I took 12 straight rest days in the early part of the month due to a bad cold, easily making these my lowest monthly totals all year. I can't remember the last time I took this many days off in a row, but I felt like crap and had no need to rush back into it. It definitely gave me a renewed vigor as soon as I stepped foot on a trail again.
I love this time of year, except for the late sunrise. Only 2 of my runs all month involved daylight. Hopefully, I'll get up for some more alpine scrambling and peak bagging before it gets buried in the white stuff. I've also got to get out to some of the great foliage areas (i.e. Flowers Road/White Pine) which are peaking right about now.
I had the rare opportunity for a late afternoon/evening adventure in the beautiful Wild Basin of Rocky Mountain National Park. I took off from the Wild Basin trailhead at 5pm Saturday with the goal up getting up high enough to take in some sights and scout some future peak routes before dark.
I was not accustomed to the crowded trailhead and steady stream of hikers, mostly families heading up to (or back from) the Calypso Cascades and Ouzel Falls. I normally tend to be the first one to a trailhead in the morning. However, the crowds thinned quickly as I opted to head up toward the Lion Lakes. The last person I saw was at the trail split for Lion or Thunder Lakes at 4 miles from the trailhead. It was then just me, the beautiful mountains, and the dwindling daylight.
Staring at Chiefs Head Peak on the final piece of singletrack approaching Lion Lake #1.
After passing by Lion Lake #1, the largest of the Lion Lakes right at timberline and 6 miles from the trailhead, there was no more real trail to follow. I had some thoughts of trying to obtain the North Ridge and loop around the summit of Chiefs Head, but I think that route would be better approached from Sandbeach Lake and Mount Orton. There is also a very nice trail up to Sandbeach Lake that I hiked several years ago and would love to get back to. What was really gaining most of my attention, though, was the awesome looking peak of Mount Alice.
Mount Alice as seen from Lion Lake #1.
I meandered a bit, taking in all of the scenery and slowly gaining some altitude up toward Lion Lake #2 while passing by some really cool waterfalls. I then thought it would be nice to hit the pass between Alice and Chiefs Head in time to catch the sunset.
Waterfalls draining from Lion Lake #2.
As I continued to climb and the sun continued to set, I admired the late evening hues reflecting off Chiefs Head and was even more captivated by the spectacular face of Mount Alice. I had made my way onto a ridge to the west of the lakes that allowed for a nice route to the pass with a mix of stable boulder fields and soft tundra.
Last bit of sunlight on Chiefs Head.
Mount Alice.
A nice ridge approach to the pass.
I reached the pass (8 miles from the trailhead) shortly after sunset, but still had a pretty sweet view of the red sky to the West. There were also nice views of McHenry's Peak and I could make out the Spearhead poking up over the horizon to the East. Chiefs Head was still obstructing any views of Pagoda or Longs.
Looking West from the Continental Divide.
McHenry's Peak (another of many great 13ers in the Park).
The conditions on the pass were perfect and pretty amazing for late September. No wind and I had yet to put anything on over my t-shirt. Just a week ago there were winter conditions up here and several inches of snow. I broke out my headlamp and a long sleeve shirt and toyed with the idea of still summiting Alice. It turns out to be a fairly technical route getting Alice from this side, at least as far as I could tell from my headlamp. I scurried up a little ways in the dark, but thought better to come back another time. I played it safe and returned my same route and was back at the trailhead at 10pm.
I didn't even mention the nice colors from the aspens down nearer the trailhead as Fall is in full swing. Without a doubt, there are lots of great adventures to be had in the Wild Basin. I think a traverse of all the peaks surrounding this basin would be pretty epic, but of course there are also many great options for breaking it into a few smaller loops/traverses as well.
Tonight's run/hike/scramble:
16.48 miles, 4247 feet climbed, GPS data here
Five hours to cover 10 miles? Yes, that is the kind of "running" I like to do this time of year! A summit of the 13,911 foot Mount Meeker in Rocky Mountain National Park and some high alpine exploring from there.
As expected, a full parking lot at 4:30am at the Longs Peak Ranger Station trailhead. Meeker's sister peak (Longs) gets all the attention because it is above the magic number of 14K feet, but I think the Meeker summit, with some serious exposure, offers even more of a thrill. I passed a steady stream of hikers as I ran up to the Chasm Lake trail junction. Then I headed toward Chasm Lake and was alone for the next 4 hours. I hit the Loft route just at first light. This route takes you straight up the gut between Longs and Meeker until reaching the saddle (Loft) between the two summits. I was surprised that none of the Longs Peak seekers were opting for this route this morning.
Straight up from here to the Loft.
After reaching the Loft it is a right turn for Longs or a left turn for Meeker for a pretty quick summit either way. I think I could have set a new Longs climb record for myself if I was heading there today, but that wasn't my destination.
Longs Peak from the Loft.
The summit of Meeker is really 2 summits separated by an exhilirating "knife's edge" between the two. I passed over both summits and decided to try descending via the Northeast ridge, just skirting the 1000 foot dropoff cliffs to my left.
Cliff face along the Northeast Ridge.
Nice view of the Loft route from Meeker's Northeast Ridge.
After passing the cliffs, I tried peeling off the north side of the ridge back toward Chasm and was greeted with neverending loose scree all the way down. I actually think descending down toward Wild Basin and picking up a trail down there would make for a sweet loop (and a lot easier descent of Meeker). It would just require a few miles of roads to get between trailheads (or a shuttle).
The view of Wild Basin from the Meeker summit.
I hit the valley quite a ways below Chasm Lake and just below treeline. I then bushwhacked my way over another ridge to get back to the Longs Peak trail and was finally running again back to the trailhead. This kind of stuff is just too fun!
Today's adventure: 10.34 miles, 4891 feet climbed, GPS data here
No more races planned for 2011. It is just time to climb mountains and explore trails. The next couple of months are the best time of the year to play in the Colorado mountains.
I came across this today. Oh, the memories! I highly recommend this one to all of you planning your 2012 schedule, especially if the Hard Rock or Western States lotteries don't turn out in your favor.
Well I was certainly humbled by the mountain on Sunday as it kicked my butt. Not the race I was hoping for but I'm sure over time I will come to appreciate my number of PPM finishes more than the times on the clock, and this was my third finish.
With all the compiled data on this race, it's easy to overanalyze things, but I think in the end it just wasn't my day. It all started by not waking up until 4:30 (in Fort Collins) and having to hop in the car, speed down to Manitou Springs, pick up my race bib, and jump into the start line. I got all this done with just a few minutes to spare, so in a way I was just glad I got to run the race this year. Unfortunately, I had no breakfast and forgot my gels. At least I had a water bottle, but it would turn out that I couldn't get myself to drink enough of the aid-station Gatorade.
All excuses aside now, we had absolutely perfect weather this year. No need to even carry a long-sleeved shirt. I decided to take off a little faster than usual at the start, in hopes of not getting caught in too much traffic on the climb through the W's where everyone gets funneled into some narrow single-track. It was still crowded, but I did run more of the W's this year than in past years (still not sure if that was a good thing though). I was easily under sub 3:30 ascent splits (my ascent goal) through the Bottomless Pit Sign, but I never really felt that great from the start. It was then a pretty steady meltdown for me all the way to the top.
Hitting the summit turnaround (Photo: Kevin Hurd)
I find it quite interesting that my time from Hydro Street to the "2 to summit" sign was within 1 minute of the time I ran it 2 weeks ago on a conservative training run (half of that in the dark via headlamp). I felt great that day and could have easily pushed a good pace to the top. I was nearly an hour from there to the summit yesterday, although I'm sure at least 10 minutes of that was me hugging a rock while letting others moving much better than me pass by. I just seem to do my best running when I am relaxed and it is just me and the trail. I get really anxious with all of the passing and being passed in a crowded race like this, and it really wears on me. Maybe that is why I don't race much and tend to favor smaller ultras where I know I'll be by myself more than not.
I hit the summit in 3:52 and thought maybe if things turned around for me I could break 6 hours for the marathon. I just felt crappy the whole way down, however. I even walked down Ruxton Street to the finish because I was afraid I might throw up on a spectator if I ran. I obviously got behind on my fueling and hydration. My finish time of 6:25 was about the same time I ran 3 years ago on the back side of a "Double" (ran the Ascent the day before) and in a snowstorm.
So what draws me to Pikes Peak? It is because it is "Pikes Peak". Ms. Arlene Pieper, the first official women's finisher at a U.S. marathon at Pikes Peak in 1959, sent us off with the "ready, set, go". The singing of "America the Beautiful" before the race still gives me goosebumps every time. They call this race "America's Ultimate Challenge" and this challenge, along with it's storied history, great volunteers, and true camaraderie between competitors will always keep bringing me back.
My overanalyzed race splits:
Ruxton 3:21 (projected 2hr32min Ascent)*
Hydro 10:38 (2:49)
Top of W's 37:33 (3:07)
No Name Creek 56:52 (3:14)
7.8 to Summit Sign 1:18:35 (3:18)
Barr Camp 1:42:59 (3:23)
Bottomless Pit Sign 2:00:53 (3:28)
A-Frame 2:33:58 (3:36)
2 to Summit Sign 2:58:54 (3:40)
1 to Summit Sign 3:22:00 (3:45)
Summit 3:52:54
Finish 6:25:06
*Projected Ascent times from Matt Carpenter's pacing calculator
I guess the rumors of Matt's demise were grossly overrated. At age 47, he made it a record-tying 6 straight wins for the marathon and 12 total. The man is truly inspirational. Came across this great post-race perspective from Matt via GZ's blog.
Two weeks until my third Pikes Peak Marathon and I thought it was a good time to reacquaint myself to the Barr Trail Highway. I took a pretty relaxed run/hike from Hydro Street to the "2 miles to summit" sign and was hitting the splits (based on Matt C's pacing calculator) right about on a 3:30 ascent pace (my best is 3:40). I was feeling like a had a lot left in the tank for those last 2 miles to the summit. I did run the W's which I don't think I will be able to do in the race. I just don't think it is worth the extra effort to get ahead of the masses at the start. I'll probably only lose about 5-10 minutes to my running pace to No Name Creek anyway. And, of course, the real race doesn't start until A-frame (timberline).
Don't know what shoes I will be wearing. Wore the Hokas today, but they are done. A great shoe when new, but no durability for me. The medial side of the shoe is mashed, the treads are worn smooth and falling off, and I took a sharp rock right up through the EVA foam. Only 400 miles on them, so not too happy for what I got for $170. In my opinion, not a good shoe for an overpronater, even with orthotics. Looks like I'll be running in my worn out Cascadia 6's (500 miles) tomorrow. Oh yeah, I don't like those shoes either.
It sounds like Matt Carpenter will be racing the marathon again this year, which I am very glad to hear.
Today's run: Pikes Peak Marathon Course from Hydro Street to "2 to summit" sign and back.
19.65 miles, 6162 feet climbed, GPS data here
