Pikes Peak

The end of something old marks the beginning of something new. That’s the way I feel as I sit here and write what I hope is only a short entry to my blog. Nothing too special was accomplished this weekend; not in the big scheme of things anyway. No races that I took part in, though I am anxious to hear how my friend Kelly Ping did in the Treasure State Triathlon, which took place this morning up in Bozeman, MT. I know she will do well.
For my weekend, I took care of some unfinished business, climbing Pikes Peak. Funny thing is that I have lived in Colorado Springs since 1998, and I have climbed a few of the 14teeners by now, but for some reason I had never bothered to take care of Pikes Peak. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t think the ascent of the peak itself was going to be technical enough to satisfy my appetite for climbing. Of course I have climbed many times upon Pikes Peak; the ice climbs upon its north face and over at the Bigger Bagger too.
Since having seriously taken up running a couple of years ago, I have been able to look around Colorado Springs and say,”Yeah, I’ve run there”. Everywhere except for the most important spot, or at least the biggest one. So, it was on Saturday morning that I set out to take care of that loose end.
In front of the Cog Railroad depot was the spot we were going to meet at 6:00 AM; a bunch of us from our running group, the Attack Pack, after having suggested the idea earlier in the week for a Saturday long run. Knowing it was going to be insanely busy on Ruxton Ave that day, I parked down at Memorial Park at 5:40 AM and began a slow warm-up heading up to the depot. Ramsey, Dave, Monique, Brian, and Hope all gathered with me, each of us with a different distance in mind, as most of the group was only going up to Barr camp and back. It was neat also to see many other folks we recognized from different Pikes Peak Road Runner events; lots of folks it seemed were out today with plans of heading up on the peak. At about 6:20 AM we headed out on the trail too.
Having never run with any of the Attack Pack on the Barr Trail, I was wondering what kind of strategy everyone would have for the W’s. Normally I will walk up Ruxton from just above the depot, where the road is really steep, run a little to the gate at where the dirt road begins, where I walk to the first bend back away from the creek, and then run up to where the cut-off trail meets the actual Barr trail. From there to the top of the W’s, I run a little and mostly walk the odd or north facing segments of each switchback, and then run all of the even or south facing ones. No one seemed to be in the mood to suggest anything different. So, I was relieved to get a mellow start and not have to deal with anyone wanting to like totally run the first part of the trail. From the top of the W’s, we ran where the trail was rolling on up to No Name Creek, and then walked for the next segment until we got on top of the ridge and ran most of the way up to Barr Camp, except in a couple of the more uphill sections. Perhaps I should add that we also walked most of the section from where the ½ mile to Barr Camp sign is.
We got to Barr Camp in 1 hour and 40 minutes. Saying goodbye to Ramsey, I headed on up the trail, and was pleasantly surprised that Dave wanted to stick with me for a little while longer. I pulled out a chocolate peanut-butter sandwich and split it with him. Aside from the sandwich, my nutrition plan consisted mostly of Power Gel, Enduralyte Caps, and a hydration pack full of water. I was eating a gel and a cap each hour, and sipping water whenever I could remember to. I had brought along a 20 oz bottle of HEED too, but wasn’t planning on breaking into it until much later.
Dave stuck with me until we got to the trail that turns off for the Bottomless Pit. We said our goodbyes, and I headed off up the trail alone; Dave headed back down. Not that I was really alone though; there were what seemed to be almost a hundred other people out on the trail, with designs on climbing the peak that day.
The section between Barr Camp and the A-Frame is the roughest part of the trail in terms of how rocky and technical it is. Soon enough it passed by and I was at tree-line, where I could see the top of the mountain, though there was still a long ways to go. It is 3 miles from tree-line to the summit, and I walked most of it. The trail is much smother in this section, though there was still a patch of snow or two to be negotiated. I was amazed at the views, and also by some really nice looking cliffs where there would be some good climbing, if only it weren’t so far from the road.
The trail gets rocky again where the 16 Golden Stairs are to be found just below the summit. For the most part I had stayed pretty warm up to this point in only a short sleeved shirt and some shorts. At the top, a jet of cold wind was coming over the summit from the west, as is so typical of the weather on top of Pikes Peak. I stuck around long enough to talk someone into taking my picture, and to say hello to a fellow runner, Mike Shafai from Colorado Springs, who is also taking part in the Leadman series. Mike had left the depot about the same time I had, but is a much faster runner, and had gotten to the top I am sure quite a bit sooner than I had.
Not wanting to cool off too much on the summit, it wasn’t long before I said more goodbyes, and headed off again, this time actually running, as I was now headed on my way back down the mountain. So, I ran most of the way back down. Of course I stopped to walk in a few spots, where there were large rocks to negotiate just below the summit on the 16 Golden Stairs, and for the couple of snow patches. However, all the way back down the mountain I kept up a slow shuffle, only stopping to walk just below Barr Cap, where there is a slight uphill section.
I wasn’t embarrassed to pray to God for exactly what I wanted; to not trip and fall down and get hurt. A couple of times I stumbled when my feet hit upon a rock sticking up out of the trail. For the entire descent though, God kept me safe from all harm and danger, and for that I was very grateful.
By the time I got back down to Barr Camp, I decided to break into my HEED, mainly as an experiment to see how it would sit on my stomach after having wrung so much out of my body on the way up. So, I stuck with the gels and water on the hour, and started drinking some HEED on the half hour. It tasted good, but it didn’t set too well on the tummy. Mostly it just gave me some gas. I was thankful to not have any major GI distress. Maybe I need to find something else to try instead of HEED. I love the stuff, and drink it pretty regularly while I am on the bike, but it doesn’t love me when I run…
As I got further down the mountain I allowed myself to visualize what it would be like to run back down Manitou Ave and cross in front of the Coquette Creperie, where we always cross the road while running with the Incline Club on Sunday mornings. Except I don’t get to run with the Incline Club too much, because I usually go to church instead. Visualization became reality, and I eventually did cross Manitou Ave. and made it back to my vehicle at Memorial Park at 1:00 PM exactly. By my figuring, this was just about 7 hours round trip for a distance of 28.4 miles. My legs felt a little worn out as I walked a lap back and forth in front of the park as a cool down. Other than that though, I was pretty much injury free; no severe knee or foot pain and no blisters either.
Back to the beginning; where I started with the end of something old marking the beginning of something new. Today also marked the turning of a page so to speak in my journey for this summer. Next week, on July the 3rd, the Leadman series starts. How it will end, I can only hope is with success. I realize that this is a journey that not only will my mind have to accept, but my body must be a willing accomplice too. Can I hold up physically and mentally to see this through to the end? Will I discover that I truly enjoy and want to try other ultra-endurance races? Will I finish and say that’s enough for me? Or will I crash and burn, ending somewhere in between with a DNF? I place my faith in God that He always takes me exactly where I need to be. I’ll keep you posted along the way.

Mt Evans Ascent 2010

This year I got a really cool father’s day present from my son, Jubal. He volunteered to help me with the Mt. Evans Ascent, a race held each year about the same weekend as Father’s Day, which starts at Echo Lake, CO (elev. 10,600’) and runs 14.5 miles up the Mt. Evans Highway to the summit at 14,264’. This year was my first time running the race. What a great race it is, but more on that later.
On top of helping with the race, my son also volunteered to help make my day a little longer by ferrying the car over to the Guanella Pass trailhead so I could continue on from the summit of Mt. Evans and traverse over to Mt. Bierstadt via the Sawtooth Ridge. That was the special part of my Father’s Day present; that and being able to spend some quality time with him too.
We left Colorado Springs fairly early by racing standards; 4:00 AM. This is not so early for alpine climbing, where 4:00 AM might seem luxuriously late to others. However, the race wasn’t due to start until 7:30 AM. Maybe that is one of the luxuries of a running race; you get to the top of what you’re climbing a little faster than just plain hiking. It was still a little early when we arrived at Echo Lake; maybe just a little past 6:00 AM. Since we were not going to be parking our car at the start area, the nice folks at the race let us pull up temporarily right at where check-in table was set up.
So, we dallied for just a little while at the check-in area; picking up my packet, snapping a few pictures, and putting my drop bag into one of the 15-passenger vans that would be taking them up to the summit and then shuttling racers back down to the start after finishing the race. My drop bag looked a little out of place as it had crampons and an ice axe attached to it. I wasn’t planning on being shuttled back down from the summit.
Soon Jubal packed up into our vehicle, and we said our goodbye’s as he began the 1 ½ hour ride over to Guanella Pass. I felt a little nervous/committed at that point because there was going to be no chance to contact and tell him if my plans changed for some reason; injury, missing a time cut-off, bad snow conditions, etc. So, I had to make the traverse over from Evans to Bierstadt, no other options were practical.
Other pre-race activities had still to be taken care of, so I didn’t have a lot of time to sit around and worry. I stood in a short line for the porta-potties, stretched, and then went for a warm-up run on the Echo Lake trail. Maybe it was only for a few minutes that I had run down the trail before I realized I would need to make one more stop at the porta-potties. By the time I got back, the line had quadrupled in size, to the point I wasn’t sure I would get another chance to go before the race started. However, the time in line was well spent as a few of us socialized and realized that our paths would cross again in just a couple of weeks for the Leadville Trail Marathon.
Just as the race director was starting to yell at us through his megaphone about the race starting without us, I got into the porta-potty only to find there really wasn’t much toilet paper left. Other folks were frantically running back and forth outside asking if there was any toilet paper left at all. Some of the porta-potties were completely out. That was my only real gripe with the race; they could have had a few more facilities available at the start, and they could have been a little better stocked too.
Soon enough we all lined up at the starting line. The race director pointed out that he had not taken a lot of time to mark the course, only that it “went that way.”, as he pointed up the highway in the general direction of the summit of Mt. Evans. Just as the last of the spectator cars got through the fee station, the race started, and we were off!
My first impression, and one that still sticks with me, is that running the Mt. Evans Ascent is just like running Ridge Road back home, if only for 14 plus miles! If you have ever run in the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, then you can probably relate to what I am saying. Since Echo Lake is at 10,600’ in elevation, it isn’t long until you break out of the tree-line and the views really start to open up. Hmmmm…. Up? Well, that seemed to be the mantra of the day. Shuffling along at a pace that wasn’t pegging my heart rate, I managed to actually run. I kept telling myself that I would run the next mile and then evaluate just how hard running at this altitude was going to be.
Many peaks have I hiked and climbed, but I have never purposefully run at this altitude. So, I really didn’t have a lot of experience to fall back on. Mile after mile started to go by. The race director was right; the Mt. Evans highway goes to the summit of Mt. Evans, and the mileage is marked very mile of the way. So, I guess he was serious when he said he didn’t go to a lot of effort to mark the course.
Aid stations were situated about every 3 miles or so along the race course. I made a point of walking through each one, making sure to grab a cup of water and a piece of a banana. They had some electrolyte drink available, but after working on my nutrition plan with one of my running partners, who is a graduate student at UCCS in the nutrition department, I have realized that something like HEED doesn’t sit well in my tummy if I drink too much of it. This is especially true when combining it with other sugary things, like energy gels. In fact it doesn’t sit there too long either as this combination has led to some major GI distress and many epic trips to the woods in some recent events. However, today my tummy felt perfectly dialed in, and I was happily sipping water and munching bananas and the occasional gel.
Up and up and up I ran. The only downhill section is coming into the aid station at Summit Lake, around mile 9. Time-cut offs are enforced at Summit Lake, where you have to make it there by 2 ½ hours after the start. I think I made it to the lake well within 2 hours. Continuing to take it easy with my pace, I was able to make it to just past mile 10 before I had to stop and walk for a bit. From there on to the finish, I used a strategy I had picked up at the point of exhaustion during the Wyoming Double Marathon, where I would walk to one of the reflectors along the side of the road, and then run to the next one, and then repeat the process all over again.
After Summit Lake, the highway really starts to gain some elevation. The views get more incredible as each bend in the highway gives way to next
. Way up above, I could see runners progressing towards the finish. Way down below, I could see the same. Finally the mileage signs started to count up to the finish. Miles 11 and 12 felt pretty long
. Mile 13 flew by for some reason. Then the sign for mile 14 went by, and I was able to kick it in for a slow, but purposeful shuffle to the finish. There I even broke into a short sprint; 2 hours 59 minutes, and 44 seconds after leaving Echo Lake. My finish was nothing to write home about, but at least worthy enough to spend a few lines on for this blog, eh? In the big picture for today; my place was exactly in the middle of the pack, right where I always am (147 out of 300 plus runners and 18 out of 36 in my age group).
At the summit I grabbed my drop bag and told the race folks about my plans to traverse over to Bierstadt. I wanted to make sure they weren’t trying to account for everyone, and that I wouldn’t cause any problems. Off to the side, I changed into some pants and a windshirt and put on my climbing face. Quickly I climbed to the last few feet to tag up with the summit, and studied my route as the West Ridge of Evans fell away to the Sawtooth.
Roach’s climbing guide said the West Ridge was only 0.7 miles in length, which I imagined would go by pretty quick when analyzed with a glass of wine while comfortably situated at home. Reality in the mountains is that few things are as straight forward as one would like them to be, and the ridge was no exception. The scrambling was nice, but very blocky, and I took a little extra time because I was in my running shoes, and didn’t want to slip and fall. Fortunately the snow wasn’t a problem with only a patch here and there, even a few spots had boot prints where I could take some comfort in that I was staying on the right course. Peeking over the edge of the north face of Evans at one point, I spied a couple of skiers delicately traversing over to the top of a hidden couloir, getting ready for a descent back to Summit Lake. To the other side, I could see several groups of hikers coming up from Mt. Spalding, just finishing up with the West Ridge and getting close to the summit. Lots of folks were out for a good day.
As I began to drop down off the ridge itself following a series of large carins, my iPod started playing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, which seemed to set the perfect mood for the moment; the Sawtooth was ahead, Bierstadt was off to the left, and I was alone and in the mountains, in my happy place. Immersing myself in the music and the moment, the West Ridge was soon past. I began to traverse the large open slope that forms the top of the Sawtooth Ridge.
This was a point I had worried over a little bit, as this part of the route is fairly broad, open, and lacking in distinct features. If traversing from Bierstadt to Evans, following the Sawtooth is perfectly obvious. However, coming from the direction of Evans to Bierstadt, a crucial piece to the puzzle, a narrow ramp system that allows access through the sheer cliff at the end of the Sawtooth is unobvious, hidden from the eye of climber. Instead, a collection of large cairns must be found that mark the beginning of the descent on to the ramp. Fortunately, by angling slightly upwards as I traversed across the open slope before me, I totally nailed the start of the ramp, intersecting the end of the slope where the chasm of the Sawtooth drops away within 100’ of where the cairns were to be found. With relief I began to drop down onto the ramp, also feeling good about the lack of snow that I was encountering, as I was not having to put on crampons or break out the ice axe.
At the end of the ramp, I crossed back over to the opposite side of the Sawtooth, encountering what was probably the most technical section on the route, a short bit of 3rd or 4th class down climbing. I probably made it harder than it had to be, but the act of actually climbing and not just scrambling was fun. At the bottom of the Sawtooth there remained only a long snow slope ahead, separating me from the summit of Bierstadt
. Looking up I could clearly see someone on the summit; was that my son Jubal?
Because I was wearing my running shoes, and didn’t feel like putting on crampons, I did my best to stay in the series of rock bands to the right of the snow, which formed the summit ridge of Bierstadt. Maybe the snow would have been easier to slog up, and the rock was a little more technical, but I was enjoying every moment as the last of the mountain surrendered itself to me. Dodging back and forth across the sides of the ridge, gaining height towards the top, the wind began to increase whenever I was on the west side of the ridge.
Soon it was blowing hard enough for me to barely be able to keep my balance as I crossed the last few feet of the ridge. At the same time I also noticed the figure on the summit beginning to wave at me; it was Jubal! I waved back, pumping my fist in the air, as happy for him as I was for myself. It was the perfect moment, and also his first 14teener, which he had done all by himself. He was excited too, and we gave each other a big hug when we met on top. The wind was blowing something fierce. I knew Jubal had to be pretty cold. He told me he had been on the summit for about 1 ½ hours while waiting for me. The emotions I was feeling made this one of the best summits I have ever stood upon. Quickly we snapped a few pictures and began the descent back down the west side of Bierstadt towards Guanella Pass.
Getting from the summit of Bierstadt back down to Guanella Pass is listed as being slightly less than 3 miles in several of the popular guide books to Colorado’s 14-teeners. However, it seemed to me to go on for so much longer. Descending from the summit at first involved lots of steep, down-stepping, which was starting to feel a little hard on my legs and feet after having been on them for so long. Parts of the trail were pretty muddy too from all of the recent snow melt, which meant trying to pick a way through without getting my running shoes absolutely filthy. My son Jubal admitted that he was pretty whipped too, and that his hip flexors were really sore, since he hadn’t been out recently practicing a lot of hiking or climbing uphill. Fortunately the weather was continuing to hold and wasn’t going to be a problem at all.
After much hiking down the side of Bierstadt, we finally crossed Scott Gomer Creek, which left us only 1 mile through the willows to get back to the trailhead. By this time Jubal was really starting to slow down, so I got ahead of him by a pretty good ways and waited at the trailhead, reflecting on the day’s events and soaking in the views of the Sawtooth and Mt. Bierstadt. It had been a good day and some good training too. Soon enough Jubal got to the trailhead too and handed the keys to me, asking me to get our vehicle from the upper parking lot and drive back down to pick him up. In back of the vehicle I had packed a cooler full of good things for us to have a victory picnic of sorts. Jubal was a little too gone at this point to want to hang out and eat at the trail head, so we packed-up and headed back to Colorado Springs. I munched on some of our goodies while I drove. Jubal alternated between eating a few bites and passing out into a comatose like state of sleep.
Overall the Mt. Evans Ascent is a great race. The support for the race is really good with the way the aid stations are stocked and manned. The contents of the swag bag handed out at the check-in almost paid for the race entry fee; a bag of coffee beans, 3 energy bars, dried plums, Enduralyte caps, and a $35 card for downloading music from the Internet!