2 Peaks - 26 Miles - 7.5 Hours

Am I a runner that climbs or am I a climber that runs? I have been pondering this thought today, as I began to mow the yard this evening after work, and continuing as I sit here to write a review of the day I had in the mountains this past Saturday, the 10th of July. Lately I have been feeling much more the runner, as that is what seems to consume most of my time. Maybe having the Leadville 100 looming as if it were a fast approaching freight train has something to do with that. Oh, let’s not forget bicycling too. This is to the point that some of my climbing friends have long since quit bugging me to get out to the crag. In particular I had to let down my friend Jeff Morgan this week, who was trying so hard to get me out this past Sunday afternoon to climb in Cheyenne Canyon, but I had some urgent business to attend with my mountain bike a little further up the canyon.
So, I have been a climber for many years now, and a runner for only a few. More and more am I attracted to the trail running, enabling me to move long distances up in the mountains that I love so much. If I can see some climbing taking place during the run, then I get especially psyched. That was the case with this past Saturday. I decided to try and enchain a few peaks in Lake County, in the Sawatch Range; Mt Oxford, Mt. Belford, and Missouri Mountain.
The plan seemed reasonable enough, and a good excuse for working in long run too. I would head up into the mountains from the Pine Creek trailhead just off of Highway 24, about 12 miles or so north of Buena Vista, CO. After running 10 miles or so up the valley, I could head straight up a steep ridge from the valley floor that leads directly to the summit of Mt. Oxford from a point just past Little John’s cabin. From the summit of Oxford, I would traverse over to the tag the top of Mt. Belford, and then continue onwards to Missouri Mountain, via its technical east ridge. Then I would run back down the valley from the trail that goes over Two Elks Pass to get back to my vehicle; total mileage, somewhere in the upper 20’s; maybe 26 miles or so.
For the most part, the above itinerary went OK. Running up the valley from the Pine Creek trailhead was some time well spent in one of those achingly beautiful, remote Colorado mountain valleys (left the trailhead at 7:00 AM). At the junction of the Pine Creek trail and the Colorado Trail, I got a little confused. The guide I had didn’t mention anything about crossing Pine Creek on a little bridge that was hidden on my right. Fortunately I didn’t run south on the Colorado Trail long before nagging doubts forced me to turn around, where I found the bridge OK and continued heading up the valley.
Little John’s cabin certainly added to the ambiance of the valley (Arrived 9:00 AM). The ridge from the cabin up to the top of Oxford was truly steep and relentless; thankfully it never turned into anything grossly loose (on the summit by 10:30 AM) (that's when my camera battery decided to die!). Journeying from Oxford over to Belford was fantastic; being able to run down from the summit of Oxford and across the dividing ridge at that kind of elevation, and then a quick power hike up to the summit of Belford (the trip from Oxford only took ½ hour!).
At that point things started to go a little wrong; mainly in the form of uncooperative weather. It was about 10:30 AM in the morning; low grey clouds scudded across the sky, and from time to time small amounts of graupel (icy pellets) fell to ground. One lady in particular on the summit of Mt. Belford tried to warn me about a predicted storm that was imminently closing in on us (got into my kitchen and rattled my pots and pans around). The whole scene was enough to start letting seeds of doubt creep into my psyche about the safety of continuing on to climb Missouri Mountain. At least I knew that from the top of Belford, the path home lay beyond me, towards Missouri Mountain, at the top of Two Elks Pass, where I would need to decide between climbing and descending.
It was only a short run down to the pass, where soon I stood pondering the east ridge of Missouri Mountain; so close it looked. The graupel seemed to pick up in intensity. That made the decision to head down off the pass and away from the mountain much easier. I put my faith in God, and He always takes where I need to be. Missouri Mountain would wait for another day.
Running back down the valley was awesome, beginning with easy cruising in some beautiful scenery above tree-line. Little John’s cabin took a little while to get back to; I think it was just before 1:00 PM when I got there, making it 2 hours of downhill running from the top of Two Elks Pass back to the cabin. From the cabin, I was able to get back to the trailhead by 2:30 PM.
Hmmm… that’s 2 hours up the valley from the trailhead to the cabin. 1 ½ hours to climb the ridge from the cabin to the summit of Oxford. ½ hour over to Belford. Another ½ hour to Two Elks Pass, and then 2 hours back down to the cabin again. Finally, 1 ½ hours back down from the cabin to the trailhead. Looking back, I think it must have been further from the top of the pass back to the cabin than it was from the cabin to the trailhead. Since I don’t rock with a GPS watch, it’s kind of hard to tell what the total distance for the day was, but I am guessing that it was around 26 miles or so. My total round trip time was 7 ½ hours.
Perhaps the distance would have been further by a mile or two with the inclusion of Missouri Mountain, and certainly the car-to-car time greater, but it’s something I would not know for that day. The looked for storm never materialized that afternoon beyond a single clap of thunder I heard while I was somewhere between the pass and the cabin. I was pretty tired and satisfied with the day by the time I got back to the vehicle; no regrets. Somewhere in the last couple of miles back to trailhead, I managed to stub my left big toe hard enough that later the nail would start to turn purple at its base. At least I stayed upright the whole day, and didn’t fall down to roll in the rocks or play in the dirt. I was very thankful for that.
Sunday I was up all too early again, having volunteered to help out with the Summer Roundup Run. Helping out with the race was a blast, and something that I look forward to trying again. Had to leave a little early though, because I had to hustle over to church and help with the sound system. After an awesome lunch of BLT sandwiches with Lisa, I hit Stratton Open Space, then the Columbine Trail, up to the 7 Bridges Trail (which I strongly don’t recommend trying with a bicycle), and back down through Jones Park via Bear Creek Canyon, and back to the house in time for fish tacos with Lisa and Jubal; 25 miles, 4.5 hours; ouch!