Sandbeach Lake

20 Sunday Jul 2014

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I wake up the girls at 6:30am this morning because they want me to. We’re headed up to the Wild Basin area in Rocky Mountain National Park for a massive hike to Sandbeach Lake. Surprisingly, we’re out the door shortly after 7am. We stop by Big Daddy’s Bagels for something to start our engines before leaving the neighborhood and reach the trailhead by 8am.

The girls climb the first big rock they see. Brit’s been doing this ever since she saw Lion King as a three year old. Ellie can’t pass up a good rock either. She might wish she had because moments after this shot she slipped and slid down, scraping her leg. She toughs it out though and doesn’t cry. She toughs out a lot today because not only is our target lake 4.5 miles away from the trailhead, the entire trail is uphill. Rarely is it overly steep, but uphill at altitude is never easy.
Nice trail for the family and we see several. We see at least three groups of hikers returning from having camped out at the lake. Others are returning because they simply started before us. Smart as today is hot. There are several camp sites like this one along the way with access to water from a small but strong running stream. We find this camp sign ironic as the girl’s Uncle Steve has played at the Hole-in-the-Wall on Guadalupe in Austin a million times over the last thirty years. We figure this camp site is a tribute to that dive bar.

The entire hike is in the trees with only a few spots for views of the valley or Continental Divide. This is probably a good thing as the temperature soars well above 90° today. We take advantage of several creek crossings to cool off. Ellie is emboldened by her water-proof hiking boots and wades into deeper water than us to cool off. Brit and I can’t believe her feet remain dry. She pushes the boundaries often drowning her bootlaces. My RMNP trail guidebook suggests there are some downhill segments, but no down slopes ever present themselves for more than 20 yards in length. This is a long, hot, uphill slog.
Ellie’s patience wears thin as she discovers this trail will never go downhill until we turn around. I learn later from my Garmin that we climbed nonstop 2000 feet in elevation over 4.5 miles. Brit brilliantly provides Ellie a chocolate chip cookie (what do you pack for trail food?) and this enables Ellie to pull through for the final stretch. Then the lake presents itself through the trees. Even Ellie is wowed and says the hike is worth it. Sandbeach Lake is one of Rocky Mountain National Park’s biggest and deepest mountain lakes. The water is as clear as the sky.

The lake was dammed around 1900 to provide drinking water for our town – Longmont. The dam was dismantled in the ’80s and returned to its natural state, once again displaying the sandy beach for which it is named. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a sandy beach on a high-altitude mountain lake before. Sandbeach Lake offers stunning views of close-by peaks to the north and the Continental Divide to the west. You can almost watch water run off the moraine on the northern peaks to a waterfall flowing into the lake. The sound of flowing water is peaceful; this beach no doubt makes for a great camp site.

This is only one trail of many in the Wild Basin area of RMNP. The trails sit south of Mount Meeker, many leading to lakes and waterfalls. Our plans are to return each weekend that we can this summer to explore the other trails. The trailheads are less than an hour from our front door, just north of Allenspark, CO. We stopped in that little mountain haven on our return for a cold beverage. We later lunched at Lyons Fork in Lyons. Nice Sunday.

Alpine Tunnel

12 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

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CDT, Colorado Trail, continental divide, CT, Hancock Trailhead, high school reunion

Our final morning begins with a short hike, couple of miles maybe, back to the trailhead and La Plata’s truck. We lighten up our packs since we won’t need tents or sleeping bags for today’s hike. We then set out on our first northbound direction toward the Alpine Tunnel. This is what remains of an old rail line that supplied miners back in the day. The trail itself actually follows the old tracks, although only a few timbers remain.

There is a surprising amount of snow on the trail. Probably because the trail appears to be on the east side of a hill. And we are just under treeline as you can see in this photo. Each of us brought along our trekking poles in case we need them, which we do later. Initially though this trail, following an old railroad grade, is fairly pedestrian. Discounting the extreme altitude.

We also brought along head lamps thinking we would need them to walk through the tunnel. We were wrong. That’s the east portal of the tunnel behind us. Nowhere are there any signs or clues that the tunnel has been caved in for years. Maybe the west side is open but we don’t go there. Instead we hike up over the ridge to Tunnel Lake. This is where the trail becomes challenging. Snowfields are quite large. One forces us to bushwhack across a boulder field which is arguably more dangerous, albeit quicker to navigate.

Mike and I turn around at this lake while La Plata sprints a few minutes further to capture the pass as part of his CDT quest. Maybe Mike is trying to get to DIA early for his flight but he leads the return at such a torrid pace I am unable to keep up. He must have gotten in shape on this trip.

And seriously, what a week. Every day was simply amazing but at the same time, the week was totally exhausting. We are all ready to return home to our families, while talking about our next hike. La Plata wants to train us with some snow and ice skills. Mike wants to get his three boys up here. I want a shower. We clean up again at the Mount Princeton Hot Springs which is located on the drive off this mountain. Three hours later I drop off Mike at DIA. There most definitely will be a next time.

Cottonwood Pass

10 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

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CDT, Collegiates West Loop, Colorado Trail, CT, high school reunion

The Cottonwood Pass segment of trail had me more excited than any other during our planning phase because it begins at over 12,000 feet and stays there. It snakes back and forth between peaks from the east to west to east sides of the Continental Divide. Of course, with this season’s deep snow pack, it’s questionable how much of the trail will be passable. Almost immediately, we find ourselves bushwhacking off trail around glacial snow fields.

We plow over the easier snow fields, as Mike demonstrates here. It’s early morning so we don’t post-hole into soft snow. We do have to dig our boots into the snow pack though to gain our footing. This is a slow process. Fortunately there aren’t too many of these snow fields to navigate. It’s cloudy with strong winds. We suspect a storm is moving in so we keep a strong pace. Atop the first big hill we find a man-made wind break and tuck in behind the rocks for a spell. You find these rock walls on top of peaks occasionally.

We turn around after an hour or so once the trail becomes too buried under snow. We rush back at an even faster clip to beat the storm. Not that it’s raining or lightening, but because the wind is brutal – easily a sustained 25 mph. It’s almost comical when we pass another hiker, seemingly from some Monty Python skit, with a net chasing alpine butterflies. Seriously. Our hike south of Cottonwood Pass was short by our standards, but presented us with some spectacular views. I intend to return to this trailhead someday. We’re not done though. We move on to our next trail – Hancock Lake.

For this destination, we pass through BV again on our way south. This might actually have been the day we lunch at K’s Diner. I think I said it was yesterday in my previous blog post. The days are starting to run together in my memory. Next time I’ll take notes. I generally use my photos for a digital record. Unfortunately I didn’t take as many pics these days. I did get some of Mike’s pics this week though after he shared them on dropbox.

We scout a decent camping site along the trail up to Hancock Lake and snag it by dropping off our packs. The lake and Hancock Pass are not that far up the trail. Mike stops at the lake while I follow La Plata to the base of the pass. He’s running and I finally give up to rest at the bottom. La Plata is trying to hit a good point, such as the top of the pass, because he will return later from the south to hike there again from Monarch Pass. This is part of his goal to complete the entire Continental Divide Trail in sections.

This is our last night camping. La Plata builds his most admirable flame of the week. This site isn’t as devoid of dry wood as most. We recount our experiences from the week. Climbing a peak. Water rustling. Skinny dipping. Post-holing in snow. La Plata and I are so incredulous of Mike’s determination to tough out this altitude. We consider our favorite gear. I have several; my hiking boots, my puffy jacket, my sleeping pad and my water purifier. All winners. At 11,000 feet, the temperature cools down dramatically with the dropping sun so we retire to our tents with the coming darkness. Tomorrow will be our last hike, to the Alpine Tunnel.

Tincup Pass

06 Sunday Jul 2014

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Asian Palate, Buena Vista, BV, CDT, Collegiates West Loop, Colorado Trail, CT, Deerhammer Distillery, high school reunion, Mirror Lake, Tin Cup

We sleep in to almost 5:40 this morning. Today is a recovery day. We breakfast again at the Roosters Crow Cafe because it was that good the first time. I keep it light and only order one plate this time around.

First stop after breakfast is the Mount Princeton Hot Springs near Nathrop – a few minutes south of BV. This hotel and spa is located along Chalk Creek and sits only two miles east of the eastern loop of the Colorado Trail. Once there we acquire day passes to the spa. First order of business is a shower and shave. This spa is a little oasis in the wild. We receive big fluffy towels and robes, razors and combs, and libations. After we clean up, we spend the morning lounging in multiple hot springs of various temperatures and drinking Bloody Marys. The bartender runs them through a juicer which we don’t exactly approve of, but drink willingly anyway. Mike and I schedule treatments for mid afternoon while La Plata does laundry.

After a late lunch we drive back over Cottonwood Pass, leaving my car at the trailhead on top and take La Plata’s four wheel drive truck down into Tin Cup. We camp along Mirror Lake for a continuation of our epic adventure. The first photo above is of our early morning rise with the trail off to the left of the lake and Tincup Pass in the background. This photo is at the top of the pass, but we’re not yet done climbing.

We could stop here but instead determine to mount our first peak of the trip. It’s unnamed but rises north of the pass another 1100 feet. The jaunt to the pass itself was about three miles and took us only an hour bearing lighter packs. The climb up this unnamed peak is less than a mile but takes nearly another hour due to a steep slope.

Mike leads us to the top and the views are impressive. This is the Continental Divide and we can see both sides. Crested Butte fifty miles to the west. Aspen’s Maroon Belles to the north. God’s country everywhere. At over 12,000 feet, possibly heaven. The descent is tough on the quads and knees but quick. I leverage my trekking poles for stability. We reach Mirror Lake in another hour and this completes our shortest day to date. We head back over Cottonwood Pass Road for lunch at K’s Burger joint in BV. We run some errands and actually I forget what all we did for the afternoon.

Soon enough, we find ourselves sitting at the bar in the Deerhammer Distillery on Main Street – which is also Cottonwood Pass Road. Lenny serves us their products paired with stories. We learn that whiskey begins as beer mash, but is then distilled. We first drink Whitewater Whiskey which is, well, white. Or clear to be more exact. There is no color because it spends very little time aging in an oak cask. We follow this up with a more traditional oak-aged whiskey. A single malt named Down Time. Our final tasting is of a gin distilled over very unique botanicals. With this knowledge of their stock, we order more Bloody Marys fueled with Deerhammer Gin.

After happy hour, we cross the street to dine at the Asian Palate. La Plata and I have been here before. The three of us sit at the sushi bar to interact with the chef. He relates to us how the finer dining scene in the Arkansas River Valley has pushed north from Salida into BV and might one day reach Leadville. He’s a Vail transplant. We eat our fill while mapping out a strategy for backpacking the next two days. Our plan is for more day hikes like today. The benefit being we are able to leave heavier gear like our tents and sleeping bags in the car. Our packs will easily weigh less than half their original weight, and in fact do. Before dusk, we ride back up Cottonwood Pass Road and find a nice camp spot at a trailhead to an older CDT trail route. We’re learning our way around the Collegiates. Tomorrow, we plan to begin from Cottonwood Pass and hike south as far as the snow allows.

Collegiates Three Day Loop

05 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

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CDT, Collegiates East Loop, Collegiates West Loop, Colorado Divide Trail, continental divide, Cottonwood Pass, Eddyline, Texas Creek, Winfield

I wake up at what becomes our typical morning rise – 5:30am. Mike is already up and packing his gear. He’s fresh and ready for another day. I monitor his breakfast to ensure he eats plenty because today will be a Bataan 16 mile march. The altitude and amount of climbing should be less strenuous but that distance carting a 35 pound pack isn’t trivial. The plan is to carve out a mini 3 day loop from the 160 mile overall Collegiates loop. Our original plan had been to hike southbound down the western loop but the snowpack changed that yesterday. And we obtained reports from other northbound thru-hikers that other segments are impassable as well.

Today begins with a 6 mile stretch on a jeep road that follows Clear Creek down to its reservoir. We pass through Winfield, an old mining town – ghost town now – that sits unattended as a walk through museum of sorts. Pretty cool. The museum signs tell stories of water feuds and killings. About the time we discover we’re low on water ourselves, the creek becomes fenced in by a local ranch with no-trespassing signs that warn of prosecution. This is funny at first in light of the Winfield stories, but we actually are running low on water and have a full day’s hike in front of us.

Our experience hiking this segment of the east Collegiates Loop in 2011 suggests we might not find much water. That was later in the year and the creeks should be running strong now, but do we risk it? We find a good spot to jump the fence and rehydrate our camelbaks on the private ranch land. Let them shoot us. This is a health and safety issue. We quickly reach the trailhead to the CT after this resupply and launch up a sizable hill. The first photo above shows us on this climb with Clear Creek Reservoir and the private ranch below us in the background. The top of the ridge has us enter countless aspen groves like the one pictured here. Turns out there are a couple of strong running streams once we crest the ridge.

Fortunately the final ten miles on the eastern loop are mostly in the trees because today is hot. And we take advantage of every water source we encounter. We’re nearly giddy with relief once we spot the Twin Lakes coming down from a ridge. Sixteen miles with heavy packs, up and down massive hills, at altitude, is tough.

Even La Plata, the trail master, is exhausted. He revives himself by skinny dipping in the Twin Lakes. Likely as unauthorized as our water rustling earlier in the day. Mike and I soak our feet. We’re true trail trash by now. About the only thing we haven’t done is frequent respectable dining establishments with three days of sweat and trail dirt in our clothes and hair. We do that next.

From the Twin Lakes trailhead, we drive 20 minutes south to BV – our newly adopted mountain town that serves as base camp. We dine at Eddyline Brewery and not one of us thinks to clean up in the restroom. Too much hiking in the sun makes you stupid. Total trail trash. Eddyline, as well as a micro brewery, is essentially a pizza and burger joint. I don’t recommend ordering a steak, it’s not their specialty. We’re all satiated with food and beer by the time we leave. We cross the street and stealth camp along the Arkansas River. Tomorrow will be a rest and recovery day at the Mount Princeton Hot Springs.

Lake Ann Loop

04 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

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CDT, Collegiates, Collegiates West Loop, Colorado Trail, continental divide, CT, Huron Peak, Lake Ann Pass, REI, Stratus sleeping pad, The Three Apostles

We sleep hard and wake up refreshed around 5:30am. You would expect we slept well given our previous day’s activites, but I found it surprising. My experience camping on the cold, hard ground is that I’m typically up every hour peeing in the woods. Mike and I both credit our incredibly comfy REI sleeping pads. Mine is the REI insulated air Stratus model. It weighs less than 1.5 pounds and compresses to almost nothing inside my pack. It’s just wrong that most pads are larger and heavier than sleeping bags. I highly recommend this blow-up air pad.

Sipping our camp coffee, we recount our previous day’s activities and assess the corporeal damage. Our encounter near Twin Lakes yesterday with a young girl running harnessed to a pony has by now taken on mythological proportions in our memories. She looked 16 but might have been a 20-something elite runner. She was physically bound in leather straps to a pony and running behind it similar to the sport of skijoring. This morning she is a nymph traveling by unicorn. The affects of fatigue and coffee at altitude. My legs feel totally refreshed today but my shoulders are bruised from the weight of the pack. My right shoulder has a burn from sliding off and on the shoulder strap. Mike and I are both ready to join Rob though on yet another massive hike up yet another mountain pass.

We set out again following La Plata along a comparatively flatter trail that traces the contours of the south fork of Clear Creek as it rises towards its headwaters in Lake Ann. We have our trail legs under us today and our pace begins strong. I made adjustments to my backpack during the first hour of yesterday’s hike and the better fit mitigates that weighty beast of burden. The weather is ideal for hiking and even our southern compadre wears shorts today, and in fact every day.

We meet several other hikers today, including northbound thru-hikers. These are hikers who begin the CDT at the Mexico border and continue onward to Canada. We are considered section hikers ourselves. One such group of NoBo thru-hikers is a family of two athletic parents and a young girl no more than 12 years old. They relate their experience traversing Lake Ann Pass. A large snow field sits on the north side of the pass and they were required to glacade down – sliding on their bottoms using an ice ax like a rudder for control. A twelve year old did this! Amazing!

We consider the possibility that we might not be able to cross Lake Ann Pass. Final determination requires closer inspection so we continue our trek onward. We face a number of challenges on our way up to Lake Ann. Creek crossings are savagely perilous. I’m thankful for my waterproof boots. Snow pack across the trail increases as we approach Lake Ann above 11,000 feet. This reduces our pace to well under one mile per hour. Mike learns what a momentum killer it is to post-hole up to his crotch in freezing snow. Two days earlier he was basting in the 90° heat of Austin, Texas.

As we near Lake Ann, our progress slows to a crawl. We vote for La Plata to drop his pack and sprint up the rest of the way to scope out the possibility of us navigating the snow field atop the pass. Mike and I sit down to rest. La Plata returns 15 minutes later to report that we don’t stand a chance of crossing the pass. We don’t have the gear or quite frankly the skills and any attempt would be reckless. Way too early in this epic hike to kill ourselves on day two. Instead we map out plan B, deciding to make a loop out of returning to our car at Twin Lakes via the eastern loop of the Colorado Trail. We can’t reach that tonight but will hike a jeep road in the morning across the valley. It will be long at 16 miles but also below treeline, compensating the effort. La Plata and I are evasive in our responses to Mike when he queries us on the distance.

Today’s hike isn’t finished yet as we have several miles to backtrack and then hike up the trail that would lead to Mt. Huron. We have incredible views of the three Apostles all day, which are in the background of the fourth photo in this blog post. The temperature drops and it rains on our descent. This evolves into rather heavy snow, more than yesterday. Not so much as to obscure the trail but we found ourselves gearing up with rain protection on our return.

Once we reach a 4WD jeep road, we begin to discover choice camp sites. We desire one with ready access to water and stop once we find that. Mike retires to his tent without dinner. He may have experienced some altitude sickness today which makes it difficult to eat or drink. He misses out on our first campfire. We figure he’ll feel better once he stops hurting. We’ll check on him if he wakes up in the morning.

Hope Pass

29 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

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America's Biggest Loser, Buena Vista, BV, CDT, Collegiates West Loop, Colorado Trail, continental divide, CT, high school reunion, Hope Pass, Mike O'Neill, Patagonia, Punky's Diner, Roosters Crow, RRHS, Salomon, Twin Lakes, wieght loss training

Together with two friends, Mike and Rob whom I have known for 38 years, I set out last weekend to hike the Collegiates Western Loop of the Colorado Trail, where it follows the Continental Divide Trail west of Buena Vista. We met up in BV for BBQ at Punky’s Diner. Very tasty. Afterward we camped off Cottonwood Road since we were parking one of the cars here in the middle of our planned route. In the morning we ate breakfast at the Roosters Crow Cafe and began our southbound trek just north of BV at Twin Lakes.

The Twin Lakes are perched at 9200 feet off Hwy 24 and 82. We parked at the trailhead on the east side of the lakes and hiked the East Collegiate Loop CT well over a mile before reaching the intersection with the CDT and West Collegiate Loop. This newly designated trail runs for about three miles relatively flat and then rises through Little Willis Gulch over the next four miles to 12,540 feet, peaking at Hope Pass between Mt. Hope and Quail Mountain. I am pictured here with Rob aside the Twin Lakes with Colorado’s highest peak, Mount Elbert, in the background.

Carrying a 35 pound backpack, the 16% grade up to Hope Pass was exhausting. Despite the cool mountain morning air, I sweat profusely. I rethink my decision to not whack off my hair before this excursion. My three months of preparing for this effort consisted mostly of recovering from my surgery in early April. Walking, then running, and pelvic floor exercises. Man, I should have performed more leg weights and run some hills. My travails are nothing though compared to Mikes’.

Mike weighed 280 pounds when he committed to join us in early April. He lost a little over 40 pounds in his three months of training. Essentially, Mike was carting two additional backpacks in body weight than me up this hill. I wasn’t sure if this hike would be possible for Mike. Boy was I wrong. America’s Biggest Loser could not have pulled off what Mike accomplished. Averaging one mile per hour, Mike completed 12 miles in 12 hours at two miles of altitude. His FitBit reported his progress in terms of stair steps but otherwise lost its ability to accurately record the extreme results.

The trail over Hope Pass was buried under impassable snow. Rob lead us in a path that bushwhacked around the snow field. The Colorado Facebook page warned hikers that the Western Loop was still impassable due to such snow fields. With Rob, trail name La Plata, we were undeterred and ultimately reached the summit.

This was Mike’s first such summit, but only the first of many passes and saddles that lie before us. Despite our initial qualms, La Plata and I put our doubts aside about Mike’s ability to hike this trail with the unrelenting demonstration of will power required to mount this pass. For Mike, the views reinforced his commitment and confidence to continue forward.

We were then presented with a steeply dropping trail on the south side of the pass, three miles through switchbacks along Sheep Gulch – down into Clear Creek which lays between 9800 and 10,000 feet. It’s beyond me how runners of the Leadville 100 run over this pass in both directions as part of that storied ultra. The four mile ascent, nine miles total for the day, left us with very little strength for the descent. Our trekking poles kept us steady despite fatigued knees and burning thighs. Eventually, after a grueling plummet down Sheep Gulch, we reached a restful spot to make camp.

We took stock of our accomplished day as we setup our tents and replenished our water supplies. Mike and I were both quite pleased with some of our recent purchases – namely our Patagonia puff jackets and Salomon hiker boots. Mike was mixed on his collapsible trekking poles – they can be an irritating burden at times. And he didn’t care for the Epic protein bars although I absolutely loved them. 200 calories of tasty meat. Yum. Ending the day exhausted, there would be no campfire. I’m not sure we even made it to campers midnight – 9pm. We retired early and prepared for day two which would include another 12,000 foot pass above Lake Ann.

Collegiates West Loop

21 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

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AT, Buena Vista, BV, CDT, Clear Creek, Collegiates, Collegiates West Loop, Colorado Divide Trail, Colorado Trail, Coney Island, CT, DIA, high school reunion, Hope Pass, La Plata, Mike O'Neill, PCT, Robert Graham

I leave for the airport in another hour or two. I will pick Mike up this morning from under the Southwest Air Arrivals sign at DIA. His Southwest Flight 4316 from Austin arrives at 10:15am and he should be standing there by 11am.

I’ll bring along a photo album of my 500 mile Colorado Trail hike with Rob from three summers prior for Mike to peruse on the drive to Buena Vista. We’ll take Hwy 285 which I find more scenic than I-70. The two routes are equidistant. I plan to begin telling tales of the danger and pain that Mike can expect over the next week of backpacking. For instance, I’ll inform him, “Trailheads invariably reside along creek beds so that, regardless of direction, you begin hiking uphill. Your calves go numb after a half hour and never really thaw out the rest of the day. Whatever remains of your burning thighs is completely shredded on the subsequent thirty minute downhill. All you will think about for the next eleven hours is dinner to refuel your unsustainable calorie burn.” Mike will no doubt attempt to change the subject but I’ll maintain this dialog the entire three hour drive to BV. I’ll watch for the color to drain from his face when he spots the massive 14ers that will dominate our windshield coming down out of the canyon into BV. I’ll tell him these are the foothills to where we’ll be backpacking on the Continental Divide Trail further west. If Mike begins to feign altitude sickness, I’ll change the topic to dinner. “Want to do Sushi tonight? There’s a place on East Main Street called Asian Palate. They pour a wicked Saketini.”

I would of course only treat a good friend so poorly. I met Mike in 1976. Both our families recently relocated to Texas for jobs. Mine from Iowa. Mike’s dad worked for IBM and they moved down from Poughkeepsie. Nearly everyone’s parents worked for IBM in our high school as IBM was turning off the lights in their New York factories and joining the sunbelt, tech crowd in Austin. We first met on the football team. Then basketball. Then track. We both realized we weren’t big enough for Texas football and joined the cross country team our sophomore year. Running turned out to be our sport as we lead our team to State our senior year. Making state in Texas is like making global in smaller states.

Mike went on to UT but later joined me at Texas State to run Cross Country for a year. I believe he double-majored in either accounting or finance and information systems. Mike, Rob and I got into triathlons after college for maybe a year or two and trained together. Mike soon married, had kids and moved to Atlanta for a job. We went twenty years without seeing each other until my firm acquired an Atlanta cyber security company and I began to travel there.

We hook up with Rob (trail name La Plata until he completes the CDT) in BV. La Plata has solo through-hiked both the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and the Appalachian Trail (AT). He section-hiked the Colorado Trail (CT) with me over a six month period in 2011. This new 80 mile section of the CT that we intend to backpack coincides with the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) along the western side of the Collegiates, so La Plata is killing two birds with one stone. He’ll hike the section south of Monarch Pass earlier today while Mike and I are driving.

Rob moved to Texas his junior year, meeting Mike and me during our sophomore year – on the cross country team. Both of Rob’s parents were IBMers. Ironically, I’m the only one of us three to work for IBM now. Perhaps not so ironic. La Plata was an intense hiker even back then. We nick-named him Trail Master during one of our storied camping trips to Pedernales Falls. La Plata obtained his EE from UT and worked a few years for Lockheed before going back for a masters in education in physical fitness. He married, moved around a bit – Seattle, then Portland – before settling in Colorado. We’ve been hiking together since. We always would say, “We need Mike to join us.”

Mike and I will find La Plata somewhere in BV. We’ll shuffle his car to the trailhead atop Cottonwood Pass and descend back down to BV for dinner. Mike and I will have lunched earlier on the road trip in Baily at Coney Island. La Plata has a stealth camp setup near the Arkansas River where we plan to ensconce for the night. Sunday, we’ll head for the Twin Lakes trailhead to launch an epic backpacking excursion.

Collegiates & Gear

15 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

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backpacking, Big Agnes, Collegiates, Collegiates West Loop, Gregory Baltoro, high school reunion, hiking, jetboil, Patagonia, Salomon, SteriPEN

I begin my 80 mile backpacking adventure along the Collegiates West Loop of the Colorado Trail next weekend. My two best friends from high school planned this reunion of sorts back in April when they thought I was dying from cancer and they might never see me again. Suckers. Whatever it takes man, I’ll play the C card if that’s what it takes to get these boys back in the saddle. The two months of planning though have been brutal. We’ve been emailing back and forth almost daily with anticipation. And praying the snow pack melts sufficiently above 11,000 feet to keep this hike from becoming a snowshoe event. Other than following snow conditions, much of our correspondence has been about gear. Karen and the girls gave me this waterproof, oilskin fedora this morning for Father’s Day. It completes my packing list.

I’ll be packing a ton of new gear. I bought this JetBoil gas burner for a mountain relay event last year that got rained out from the Great September Flood. Everything stores inside the canister for a tight fit. I’m guessing I’ll only need one fuel canister for the trip but I’ll pack an extra in the car. We will park a car half way on Cottonwood Pass to reload supplies.

Yet another cool gadget that I have yet to use is this Black Diamond Voyager Lantern. It was a Christmas gift from my brother-in-law and I’ve yet to go camping since he gave it to me. I’ll use a headlamp too of course because that works so well when setting up a tent at night. But this will work well to light up my tent when getting dressed before the sun rises.

Speaking of tents, this is my trusty one-man, Seedhouse SL1 tent from Big Agnes – an outdoor gear outfit from Steamboat. I used this tent for my Colorado Trail journey in 2011. It’s nice knowing I have some durable gear and that I don’t have to buy everything new for this trip. My sleeping bag also comes from Big Agnes.

My Gregory Baltoro 75 backpack also makes a return appearance from my first backpacking experience on the Colorado Trail. This is a massive pack. I could possibly get by with a smaller pack but I’m not that experienced at packing and don’t have ultra light gear. I’m experienced enough now though that I know how to pack this puppy. That link is to an REI video with tips for loading backpacks. Essentailly, keep heavy gear close to your spine. Consider loading your sleeping bag at the bottom. Put gear such as maps and other items you might need ready access to in a quick side pocket. I’m still trying to decide whether to load a 2 liter or 3 liter camel back water reservoir in my pack. Huge weight difference and I doubt I’ll ever drink 3 liters on the trail.

One item that will save space in my pack is my new Patagonia Nano Puff jacket. This is so light and compressed, relative to my 15 year old, bulky ski jacket. I might not need it during the day but the temperature can really drop at night. And I doubt we’ll escape rain. I also have a rain poncho to go over myself and pack that I got with my swag bag from the Durango Double Ultra last year. This jacket might have been my first purchase for the trip. I got it during REI’s annual sale at 30% off.

Another really exciting new piece of gear to my collection is this pair of Salomon Quest 4D GTX hiking boots. I’m excited because I’ve always only hiked in trail running shoes in the past. I’m hoping these relieve my feet and ankles of the expected fatigue after 12 hours on the trail. I like the freedom of running shoes. I absolutely love trail running. I don’t expect to be running though carrying a 35 pound backpack. My rationale for purchasing the boots was to be prepared for hiking across snow drifts. My experience hiking with Rob is that it’s doable without snowshoes but trekking poles are key. Crossing snow drifts is also much easier early in the day before the sun turns the snow into slush. Plus I typically let Rob lead so I can follow through his post-hole steps.

The puffie and boots are my two big purchases. Got meaningful discounts on both. Food is the last topic area. Might not qualify as gear to some but food is very important to me. I hate most sports/energy food. Porting real food though isn’t too wise backpacking. Not because of the weight so much as that it can attract bears. I began reading Bill Bryson’s Into the Woods last night and I’m suddenly fearful of bears. I discovered these EPIC natural food energy bars recently and they are awesome. Some guy in Austin, Texas makes them. You can order them online, I’ve yet to see them in stores. They offer turkey, beef and lamb along with bison and average a good 200 calories. It’s not easy replenishing calories while backpacking so high calorie foods are important. My girls liked these epic bars so much hiking last weekend that I had to order more for my trip.

I’m going high tech for water purification. Mike bought one of these too. Rob will have his water pump so we’re covered with multiple solutions if this gadget doesn’t live up to its hype. This only works well though for clear water, but I don’t expect to be wading through any murky streams at 12,000 feet. When you are hiking across the top of the Continental Divide, this early in the season with the snow melt flooding every gulch, it’s highly unlikely there will be sheep or cattle grazing above the water supply. I hope to report good results on this SteriPEN water purification tool. I suspect the way I will use it is to leverage a water bottle for collecting water. Use this UV light tool to purify the water. Then pour the water into my reservoir. Shouldn’t be too kludgy a process. I’ll report back on the success or failure of all my gear. I’m writing about it now because I’m organizing and packing this weekend. I don’t expect to be blogging from the trail but I might take notes on my iPhone’s Evergreen app to assist in recalling details.

Twin Sisters

07 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail, Ellie Rose

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Estes Park Resort, Grags, hiking, Longs Peak, Oscar Blues, RMNP, Rocky Mountain National Park, summer camp

After the snow pack we encountered on last weekend’s trail, our objective today was to find a trail with southwestern exposure. The Twin Sisters trail in Rocky Mountain National Park fit the bill. Plus it starts out 1000 feet lower around 9000 feet. This trailhead sits east of Lilly Lake just off Hwy 7, a few miles north of Long’s Peak Trailhead. We spent the night nearby at the Estes Park Resort. A very nice lodge and spa on Lake Estes. We drove there Friday evening after picking up Ellie from the last day of her computer programming summer camp at CSU in Ft. Collins. The drive to Estes Park from Ft. Collins is similar to the drive from Longmont. You take Hwy 34 via Loveland instead of Hwy 36.

The Weather Channel had us set for 50° and rain. Instead it was gorgeous. Clear skies and 60°. Parking at the trailhead was nearly full. Mostly for a wedding across the road at Lilly Lake. This is clearly a very popular trail, but we got there early enough with our short drive from Estes Park. The trail begins for a few hundred yards on a dirt road that’s closed to traffic. It then veers off to the left with a large sign. The first mile is a bit of a workout up to these cliffs. The slope flattens out once it completes some switchbacks and turns south. I think these cliffs are part of the Grags formation, which are more popular for climbers than hiking.

Karen I turned around when we encountered this landslide that obliterated a hundred yard swath of trail. Brit and Ellie were undaunted. They maintained course for the saddle that sits between the Crags and the Twin Sisters Peaks. This avalanche was pretty impressive. Apparently caused from flooding, it knocked out trees clear down to Hwy 7 leaving quite an ugly scar on the mountain. We reached our turn-around point at just over an hour of hiking which gave us a two hour hike total. We waited for the girls on a bench over-looking Lilly Lake.

Brit and Ellie took another hour or so to climb up the steep switchbacks that lead to the saddle. They said they had to scramble a bit using their hands – the trail was so steep. Doubtful Karen would have liked that. I wouldn’t say this trail was crowded but we encountered quite a number of other hikers – including a couple of shirtless boys that Ellie said were eying Brit. Brit told Ellie she thought the boys must go to CU – because they were “buff”.
I highly recommend this trail for family hikes. The views of Long’s Peak to the west are awesome. It’s definitely a workout but very doable by all skill levels. And if you want to let the kids hike, you can choose to hang out at Lilly Lake. There’s a short mile trail around the lake that I wouldn’t mind visiting for a run. The trailhead has a restroom, and the scenery is stunning. We drove back home along Hwy 7 and stopped for lunch at Oscar Blues in Lyons. Looks like it might rain now but we had a beautiful Saturday morning.

Acclimate

01 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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2014 Bolder Boulder, Brainard Lake, LoBo Trail, Millsite Inn, Salomon

Not the best week to jump from 3 to 8 mile runs. At first I thought maybe I fell drastically out of shape. I was running so slow it was hard to keep my balance. I ran faster though under cooler clouds Thursday. That confirmed for me that I am acclimating to the heat. And that I need to increase my focus on hydration.

I ran 12 miles Saturday on the LoBo Trail. The weather was in the 70°s. I can handle that. I wore my camelbak to remain well hydrated. Felt strong. Safe to say I’m recovered and I’m back. My expectations were to not be running for three months after my surgery. It’s only been two months and I’m back to running my old workouts. Maybe I should be bummed over having had cancer. Instead I feel fortunate. And 28 grams lighter.

Acclimating to the heat is one thing. To prep for my 80 mile backpacking trip along the Continental Divide at the end of June, I need to acclimate to the altitude. One mile high isn’t good enough. I need to get closer to two miles high. So that’s what I did this morning with Ellie. We drove up to Brainard Lake and hiked on the snowshoe trail. We could have used snowshoes in fact, the snow was several feet high in spots. It was good we both wore hiking boots and that we brought trekking poles. I didn’t expect this much snow at 10,000 feet, but apparently Brainard Lake is on the northeast side of the mountain. The road up to the lake itself is still closed.

We lunched at the Millsite Inn. The waitress said they just got a four foot dump of snow over Mother’s Day, and that it even snowed a bit early this morning. The Inn was out of many of their menu items – as usual. They said they were low on supplies due to the winter. Never mind they are open throughout the winter. Still, we had some good cheese burgers and listened to live music.

I was happy to test out my new hiking boots today. I post-holed several times into hidden streams flowing under the snow packed trail. The water-proof feature works. I’m not used to wearing boots and they feel a bit odd. Still, these Salomon Quest 4D GTX hiking boots are extremely light. I just need to get comfortable with the large footprint. Ellie and I plan to hike together the next couple of weekends. I need to find some trails at higher elevation that aren’t buried in snow. I’m currently reading through a trail book for Rocky Mountain National Park. Any suggestions, let me know.

Walking Boulder

26 Monday May 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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2014 Bolder Boulder, knee pain, Kristy Humes, Massage Envy, RMT, sartorius, Sebesta

When does Memorial Weekend start? For Ellie, school ended for summer break Thursday. For Karen and me, it started Friday evening with a couple’s massage. We’re currently on an alcohol abstention binge, so it seemed smart to substitute one form of relaxation for another. Happy Hour for Massage Envy. It worked out nicely. Kristy Humes, my registered massage therapist, gave me some tips on the knee pain I’ve had since last fall. Kristy suggested it is my sartorius which is a two-jointed muscle extending from the outside hip down and across the thigh to the inside knee. This video shows me how to stretch it.

I ran my longest distance of the last 2 months Saturday – five miles on Eagle Trail. I included the 200 feet in elevation climb up to Mesa Trail. I averaged just under a ten minute pace. That’s a good measure ( 2 minutes per mile) of the conditioning I’ve lost since my surgery. Adding injury to insult – I chaffed my inner thighs. Darn it. Still, I enjoyed extending my distance. The trail was muddy from all the rain but it didn’t bother me. I got in another good run Sunday. Eight miles. Huge! I intended to turn around after three but pulled a Forrest Gump and kept running.

Ellie and I woke up early today to walk the Bolder Boulder. We met up with Amy and the Sebesta girls for the bus ride down to the start. We jumped in the final wave and joined the party. The girls wanted to run at times and we ended up finishing quite a bit faster than I expected, in 1:50. That’s a 17:27 pace which is a few minutes faster than an average walking pace. Not bad considering the tens of thousands of walkers/runners we had to wade through. A pattern emerged wherein the girls would run on the downhills.

We met up with Wendy and Chase somewhere in the middle. They were dressed festive. This year’s Bolder Boulder reminded me of the last time I walked it about ten years ago with Brittany when she was Ellie’s age. I don’t know how many runners entered this year but the crowd in Folsom Stadium at the end was as large as for any CU Buffs football game. We watched the elite men and women races finish. I don’t think it was a fast day due to the heat, but those elites looked impressive. Makes me want to get into racing shape.

Plodding

18 Sunday May 2014

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Boulder Marathon, Eagle Trail

I ran with my team for the first time since having surgery. Not that I ran much further or faster than I’ve been running on my own, but there’s a confirmation of sorts when you discover you can maintain pace with others. It felt good. Ironically, both Steve and Jen are coming back from injuries too and like me had to keep their distance under four miles. We ran 3.75 miles on the Eagle Trail. Keith, the 52 year old birthday boy, kept running after we finished.

I can feel that I haven’t lost much fitness from my surgery. I was concerned a bit because the affects of the anaesthesia impacted my lungs for a few weeks. I need to give my body a couple more weeks of light duty before returning to my standard regimen. Waiting is a bit tedious but I don’t feel any pressure to rush things. I’ve accepted that I have to remain patient. I cancelled the Boulder Half and committed to simply walk the Bolder Boulder. I opted instead to volunteer as a road marshal for the Boulder Half. And the Bolder Boulder is more of a festival really, a celebration of running. Walking it with my wife and daughter will be satisfying enough. Changing my goals by continuing to participate, although not racing, helps overcome the plodding pace of my recovery.

In fact, I don’t have another race scheduled until this fall. The Boulder Marathon. I’m comfortable that I’m starting from a strong enough base to be ready for that. I don’t generally challenge myself with very aggressive goals for a marathon. Finishing seems like a reasonable accomplishment for that distance. Given my circumstances though, the shortened racing season, I might push myself. Targeting a fast time might not be as smart for this course. I could for the Denver Marathon – that’s a fast course. I don’t know that I should consider two marathons this fall though. My thoughts right now are to try maintaining pace with my buddy Chris. He’s a sub 3:30 marathoner. I want to see how far I can run at that pace. That’s the goal.

The Gap

11 Sunday May 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail, Running

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Buena Vista, BV, Collegiates West Loop, Colorado Trail, continental divide, high school reunion, Hope Pass, Mt. Princeton Hot Springs

Ran for the second day in a row. I dressed in tights and a light jacket to withstand the blowing snow and 38°, but man it felt so good. I can feel that I’ve lost my strength. My speed is back at zero. But I also can sense that I could regain my fitness fairly quickly with enough discipline. Thirty days will not create too large of a gap to overcome before my next big event. Of course, my next big event is no longer the Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day – I’ll be walking that with Ellie. My next race is now set for the fall – the Boulder Marathon. I took second in my age division last time around. The goal this year is to maintain pace with my buddy Chris Price and try to win my age group. This photo is of my last event two weeks before surgery – the Moab Half Marathon.

If I broaden my scope beyond simply running, my next big event is really an 80 mile hike along the Continental Divide on the Collegiates West Loop of the Colorado Trail. I’ll pick up Mike at DIA, Saturday morning June 21. He’ll fly out from his home in Atlanta. We’ll drive three hours directly to Buena Vista to hook up with Rob. This photo captures the three of us preparing for a 10K road race 35 years ago in high school. I know what you’re thinking. I haven’t aged much.

We plan to start from Twin Lakes and hike south toward Monarch Pass. This is where Mike and I gain our trail legs. The Twin Lakes Trailhead sits at 9200 feet off Hwy 24 and 82. The trail leads south/southwest and rises through Little Willis Gulch over the next six miles to 12,500 feet, peaking at Hope Pass (pictured here) – which is the highest point of the Leadville 100 trail run. This is an average 10% rise, which at altitude will have Mike and me breathing as hard as if we were running. I only mention me and Mike because Rob is a mountain goat. The trail then drops steeply, three miles through some switchbacks along Sheep Gulch down into Clear Creek which lays between 9800 and 10,000 feet. This 16% down slope should sufficiently shred all our knees. We’ll end our first day either here in Sheep Gulch or a few miles down along Clear Creek and set up camp.

We follow Clear Creek west along the Pack Trail for three miles and veer left (south) at the South Fork. We follow this course and reach Lake Ann after six additional miles. Assuming this is day two, we might rest here at 11,800 feet for lunch. We start up again heading south and rise up to a saddle at 12,600 feet after another mile. We quickly drop back down to 11,000 and bounce along a series of undulations between 11K and 11,200 feet before settling around 11,400 feet along the Timberline Trail. After eight and a half miles, we drop through Prospector Gulch to Texas Creek. This puts us back onto Pack Trail and we follow the creek for another four miles before crossing it. We could camp out somewhere within those four miles. After crossing Texas Creek, we rise up above treeline and continue for yet another four miles, veering onto the South Fork of Texas Creek until we reach Cottonwood Pass which sits at 12,200 feet. One of our cars will be parked here with a cooler of libations.

We’ll shuffle a car down to Monarch Pass, likely adjust our gear, and then eat a real dinner in BV. If we have time, we’ll also squeeze in a bath at the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. The second forty miles of our backpacking trip will continue from Cottonwood Pass and end at Monarch Pass. The average elevation will hover at 12,000 feet. Despite it being the end of June, at this altitude there will be snow. The entire 80 mile hike will take either five or six days. We have enough time in our plan for contingencies. I agreed to this get together just after my surgery while still sporting a catheter tethered to my bladder. A boy needs goals. I had no ideal then if I’d be prepared but now that I’m running again I feel fully confident I can hang with these guys. Time to close the gap.

Milestone

10 Saturday May 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Boulder Bookstore, Chautauqua, groin pain, Mesa Trail, Prostatectomy, Sushi Hapa

Running has never felt so good. After over five weeks convalescing and walking, I ran three miles today. My expectations were set for July, but my Urologist did tell me I might be back within a month. I ran the same trail along Left Hand Creek that I’ve been walking everyday. I don’t know if I can express how much reaching this milestone means to me emotionally. I had a silly grin on my face the entire run. Running means more to me for my mental health than physical. I feel like this could be the end of the health-related distractions and lack of focus. I’m back.

My groin began to hurt half way through the run. That was less than ideal, and a bit of a surprise. I was monitoring my abdominal pain, breathing and dizziness. My stomach didn’t hurt until after I stopped running. While walking a quarter mile cool down, my scars tightened. My PT yesterday taught me how to massage my incisions in a circular fashion to break up the scar tissue. I’ll put some emphasis on doing that. I was mostly nervous over my breathing and dizziness because I’m still somewhat freaked out by the impact from four hours of anaesthesia. Thankfully I was fine.

My groin pain wasn’t extreme by any means but it did help me confirm my commitment to not exceed three miles. Pushing myself to the point of injury doesn’t buy me anything. A one or two mile run would have provided me the same level of satisfaction and confidence that I am progressing. I’m not in a race, I just need to demonstrate forward progress. There are times when you need to run through some discomfort. There are times when you need to train through injury. This is not one of those times. I emailed my PT to ask about what I should think about the groin pain. She responded within a few hours, on a Saturday, with advice. She’s a keeper. I describe Jenn in more detail on my prostate blog.

photo removed
Feeling totally stoked, I wasn’t done for the day. Ellie and I went for a two mile hike on Mesa Trail in Chautauqua Park. Such perfect weather to be outside. Hard to imagine the forecast for snow and sub-freezing conditions the next two days. We followed up the hike with lunch at Sushi Hapa, a browse through the Boulder Bookstore, and some light shopping at the Farmer’s Market. Ellie bought the next three books in The Maze Runner series at the bookstore. I bought some bread and two tomato plants at the farmer’s market. Wow, today is only half over. What’s next?

Volunteer

05 Monday May 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Boulder Spring Half Marathon 2014, Jessica Dillon, Nicki Fong, Nuta Olaru, race results

Sunday morning’s Boulder Half Marathon was on my calendar. I planned to run initially but opted out for volunteering instead. My expectations were set to serve as a road marshal. I got there a bit too early though, at 6:15, so was assigned an additional task. I had to control access to Valhalla Road to ensure runners didn’t park in that street’s neighborhood. This positioned me where the race leaves the Boulder Res onto the Boulder back roads. I suspect that is why the race director then just had me work that position as a road marshal. My job was to point runners down the road, and then back into the Boulder Res on their return. This photo of the 5 mile women’s top 3 finisher, Nuta Olaru, captures my control point. Amazingly, according to the published race results, Vicki Fong took both first and second place, but I somehow didn’t see her or any other woman pass by before Nuta.

I don’t recall ever volunteering for a road race. Ever. I’m always a participant. I volunteered for this really more for myself. It was an attempt to stay positive while not being able to participate. I need to stay out there. From a working perspective, I can tell you volunteer roles are organized chaos. Despite all the planning that must go into these events, the race director was clearly making decisions on the fly. Probably a new decision every minute or two. He no doubt has experience at this but pretty impressive. I expected I might enjoy this and I did.

Probably what lead to my enjoyable experience is that I truly like watching runners run. Especially elite runners, which was the case for the 5 mile event. It was a USAA Track & Field Colorado Championship event. Watching these athletes simply stand, let alone run, leaves me slack-jawed. I wonder if I ever looked that fit in my youth.

The other aspect of volunteering that I found enjoyable was the dialog with the various runners who would say thanks and a few other words. So many really nice people. And watching them experience a race was cool too. Especially on their return. They had nearly a quarter mile to finish when they passed me on their return. Whether they looked strong or totally exhausted, they all shared the same determination. A few couldn’t make it. One woman was clearly ready to fall to the ground. Her partner was escorting her. Tragically, another woman dropped from a heart attack 100 yards past me. Twenty year old Jessica Dillon later died at the hospital. It is unknown at this time if she had a pre-existing condition. I had to call medical assistance for yet another guy who was severely dehydrated. The race results don’t capture this but an eighty plus year old woman finished the half in under four hours.

The whole time I worked alongside an impressive amateur athlete about my age. Her name is Fran. She recently completed the Boston Marathon. She related to me that she likes to volunteer for a few events every year in order to give back. I might start doing the same. This final photo is of the half marathon winner, forty year old Darrell Railsback. He ran 1:19:20. Pretty speedy for a forty year old. That’s Fran at the top of the hill.

Devil’s Thumb Ranch

27 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Snowshoe

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CDT, continental divide, Devil's Thumb Ranch, snowshoe, Sorel Conquest snow boots, Tabernash, Winter Park

I’m interrupting my hiatus to report to you a continuation of this season’s snowshoe activities. Although I didn’t actually snowshoe. Ellie wanted to visit the mountains for her birthday and sonofagun if they don’t still have some snow. We drove up Friday evening after work in about 90 minutes. Winter Park still has some ski runs open but we didn’t go there. Devil’s Thumb Ranch is a few miles further north off Hwy 40. Turn east at the town of Tabernash onto County Road 83. DTR is three miles down this road tucked into a meadow hanging off the western side of the Continental Divide.
The weather Saturday was gorgeous. Karen and I hiked around the meadow for an hour in the morning while the girls swam. Ellie brought along her friend Ivy. Brit was back home working and watching the house and dog. The pool is outdoors but heated. Karen and I had to negotiate around mud and random streams of melting snow on our hike, but it was nice. Later in the morning, the girls did archery out in the meadow while Karen and I hung out at the pool. We also did some weights. This was my first time lifting weights since my surgery. Karen also introduced me to planks. I took it easy and felt fine. The swimming felt like a great exercise to stretch out my abdomen.

We woke Sunday to a few inches of fresh snow and cooler weather. Perfect for snowshoeing, although not for horseback riding. The girls planned to ride at 9:30 but the Stables cancelled the outing due to unsafe conditions. In addition to ice on the trails, a 25 mph wind was blowing which would have made the event unpleasant. I struck out on my own per plan though. I left the snowshoes off opting for my Sorel Conquest winter hiking boots. I could have used snowshoes after the first mile.

The wind dissipated after I crossed the meadow and reached some trees. This is also where the snow deepened. I post-holed a bit but only up to my shins. This didn’t completely kill my momentum but it made for a tough slog. I was smart enough to bring along my trekking poles. While snowshoes weren’t absolutely necessary, I would not have been able to hike very far without the poles. From the lodge, which sits at 8500 feet, I started out via the Interpretive Trail until I reached Horizon. I took Horizon north to the stables where I merged onto the Moosestomp Trail. I took this up to 8800 feet which is about the boundary of the ranch.

I crossed several creeks that were not on the map. Not that I took a map but later I compared my Garmin results to the trail map. A meadow like this undergoing massive snow melt has innumerable, ephemeral creeks. Pretty happy with my boots for keeping my feet cozy. My boots were often under several inches of water but my feet remained dry and comfortable. My total distance was 3.31 miles with a 22 minutes per mile pace. Seemingly slow but not really given the conditions. This is easily my biggest workout since my surgery on April 2nd. Naturally I was winded but I was never light-headed or dizzy. It appears the anaesthesia has finally worked its way out of my lungs.

Vacationing in the mountains during springtime is tricky given the random weather and certainty of mud. This worked out well for me though. Ellie enjoyed the archery and got in tons of swimming. I got in my best workout of all of April. I’m starting to think I might be running again well before my target date of July. In fact, I have an aggressive plan to hike 80 miles along the Continental Divide Trail at the end of June. That won’t be running necessarily, but it will be five days of hiking around an average elevation of 12,000 feet. This spring is mostly downtime for me but I expect to back be on track this summer.

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Hiatus

29 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney | Filed under Storytelling

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Rainbow Lakes

23 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Snowshoe

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Black Forest Restaurant, Nederland, Sourdough Trail

After a month long break, Karen and I headed back up the hill to continue our snowshoe season. The drive up was icy and we only drove about 35 mph. The Peak-to-Peak Hwy 72 was in better shape and we decided on the fly to pass up our previous trailheads and launch from Rainbow Lakes. The entrance to this trailhead is almost exactly five miles south of the road to Brainard Lake. This is the south end of the Sourdough Trail, which we hiked in a northerly direction.

We expected cooler weather but we stepped out of the minivan into full sun and 30° with very little wind. Zero wind on the trail in the trees. I was surprised at how large the parking area is at the trailhead, which sits less than a half mile off the highway. I left my jacket in the car and Karen tied hers’ around her waist. A woman cross country skier headed out ahead of us and we saw two other couples on the trail. Otherwise I imagine everyone else was home today watching March Madness. Couch potatoes missed an awesome day to be in the mountains.

We slogged for one and a half miles, up hill the entire way, before turning around. We got in three miles in ninety minutes. The ascent made for a great workout. The trailhead sits at 9200 feet and we turned around at 9800 feet.

We decided to drive back through Nederland since it was closer than Lyons. We lunched at the Black Forest. I recalled eating their steak tartare once before so I ordered that again. So satisfying. Karen savored the fresh fish catch of the day – trout sautéed with parsley butter and lemon, potatoes and vegetables . Just another perfect snowshoe outing.

This is likely our last of the season. We’re thinking of spending next weekend in Denver with the kids to see a play and the Denver Art Museum. I have surgery after that and won’t be active for possibly three months. That might make this blog somewhat inactive. I’m blogging about my medical escapades on another site. Here’s a link if you’re interested and can handle graphic content.

Moab 2014

15 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Tags

lodging, Moab Half Marathon, race results

After a super nice dinner last night at Jeffreys, I sleep well and wake up Saturday morning by 6am. Karen and I are staying in the Entrada room at Cliff Rose Flats. Nicely appointed room with a Moab theme; a couple of blocks from the park where I pick up the bus for the race start, and where the race ends. I’d consider staying here again.

I gear up and head over to the Red Rock Bakery for a couple of coffees. Karen is up too. I buy coffee here every year because it’s good and the Irish guy running the place is cool to talk to. Upon returning to Entrada, I eat some sheep’s milk yogurt, breakfast bar, and a Naked juice. I top my coffee off with some of Karen’s and head over to the buses at 7:30. I spill some of the coffee onto my fleece warmups on Hwy 128. It’s a bumpy ride in school buses.

It’s a long wait for the start. The half doesn’t launch until 10am. This event needs time for the logistics of busing 4000 runners up the canyon. I don’t find Keith until 9:30. I find him at the gear truck. We reluctantly strip down to the minimum race gear and toss our bags in the truck. Keith leaves on two ugly, long-sleeve t-shirts that he plans to leave on the side of the road before the gun fires. Smart way to stay warm. I have my share of ugly shirts. In fact, I have the same ones Keith has.

It’s only cold when the wind blows, which is randomly gusty. The temperature is in the upper 40s. The gun fires and we cross the starting line fairly quickly as we are lined up only about 30 yards back. Still, the first mile is crowded. This is one of the most crowded races ever. Hwy 128 is extremely narrow and without shoulders. One side is mostly bordered by a 2000 foot cliff. The other by a drop into the Colorado River. I’m hoping to run faster than last year’s 8 minutes for the first mile. My Garmin captures a 7:20 at mile one. I probably didn’t need to run quite that fast. My goal is to average a 7:30 mile for this run.

I’m able to run faster as the crowd thins out and record a 6:56 for mile two. I don’t really want to break 7 minute miles so I try to run with a bit more discipline. I don’t feel winded though, although I’m breathing a bit heavy. Mile three comes in at 7:07 and mile four comes in at 6:58. A bit fast but steady. I see Abby at this time but she slows down at the water station and I don’t see her again. I finally smooth out my pace a bit in mile five which comes in at 7:23. Both miles six and seven are 7:33. Exactly what I want to run. I want to hold this pace. And I seem to be doing just that.

I see these times after uploading them to Garmin.com. I stop looking at my watch after mile two because I lost the GPS signal and don’t trust the results. I don’t feel like I need the Garmin either. At least not while running. I do like reviewing my splits online after the race. I know I’m running well because I’m breathing hard while my legs don’t feel heavy. So no oxygen debt. This is like walking a tight rope and I’m walking it without a net. Well actually I do have a net. If I hit oxygen debt, I’ll slow down.

I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold this pace. Doubtful for the entire distance. I could slow down now to save energy. That’s a typical strategy when you’re racing a heat and simply need a certain time or place to qualify for the next heat. I’m not doing that. And because this could be my last race for a fairly long time, I’m just going for broke. I’m going to run hard until I can’t anymore. That happens soon enough.

I run mile eight in 7:31 and the ninth mile in 7:26. This feels great. I’ve been passing runners non-stop the entire course. The tenth mile leads uphill and is paired with a wicked wall of wind. My pace drops dramatically. I know about this hill and was prepared to accept slowing down for it. This massive wind was not anticipated and I didn’t expect to slow down quite this much. A few runners pass me and makes me question if it isn’t something else. They have the same wind and hill. I pull out a gel in case this is a nutritional thing. I finish it before reaching the top. My pre-race plans included the hope that I could fly down this hill. That doesn’t happen and I run mile ten in 8:03. A dramatic thirty second slow down.

The 1:40 pace sign catches me – I’d passed them somewhere in the first half. I resolve to run with them. Since I started a minute or two behind them, hanging with them will have me under 1:40 – which is exactly what I want. Then a freakish thing happens. My hat blows off and I have to turn around to chase it in the wind. This is probably good for a ten second hit to my pace, but I keep running hard. I finish mile eleven in 7:50. I don’t catch back up to the pace sign though.

Two more miles remain. I think I have it in me to run faster, but I’m content to hold my pace. I’m not sure if I’ll meet my goal of running a 7:30 pace. I don’t care too much now because I ran some really satisfying miles. Mile twelve comes in at 7:44 and the final mile in 7:49. A bit off the 7:30 pace I want but I ran enough well under. My Garmin and the official race results are oddly off more than usual. My Garmin captures my total time in 1:39:18 and a 7:29 pace. The race results show a 1:39:19 and a 7:34 pace. I imagine the pace from the race is correct and the Garmin was off from losing its GPS for a bit. Doesn’t matter much. I didn’t beat last year’s time but was only about 30 seconds off. You can never compare these races apples-to-apples, because of the wind. In my mind, I ran about like last year and met my pace objectives almost spot on.

Karen and I meet up for dinner tonight with the rest of Jabe’s Running Team at the Cali Cochitta where a number of them are staying. Half the runners in this pic live in my neighborhood. Shoot, many of them on the same street. We figure, if we add in Fred (not pictured), eight runners are from Tenacity Street in the ‘hood. Most everyone seemed to have a good run today. The wind did not spare anyone. Likely all will be back next year.

Colorado River

13 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Colorado Hotel, Moab Canyonlands Half Marathon

We drove out this afternoon for Moab and stopped for the night at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs. We’ll leave for the final stretch to Utah in the morning. Nearly the entire drive on I-70 is alongside the Colorado River. This photo is what the race course will look like near the start Saturday. The first ten miles run through the Moab Canyonlands alongside the Colorado River. Simply spectacular. If you’re looking for something to motivate you to train through the winter, consider the Moab Half.

This is my fourth Moab Half in a row. For whatever reason, it’s a fairly competitive race. More so than the Boulder Half in May. I don’t expect to be competitive but I am hoping for a personal record. I hate to make commitments for such a long distance race, but right now I feel like running hard. Might be an issue that I’ve barely trained the last two weeks, but I’m going to consider it tapering. Karen and I are enjoying the Hotel Colorado tonight. It’s nice to cut the drive to Moab in half.

Keep Austin Weird

08 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Alamo Draft House, BCRT, Flemings, Johnny Martinez, Moab Half Marathon, Susan Collier, Tomo's, Top Golf

Got in a couple more miles in Austin today before flying home. Thirteen more to be exact. My flight isn’t until 8:30 tonight. Too late to make Steve’s poker game. Not too late to see Karen after my three weeks away. Ellie will be at a sleep-over. I imagine Karen will have already eaten dinner. Maybe she’ll want to stop off for a drink somewhere. Of course it’ll be after 10pm. We’ll think of something.

I had some good runs down here. I ran 26.2 miles across the streets of Central Austin – surprisingly fast (for me) in 3:45 and felt good doing it. I had a fantastic trail run at Pedernales Falls – a state park with special memories for me. I ate at my favorite restaurants and discovered some new ones – from sushi to steakhouses. Saw a movie at the new Alamo Drafthouse at Lakeline.

I hung out with family; eating multiple plates of sushi bombs followed by quail egg shooters at Tomo’s, ate the best Thai ever. My father-in-law plied me with a 2011 Round Pond cab sav and bought me one of the best ribeyes ever at Flemings in the Domain. I played several rounds of Cards Against Humanity – always a riot. I also saw some old friends. Visited Ray Johnson in San Antonio where I drank home brew better than I can buy in a store. I met up with Johnny Martinez in Austin. This was a complete surprise as my sister ran into him in the grocery store. We first synched up at a Starbucks but went out last night to Top Golf. If you haven’t been to a Top Golf locale, think bowling. No, think swanky outdoor club with fire pits and live music and dance floor. No, think pub food. It’s hard to describe but pretty fun.

My run today was in the quintessential Central Texas rain and mist. Actually great for running. I planned to run down on Town Lake for my last day but Mom wasn’t feeling well so I opted to stay close by. I ran 13 miles on the Brushy Creek Regional Trail. Fairly pedestrian but really nice with the creek, Live Oak and Texas Cedar. My knees don’t care for the pavement but a good half of it is softer trail. Next weekend is Moab. That will be my last run for awhile. Which is fine. I have a sore knee that could use the time off. I’d like to squeeze in another snowshoe or two with Karen. I’ll need something to blog about.

Wolf Mountain Trail

01 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Pedernales Falls, Texas Hill Country

Busy week. I have a project with looming deadlines. I somehow found time to visit my buddy Ray in San Antonio Thursday night. He hosted me at his house to display his home brew. I sampled three or four (that night’s a bit fuzzy), and preferred his American Ale. In fact, I emptied the keg dry of that brew. Ray was flush with other beers though from German Kölsch to Hefeweizen. Ray took up the brewing hobby in early January and does everything but grow the seeds himself. He buys grain and yeast from Europe, and even hand grinds the grain. Completely buzzed, we dined later in the evening at Perry’s Steakhouse. Very nice.

It’s Saturday morning now and I find myself driving through a rainy mist to the Texas Hill Country. I was 22 years old during my last trip to Pedernales Falls State Park. My brother and I were floating down the spillway and I got carried over a 10 foot waterfall. I flipped over and landed on my back on a big flat rock protruding from the water. Steve had to carry me out of there. I limped around for a good month. Today marks my return. Hoping things go better this time around.

I take MoPac out of Round Rock. Traffic is light until the junction of Hwy 290 with Hwy 71 in Oak Hill. When are they going to do something about this? It’s been horrible for decades. Just as the mist clears to blue sky, FM 3232 sneaks up on me as there is no sign for the State Park. Odd considering I doubt anyone takes this road to Johnson City. Pedernales has to be the primary destination. The Park Ranger is located a few miles past the park entrance. I stop to pay the $6 use fee. I also pick up a green bandana that contains a print of the trail map. Brilliant. I’ve noticed many Texas runners wear bandanas to guard against gnats, which can be abundant along creeks and rivers. I think it’s fair to call the scarf a bandana rather than a kerchief, because it’s worn around the neck rather than to cover the head.

The trailhead starts just beyond the Park Ranger Station. The course design qualifies as a lollipop, although I don’t run it that way. I intended to by running the nearly 2 mile stick and then doing a couple of loops around the pop. Signage is poor though and I run more of an out and back route with a smaller loop at the end around Wolf Mountain. I also run up and back a couple of trail spurs to other unnamed trailheads. The lollipop route would be under ten miles. My meandering gets me over 12 miles.

Much of the trail is wide double track. Some cool single track presents itself deeper into the trail around the loop. I cross three different wet creeks, first Bee Creek, then Mescal Creek and Tobacco Creek. The water is low and I’m able to clear them without getting my shoes wet or muddy. I stop on my way back at Jones Spring. Not much water here either but enough to dip my bandana and hat. I’m fairly baked at this point and thank this watering hole for aiding my return to the trailhead without walking.

I’m happy with myself for making the 50 mile drive to Pedernales Falls. Sure, I got a bit lost at times but I love running new trails that I’m not familiar with. Honestly, a few wrong turns only add to my enjoyment. This is why I run trails. They require total attention. There’s no day dreaming. Time stands still as I live in the present. I don’t think about yesterday’s problems. I’m not planning my future. I’m fully engaged navigating turns in the trail while managing my footfalls. Some work days actually go like this. It might sound like how a stoner gets through mundane tasks, but I find it the perfect way to live. This was a great run.

Oxygen Therapy

22 Saturday Feb 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Austin Marathon, BCRT, Moab Canyonlands Half Marathon

I’m currently training in Austin for my next big event, the Moab Half Marathon on March 15th. My plan is to leverage the oxygen at low altitude for the next couple of weeks to train at a faster pace. Success will be demonstrated by a PR in the Half at Moab. I PR’d there last March with a 1:38. Considering I just ran the first half of the Austin Marathon in 1:42, I think I have a shot at it. I just need to teach my body how to run faster. For distance runners, speed is learned.

This picture captures my kick in the Austin Marathon last Sunday. Both feet off the pavement. That’s a little oxygen in my step. If I’m going to be running in Austin for three weeks, I’m going to run fast. I think I wrote of my 2014 plans in one of my end of year blogs that my goal would be to simply maintain. And it’s still true that I reached a level of fitness last year that I am more than pleased with. And that I obtained an equilibrium of sorts with my race pace. I was rarely competitive in terms of placing but I oftentimes felt like I was racing which is what it’s all about for me. I suggested I would be more than happy to simply enjoy a 2014 on par with my 2013. No need to improve.

Turns out, I expect to take some time off from running this spring. Maybe longer. Priorities. Moab might be my last race for awhile. Possibly all year. So I’m motivated to go out with a bang. Not sure what to expect as a target but breaking a 7:30 pace would be nice. Working against me will be 4000 feet of elevation. Austin will allow me to push my heart rate higher. Great opportunity for fartleks and tempo runs. But three weeks is also enough time to lose the benefits of altitude adaptation. It comes down to oxygen therapy. Real or hype? I got in a nice 13 mile run today in 73° on the Brushy Creek Regional Trail. Ran it slow though. Still working the kinks out from last Sunday.

Austin Hills

16 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Marathons, Running

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Austin Marathon, Results

I wake up at 4:30 central standard time. I make the coffee and my mom is up shortly after. I prep my race food by peeling two oranges and cutting up two small bananas. My brother will follow me around the second half of the course to keep me fed. He wakes up at 5:30 and we drive downtown. Having a race crew is very nice. Steve drops me off on 15th St., a couple of blocks east of the race start. I teach him how to take pictures with my iPhone and he drives off into the darkness for breakfast somewhere.

I have 45 minutes to get my mind into race mode for 26.2 miles. Naturally, I’m anxious over this marathon. I’m also a little bummed though that I won’t be snowshoeing with Karen. We went snowshoeing the last five weekends in a row. Maybe not how most runners train for a marathon. Karen and I will hook back up in the spring to snowshoe some new trails. For this race, I feel like I usually do. I simply can’t believe the people who typically suck my time are granting me four hours to go run. The weather is pleasant for standing around in shorts and my short-sleeve jersey. It’s 57° and is only expected to warm up another ten degrees. The Mayor of Austin, who sounds very much like Kris Kristofferson, says some words. A lady sings the National Anthem. Next thing I know, I’m running through the streets of downtown Austin.

I’m in the top half of the 18,000 runners. The crowd doesn’t begin to thin until we’re on South Congress after two or three miles. I’m okay that my first mile is in 7:55 but suspect I’m running too fast as my second mile comes in at 7:17. I consciously slow down. My third mile clocks in at 7:40. Still a bit fast. The Congress Avenue hill helps to govern my speed by the fourth mile which is 7:58. I hoped to average an 8:30 pace the first six miles. Mile 5 is in 7:39 and mile 6 is in 7:45.

The mile 6 aid station begins a downhill segment heading north on South First St., back toward downtown. I planned to maybe stretch out my legs on this downhill for a couple of fast miles but change my game plan and stay conservative given my fast start. I stop monitoring my Garmin with the intent of not looking at it again until the half way point. My Garmin upload though reports I run miles 7, 8 and 9 in 7:21, 7:31 and 7:34 respectively. I’m seriously surprised by this given my dearth of winter training but suspect it’s due to the low altitude. The half marathoners split off toward downtown half way into mile ten on Exposition. This section is fairly hilly and the 3:25 pace sign passes me – which is probably good. I run mile 10 in 8:01, mile 11 in 8:11 and mile 12 in 8:30. Finally on pace. I’m thankful I’m not hurting yet. I try eating one of my FRS fuel candies but it’s hard and difficult to eat. I start thinking about how old they are. Five years maybe. I switch to my Honey Stinger gummy bears and eat up the 200 calorie bag by the half way point, which the official clock shows me reaching in 1:42. This pace would have me qualify for Boston, but I’m beginning to slow down.

I encounter Steve around mile 16 at Allandale, captured in the first picture above. I eat some oranges and banana. Miles 13, 14, 15 and 16 come in at 8:36, 8:26, 8:22 and 8:39. This is the pace I want to run but begin to slow down even more. I feel good in terms of energy and breathing but my legs tighten up on the 16th mile. Miles 17, 18 and 19 come in at 9:01, 8:42 and 8:48. The second photo is at 19 miles. Mile 20 marks the turn south back toward downtown. I run this in 9:09, mile 21 in 9:01 and mile 22 in 9:23. Mile 23 is a bummer as my right hamstring cramps with very little notice. I hit the pavement to recover and only lose about a minute, running mile 23 in 10:48. I’m careful after this and purposely keep my pace slow in order to successfully finish.

I pass one of my favorite Austin eateries at mile 24 – the Hyde Park Bar & Grill. Karen and I lived nearby before moving to Colorado in 1989. I recall running down this stretch of Duval back then. It’s a downhill slope toward the UT campus. I typically ran loops around the Hancock Golf Course one block east of Duval on 38th St. Both Steve and my sister Nancy are here. Nan gives me two PowerIces that contain the electrolytes I badly need. I hand her my sunglasses that I haven’t needed. Thankfully the sun never breaks through the clouds today. Still, the humidity is high. I’m not used to running drenched in sweat. We perspire in Colorado too but it’s a dry sweat. I run mile 24 in 9:49.

I know I’m going to finish my ninth marathon as I pass the Posse East, my old UT watering hole, and begin running across campus. Confidence is always a good feeling. Endorphins alter my consciousness. Emotionally charged thoughts of my sister and brother waiting for me at the finish race through my mind. My throat tightens and my eyes moisten. If you’ve ever run a marathon or ultra, or done something similarly stupid, then maybe you’ve experienced this too near the end. I find myself in awe that I’m still alive and doing this. I “find religion” as they say. I fully appreciate God letting me know He’s there, although happy to know He’s simply passing through. Running this marathon is my way of letting Him know that when He comes for me for reals, He better send all four horsemen riding white, red, black and pale. I’m going down swinging. I run mile 25 in 9:43.

I regain composure as I spy the hill after 15th Street. I need all my faculties as this incline challenges my cardio. It’s like the blood flow reverses direction in my arteries and veins. My heart is rewinding. What sort of twisted race director designs the course up such a steep hill right before the finish? I’m finding his email address. Two seconds ago I was near hallucinogenic believing I was a couple of minutes away from finishing. Part way into this hill, that result suddenly becomes much less certain.

I look up to the top of the hill. Form. I pump my arms. I begin popping up my knees before my feet can fully hit the pavement. I could run up a waterfall with this form. I look at my Garmin to see I’m only running a 10:50 pace. Hmm. If only effort equaled speed. I crest the hill and turn right onto 11th St. I pass the 26 mile sign and let my legs unwind downhill toward Congress Ave. I think again of my sister and brother meeting me at the finish. Here’s their picture eating brunch later at Hyde Park Bar & Grill. Just as powerful as the tearful emotion earlier, euphoria washes over me strong enough to make heroin jealous. I’ve felt this way before near the end of a big run. I got a little emotional near the end of my first ultra. Same with finishing the 500 mile Colorado Trail. There is something about successfully completing an objective with such high odds of failure. Like Sandra Bullock taking her first steps on the beach after riding that Chinese rocket down to Earth in Gravity. This is why I run marathons.

I run the 26th mile in 9:44 but my Garmin has that completed right before the hill. My Garmin mile 27 is nearly a half mile long, although it should only be about 200 yards. Garmin has me running the final half mile in 4:19 – which captures the hill. My Garmin does agree with the final result though with a 3:45:50. About 15 minutes faster than I thought I could run with my limited winter training. 551st place overall. At this point in time I am giving credit to good execution on my nutrition plan. I think this because I finish feeling good. No post race cramps or vomiting. Not to say walking to the car isn’t a bear as swelling consumes my legs. I counter this with a Bloody Mary at the Hyde Park Bar & Grill. I’m fine now.

	Ed Mahoney on A Runner’s Plan
	Anonymous on A Runner’s Plan
	Terry Collier on Hallmark Hikes
	Terry Collier on Christmas 2025
	Anonymous on Christmas 2025

A Runner's Story

Author Archives: Ed Mahoney

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