The Land of Rocks and Roots

A great Memorial Weekend filled with family and friends in the North Maine Woods and lots of time on my favorite trail, the Hundred Mile Wilderness of the Appalachian Trail.  On Saturday morning, Dad dropped Kristel and I off in Monson as we took the scenic route to Camp Pine (the family retreat).  Getting rained on most of the day did not dampen the fun one bit, even if it did make the rocks and roots even more challenging than they already are.  A solid push through the 30 miles from Highway 15 to the KI road still took us almost 12 hours.  We probably would have been even slower if we hadn't met up with Whisper at Chairback Gap.  The way she was moving proved that my big sister is more than ready for the San Juan Solstice 50 next month and we only kept up with her because we knew she had food in her car at the KI road crossing.

On Sunday, Kristel and I headed out for another 16 miles under some wonderful sunshine.  We continued up the AT for an out and back to the Carl Newhall lean-to and then added a loop around the incredible Gulf Hagas.  We met the first SOBO (South-bound thru-hiker) of the year.  A young guy from Texas starting his journey to Georgia.  Inspiring stuff!

Day 1:

Our starting line, the southern end of the HMW.

North Pond outlet.

Little Wilson Falls.

Big Wilson Stream.



Wilson Valley lean-to.

Long Pond Stream.

 

Barren Mountain



Bog-loggin'

Some typical terrain in the Chairback-Barren Range.

A little sunshine on Fourth Mountain.

Third Mountain.

 

Chairback Mountain.

Day 2:

West Branch of the Pleasant River.

Gulf Hagas.

Screw Auger Falls.

 

Cheyenne Mountain 50K

Races hurt! I don't care if it's a 5K, 50K, or 100-miler.  The Cheyenne Mountain 50K was actually my first time racing this distance.  So at least it was a PR.  Some pretty nice trails there in Cheyenne Mountain State Park, but it took a double figure eight course to come up with an ultra distance.  It's never easy to pass by the finish line multiple times before actually getting to stop.  Anyway, I did slip into the top 20 with a 5:33 but far from what I was hoping for.  At least I beat the future Leadman by over an hour.  I hate the term "training race".  I was there to race, not to train. However, on a day that I never really felt good, endured some good pain, and pushed through to the finish, I will chalk it up as a good training race.

I did make a fun weekend of it down in the Springs, getting out on the big mountain (Pikes Peak) the next day.  Kristel and I took on the Incline and then a pleasant, easy run up to Barr Camp in some fresh snow.  I think I have got her convinced to take on a Pikes Peak Marathon some day soon.  A beautiful morning on the mountain and an official start to my altitude training for a couple of fun races in the San Juans that will be here before I know it.

Rim to Rim to Rim

The classic double-crossing of the Grand Canyon is now checked off from my list of "runs to do".  Kristel and I welcomed the first full day of Spring taking off from the Bright Angel Trailhead on the South Rim on a crisp, cool morning.  After jogging along the crowded Rim Trail to the South Kaibab Trailhead, we made our descent to the Colorado River where the temps quickly hit 80 degrees.  After crossing the Colorado and eating lunch at Phantom Ranch, we made the long 14 mile climb to the North Rim on the North Kaibab Trail, hardly seeing anyone all the way up.  It was hard to leave the cool air, beauty, and solitude of the North Rim, which was still closed to the public, but we eventually made our way back to the river before grinding our way back up to the South Rim via the Bright Angel Trail in the dark.  A total of 49.5 miles according to the trail maps.

Leaving the South Rim on South Kaibab

Colorado River coming into view

River crossing

A warm Phantom Ranch

Another water stop and trying to beat the heat

Views on North Kaibab Trail

The South Rim looks so far away with the San Francisco Peaks of Flagstaff in the distant

A cool and quiet North Kaibab Trailhead

Canyonlands

The pictures say it all.  A thorough tour of the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park with Kristel.  So nice to escape the polar vortices for some warm, dry trails.

164

So here is my annual end-of-year summary where I usually wrap up all the numbers and totals for the previous year.  However, I quit logging the numbers sometime around May 2013.  In fact, I rarely even wear a watch anymore when I head out for a run.  After more than 20 years of logging every run or workout, I no longer saw the need for it.  I am no less motivated as a result and think I only trained harder.  Probably because it feels less like "training" and more like something I just like to do.  The only number I continued to keep track of this past year, and the only number I have to report, is my number of Horsetooth Rock summits: 164.  I can't be completely sure, but I am guessing I climbed to the top of those rocks more than anyone else in 2013.  There's probably only one guy close to that, but he fell a full dozen short of 164.  A good wheat or IPA should suffice, Nick.

I have reset the summit counter for the new year and put up the race calendar as it stands so far for 2014.  Looking forward to many more fun adventures this year on the trail!

Chubby Cheeks IV

It's time to start tacking on roman numerals to this annual event.  Not quite the number of runners as usual with only 3 actually finishing the full El Chubbo Grande 50K, but below zero temps didn't stop the Chubster train from rolling on.  Of course, now a week later it's back to t-shirt running weather.  Thanks to Nick and family for hosting the party once again and huge props to everyone that tackled any of the frozen Chubby trails last Saturday.  I believe I got 1st place on the Kid's Fun Run course.

Brian and Debra pushing on up the climb.

Clarkie taking on the Horsetooth slopes.

Lewis basking in the pleasantly frigid Horsetooth summit air.

It didn't take long to warm up to the news that I would be Hardrocking for a third straight year.  I will be looking for redemption on the "easy" clock-wise route that did me in two years ago.  I've already got the race plan in place and if things go right I should kiss the rock in 33:44.  That probably won't even put me in the top 50 next year against this stacked field.

I'll be back!