The Gap

11 Sunday May 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail, Running

Tags

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.

CT Cronica: Yale to Princeton

26 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Asian Palate, Bunny Lane, Chalk Creek, Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, puerco pibil, Saketini, Young Life

No out to eat for breakfast this morning. And no late wake up call. Tumbleweed is back on pace so you pack up your tent in the dark while he brews coffee. It was nice being able to sleep in the same spot two nights in a row, but after today’s hike you’ll setup camp at the Chalk Creek Trail Head near Nathrop. You could name this blog Silver Creek to Chalk Creek after the trail heads, but you instead title it after the peaks on either end that everyone you meet on the trail are hiking to.

Today’s hike will be 4 miles longer than yesterday, although over similar terrain. It has about the same elevation gain of around 4500 feet, but loses 1000 feet more at 5500. It has a long downhill finish but you’re not looking forward to it as the final 10K is on a road. You start off slow, which is fair since the first 3.5 miles takes you straight up to nearly 12,000 feet – the high point for the day. The following downhill is just as steep, so you don’t even consider running today. It’s a recovery hike.

The trail is very much like yesterday’s hike in terms of scenery. Mountain meadow flowers. Old growth aspen groves. Clear skies so you’re grateful for the shade under treeline. Without running, your pace is 2 minutes per mile slower overall than yesterday. With the added distance this makes for a 8.5 hour day. You exit the trail at a Young Life youth ranch and begin the long hot walk down the road to Chalk Creek.

Fortunately you pass by the Mt. Princeton General Store and take advantage to resupply your provisions. This carries you the remainder of the road to your trail head and new camp site. The last mile of road is about the cutest street ever, named Bunny Lane. Looking more like Disney World than Colorado, it’s lined with ideal cabins with flowers in every window – many available for daily and weekly rental. One cabin has woodpiles with a sign, “Organic Firewood.” As you consider what sort of premium such rarefied kindling sells for, you design a plan in your head to bring Karen up here for a weekend getaway.

After dipping your feet in the cold creek waters, you repeat yesterday’s recovery regimen and soak another hour in the Princeton Hot Springs. This is brilliant. They should put these hot springs near every trail head. Seriously, it’s a bit pricey, but the opportunity is too rare to pass up. And it definitely makes a difference. You woke up feeling pretty good this morning.

Refreshed, and clean, you head to the Asian Palate for dinner. Sushi isn’t your first choice in the backwoods of Colorado, but this place comes highly recommended from some local retirees you met on the trail. You’re a big fan of sushi and are incredibly surprised at how good this place is. And not just the food; this is a swanky hangout for a Saturday night. But don’t ask Tumbleweed. After 3 Saketinis, he probably doesn’t recall having been there. Based on Tumbleweed’s experience, you award this place a puerco pibil, and you didn’t even drink one. You both fall fast asleep after the hot springs and satisfying dinner. The next day will be your third hike in a row. Something you’ve never done before. You hope your body is up to the task. But instead of worrying over that, you drift off with thoughts of Bunny Lane in your head.

CT Cronica: The Collegiates

24 Sunday Jul 2011

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Buena Vista, BV, camelbak, Chaffee County, Jans Restaurant, KSBV 93.7, Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, Quincys, South Park

You drive out of the Interlocken parking lot after meeting with a business partner at 5:35pm on Thursday. And you take two more work calls while driving on Hwy 36. This is not the early start for Buena Vista you were hoping for, but you get lucky with traffic and find yourself driving once again on Hwy 285. You recall what a milestone it was to cross Georgia Pass on segment 6 and leave behind Hwy 285 for I70 and Hwy 9 and highways 91 and 24. But now that the CT trail heads are down by Buena Vista it makes sense to take 285 out of Denver again. It really is a scenic drive, certainly beats the tunnel. Plus, Salida/Buena Vista has Colorado’s most badass classic rock station ever and as you reach South Park you tune to 93.7 KSBV. You reach the North Cottonwood Creek/Silver Creek Trail Head around 8:35, just as darkness is setting in. You believe the Guidebook is incorrect in that this is the Silver Creek Trail Head, while the North Cottonwood Creek TH is another 1.5 miles up the road. A good reference for Chaffee County trail heads to access the Collegiate Wilderness Area is at this web site. Regardless of trail heads, Chaffee CR 365 borders on the need for 4WD. Fortunately you see Tumbleweed parked at the Silver Creek TH and pull up alongside his car. He chuckles when he sees you in business dress. You are taking Friday off to squeeze in a massive 3-day, 61 mile hike through the Collegiates, but it sort of sucks to have to work so late and show up like this. Not a biggie though. There’s just enough time to setup your tent before total nightfall.

Your late arrival isn’t critical because you won’t shuffle cars tonight. Instead, you plan to take breakfast at an early open diner in BV (you learn the locals refer to Buena Vista as BV). You do have time to chat and drink a beer before going to sleep. Tumbleweed tells you some of his AT and PCT hiking stories. Surprisingly you have yet to hear them all. In the morning you drive into BV on Crossman Street and turn right onto Main Street. You stop at the first open diner that appears good based on the parking lot being full. You enter Jans Restaurant and discover mostly only old people eat breakfast this early. No matter. You order a short stack of blueberry pancakes with a side of bacon and coffee. They’re fantastic and too big to finish. You drive off for the Clear Creek Trail Head north of BV near Granite feeling like it will take today’s 18 miles to put a dent in that breakfast. Having finished segment 11 at this trail head, you knew it would not make a decent spot to camp. There’s parking for only 3 cars, although countless cars can park alongside the road. There are no trees and the ground looks very uninviting. That’s Tumbleweed pictured next to a cairn at the Clear Creek TH waiting on you to gear up.

You start off today with a little running but very soon, after you cross a new footbridge, the slope increases dramatically. The guidebook states you’ll climb for 1.5 miles, drop, then repeat a slightly higher climb. These two climbs make up the first half of today’s hike with the remainder a low drop into your camp site. You think of this in runner’s math of two quarters followed by a half. You note how strong and refreshed you feel starting out. The only injuries nagging you this year have been in your feet, plantar fasciitus in your left foot and some sore toes on your right. You don’t feel any of this now. The first slope is sufficiently steep enough to make your lower buttocks burn. But you maintain a decent pace throughout the hills. Nearly halfway though the CT you’ve developed your trail legs and can maintain cadence despite terrain.

After running out of water on segment 11, you determine to only drink from your 2 liter camelbak on this hike. When that’s empty, you’ll have your two water bottles. This way if you do in fact empty your camelbak, you’ll have a measured amount of water left that you will be able to control based on the remaining distance. No surprises. It’s a mistake to drink from the water bottles first and end with the camelbak. This hike goes well though and although you do deplete your camelbak’s 2 liters, you don’t finish all your bottled water. Perhaps because you’re shaded much of the hike. You rise above treeline for a short spell on the highpoint at around 9 miles, but then you duck back under the branches for the remaining 9 mile downhill. The second half does throw in some surprise hills, but you average a 4 mile an hour pace the final 10K, which is pretty decent for mountain hiking. This is because you run most of the second half of today’s hike. And you planned to run it, but had it not been for Tumbleweed taking charge after the trail top you might have continued walking. Your legs were stuck in their walking cadence and you completely forgot about running. You might have also been thinking about pacing yourself for the 3 days. A little preventative pain management. You have no idea how your legs, and especially your feet will fair over the course of 3 days and 61 miles. You finish today with tender feet and soak them in the icy cold creek for relief.

This is applied pain management. The water is cold to the point of nearly stopping your heart as you enter the creek. It even continues to burn a bit after you exit the natural ice bath. This should stop the swelling. And if that’s not enough, after shuffling the second car, you stop off at the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs for some hot bath treatment. This is brilliant and you soak in those hot springs for a good hour. This should prepare you for tomorrow’s longer 22 mile hike. You consider adding this to your routine tomorrow as well since you’ll finish near here. Refreshed, you head to Quincys for dinner, based on the recommendation of some locals you met on the trail. Ironically, the same old people you ate breakfast with at Jans are dining here as well. You really do keep early hours on these hikes. The menu is simple at Quincys – prime rib or roast sirloin. Since the menu says “roast” sirloin, you opt for the prime rib. This is a satisfying dinner and you sleep really well afterward. Two more days of hiking the Collegiates await you if your body sufficiently recovers. You’ll see how you feel in the morning.