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Alpine Tunnel

12 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

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

TunnelOur 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.

DCIM41[N3862354W10635535T40D992EAH0DBB84]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.

Alpine TunnelWe 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.

Alpine Tunnel LakeMike 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.

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Cottonwood Pass

10 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

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Tags

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

Cottonwood PassThe 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.

snow packWe 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.

wind screenWe 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.

Hancock LakeFor 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.

campfireThis 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.

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Tincup Pass

06 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

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Tags

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

Mirror LakeWe 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.

tincup passAfter 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.

ascentWe 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.

panoramic

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.

Deerhammer DistilleryAfter 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.

 

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Lake Ann Loop

04 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

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Tags

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

Clear CreekWe 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.

map readingSipping 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.

trail signsWe 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.

shirtlessWe 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!

creek crossingWe 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.

CT SignAs 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.

IMG_4025Today’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.

campOnce 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.

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Hope Pass

29 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

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

Punkys DinerTogether 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.

Mt ElbertThe 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.

scrambleCarrying 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’.

tree climbMike 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.

impassThe 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.

Hope Pass SummitThis 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.

descentWe 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.

Sheep Gulch THWe 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.

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Collegiates West Loop

21 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

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

mt-princeton-coloradoI 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.”

Unicoi GapI 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.

CT and CDTRob 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.

40.137598 -105.107652

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The Gap

11 Sunday May 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail, Running

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Tags

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

CanyonRan 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.

wild and crazy guysIf 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.

Hope Pass saddleWe 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.

 

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Looking Back on the Colorado Trail

16 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Storytelling

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Collegiates, Colorado Trail, Mesa State, Mt. Elbert, Mt. Massive, pocket shots, Robert Graham, Round Rock, Starbucks VIA Ready Brew, Tumbleweed

High PointA full two weeks after completing the Colorado Trail, I’m ready to look back.  It’s late Sunday afternoon and I have a rack of lamb butterflied and marinating.  I’m having my ass handed to me in fantasy football by Henry, a high school senior.  And the Cowboys and Patriots are playing a close game in the 4th quarter tied at 13 each.  Tumbleweed told me I’d go through some emotions after we finished the trail.  I guess he’s right.

Tumbleweed is none other than Robert Graham – a friend since high school where we ran Track and Cross Country together at Round Rock High School.  He lives now in Grand Junction, Colorado running the recreational sports program at Mesa State.  He was going to hike the CT this year with or without me, but he invited me to join him on the initial segments which start near Denver.  This was early spring, April 2nd to be exact.  The foothills of the Front Range presented us with ideal running conditions through deep, shady forests over soft dirt trails padded with pine needles.  We estimate we ran as much as half the distance on the first CT section of 5 segments.  The CT is organized in 5 sections of 5 segments each, except for the last section having 8 segments.  The 2nd section was mostly under snow which limited our running opportunities.  The 3rd section was the Sawatch Range which contains the Collegiate Peaks – so named because many of the peaks are named after universities like Princeton, Yale and Harvard – and was awesome for trail running.

I love trail running and those first outings were so epic that I kept showing up for subsequent hikes.  I quickly changed my commitment from the first two hikes to joining Rob until we reached Copper.  I didn’t think I could afford the time to continue beyond that, but then Karen told me to keep going.  What a good wife.  She knew I was enjoying myself.  And of course, by the time I climbed the highest and second highest peaks in Colorado in the middle of the Collegiates – I was committed to finishing the whole enchilada.  Completion required 6 months – from April 2nd to October 2nd.  We hooked up on 13 weekends consisting of 25 days of hiking; we covered 486 miles and counting the three 14,000 foot peaks we climbed, nearly 100,000 vertical feet.

Previous to this summer, I was not a very experienced hiker or camper.  Nothing like a little repetition.  I bought a one man tent and can now set it up (and dismantle it) in the dark in a few minutes.  I first went snow shoeing just this year in January.  I now consider myself highly experienced at the sport.  I even took my family snow shoeing in Breckenridge over spring break.  Related to this I have become comfortable with trekking poles.  With the right snow, I’ve learned the poles are sufficient without the snow shoes.  But in deep snow, the poles are absolutely required for safety.  They help to extract yourself after post-holing – which is when a leg sinks deeply into weak snow.  This is common around buried trees.  Still, I got to the point that I prefer to not carry trekking poles on long hikes.  While they increase your balance and strength on snow, they become an annoying burden on long hikes.  It helps though that all new models are now collapsible for portability.  I am confident reading trail signs including trail blazes and can skip across streams without breaking stride.  I even performed a yogi bear by hitching a ride and changed my shirt at the table of a restaurant – I’ve become true trail trash.

The one man tent, snow shoes and trekking poles were all new gear for me.  I also bought a new sleeping bag near the end of the trail as the temperature was dropping and I wanted better light weight gear for back packing.  Speaking of which, I bought a kick-ass back pack.  That thing is like an RV if not a house.  We back packed enough that I became very familiar with all its pockets and features.  Probably my favorite gear was my head lamp which my brother-in-law gave me last Christmas.  Those things are handy.  I can’t say I liked any of the trail food.  Even the pocket shots – while extremely convenient booze – taste pretty bad.  I think the only trail/camping food that I was seriously pleased with would be the Starbucks Via Ready coffee.  Those are a keeper.

I did discover some good eateries.  I’m not going to re-list them all, I did a good job of reviewing and linking them in my blogs.  A typical hike would burn several thousand calories, so food tended to taste pretty damned good at the end of the day.  Still, some restaurants really were superb.  As far as that goes, I enjoyed learning all the back roads and less-traveled highways.  I discovered Colorado with a view from the top and it was a kick.  Immediately after completing the trail I recall thinking just how much I love Colorado.  Actually, and admittedly I might have been a bit manic if not delusional, but I was totally in love with my life at the end.  Being able to do something like this is special and I’m extremely fortunate to have the health and the family support to be able to have done it.  I know that.  Life is good.  With that said, the picture above is me at both a low point and a high point.  Not counting some of the peaks we climbed, this is the highest official point of the CT – I believe at 13,200 feet.  But I was suffering from dehydration and subsequent altitude sickness.  I am laying down in this pic because I seriously could not stand anymore.  There were many moments like that.  This was not easy but I remember the challenges as much as the views, as much as the discovery of new towns and restaurants.  I’m not coming close to properly describing what an experience this was, but oh well.  The Cowboys just lost and it’s time to sear that lamb and roast a Sunday dinner.

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CT Cronica: The Durango Terminus

28 Wednesday Sep 2011

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Colorado Trail, CT, Durango, Las Platas, million dollar highway, Mountain House, puerco pibil, red eye, Silverton, Steamworks Brewery, Taylor Lake

You can’t think straight enough Wednesday night to pack. You’ve been distracted since you returned from Molas Pass  about getting back on the trail to finish what you started.  Distracted is not the right word.  Preoccupied maybe?  That would work in Spanish since in Mexico it means worried.  You’re concerned that the weather will turn for the worse.  Last weekend would have been ideal weather.  Well, seemed good in Longmont, could have been different 500 miles away near Durango.  But you scheduled this upcoming weekend to complete the CT.  And Karen entered the Beathard’s East Texas Red Chili recipe into the Prospect Chili cookoff last weekend, so you were committed to tasting a dozen chili recipes on Sunday.  Your concern with having this completed already stems mostly from the weather, but there are other factors.  Work Thursday morning is unbelievable.  Everything is going south faster than Lotus Notes can replicate your email – thanks to SameTime Chat which is faster than the speed of email.  You’re prepared to cancel the weekend but things come together and you’re able to take your half day vacation after six hours of work and drive off at 1pm.

Brittany no longer works at Snarfs so you pick up a sandwich for lunch in the car and two more for lunch tomorrow at Jimmy Johns.  Not as good but good enough.  Highway 285 is gorgeous.  The parking lots on both sides of the highway at Kenosha Pass are full – presumably from camera toting hikers.  Monarch Pass along Hwy 50 is  even more colorful.  Half the cars driving in front of you at some point stop for the passengers to get out and take pictures of the fall colors.  Turning south on Hwy 550 you see the snow covered San Juans which are the first thing to compete visually with the gold leaf aspens. Beyond Ouray, on the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton, you nearly stop yourself to take a few snapshots.  Never in your life have you seen such spectacular scenery.  You reach Molas Pass after 6.5 hours of driving and Tumbleweed has pizza and beer waiting.  Not that he waited – he’s nearly full.

You quaff two beers with some really good pizza Tumbleweed exported from Durango.  A friend, Tonya, drove him back to Molas Pass after he dropped his car off at the trail head in Durango where the CT will end.  This allows you to skip the car shuffle which is good since it was 25 minutes past sunset when you reached your camp site 5 miles south of Silverton on Molas Pass.

You pitch your tent in the dark after dinner and sleep soundly despite your excitement.  You rise at 5am to coffee and stars. You’ll miss the star gazing when this is over.  Using headlamps, you launch off on your final CT weekend at 6:21am.  Official sunrise won’t be for another half hour or so – which you catch in this third photo above.  After about a quarter mile you realize you forgot your gaitors in the car.  It would be easy enough to drop your backpack and run back to fetch them, but you make the call to trudge on without the ankle protection.  You’d have gone back if you expected heavy snow but you’re not concerned with a few rocks and twigs.

Over-confident?  Possibly.  More likely you are just so excited to get going that you don’t want to turn back for a few minutes.  And to be fair, you need to average 25 miles per day to finish this slog in three days.  But like the weathered trail sign you lean against for a pic, the trail could turn corrosive if not prepared.

Despite the forecasts for rain and snow, the day is as bright and sunny as the pic above depicts.  You’re making good time on a beautiful fall Friday and reach the segment highpoint on a saddle at roughly 12,400 feet a little after noon.

By 1pm the snow and freezing rain begin to fall and by 2pm you find yourself caught in a decent downpour and thunderstorm above treeline.  Less than ideal for sure.  And make no mistake, you’re anything but cavalier about the weather.  You’re super concerned about being struck by lightening.  You quicken your pace to reach the trees but this is impeded by the mud.  You complete segment 25 and progress another mile and a half or so into the next segment before calling it quits for the 10 hour day – just a hair into the trees at around 11,500 feet.  It’s fairly early, before 5pm, but you’re not confident you can make the next decent camping spot known to have water in this weather.

The rain makes for a cold dinner. In fact, you keep inside your tent to warm your feet as Tumbleweed heats water over the butane burner for your camp dinners.  You wonder now how much those gaitors would have kept your feet dry and free from the mud that now covers the floor of your tent.  Tumbleweed serves cheese and crackers before dinner with Makers Mark.  You’re not farmers.  And while some might consider this to be over-the-top sophistication, he adds Fritos to your Mountain House freeze dried camp dinners.  With light still in the sky, you retire to your sleeping bag satisfied.  Tumbleweed tells you the next morning that you were snoring by 7pm.

You rise at 5am Saturday morning and efficiently pack up your gear preparing for a long day.  The goal, to reach a good camp site with water – in this case Taylor Lake – will require a 28 mile hike.  You gear up with your big boy pants and hit the trail at 6am sharp – still drinking your unfinished coffee.

You’re able to shut off your head lamp after just over a mile once your eyes have become accustomed to the trail in twilight.  You climb a bit but after 5 miles you descend solidly for the next 5 miles – reaching an elevation well under 11K feet.  So much of this hike in the San Juans has been on ridges and tundra above treeline that you welcome hiking through trees again.  Somewhere in the middle of this you cross Straight Creek where Tumbleweed filters more water.  Much of the trail is covered in icy rain and you’re careful with your foot falls when walking down steep slopes.  You pound your feet harder than normal into the ground as you walk to make certain you gain traction on crushed ice.

You prepare to get soaked again in the early afternoon on segment 27, but somehow you skirt the edge of the rain all day.  You over-react to a little rain and snow by donning your $2 rain poncho only to have the sun come back out for a beautiful day.  You remain nervous because it’s near the end of the day you’ll have to cross several miles of tundra on a ridge above treeline.  You don’t want a repeat of yesterday afternoon, that’ll really suck.  But you’re making pretty good time and the clouds are still stuck to your right.  You get the impression they’ll stay there.

As you climb back up to around 11,000 feet, somewhere in the middle of segment 27, a woman drives by where the trail meets a junction with a forest road.  She stops to talk, asking if you are through-hiking the CT.  She proceeds to tell you her heart-breaking tale of reaching this point last year.  She through-hiked all the way from Denver.  With about 35 miles remaining, on nearly the same day as this, she was forced to bail out from the cold rain and pending threat of hypothermia.  This adds to your weather concerns and you step up your pace to try crossing that tundra before it rains.

You maintain a strong pace but grow weary after 20 miles.  Maybe even a little punch drunk because you can’t stop laughing after coming upon a sign that reads, “scenic overlook”.  Forgetting about the day’s objective, you drop your packs and walk a 100 meters or so out along a ridge for the view.  Once there, you snap a couple of pictures.  Right away the rain chases you back to your packs and you continue up the hill.

The trail has been rising steadily back up to 12,000 feet.  You recognize the tundra when you see it and feel comfortable you’ll traverse it before a storm approaches.  You’re a bit surprised by the steepness of the trail however.  Much of today’s hiking has been gradual in terms of steepness.  This hill resembles a mountain peak in its grade and the amount of loose rocks.  You feel the fatigue of 25 miles, but know this is the last climb and will soon be descending the final mile into Taylor Lake.  Like a dolly zoom, the tundra stretches out as your steps decay to a crawl.  At this altitude, your lungs rapidly push in and out air but the muscles in your legs aren’t receiving oxygen.  This is hard but you keep your chin up knowing this is the last hill.

Your chin lowers a bit when you reach the summit to find yet another hill, slightly taller, that was previously hidden from view.  Dammit!  Okay, one more then.  You’re seriously fatigued and thinking of dinner when you summit this second hill only to see a third, slightly taller again.  Sunofabitch!  This one is even bigger and you rest a tad near its top on a side hill to study your trail notes.  Each hill takes you closer to the Las Platas and the view is spectacular.  You catch a pic of Tumbleweed studying his notes with the Las Platas as background.  You consider the grammar of using redundant articles “the” and “las”, but technically you’re only saying one article per language.

It doesn’t surprise you when you reach the top of this side hill and see a fourth hill yet to climb.  You march onward with zero confidence in your strength and stamina but knowing there’s no way you’ll pitch a tent on this hill for the night.  Eventually you reach the descent and see the lake marking the end of the day’s hike.  The mile long ramble down offers little reprieve however.  Your legs are weak and your dismount from the tundra hills feels more like a collapse to the high altitude lake below.  Your knees twitch with straining muscles and you focus on careful and slow steps so that you don’t fall.  Falling is typical of nearing the end of anything.  There’s plenty of daylight remaining for setting up camp so you take your time.  At least it’s downhill.  Once there, Tumbleweed wades into the lake for a cool down.

This will be your last night camping out on the Colorado Trail.  You’d like to make a fire but there’s no dry wood.  As hungry as you were a few hours ago on the trail, you’re now nauseous and you have to force yourself to down your freeze dried meal.  Those tundra hills took their toll.  You sleep hard but wake in the night to various sounds.  A wind howls through the mountains at some point followed by a light rain.  You hear the red eye jets flying from LA to the East Coast.  A jet departing LA around 11pm PDT would arrive in NY by 7:30am EDT.  That puts it in the air over the San Juans around 2 in the morning mountain time.  You don’t check the time tonight but have on previous nights camping – you could set your watch by this.

You wake up ready to go.  Your tent is covered in a sheet of ice but it doesn’t matter that you pack it wet since you won’t need it tonight.  This is your last day on the trail.  You’re almost giddy.  You pack up your gear in record time and head up Kennebuc Pass.  This is only a fraction of a mile into the hike and is your high point for the day at 11,700 feet.  It’s downhill forever from here.  There will be another rise after 7 miles but everything is under 10,000 feet by that point.  Climbing hills is doable with air.

After the sun rises you can tell this is going to be another beautiful day.  The rains don’t generally fall until 2 or 3, and you expect to reach the Junction Creek Trail Head, 21.5 miles away in Durango, by perhaps 3.  You’re happy that you bought a new camera for this excursion to capture the fall colors.  Unfortunately you drop it during a gear change today and the lens won’t open – presumably from dirt.  Not critical since you can still take pics with your iPhone.  Good thing you bought the accidental protection plan.  All pics going forward will be 2.5 mega pixels.

Today’s hike has been entirely in the trees ever since dropping down from Kennebuc Pass.  Much of the San Juans has been on ridges at or above treeline.  The first 7 miles is also completely downhill, not too steep, but gradual and constant following Junction Creek.  You cross this creek several times, the final time at 7.1 miles over a wooden bridge.  You rest here before beginning the next section which is your final climb – 1000 feet over 4 miles.

This would not be a difficult climb as the grade is rarely steep, and your feet are loving the soft dirt through old growth aspen.  But you struggle to maintain Tumbleweed’s pace.  He smells the end.  You fall behind and frequently sprint to catch back up.  You begin to encounter mountain bikers now.  Their numbers increase, along with day hikers, as you near the trail head.  And they are noticeably social.  Everyone in Durango loves a through-hiker, and most have their own stories to tell.  You try to be polite but you both can taste the finish.  You’ve been fantasizing most of the day about a half pound cheese burger.  As rare as they’ll cook it.  These chatty bikers and hikers are between you and a fantasy burger and you find yourself cutting conversations short to plow on.

The hike doesn’t go quick necessarily.  Despite the excitement and strong pace, 21 miles is 21 miles.  But suddenly the trail widens into the trail head parking lot where Tumbleweed has his car parked.  Wow.  Really?  You unceremoniously dump the 40 pound back pack onto the ground next to the car.  You won’t miss it.  You give Tumbleweed a strong hug and walk around the gravel parking lot to cool down and recover your thoughts.  You completed nearly 500 miles of Colorado with a view from the top.  You gained years of hiking experience over the last 6 months.  You had a few moments of pending injury but were never hurt.  You nearly wrecked your car in a spring snow.  Post-holing over Georgia Pass was exhausting.  But you’d argue the most vulnerable you’ve been on this trail is when dropping your ass into the dark unknown during morning rituals.  You’ll have to read back through your blog to remember all the moments.  You plan to publish a photo book for Tumbleweed for Christmas.

Your burger fantasy hasn’t diminished and after a picture by Mike, a biker you met earlier on the trail, you drive into town looking for the Steamworks Brewery based on a recommendation suggested by another biker.  The burger menu doesn’t offer any configuration of interest to you, but you’re able to custom order a regular half pounder.  Your friendly waitress with an  interesting tatoo, Cassie, ensures you that they’ll cook it how you want it.  Tumbleweed orders a steak sandwich.  You begin with nachos and a pitcher of their award winning Steam Engine Lager.  When Cassie serves the burger, you know it’s going to be good simply from the aroma, and it is.  Seared but rare.  It’s everything you dreamed of and you award Steamworks a puerco pibil.  You can’t order avocado here to go with it, but have to instead settle on gaucamole.  This is because they buy it from another local outfit.  It’s good enough but has that artifical acerbic acid, tinny taste apparently to preserve it.  You find this unnecessary in Colorado as it takes just a drop of lime juice to keep guac green all day.  Still, this is a great burger joint.

You sleep overnight at the house of some good friends of Tumbleweed – Darren and Tonya.  They’re fantastic hosts.  They feed you again and provide great conversation.  They have even another guest spending the night, Steve who is an artist up fishing from Texas.  You rise the next morning as early as if you were on the trail for the 8 hour drive back to reality.  Everyone is already asking you what’s the next great adventure.  You’re simply looking forward to hanging around the house and watching college football.

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Return to Molas Pass

25 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Storytelling

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Tags

Colorado Trail, CT, million dollar highway, Molas Pass

I’ll be returning to Molas Pass off the Million Dollar Hwy Thursday to complete the 70 miles remaining of the Colorado Trail.  From the day I started hiking outside Denver with Tumbleweed to the day I exit the trail into Durango will be a full six months.  About the only regret I have is that I never brought along a nicer camera than my 2.5 MP iPhone 3Gs.  The pics are okay though and I’ll publish a photo album from my blog’s CT Cronica series when it’s all done.

I’m surprised at how massive an event this little hike has become.  I’ve gained years of hiking and camping experience; along with handy snow shoeing skills.  No doubt I own considerably more gear.  I feel very fortunate for the family support.  Karen is good to me.  A little bummed I have to travel to Miami the next day – that’ll curb my celebrations previously planned for Durango.  Sucks when work gets in the way of my personal life.  Still, it’s been epic.  Can’t wait to wind this puppy up next weekend.

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La Sportiva

21 Sunday Aug 2011

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Tags

Colorado Trail, CT, East Boulder Trail, trail running shoes, White Rock Trail

New trail shoes.  My old ones died on the Colorado Trail.  I liked them so much though I bought the same pair again.  It was tempting to buy something different.  Something with some color.  But these La Sportivas have such good stability.  And the Gore-Tex really works to keep my feet dry – very important.  And for trail shoes, I don’t feel they are overly heavy.  I broke them in Saturday with a 13 mile run on the East Boulder/White Rock Trail.  I’m considering hanging the old ones on my office wall after I complete the CT in October.  A self-awarded trophy of sorts.  That’ll dress up the home office.

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CT Cronica: Mt. Elbert

21 Thursday Jul 2011

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

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Tags

Colorado Trail, Mt. Elbert, Starbucks VIA Ready Brew, Twin Lakes

As the Starbucks VIA coffee boots up your system in the blackness of the 5am forest, the headlamp from a tall, fit runner darts past you and Tumbleweed onto segment 11 of the Colorado Trail.  This is the very first time you are not the morning trail blazers.  You suspect this injures Tumbleweed’s pride more than yours’.  And as you take a rest to adjust your gear choices and admire the rising sun after a half mile, another large group of hikers plus a single hiker pass you on the trail.  Hikers clearly want to summit Mt. Elbert early before lightening moves in.  It’s ironic given your 5:30am start is the earliest your feet have ever hit the trail, and yet for the first time also so many others are racing ahead of you.

The Mt. Elbert junction comes a little bit later than you expect per the Trail Guidebook.  Apparently some previous trails are closed for repair, but it comes at about the 1.5 mile point.  The steepness of the trail is totally in your face.  You quickly pass the groups that previously passed you a mile earlier.  You made the call to leave the trekking poles behind and wonder now if you’ll need them for this climb.  Maybe it’s no steeper and aggressive than Mt. Massive, but your expectations were set for a more gradual approach based on descriptions of this being a gentle trail.

Those descriptions must be referring to the south approach and not this north trail.  You’ll descend on the south trail so that’s probably a good thing for your knees if the downhill is more moderate.  You appreciate how this trail tries to help with numerous switchbacks, especially above treeline.  But there’s just no way to sugarcoat climbing 4500 feet in five miles.  In fact, this entire trail presents you with a total elevation gain of 6500 feet – and a drop of 7600 feet.  Those extremes are almost hard to believe considering how much flat trail there is.  The peak though is as awe inspiring as yesterday’s Mt. Massive.  Similar views accept you are also looking into the backside (western slopes) cliffs of Mt Massive.  One difference is the trail today has many more hikers on it.  You can see that.  Given the choice no doubt hikers choose the tallest peak over the second tallest.  You’re mixed on whether you like so many other hikers.  You like seeing people but you don’t necessarily want to hike alongside others for miles on end.  Flatulence in front of Tumbleweed isn’t so much of an issue.  You crossed that barrier.  But complete strangers?

You are apparently mistaken about the southern trail being less steep than the northern route.  You keep expecting the slope to flatten during your descent but it never does.  Not until you reach the junction with the CT do your legs get some relief from the pounding.  Tumbleweed expresses his relief by giving the trail sign a big smooch.  You sort of understand where he’s coming from.  You don’t ask questions, you just take the pictures.

At around 9 miles now, the trail still continues downward but at a much less steep grade.  This encourages Tumbleweed to try some running.  You pick up your pace over the next mile or two but keep it conservative since this hike will extend over 26 miles.  Actually, you don’t know that and believe it will be 29 miles.  And to your horror, you run out of water after 17 miles.  This is just after crossing the Twin Lakes dam – which is part of a 4 mile Bataan death march around the Twin Lakes under a glaring sun.  You maintain a strong 16 minute per mile pace around the lake in an attempt to reach the shade of the trees on the far side.  Not only do you deplete your water in the process, but the trees aren’t as thick as they are green and the heat and sun remain issues.  You’re not exactly concerned about heat stroke, but it’s becoming clear you might finish this hike fairly dehydrated.  You announce your intentions to drink from the next strong running creek you come across.  These have been prevalent throughout the CT given the above average snow pack this year.

You almost begin to feel stupid.  Cheated even.  Where are the damned creeks?  For whatever reason, the ridge beyond Twin Lakes is dry as a bone.  A little desperation begins to creep into your mind, let in by the heat.  You see some weak streams and are able to soak your shirt.  These brooks aren’t strong enough to trust drinking from but the wet shirt helps cool down your core.  It’s unfortunate you’re so hot and thirsty.  You’d run much more of these last miles otherwise.  Instead you walk to conserve strength.  Tumbleweed talks about maintaining a zen state to keep from sweating.  You wonder if they taught that in his search and rescue training.  He lived on the West Coast then.  Right now you’d welcome some merciful cool sweat.

You slog onward.  And then the trail does bestow mercy upon you.  You expect the trail distance to be 29 miles.  This is uncertain because of the new route up to Mt. Elbert.  But you cross a ridge around 25 miles and suddenly see Tumbleweed’s car parked down at the Clear Creek Trail Head.  Incredible.  You just finished talking about possibly completing the hike in 12 hours and now you see it’s possible you might finish in 11 hours.  Tumbleweed takes this to heart and begins a mad dash down the hill.  You can’t be certain of the remaining distance as you can’t see the length of all the switchbacks leading down to the trail head.  It turns out to be just over a mile.  You run all of it in about a 10 minute mile pace – which is screaming fast for rocky trail running.  The distance turns out to be 26.2 miles – a marathon.  Oddly enough, your overall pace matches yesterday’s hike exactly at 25.05 minutes per mile.  Your actual moving pace is under 20 minutes per mile – or 3 miles per hour which is essentially normal walking pace.  Pretty impressive for having climbed up Colorado’s tallest peak.

You need to catch your breath after this sprint, but otherwise pack up and drive away as soon as possible for food and drinks.  As part of the car shuffle, you have to stop near Twin Lakes to pick up the cooler you stashed for drinks.  This puts you on Hwy 82, the highway to Aspen, and you decide to try eating at the Twin Lakes Village General Store.  Turns out their restaurant is closed but you are so hungry you microwave their frozen enchiladas.  This is not the best course for dinner, but the most expedient.  Along with some waters and cans of Coors, you sit outside by the highway to refuel.  This was an epic weekend.  Climbing Colorado’s two highest peaks was not a primary objective but an accomplishment that added greatly to the experience.  One more weekend of hiking and you’ll be halfway complete with the Colorado Trail.

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The Mountains Win Again

11 Monday Jul 2011

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Storytelling

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Breckenridge, Colorado Trail, Durango, vacation

Vacations are brilliant.  And I definitely need them.  I don’t know why I build up so much stress but I do.  And stress is extremely counterproductive.  It kills the creative process and leads to lower productivity.  It takes the fun out of the day.  I like to have fun at work but that’s more difficult working alone from home.  I find myself simply focusing on problems.  All work and no play.   A two hour drive up into the mountains is the answer.

This is my third day in Breckenridge and I feel better about everything.  Work-related email or the customer presentation I have to give from the hotel room tomorrow is no biggie.  I feel good.  I even had some innovative business thoughts on my trail run this morning.  And my task list at home is nearly as intense as work, but I feel better about that too now.  I’ll get to work on fixing the tub and shower, stain the steps and tend to the yard without thinking of it as work.  Breckenridge has hit my reset button and I feel refreshed.

The mountains are perfect right now.  The temps aren’t hot but call for shorts.  There’s still snow on the peaks, even a little on the slopes.  I’ll be up here the next three weekends straight hiking the Colorado Trail.  My schedule calls for completing 200 more miles by the first week of August.  I started in Denver in early April and am currently at Leadville.  If I can really pull off those 200 miles I’ll be in good shape to finish in Durango by early fall.  I swear, the mountains are making me a better person this summer.

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The Fourth

29 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Storytelling

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

10th Mountain Division, Colorado Trail, Copper Mountain, Kokomo Pass, Leadville, Searl Pass, Wheeler Flats

Are you as excited as I am for the upcoming 3 day weekend?  If not, you need to make some plans.  My ‘hood has two parties planned, one on the 3rd and another more elaborate bash on the 4th – complete with BBQ and live music.  But the biggie for me is two days of hiking on the Colorado Trail – segments 8 and 9 on Saturday and Sunday.

I’ll meet up with Tumbleweed at the Tennessee Pass on Hwy 24 near Leadville Friday night to drop off one of our cars at the trail head.  Google shows an extensive list of eateries in Leadville, but I’ve only eaten at the Pizza Hut in that town, so please send me recommendations for something with a little more Leadville flair.  Any reviews on the Golden Burro, the Quincy Steak & Spirits, the Grill Bar & Cafe or the Tennessee Pass Cafe?

We’ll camp out near Copper Mountain, likely in some back country spot off the Wheeler Flats Trail Head.  Saturday’s 25 mile hike starts out at 9800 feet and climbs  through the ski resort up to Searl Pass just short of 10 miles at over 12,000 feet.  The trail stays above treeline for about 3 miles along Elk Ridge until it reaches Kokomo Pass, also over 12,000 feet, then we’ll descend down to Tennessee Pass which sits around 10,000 feet.  Near there we will pass the 10th Mountain Division huts where soldiers trained for WWII.  Should be gorgeous views the entire route.  Wish I had a better camera than my 2.5 mega pixel iPhone, but the pics will be good enough for publishing to the web.

The next day we’ll hike 14 miles on segment 9 from Tennessee Pass to Timberline Lake.  This is where the trail turns south for good.  The cool thing is recent trail reports from the Colorado Trail Foundation Facebook page state the snow has melted from this segment.  Plus, while entirely above 10,000 feet, the trail is relatively flat.  Should be a good run.  Segment 8 will be mostly snow shoeing, possibly even using the ice axe, so Sunday will be nice.  Can’t wait!

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CT Gear

15 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running, Storytelling

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Big Agnes, Colorado Trail, CT, one-man tent, post-holing, REI, trekking poles

As excited as I am to complete the second half of segment 6 of the Colorado Trail this coming weekend, I’m even more stoked about my new gear.  Never slept in a one-man tent before.  Look at this puppy.  I just practiced assembling it and can’t believe how cool it is.  The Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1 weighs under 3 pounds, has an aluminum pole system with all three branches attached which snap together with a flick of the wrist, and takes about 5 minutes to setup – including the waterproof fly.  It’s wide enough at my elbows and shoulders to roll around, but tapers toward the feet.  More importantly there’s enough room to situp.  I’ll christen it at the Gold Hill Trail Head Saturday.

Next new piece of gear is a set of REI trekking poles.  Not sure if I adequately expressed the danger I was in snowshoeing over the Georgia Pass in my last CT blog, but the use of Tumbleweed’s trekking pole provided me with a well-learned lesson.  The most critical use was as a tool to dig my snowshoe out from treacherous post-holes.  But I also can’t underestimate the strength it provided to my posture.  With only the single pole, my balance was an order of magnitude stronger.  This saved my core – both stomach as well as back muscles – from constantly twisting from unsure footing.  Now I’ll have two poles – a complete set – and won’t have to bum gear from Tumbleweed.  Hoping the snow has sufficiently melted so I don’t have to use my other awesome gear – my snowshoes.  Looking forward to being able to run at least half of this trail segment.  Tune in for the next edition of CT Cronica for the story, and feedback on the new gear.

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