Inaugural Aspen Backcountry Trail Marathon

Final minutes of the Leadville Trail 100-mile Run

My Most Excellent Journey on Pikes Peak

Last day of Winter, March 19th, 2011

Snow plumes were swirling off the summit when I first got a glimpse of Pikes Peak about two miles up the Barr Trail. The forecast was for winds of 45-50 MPH and temperatures of 25 degrees by 1100 AM when I expected to be up there. I started my journey at 7:40 A.M. at the trailhead proper. My intent was to make a go at breaking the winter speed climbing record of 3 hours 21 minutes that I had set in January of last year, however when I reached the top of the W’s in 27 minutes I knew it was not going to happen. I wasn’t moving fast enough for any number of reasons: carrying too much stuff, ran a trail marathon a week before, getting older….pick your excuse, any excuse will do.  Other time hacks at the 7.8 mile-to-go sign (1:10), Barr Camp (1:36) continued to reinforce the realization that it was not going to be a record setting day.

The trail up to Barr Camp was melting out well. Indeed the trail to Noname Creek was dry and from there to Barr Camp no spikes were necessary. I finally put on spikes just above Barr Camp. I followed one set of fresh footprints in the snow, but caught him just before the end of the long switchback before A-Frame. This was also where the trail became mostly un-runable. I cut straight over to A-Frame from the “willows switchback,” reaching A-Frame in 2:34. The creek by the A-Frame was completely frozen over. From here I climbed straight up the slopes, post-holing up to my knees on the soft snow, seeking firm ground on heather slopes as much as I could. Though it was a direct ascent the going was slow. I crossed the trail at the long traverse to the 1-mile-to-go sign about three hours into it. It would take another 53 minutes to reach the summit.  As I approached the summit at first I thought the train was up there, then I realized it was the wind. Wow. The wind was screaming like a freight train. After the 16 Golden Stairs sign I angled left and gained the south ridge, popping out on the tracks. I walked the tracks towards the summit house in the face of bitter wind. Finding some shelter out of the wind I put on all my clothes: coat, an extra set of gloves and wool cap.

My next goal was to get off the mountain as fast as I could. I really didn’t want to go back down the rock pile, so I set off jogging down the tracks. Problem was, this was directly into the face of the biting wind. My fingers were going numb despite two sets of gloves and to keep my nose from getting frostbit I had to hold a hand over it. Finally, I rounded the first turn where the wind was mostly at my back. From the summit it is about two miles down the tracks to Windy Point, which is still above tree-line. What did I find there? Three trains, and one of them was coming up the tracks towards me. I called Chewy and we climbed up into the rocks while the maintenance train drove past. I’m sure they must have seen me but they pretended not to. It didn’t take very long before they gave three toots and turned back. Windy Point was the highest point the passenger trains would go that day.

I waited until they all had started back down the mountain before I resumed my run down the tracks. Just below treeline the maintenance train had parked and workers were working on the tracks. Chewy and I diverted into the woods until we had passed safely beyond the train, then resumed our run down to the Mountain View station at 10,000’ elevation. At Mountain View it was so hot that I stripped down to short-sleeve shirt before running the connector trail back over to the Barr Trail near the half-mile-to-go sign to Barr Camp. I was running on “six hour legs” by this time and that is not too fast. Even at that pace Chewy was lagging. I realized he was not behind me when I reached Noname Creek. Backtracking I had to go all the way back to above “Town Overlook” before I found him. It was a long day on the mountain by the time I finally got home.

Manitou Incline - Current Conditions

14ers.com • View topic - Manitou Incline - Current Conditions

Kucinich: Fake Taliban Leader, Fake Elections, Fake Deadline, Real Trouble « Dandelion Salad

“The only real thing about this war is the dead and wounded soldiers and civilians, the wasted tax dollars and the mounting evidence telling us to get out.”

Kucinich: Fake Taliban Leader, Fake Elections, Fake Deadline, Real Trouble « Dandelion Salad

Daily Kos: Republicans win office, kill jobs immediately

Cause that’s the way they roll!

“Governor-Elect Kasich in Ohio has killed the federally-funded passenger rail project that would have connected Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. Apparently, Kasich does not like the idea of putting Ohioans to work building new infrastructure that would keep a ton of people employed and provide people with a transportation option that would reduce fossil fuel consumption.”

Daily Kos: Republicans win office, kill jobs immediately

Grand Teton 100 Mile Race Report

Grand Teton 100 Mile Fun Run Race Report

2010-08-08 RMFI Work Day

Click on picture for all the day's pics

Ring the Peak, June 12, 2010 Run Report

Ring the Peak, June 12, 2010 Run Report

Ring the Peak Slide Show

Ring the Peak, June 12, 2010

The four finishers of the first-ever one-day run of the Ring the Peak Trail. From left to right: Rick Hessek, Nick Starkey, Paul DeWitt, Steve Bremner

17 hours 30 minutes
64.5 miles
13,200 feet elevation gain and loss

TRNN Exclusive: The man that "shoed" Bush

American River 50 mile Endurance Run

Yours truly near the halfway point of the American River 50 mile Endurance Run, Sacramento to Auburn California along the American River, April 10th 2010.

Birthday at Barr Camp

I celebrated 55 years on the planet this morning with Neal and Teresa Taylor at Barr Camp.

The Spotted Skunk makes its getaway!

Winter Series #4: Blackforest 20K 27 Feb 2010

Skunk #2 for tonight

Return of the Skunk

Skunked again