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NANOspikes

12 Monday Jan 2015

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NANOspikesI beat the ice today.  Probably for the season.  My Yaktrax were fine but they disintegrated after a single season.  Plus they tended to accumulate clumps of fresh snow.  Yaktrax has since improved their design to include a spike plate similar to these Kahtoola NANOspikes, but only under the forefoot.  I imagine the rear coils still pick up wads of snow.

Today was yet another frozen ice capade.  I was considering the elliptical but then the package from REI showed up on my front porch.  I placed the order for these puppies last week after a four mile glassade along the LoBo Trail.  I rarely devote a blog to a gear review, but I had a great run today in these spikes.  I cruised across rivers of ice with never a fearful moment.

On slopes and turns that called for caution, Kahtoola’s tungsten carbide spikes gripped with confidence.  I was prepared to run only three or four miles to try these out but extended my run to seven exalted miles.  On my return, for the half mile between Ogallala Road and the foot bridge, I stretched out my stride to race pace.  Not sure I’ve been able to run fast like that yet this year.  Good to know I still can.  By this time the sun was setting and I wasn’t wearing a head lamp, but the NANOspike’s confidence broadened to my running form.  These spikes rock!

Lake Ann Loop

04 Friday Jul 2014

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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.

Barefoot

15 Sunday Apr 2012

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REI, like my USAA home and car insurance company, is a Co-op.  At the end of each year, they give their customers members rebates.  I used my rebate this morning to buy these minimalist trail shoes from Merrell.  I even got $5 back in change.  From REI, I took Canyon to Broadway and worked my way through The Hill over to Baseline.  At the Chautauqua Trailhead, I slapped on my new shoes for my first experiment with the “barefoot running” hype.

The advice, and I’ve received plenty, says to start off with short distances to allow your feet to adapt.  Immediately I felt like I probably won’t need to take it slow.  I expect to be able to run all week in these.  They feel fine.  But I only did about a 3 mile hike in them.  The Amphitheater Trail is extremely vertical, so I did very little actual running.  Today’s workout was more of a shuffle.  First uphill and then back down.  I ran in spurts but honestly my legs were too fatigued from yesterday’s trail romp in Lyons to do much running today.  I covered 3 miles in an hour which is essentially a walking pace, but it was also 1000 feet of elevation in 1.5 miles which is essentially a ladder.

Snow began to fall a mile into my run and the wind picked up as I neared Green Mountain.  I was dressed fine for it though with a long-sleeved all-weather gear shirt from Under Armour.  The trail was wet from yesterday’s rain.  The shoes did well navigating mud but I had to be careful on the descent over the slick rocks and logs.  Still, assuming I adapt to these shoes over the next two weeks, I think I might be able to wear them for the 25 mile CPTR.

The experiment with minimalist shoes has been on my radar for awhile.  My left foot still suffers from plantar fasciitis.  Not nearly as bad – I’d say about 20% of the initial pain remains.  I assume part of this is from getting better support in all my shoes but I actually suspect the improvement stems mostly from stretching.  The argument for minimalist shoes, or even barefoot running, is that modern shoes cause most injuries.  Or said another way, Nike created a boon for Podiatrists with their waffle trainer in the ’70s.  The extra protection against impact and pronation and supination isn’t needed and in fact causes us to run in ways that lead to injury.  Without modern footwear, runners take a shorter stride and fall more mid to fore foot.  And this leads to less injury.  The other reason I’m willing to experiment with barefoot style flats is these shoes were sort of free with my REI rebate.  We’ll see how the next couple of weeks pan out.

Caballo Blanco

14 Saturday Apr 2012

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I laced up my training shoes as Karen pulled up in the car – returning from teaching a Zumba class.  A little after 1pm.  I was seriously itching to hit the Heil Valley Ranch trail today for a big run.  Partly because the front was expected to hit any minute.  I would be fine in the rain and snow but my weather channel app showed the wind increasing steadily with each passing hour of the day.  The other reason for my impatience was I just couldn’t wait to get out on the trail.  I might be picking up a little addiction to the endorphins.  Most of my runs  go for an hour or more now.  That’s enough time to fire up a nice runner’s high.  My runs are becoming a nice little habit.  Today’s 10.5 mile run was exceptional.

I got to the trail head a little before 2pm.  I’m prepping for a mountain trail run in two weeks and decided I would use my weekend runs to replicate the race as much as possible.  I wore my small pack with a 2 liter camelback.  I added cytomax to the water.  And I brought along a selection of running clothes to make the last minute decision on what to wear.  The weather was cool and breezy, but no rain or snow yet.  It will definitely be storming before I finish this in 2 hours.

I layered shirts with a summer-thin Under Armour long-sleeve high-tec fabric underneath covered with a light fleece pullover.  The thought was the undershirt would whisk away sweat into the outer garment.  This ensemble performed perfectly.  I simply wore shorts for my legs.  This was comfortable starting out although I pulled up my sleeves after two miles.

This course is great prep for Buena Vista.  It rises non-stop until I decide to turn around.  I turn after 5.5 miles where there’s a sign noting the trail joins a loop near the crest of the hill.  My garmin actually shows this to be 5.25 miles.  This garmin result link shows all the stats.  You can see how the course rises from 5400 feet to 6400 feet where I turn.  1000 feet in elevation change over 5.5 miles.  The CPTR rises 1000 feet in 9 miles – including a 200 foot drop on the 7th mile.  So the steepness of the grade will provide decent conditioning to my legs.  Then the rocks on this trail require constant vigilance.  I decided against listening to a playlist so I would focus on the trail.  The attention required for each footfall, thousands of repeating footfalls, is almost hypnotic.  I could have run forever in this ultimate escape.

You have to plan each foot placement on the rocks in micro seconds.  When a decision to yield to bikers coming the other direction must be made, I make it at the last possible second.  So do many of the bikers.  I generally feel like we can both pass without anyone stopping.  The bikers were aggressive today and few ever yielded.  I rarely yielded as well, especially as I was flying down on the return.  Hills, footwork, gear testing, but the best part was the total escape of the run itself.  I felt great.

Testing my gear was brilliant.  Turns out I have a leak in my camelbak.  I’ll pick up a new one tomorrow at REI.  The drink leaked out over the back of my shorts.  As the wind and cold increased near the end of the run, I got a bit chilled.  So the dry clothes in my car came in handy.  Good test run.

In honor of the Caballo Blanco, pictured above, this will be the summer of mountain trail runs.  I’ll be training on trails every weekend that I’m not actually running a trail race.  My first will be the Collegiate Peaks Trail Run on April 28th.  I could feel Caballo Blanco’s spirit on the trail today.  Hope to see him again tomorrow when I climb the Amphitheater Trail up the Flat Irons in Boulder.  It should be snowing.

The Foot Strike

15 Sunday Jan 2012

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I was talking to Chris, someone I’ve recently met, while watching the Broncos get blown out of the playoffs last night.  Chris is 41 but looks like a competitively fit 21 year old.  So we were talking about running.  Chris and Dave share a similar injury with strained calf muscles.  I tried to trump them with my plantar fasciitis.  No one ever wins these “I got more scars than you” contests but they are fun nonetheless when you’re drinking with the guys and watching football.

I got some value out of it when we began discussing the effect from running with either minimalist shoes or low profile shoes.  I’ve personally received a healthy dose of advice recommending them as a cure to my pronation.  I understand the argument, although I’m not deep enough on the topic to confidently explain the difference between low profile and minimalist.  The link I share in that last sentence though is full of good information on the topic.

I’m curious enough now that I suspect I will eventually buy a pair.  Likely low profile.  The REI article I linked above suggests that barefoot running or minimalist shoes are not good for runners who over pronate – which I do in my left foot.  But I’m not committed and question whether these new style shoes are as important as simply changing one’s running form.  Chris, Dave and I all agreed that if it’s a matter of your heel strike vs a mid-foot or ball-of-foot strike, you don’t necessarily need these shoes for that.

I tested this theory on a 7 mile run today.  I focused on maintaining a mid-foot strike on the ground.  This route has about 2 miles of pavement and the rest is trail.  It’s necessary to shorten your stride a bit when doing this.  And there’s a tendency to run faster with a shorter stride and mid to fore foot fall, but with proper attention you can slow down your cadence as well.  I feel like I did a great job maintaining this form throughout the run.  I did run faster but have been improving my conditioning lately and was able to handle the faster pace.  Four hours later my left foot feels better than normal after such a distance.  I can’t say anything definitive yet but I intend to work at this new foot strike and will report on my progress.

Most of my focus is on fixing this nagging injury because I have a full running schedule planned for 2012.  I’m already registered for the Moab and Boulder Half Marathons – March 17th and April 1st respectively.  Those are target runs to motivate me to train through the winter.  The picture above is of the Boulder Reservoir where that event takes place.  After those warmups, I aim to run mountain trail half marathons.  Haven’t booked any yet but have a list of them to consider.  Let me know if you have run some cool trail races up in the Colorado Rockies.

CT Cronica: Remote Cochetopa Hills

28 Thursday Jul 2011

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You’re now hiking the second half of the Colorado Trail so the trail heads are further away.  It takes you 3 hours to drive to Poncha Springs – which is fast – but this is simply to meet up with Tumbleweed.  It takes another couple of hours to drop off a car at Sargents Mesa and return to Monarch Pass to camp at the Fooses Creek Trail Head.  You pitch your tent in the dark, thinking of your brother-in-law for gifting you a headlamp for Christmas.

The rolling Cochetopa Hills are as remote a location as any you’ve ever visited in Colorado.  There are more cows than people.  You actually expected the CT to route through the Sangre de Cristos.  You’ve heard of those.  But now you understand the Sangres range lies east of the trail as you drive by them for several hundred miles while shuffling cars to the extremely remote trail heads in the Cochetopas.

Tumbleweed launches Saturday with coffee by 5am and you gear up.  You have some new gear today.  The most important is the REI Trekker 1.75 Self-Inflating Sleeping Pad you bought hoping it would contribute to a better night’s sleep.  It does.  Highly recommended.  Of course you still used your old sleeping pad under the new one.  Why not?  The other gear is a pair of Outdoor Research Rocky Mountain Low Gaiters.  These look as thick as your high gaiters but only cover your shoes and a bit of your ankle, leaving your legs cool.  These work out well also.  By 6am you begin hiking the second half of the Colorado Trail, planning a twofer by combining segments 15 and 16 for a 28 mile day.

The trail is nice with some patches of good dirt and pine needles.  It’s an uphill climb for the first 7 miles so you don’t run, but you do maintain a decent 3 mile per hour pace.  The elevation tops out just under 12K and you find you’re now well conditioned to hike strong even uphill at this altitude.  You  barely rise above treeline, but you do cross through some beautiful mountain meadows littered with wildflowers.  You’ve been waiting for such meadows; this is the time of year to get up in the mountains.

The climb up provides some decent views of the Collegiates to the north.  You run some dips but mostly maintain your hiking pace.  It’s a nice day but rain is expected and you can see the clouds begin to form.  You don’t expect to be vulnerable though and even look forward to a light rain.

You encounter well over a dozen mountain bikers on segment 15.  They like to start from Monarch Pass and ride the Monarch Crest Trail to Marshall Pass – which is where segment 15 ends.  This is maybe one of the best trail rides in Colorado in terms of trail condition and views.  The trail runs around a rim much like a bowl and allows the riders to view the terrain for miles.  You envy them and consider getting a bike yourself.  Maybe next summer.

The Monarch Crest Trail is quite nice for running as well and you take advantage.  There are a good 3 miles or so mostly downhill.  You start off slowly though as you miss an initial switchback.  It might have been under snow or not well defined in the rocks, hard to say since you didn’t see it.  You end up bushwhacking down the hill until you’re back on the trail.  No biggie.

Segment 15 ends around 13 miles at Marshall Pass where Tumbleweed stashed a cooler of drinks the day before.  You have many more drinks than required because you also expected a third hiker with you today.  Thomas from Texas couldn’t make it.  He got stuck in Amarillo with family obligations.

But you meet a thru hiker at the pass named Viewpoint.  And he seems thirsty, so you share some drinks with him while he relates trail stories.  Viewpoint seems like a great guy and he takes some of your garbage off your hands as he is hitchhiking into town.  This enables Tumbleweed to carry the cooler for segment 16.  This will keep you from having to drive back to this trail head later in the day and subsequently save you a good 90 minutes.  Considering the long car shuffle you have for tomorrow’s hike, this could mean the difference between pitching your tent tonight in daylight or darkness.

You start off again on segment 16 after a good rest and two or three bottles of water and energy drinks.  Marshall Pass is less than halfway and you have another 16 miles to hike.  Despite starting from a pass, the trail winds uphill.  The trail is a series of rolling hills cresting after 6 miles a little under treeline in a mountain cow pasture.  The hills are never too steep to thwart your 3 mile an hour pace, and each meadow affords nice views of Mt. Ouray to the north.  Otherwise this segment is fairly unremarkable and is much more rocky than segment 15.  You can appreciate why you don’t see any mountain bikers on this segment.

After 18 miles the trail drops sharply in elevation down to about 10.6K feet.  There’s enough flat segments from 20 to 24 miles to run a bit but that doesn’t work for Tumbleweed carrying the cooler, so you hike it for the remainder of this segment.  You maintain your 3 mile an hour pace up a 1000 foot climb from mile 24 to mile 27.  This brings you to the high mountain meadow you’ll be camping at.  You reach Tumbleweed’s truck to rescue it from cows who are licking it for some odd reason.  This is Sargents Mesa – the most remote trail head so far in 16 segments of the CT.

Exhausted, you drive to Monarch Pass to pick up your car.  You hope again to meet up with Thomas, but he can’t make it.  You witness some freakish lightening over the Cochetopa Hills around Marshall Pass and recognize you got off the trail just in time.  Before dropping off Tumbleweed’s car at the last trail head on Hwy 114 near North Pass, you stop for dinner at The Oasis in Sagauche.  It’s not bad for Mexican food.  You’ll likely regret this choice tomorrow, but you’re damned hungry and you both order the El Grande Combination.  This plate comes with every known Mexican entree from tacos to enchiladas to a chili relleno.  You leave stuffed, drop off Tumbleweed’s car and make it to your camp site at Sargents Mesa just as night falls.  You have your best night’s sleep ever on the CT.

The stars are still amazingly bright as you wake before 4:30am Sunday.  You see a couple of shooting stars while drinking the morning coffee.  The slow wake up viewing the solar system is nearly the highlight of today’s hike.  This trail isn’t exciting enough to take many pictures of.  It rides on top of the hill crests, actually the Continental Divide, but trees block most views.  You are able to run much of this but at a pace driven hard by Tumbleweed that you find brutal.

You complete the 21 miles at a pace 2 minutes faster per mile than yesterday, both for the moving pace at 14 minutes per mile and the overall pace at 18 minutes per mile.  It doesn’t hurt that this hike loses 2000 feet in overall elevation, although it nearly all comes in the final 4 miles.  Mile 17 to 18 begins the downhill ride through another gorgeous old growth aspen grove, but the most remarkable thing about it is finally this exceedingly rocky trail yields to soft dirt.  Your feet are grateful.  But wait, there’s more.  At the Lujan Pass Trail head at mile 18 is the most amazing Trail Angel ever.  A tent is pitched with scores of cold drinks, food, batteries, first aid, bug spray – you need it it’s here.  You drown in orange crush and pink lemonade.  It’s unfortunate you drink so much because you can’t keep up with Tumbleweed as he sprints the final few miles to Hwy 114.  You join him after a couple of minutes to complete another 50 weekend miles of the CT.  You’re deep into a summer surge.  Next weekend has 4 segments on the menu that look to be equally remote.  Can’t wait.

CT Cronica: Frisco

18 Saturday Jun 2011

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Up at 4am again and out the door 15 minutes later, because you packed the night before.  This means you didn’t forget any key gear, except your gloves which you couldn’t easily find and you were willing to gamble you wouldn’t need them.  You didn’t.  Same stop at the same McDonalds for a cup of coffee and two breakfast burritos.  And once again, you reach the Frisco Safeway as you finish the coffee and purchase some trail supplies – namely water and Gatorade – and use the facilities.

Tumbleweed, sitting in his car drinking trail java at the Gold Hill Trail Head on Hwy 9, is surprised to see you arrive by 6:30.  You’re early enough to have nearly disrupted his morning routine.  Today’s hike will be your earliest to date as the drive to the Middle Fork Swan River TH is close by.

You’re surprised the snow hasn’t sufficiently melted to allow you to drive all the way to the trail head, but you park within a mile.  Swan River is raging and you’re thankful you don’t need to cross it today like you did at the end of your last hike.  The background bush next to Tumbleweed’s head in this first picture is that very same bush whose branches you anxiously clasped to keep from falling backwards into the stream.  Had you fallen three weeks ago, only your backpack would have drowned.  This week the Swan River would swallow your body whole.  There’s been some serious snow melt since you been gone.

  The trail spirit of A Lo Hawk emerges to launch you off on an epic run with a high-pitched holler.  And run you do.  More than the painful snowshoeing over Georgia Pass, your memory of the first part of segment 6 is a bitter feeling from not being able to run.  The first 7 miles of that trail would have made for an excellent run.  So you make up for lost ground.  Tumbleweed is confident you can leave behind the snowshoes today.  The thought of this is liberating and you dress light, considering the falling rain and snow, geared up for running.  You’ve barely run since the Bolder Boulder.  You took off two weeks to recover from nagging injuries and fatigue and only squeezed in a couple of days this past week.  Your body is ready to let loose.  There is much more whooping and hollering on the trail today.

As the sun emerges, you shed more gear.  You’re running strong and feel awesome.  Something very different is the use of trekking poles.  You learned their value on the first part of segment 6 and purchased a pair at REI.  As much as borrowing one of Tumbleweed’s poles helped you last time, two poles provide more than twice the benefit.  And you’re not even in snow yet.  You experiment with various pole rhythms to match your stride and the trail.  Poles are hardly a crutch, they’re steroids.  At one point you even leverage them to launch off a rock on a downward slope.  You’re literally flying and having a blast.  Trekking poles are an absolute must have on the CT.  They serve as the perfect tool to extract yourself from post holes, but also keep you from post holing in the first place.  Even when you’re not skipping them across the trail, but rather holding them in a horizontal position, they help you maintain balance.  You’ll be using your poles long after the snow has melted.

Perhaps it’s the comparison with the painful first part of segment 6, but today’s hike is your best experience to date.  Garmin suggests you’ve maintained walking pace at 3 miles per hour.  You know you’ve run most of the trail, and skipping across the snow spots in your hiking shoes, while slow, is fairly successful in terms of avoiding post holes.  You gain considerable experience using the trekking poles and develop the habit of sliding down the 4 to 5 foot snow cliffs where the snow would meet back up with dry trail.  It is only along the couple of miles above 11,000 feet where the snow is that deep.  Below 11,000 feet, the trail becomes nearly crowded with bikers.  Considering how few other hikers and bikers you’ve shared the trail with on prior outings, today’s near traffic jam of fat tires is quite the sight.  Men and women seem to be out in equal numbers, although it’s the women’s smiles that reinforce the beauty of the great Colorado outdoors.  Which is not to say these two guys don’t look good sporting their mountain bikes. 

Today’s hike is a total gear win.  The trekking poles are of course the most satisfying gear win.  Traveling light without snowshoes was a key decision that resulted in some nice running.  Your new tent performs perfectly with a quick setup plus rain and condensation resistance.  But it doesn’t end there.  You’ve struggled in your efforts to find optimal trail food.  You finally acquiesce to Tumbleweed’s choice of the Honey Stinger Waffle.  This honey cake is light, conveniently packed, and pretty darned tasty.  And while it’s absolutely necessary to wash down most trail food with water, it’s not absolutely critical for these tasty cakes.  You award Stinger two Puerco Pibil awards for trail food and commit to packing Stinger on all future hikes.

The day has plenty left in it as you complete this 18 mile segment at the Gold Hill Trail Head.  Yet another gorgeous biker chic, Sara, takes a picture of you with Tumbleweed.  You have very few joint pictures on the trail as you seem to be leading the season trail blazing the CT this spring. This pic captures your camping site on the hill behind you.

After changing into some comfortable clothes and setting up your tent, you shuffle your car to the end of tomorrow’s planned hike of segment 7.  This is at the Wheeler Flats Trail Head across the road from the Copper Mountain ski resort.  It’s an easy drive back down I70 to Frisco where the locals seem to be throwing a street party in your honor.  Main Street is blocked off and a BBQ competition is in full force.  You try quite a few dishes.  The spicy German sausage was your favorite, although the Jambalaya was the biggest surprise.  You try to kick it down a notch with some roasted corn but you basically over eat on hot and spicy.  There’ll be hell to pay later, but for now there’s beer to add to the mix.  With Tumbleweed driving, you drink your share.  Nothin’ better than eating meat on a stick and drinking beer in the middle of the street.  More than full, you head back to the trail head, only a couple of miles down the road, to watch the sunset.

There don’t appear to be any other campers on your hill, although there’s plenty of room.  You open a bottle of Shiraz to wind down and recount the amazing day.  Everything went right.  There was supposed to be thunder storms but they never materialized.  The early morning rain and snow served to keep you cool on your run.  Your gear performed well and you felt great.  Plus you gained quite a bit of experience with your trekking poles and the snow.  The conversation slows as the wine combines with your 4am wake up call and you take in your pleasant surroundings.

It’s still fairly early, maybe 7:30.  Tumbleweed leads you down a short path from your tents to a bluff overlooking Breckenridge and the Ten Mile Range.  Watching the sun set over the mountains, you visually review tomorrow’s hike as you polish off the Shiraz.  A light rain begins to fall and you retire to your separate tents.  Your iPhone has a strong signal so you call Karen, catch up on email and post some updates to the Colorado Trail Organization on Facebook.  You fall asleep before darkness fully sets upon Gold Hill.

CT Gear

15 Wednesday Jun 2011

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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.