired, I could feel my core muscles get fatigued, and I started wobbling a little as I walked. So I'll be doing some additional sit ups and planks the next few weeks.

I rallied well at the end, and finished the hike feeling pretty good. And I feel great today. I'm glad to have faced some challenges this week, because I still have plenty of time to make some changes to my workout in order to be prepared for the Grand Canyon in THREE WEEKS.

In the wilderness

I went to visit Bella Cantare last night. We met on the BART train, went to her house in the suburbs outside of San Francisco, put on hiking clothes, and set off to conquer the trails in the East Bay Regional Wilderness. Before dark, of course.

The trails were beautiful, if perhaps a bit windy. It was late in the day, and we only saw a few other people, most of them on horses. We traversed a brook, walked up a hill, and saw some really cool cloud formations hanging over the hills.



A lot of this park land is also cattle grazing land, and we'd expected to see lots of cows. Most of the cows had gone home for the night, but we did encounter several cattle gates - a mainstay on lots of the trails I've hiked this season. They keep the cows properly herded. And, it turns out, they're fun to swing on. I'd thought that might be the case, but I'd never had the chance before.



When I'd confirmed it was indeed fun, Steph played too.



We disembarked from the gates about five minutes before the ranger drove up to lock them for the night. We left the park with chilled hands and growling stomachs, went for dinner, and then, because Steph has a car, we went to Target. It was a beautiful day!

In the mail; alternately titled "Why I rock at fundraising"

At the beginning of the year, I sent out my first batch of Hike For Discovery fundraising letters. After addressing all the envelopes and sticking all the stamps, I had one letter left. After significant deliberation, and a discussion with SF Steph, I mailed a letter to my ex-boyfriend.

That was in January. It's now April, and I've been quite successful in my fundraising efforts. I've really been shameless in asking, and I've received donations from friends, family (though not my parents yet, and time is running out. HI MOM AND DAD!), coworkers, friends of friends and family, the occasional random strangers, and even Tony the bad date. But I had yet to hear from the ex. I'd actually written him off.

Until today. When I got a beautiful card. With a note. And $100. And, thinking he'd missed my fundraising deadline, he made the check out to me, to use for expenses related to my hike.

I pondered this for awhile. Considered the ethics of the situation. Talked to my mom, sister, and brother, and debated what to do. I could deposit the check, make out a personal check to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and add another $100 to my total. Or I could deposit the check, and buy something ridiculous in my travels that I would definitely not purchase on my modest travel budget.

Can you guess my decision?

These days

Some days are lousy - days you can't wait to end only to curl up in bed and hide out from the world. Some days are good, but unremarkable. But today, today I'm sad the sun is setting and my dinner plans fell through, because I really don't want to see this day end. Part of my euphoria is probably just endorphins. I still feel phenomenal in the days following a hike, and yesterday's hike was great. But the bulk of my good mood comes from the knowledge of a job well done, a song very well sung, and just a great afternoon.

On nights like tonight, I almost wish I lived with roommates again, just to have people around to rehash the day with, to talk off the excitement before trying to go to sleep.

Buddy Hike in the Marin Headlands: Destination Slacker Hill

This week, instead of a full team hike, the Marin and San Francisco groups met for a buddy hike at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. We started from the parking lot opposite the Bridge vista point, and went up, and up some more, gaining about 725 feet in the first mile or so, but the grade wasn't too steep, and the views were amazing.



We hiked up to, but not all the way to the top of, Slacker Hill, and continued along the Coastal Trail into the valley, stopping for a snack near Ft. Barry. As we hiked, we could see the coast along Rodeo Beach, the site of one of our first hikes.

The weather was beautiful, but the wind whipped harshly through some of the exposed areas. My ears got particularly cold, which forced the first Hike For Discovery appearance of my wool hat.



This hike was again spectacularly beautiful. We reached the top of Slacker Hill on the way back - a cruel but clever plan on the part of our hike leaders to push us at the end, and, while the grade was pretty steep, I felt really good going up. At the top of the hill, we could see the Bay, the Ocean, and San Francisco and Marin counties spread out before us. It was amazing.



This is just a sampling; the full photo essay is on flickr.

$63 of protein

Snickers Bar suggestions aside, my coworker had some good advice for me. She's a veteran of several 120 mile bike rides, and her Team-in-Training teams have had really good training in nutrition and overall good eating habits. I feel my team has somewhat lacked that this season, but that's ok. Molly taught me all I need to know. It can be easily summed up in two words: more protein.

I should be eating about twice as much protein to recover from my hikes as I have been, and with a few simple additions to my diet, I shouldn't be so hungry and low energy next week. I'm already in love with the almond butter I bought at Trader Joe's this evening - a suggestion of my new coworker, a former marathon-training vegetarian. I'll scramble three eggs instead of two for breakfast tomorrow, and have almond butter on my toast. I'm really excited about breakfast, and I've only just finished dinner (whole wheat linguini with meatballs and marinara sauce, two string cheese sticks, and some veggies if I get up now to wash and slice them).

But before I can get to breakfast, I have to get through the evening. My carpool pickup time is 7:40, so I need to get my stuff together tonight and get to bed. But first, the veggies.

Team Hike #6 Montara Mountain; or, the tale of the yellow bead

I was too busy eating dinner to do an entire photo essay on the 'nation this week, but you can find the full story, with lots of pretty pictures, on flickr.

I will say this was an incredibly beautiful hike, on the warmest day of the year so far, and it was only in the low 80s. This was good preparation for the Grand Canyon, and possibly the hottest hike we'll get until then. I was comfortably dressed and really well hydrated. And when we got to the top, something happened that hasn't happened yet this season: we were invited to talk about how we got involved in the Hike program.

People talked about their own cancer battles, about losing those close to them, and about wanting to do something to counteract the loss. And then I raised my hand and talked about my dad. I told my team about his leukemia diagnosis, last summer's prostate cancer diagnosis, and about the radiation treatments that started this week.

On our hikes, there are rarely restroom facilities past the trailhead, so we're forced to either hold it or pee in the bushes. The first time each hiker goes off trail, he or she receives a yellow bead. This is amusing, but also a really good way to monitor every hiker's fluid intake. We joke a lot about the yellow beads, and I mentioned to the team that my dad had a few weeks last year where he wouldn't have been able to earn one if he'd wanted to. This brought a lot of laughs, and the suggestion from my coach that we send dad a yellow bead.

My dad was pretty down last weekend, after learning that he'll have to quit drinking while he undergoes radiation for the next FIVE weeks. When I told him about the bead, and how he's now become an honorary member of the team, he laughed for a long time. I put it in the mail on Tuesday. I hope he displays it someplace prominent.

In the genes

The Pope said Mass in Washington, DC yesterday, at the new stadium of the Washington Nationals baseball team. A cousin of mine was in the Papal choir. I am far from the only choir nerd in my family, we're just a little spread out. Congratulations, Bob!

Siesta

Still here, just tired. And hungry. And the combination is making me a little cranky. I have yet to figure out how to eat properly before and after my hikes, and I'm finding that I'm really hungry and a little low energy all the time as a result. But I've called in the reinforcements. My colleague, a veteran of many Team in Training events, will be giving me a little nutrition advice tomorrow. Perhaps over lunch.

Destination Montara Mountain

This Saturday's hike took us to Montara Mountain, in the usually foggy and cold city of Pacifica. Not only was Saturday not foggy, it was also about 80 degrees. My hike summary is coming in the next day or so, but in the meantime, here's an interesting article from the San Francisco Chronicle on the Mountain and its future.

Montara Mountain sale to feds stalls - no money

Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Rising nearly 2,000 feet out of the sea near Moss Beach is the mesmerizing Montara Mountain, a landmark in the midst of a sweeping panorama of coastal wildland.

The rugged mountain is part of the 4,262-acre Rancho Corral de Tierra, the largest undeveloped tract of land remaining on the San Mateo County coast.

It is a landscape teeming with greenery and wildlife so unique and valuable that eager National Park Service officials are planning for it to become the southern entrance to the 74,000-acre Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Problem is, there is no money available to buy it from the Peninsula Open Space Trust, which spent years working on a deal to acquire the land for the express purpose of selling it to the Park Service for half price.

The inability to purchase land for national parks despite willing sellers is a problem around the country, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Parks Conservation Association.

The report, called America's Heritage For Sale, says Corral de Tierra is among 1.8 million acres of private land within 55 national parks owned by people who want to sell to the federal government but cannot. This land, according to the study, is going up in price as time goes by without a sale, and the owners are coming under increasing pressure to sell to developers.

"Willing sellers are getting anxious," said Neal Desai, the Pacific region senior program manager for the conservation association. "The park service has a commitment to provide fair compensation to these willing sellers. Now it's time to secure the deal for all Americans."

The problem, according to the report, is that Congress and the Bush administration have not allocated enough money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which was established in 1964 to "conserve, develop and utilize" outdoor resources for the "benefit and enjoyment of the American people."
Allocations decreasing

Congress can allocate up to $900 million a year to purchase parkland, but the amounts available for acquisitions have diminished steadily over the past decade. In fiscal year 1999, $147.9 million was made available by Congress, according to the report. That's compared to the $44.3 million that was allocated in fiscal year 2008. The Bush administration has requested only $21.8 million for fiscal year 2009, the report said.

What it means is that land adjacent to or within the 55 parks, including Valley Forge and Gettysburg National Historical Parks in Pennsylvania, Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, and the Obed Wild and Scenic River in Tennessee, could be sold off and developed.

In California - in addition to the Coral de Tierra land - about 3,800 acres of scenic property is awaiting incorporation into the Point Reyes National Seashore, John Muir National Historic Site, the Mojave National Preserve, Redwood National Park, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. All are already tagged for high-priority acquisition by the Park Service, according to the report.

But it is Rancho Corral de Tierra that is at the top of the list, Desai said.

The rancho, which was part of an 1839 Mexican land grant, is between Half Moon Bay and Pacifica at the northern end of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is a vast expanse of coastal shrub and chaparral, wild herbs, four major creeks, forests of redwood and Douglas fir trees.

The steep slopes of Montara Mountain, the only undisturbed mountain habitat in more than 100 miles of coastline, have allowed plants like the Montara manzanita and the Montara bush lupine - two species not seen anywhere else in the world - to thrive.

Mountain lions, bobcats, peregrine falcons, the endangered San Francisco garter snake and the threatened red-legged frog have all been spotted in the area. On a clear day, one can see from the ridgeline 25 miles in any direction.
Off limits to development

More than four miles of the property's boundary are contiguous to existing public lands, including watershed lands owned by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission upon which the Golden Gate National Recreation Area holds a scenic and recreational easement.

The Peninsula Open Space Trust purchased the land in 2001 for $29.75 million in an attempt to protect it from impending development, said Daphne Muehle, the congressional liaison for the trust.

There are to this day 34 legally developable lots on the land, but it is "highly unlikely" that any of the property could be developed, Desai said. The deal, made possible with grants from the California Coastal Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Board, was made so that the land could become part of the federal recreation area.

It is being offered to the recreation area for $15 million, money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund that has not been available. So far only $1.96 million has been appropriated.

"This is a deal for the federal government. They are buying a stunning property for half price," Muehle said. "We've been working on this for eight years and it still is not permanently protected. The threat is there. There are legal lots on the property."

If the purchase ever goes through, it would connect miles of city, county, state and federal parkland from San Francisco all along the coast of San Mateo County, including old Highway 1 at Devil's Slide, which is scheduled to become a bicycle and hiking trail once a new tunnel is completed.

"I think Congress recognizes it's a deal," said Chris Powell, the spokeswoman for the recreation area. "Rancho Corral is the top priority on our list this year and was last year, too."

Chronicle science editor David Perlman contributed to this report.

Game Day

Yesterday, highs in the city reached about 80 degrees, with bright sun and no wind. Today promises to be just as warm and sunny. It's a perfect day for a baseball game, and I'll be headed to the ballpark in a few hours. The Giants, who have already been statistically eliminated from the postseason, were on a little winning streak for awhile, but Friday and yesterday were pretty bleak. Here's hoping for a better day today. Play ball!

I am a comment-moderating delinquent

This blog has been suffering lately under the stress of lots of work and very little free time. I've been ignoring it to the point where I only just today realized that Cat paid us a visit this week. I didn't really think they had the Internet in Pittsburgh, at least not for recreational purposes. And I figured if the Internet did exist there, grad school was keeping her way too busy to use it. But she popped in to say hi. She's our first PA visitor, and we should wish her welcome. And condolences on the winter.I hope she comes back.

Team hike #5 - The Sunol-Ohlone Regional Wilderness

You can find the full photo essay here. I'm a little delinquent with the hike story this week. The hike was really pretty, the views of the Livermore Valley were beautiful, and I reached the 1,360 ft. peak and felt really, really good!

Little Bill is 26 today!!

My brother is celebrating his 26th birthday today. I just don't understand where all the years have gone. The day he was born New York was battered by 18 inches of snow. In April! I was stranded at my grandmother's house with a spring jacket and sneakers. I remember being resentful that I couldn't play in the snow.

I don't remember much of Bill's first months, but I remember that he was very small. And we often put his bassinet in the living room, and he would sleep on his stomach with his thumb in his mouth.

Unfortunately, since my dad is also named Bill, he quickly acquired the moniker "Little Bill," at least among some family members. The rest of us just called him Billy. Both are kind of funny now. Especially since my dad then was often called "Big Bill," and now the little guy is over 6 ft. tall.



If you get a minute today, think good birthday wishes for him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BILL!!!

Strawberries and Champagne and a wedding toast

Per and Adri got married last week. They snuck off to Tahoe without telling anybody and had a wonderful time. Per had originally planned an outdoor wedding, but Adri refused, because she didn't have the right snow boots to complement her dress. It was a very small affair, and, thought they're promising a big party in the fall, we decided to host a small party for them last night during rehearsal.

Actually, they wanted to do a champagne toast on Sunday, but that didn't work out, so they brought the champagne, Mark had the non-alcholic fizzy stuff, and I came with strawberries and chocolate.

I am so very excited for them, and so hopeful for their life together. I'm still kind of pondering how they could have gotten married without the rest of us, but since their recessional tune was a Beach Boys hit, maybe it's better that we weren't there. Congratulations, Per and Adri!!