I kicked off my summer break with a hike at Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Golden Gate Canyon is quickly becoming one of my favorite hiking spots near Denver. It’s so easy to get to and with over 35 miles of trails there is a lot of new territory to explore. This morning I hit the Snowshoe Hare Trail to break in my new hiking shoes!

The Snowshoe Hare trail is a rocky, 3 Mile loop starting at an elevation of 8,700 feet at the Aspen Meadow Campground that wraps around towards Dude’s Fishing Hole.

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Nearing the finish of the Colorado Half Marathon in Fort Collins, Colorado.

I am not a runner. At least, that’s what I always thought growing up. Every spring, for as many years as I can remember, we were required to run a mile as part of the annual Presidential Physical Fitness Test.  I would beg my mother to write me a note stating I wasn’t well enough to participate. (Which she wouldn’t.)  I would bring an ace bandage from home, wrap it around my knee and try to pretend that somehow, as a child, I’d developed a chronic injury impairing my ability to run. (Which no one fell for.) And ultimately, I would walk it. That’s right. One mile. 5,280 feet. Four laps around the football field. It sounds so short and yet — it never once occurred to me that it might be something I could do.

It wasn’t that I was out of shape — in fact, I was always sort of sporty. It’s just I had a small but problematic habit of deciding I hated things without trying them. Tuna fish, wintergreen, Leann Chin … and running. Despite the fact I’d never actually attempted to try any of it — I was convinced I hated all of it. The only thing I hated more in fact, was feeling like I couldn’t do something. This belief that I couldn’t run persisted throughout my adult life until, about three years ago, after watching a television show in which overweight contestants competed for money by running a 5K they never thought they could complete, I got off the couch and went for a run.

In fact, I guess in an effort to prove to myself that I could have totally crushed those contestants, I ran a 5k. And the next day — I ran again. And I’ve been running every week several times ever since. If you run, you know, it’s a pretty therapeutic experience. I figure a lot of things out while I’m running. I get a lot of thinking done. In fact, just the other week while I was out for a run I was thinking about that Presidential Physical Fitness Test. And I was thinking about how terrible the physical education teachers were in my youth. Not one of them thought to provide any ounce of encouragement — or (shockingly) instruction on how to complete the relatively simple task of running 5,280 feet. So I never did.

Now let me be very clear — I’m not a runner runner. Meaning — I’m by no means competitive. I’m not particularly interested in talking about training, or heel strikes, or Gu. And I really don’t care about your $250 watch that monitors your pace and your heart rate and is synched up with your toe shoes and is guaranteed to improve your marathon time. I’m incredibly slow and I’m not particularly interested in getting faster. I’ve run a couple half-marathons — mostly just to motivate myself to learn to run greater distances. And, I’ve done the Headwaters Relay - a 232 mile relay race through the mountains in Montana. But mostly, I just like a leisurely run a few times a week.

In the past few years I’ve struggled with identifying myself as a ‘runner’. It’s as if doing so implied I needed to be more competitive or that I needed to be faster. Running, for me, is a hobby. And, I’m not quite ready to turn my hobby into a title. In general, however, I’m learning to put my presidential physical fitness failures behind me and just enjoy it for what it is. Since moving to Denver, I feel like I’ve had to learn to run all over again at (ironically) 5,280 feet. I’m once more training for the Headwaters Relay and have recently been motivated to move some recent runs off the city streets.

This is a short video of the trails at Mancos State Park in southwestern Colorado where I recently did a little training. It’s crazy — but when I was editing this — I almost, for a second, thought I looked like a ‘runner’.

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The park centers around Jackson Gulch Reservoir which is a popular fishing spot. The lake level, however, was only at 15% of capacity (lowest levels since 1996) over the winter due to dry weather, and domestic demands on Jackson Gulch Reservoir during the past summer and fall. (Colorado Parks and Wildlife).

There are 32 campsite and two yurts available for reservations. I definitely recommend the West Campground as opposed to the Main campground because the sites offer a bit more privacy.

Overall, the sites are far superior to the camping at Mesa Verde National Park and Mancos State Park is only about 20 minutes away.

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The Ancestral Puebloans lived in the area for 700 years — from AD 600 – 1300. The park offers a mix of self guided and ranger guided tours of the cliff dwellings trails, as well as hiking trails, camping and scenic drives. I’m not big on organized tours so I spent most of my time taking in a few self-guided tours, overlooks and hikes. The landscape was incredibly different than anything else I have experienced so far in Colorado. The difference was heightened by the fact that much of the landscape of Mesa Verde (and, in fact, Southwest Colorado) has been touched by a number of recent wildfires. The scorched pinyon-juniper forests gave many of the hikes the feeling of hiking on the surface of another planet.

The Nordenskiold #16 Trail (above) sits atop Wetherill Mesa and is an easy 2 mile (round trip) hike to the Nordenskiold house overlook:

Also at Wetherhill Mesa, on a short hike (less than one mile) you can take a self-guided tour of Step House. At Step House, there is a partially reconstructed pithouse, originally built in AD 625 and next to it, remains of a stone cliff dwelling built 600 years later.

For a really cool hike – try the Petroglyph Point Trail — a 2.4 mile loop that leaves from Chapin Mesa and provides scenic views of the Spruce Canyon and leads to a rock panel of Ancestral Pueblo petroglyphs.

On one side of the loop, the hike is an easy, flat traverse over the top of the mesa, on the other side, it scrambles along the cliff face and offers a number of fun passes through the rocks.

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In addition to hiking and exploring the Park, we managed, of course, to get in a little campfire cooking.

Smoky Campfire Breakfast Sandwiches from Becky Olstad on Vimeo.

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Before heading heading up the Rattlesnake Gulch Trail, I started out on the Eldorado Canyon Trail where I came upon this:

On one hand, whatever did this apparently just ate and more than likely doesn’t have the appetite to eat me. On the other hand, something did this! I’m still adjusting to the Colorado wilderness and I’m not quite ready for a mountain lion encounter. I’ve read the guidelines on what to do if I see one — but I’ll admit, I have a hard time imagining myself speaking “calmly but firmly” to an animal that can rip the leg off a deer.

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For former students and emerging photographers: The Emerging Photographer Grant is designed to support continuation of a photographer’s personal project. This body of work may be of either journalistic mission or purely personal artistic imperatives. The primary intent is to support emerging photographers who will become the icons of tomorrow. Click for more info on The Emerging Photographer Grant.

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Marketing your photography can be an overwhelming task — especially when your area of expertise is in making great pictures and not necessarily in growing your business. However, it cannot be disputed that it is one of the most critical components of running a successful photography business. There is no shortage of great resources for photographers out there — but sometimes finding the right advice can be overwhelming. As an educator of photography and marketing I am constantly researching new resources for my students and emerging photographers. Here are a six free online resources that I have found to be the most helpful when learning how to market and grow your photography business.

1.) Free Photo Guides from PhotoShelter: These guides cover everything from SEO to developing your brand identity, selling nature photography to establishing yourself as a photographer’s assistant. The guides typically feature helpful insight and instructions as well as case studies with a variety of photographers. There is something here for everyone and they are totally free! Plus, they’re pretty regularly coming out with new guides so keep checking back.

2.) Build a Better Online Portfolio with Stella Kramer: This is an online webinar hosted by PhotoShelter and featuring the insight and expertise of Pulitzer Prize winning photo editor and creative consultant Stella Kramer. The video is a little over an hour and is incredibly helpful for anyone looking to get more from their online portfolio.

3.) The American Society of Media Photographers provides an extraordinarily deep well of resources on their web site. You don’t have to be a member to access most of the materials. (Though if you are serious about your photography business you should consider joining. You can read about the benefits of membership online.) In addition to providing materials and tutorials for nearly all aspects of running your photo business  — they have an online video library that covers topics more in depth. For my marketing favorites — check out Secrets of Driving Traffic to your Blog with Rosh Sillars and Making People Love you Madly with Colleen Wainwright.

4.) For exhibition, competition and portfolio review announcements — be sure to follow the marketing blog of photography consultant Mary Virginia Swanson. MVS is an expert in the area of marketing and licensing fine art and her blog not only keeps you up to date on forthcoming opportunities to promote your work but it weeds out all of the crap that isn’t worth your time or money.

5.) APhotoEditor.com is put together by former Director of Photography Rob Haggart and features posts from a variety of contributors from a wide range of perspectives in photography. The whole blog provides helpful insights on many different topics in the field of photography. I particularly love the sample estimates they post with Wonderful Machine. For advice specific to marketing check out the marketing category archive.

6.) No Plastic Sleeves is a great online resource for inspiration on smart marketing campaigns from photographers — you will find creative brand identity, promotional mailers and portfolio designs in the archives. Plus, once you get your new campaign together – you can submit it to be featured on the blog.

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