This year I was very fortunate to join my hiking buddies (David, Dave and Brad) for another amazing trip out west. We would do the Three Sisters Wilderness near Bend, Oregon. For those who do not know Oregon, the Sisters are three volcanos, each over 10,000 feet. In addition to the Sisters, there are numerous other peaks in the wilderness area named similarly…the Husband, Wife, Mt Bachelor (also a ski resort) and so forth. The Sisters are part of the long chain of volcanos stretching from CA to WA and beyond including Mt Hood, Rainier, St. Helens, Adams, and more.

As an added bonus, Rich Ayers, an old friend from High School first grade! contacted me just before the hike and let me know he lived in Portland  (I went to a twelve year all boy private school…that likely explains a lot). So I made arrangements to fly into Portland (instead of SLC as I normally would) and hang out before the hike with Rich and his wife Gina.

See if you can find me in this picture, circa 1977, maybe 3rd grade or 4th?
(first row, far right)

Rich and Gina were great guests. Rich picked me up at the airport and took me back to his amazing house way up on a hill (Mt. Tabor area) which overlooked the city, Mt. Hood, St. Helens and more. He has a fabulous outdoor garden and patio area. We did not stay long at the house as the adult soap box derby was underway. So up Mt Tabor we hiked.

We were greeted by Gina and their friends Dave and Heather. They had munchies and beer waiting. We stayed for a few hours watching the wacky cars and people and then headed back for dinner. It ended up being quite a late night for an East Coast person, but what better way to adjust to the time change.

The next day Rich and Gina showed me around Portland which I really loved. It is certainly a small town, but it is plenty big to have every kind of thing going on. But the nice thing is that it has lots of small neighborhoods with character. No big chain stores. I appreciated that. We saw the Japanese Rose Gardens and picked up some souvenirs at the Saturday Market where we also got some middle eastern lunch.

Back to the house for a little relaxation, etc. Rich prepared salmon on a cedar plank for dinner. They don’t ship the good salmon to the east coast. They keep it out here. Bastards. That was some good stuff. Rich is a great cook. And Gina made a fresh cherry pie for desert. It was amazing. We all cried when we ate it. I even got up early the next day to inhale the rest of it before Rich beat me to it.

On Monday we left for the airport to pick up Dave Crockett around noon. He had just run the Leadville 100 RATS again (why?) and then flown out from Denver to Portland. He looked in good shape and got in the car. I could tell he was pretty worn out from the run, but he was better than the day before when he did not think he could even go on our hike.

We drove 4 hours to Bend, OR and met up with David Hansen and Brad Clements who had driven from SLC earlier that day (11 hours!). It was amazing that we got to Bend within 5 minutes of their arrival. Of course we had 15 electronic gadgets to communicate with each other to track progress…but still We had lunch at a mexican joint and headed to the camp ground at the Devils Lake Trailhead (5,400 ft).

The campground was very nice except for the mosquitoes. Thankfully we had the nasty juice (Deet) which worked well…had to re-apply every 3-4 hours…they were hungry critters. Anyway, we made dinner and wondered around at sunset exploring the volcanic rock all around us. We got in a game of Settlers (I won!) and “hit the Thermarest”.

We started hiking on Tuesday morning and it was a bright beautiful sunny day. But we knew weather was coming. We could see the S. Sister but it soon clouded over on top. We enjoyed a nice, fairly flat, hike from Devil’s lake up to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and then went North on the PCT. Our plan was to camp at Separation Creek (10 miles) which was about halfway between the South and Middle Sisters. We would then hike up between the peaks and camp again and attempt a summit of the Middle Sister. All of this would never come to fruition, though.

As we made camp at Separation Creek (6,400 ft) and had dinner, a thick fog rolled in. Then just about at sunset, the rain started. A light mist. It would increase in intensity during the night. But we hoped it would start to let up on Wednesday.

Wednesday came and we were in a storm. The rain did not stop for more than 20 seconds at a time. It was kind of funny as we would be in our tents and need to step outside “for a break”. So we would listen for the rain to stop and then get our shoes on quickly. You had literally 20-30 seconds to get out, do your thing and get back in before it would start up again. I have been in heavier rains, but not in anything more consistent. I guess that is what you get for being at 6,400 feet on the west side of a 10,000 foot volcano in the Northwest US.

So we settled in for some Settlers (of Catan). We stayed in our tents all day and got in about 27 games. I won 5 or 6 which was a good showing against the competition. I can’t believe I ever want to play again, but I do. Sad.

No one enjoyed our stay in the rain. Rich and Gina were getting cabin fever and went out for a 2 mile walk down the trail. Crockett got up and ran somewhere I think. Eventually he came back. Gina and Rich came back and said the trail was washed out for 50 yards. No surprise there. Thankfully our campsite was on some sandy volcanic soil which drained very well. We got dinner made and went to bed after another 5 games of Catan. We wanted to continue up the hill, but it was just too foggy and miserable to do it. And without a real trail, it might have been dangerous as well.

The next day (Thursday) it was still raining, but it was more of a mist and a lot colder. The front had pushed through we gathered. But no let-up in the rain/fog. Rich said he and Gina were getting out of there and we all agreed. This stunk! So we hiked back out the 10 miles we had come in. It was kind of a nice hike in the rain/mist, but definitely not what we had come for. Our plan would be to try and dry out in Bend and have dinner and hope for better weather for the next day, perhaps for a summit of the S. Sister.

When we got out of the back country around 2pm and back on the road to Bend, the sky opened up and it was beautiful again. Damn. In bend, we took all of our wet junk over to the city park by the river and let everything dry. We looked like a bunch of homeless people. It took just 2 minutes to dry things that were soaking wet. That’s what high desert will do for you! We played some more Catan before dinner at the pizza joint.

Rich and Gina decided to get a hotel room for the night (good choice) and the rest of us went back to the Mosquito 8 for the night. After all, we wanted to get an early start for our climb of the South Sister the next day. Yeah

On Friday we left the trail head at Devils Lake around 8am for our 6.25 mile (5,000 vertical foot) climb of the South Sister. Yup, the math is kind of scary…16% grade. And the trail did not let us down (literally) as it went up, up, up, up. We started in a thick forest and ascended 1,200 ft in about an hour (nice pace!). Then we were above treeline and had a flat section for about a mile. Then it was just a relentless climb to the summit. The trail was steep and in the higher sections it was very loose gravel which made footing difficult. I took my time and was able to keep up with David H and Brad for the most part. But Dave Crockett was WAY ahead, running right up the darn thing. I overhead people that were having lunch talking about that crazy guy “running up the trail”. Yup, I know him. Turns out Davy hit the summit and started back down by the time we saw him around the 9,000 ft mark (the summit is 10,300).

Suddenly I saw something up ahead on the trail that was very unusual looking. On a landscape that was mostly black and red volcanic rock, there was something glistening in the light. I continued at a faster pace and got closer. It looked like a diamond! There were a few of them and as I got closer I could see it was actually ice. But not ice like we get back east from a freezing rain storm, it was an ice crystal like you would see in Superman’s palace. As I got higher (around 9,500 ft) there were more and more of these things…each with very cool shapes. As you can expect, I shot 200 pictures of these things and wondered what they were and how they got there.

A few minutes later I reached the crater rim at 10,000 feet (the 10,358 ft summit was around the other side of the crater). The ice crystals were everywhere. But the rock was not coated with ice all over….just crystals in certain places. Weird!

I hiked around the crater rim and met up with David and Brad. They could not explain the ice either. Finally we found someone who told us they were a form of Rime Ice. Rime ice is common on ships in the winter and formed when a very cold mist/fog (below freezing) comes into contact with something it can freeze on. The water droplets start freezing on a surface and then continue to freeze on that surface as it is easier than the other surfaces. And it freezes in a crystal structure which is what made these things look so cool. The ice crystal grows into the wind as more and more water freezes onto it on contact. Like a stalagmight in a way. You need a wet, very cold (below freezing by a degree) rain/fog and a driving wind. All of which we had the day before. I was very happy to have seen this marvelous wonder! I bet it does not happen all the time…in the winter I bet it just snows.

We had some lunch near the summit and enjoyed crystal clear views of every peak in Oregon and Washington to the north. We could see for over 200 miles from up there!

We hiked the rest of the rim and slid down the snow field/glacier in the crater for some fun. Brad build a small snowman and took a picture for his neighbor who collects pictures of snowmen in weird places.

When we got back on the trail, we started down the 5000 ft descent. I began running down with David Hansen. Eventually we met up with Crockett coming UP the mountain for his second summit. He was about 2/3rd’s of the way back up when we met him. He decided to turn back instead of going the rest of the way. Funny thing was that people were doing double takes as he passed them a second time! He loves that stuff.

It took me 4 hours to get up the hill and just 90 minutes to get back to the parking lot. That was a tremendous amount of running on some VERY steep slopes. My quads were so thrashed, I could barely walk up or down a flight of stairs for nearly a week now. And to think Crockett does this 4x in a race! Yikes.

We got back to Bend and bid our goodbyes to the gang as Rich and Gina and I headed back to Portland.

All in all, it was memorable trip. I think the South Sister is one of my favorite climbs ever. Maybe second to Mt. Rainier. It was just so strange up there with the ice crystals, snow, glacier, red rock, and more. And the views were incredible. What a great climb. I will return in a few years with Jake and anyone else who would like to join us, for sure.

<iframe width=”425″ height=”350″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ src=”http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=114958344066506028160.00047755b3c6b399c5ffa&amp;ll=44.058173,-121.31531&amp;spn=86.803822,92.197266&amp;t=p&amp;output=embed”></iframe><br /><small>View <a href=”http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=114958344066506028160.00047755b3c6b399c5ffa&amp;ll=44.058173,-121.31531&amp;spn=86.803822,92.197266&amp;t=p&amp;source=embed” style=”color:#0000FF;text-align:left”>Three Sisters Wilderness</a> in a larger map</small>

When most people think of a long race, they think of a marathon, 26.2 miles run on a flat paved surface.

But there are much longer races than a marathon….
For the last 24 years, elite runners have gathered in Leadville, Colorado for the Race Across The Sky.

• The foot race is 100 miles long.
• The course varies in elevation from 9,200 to 12,600 feet.
• The hills add up to over 15,000 feet of gain and loss.
• The winners finish in 16 hrs. Others can take up to 30 hrs.

This year, the 25th anniversary, nearly 600 runners gathered on Friday, August 17th, to check-in and listen to the pre-race briefing. The pre-race briefing is a hoot (Colorado talk). The medical guy tells you to “get intimate with your pee”. He tells everyone that “it should not look like Guinness” and if it does, you need to be drinking more. He tells the crowd to strive for a “Coors Beer golden color”, who happens to also be a big sponsor of the race. The crowd gets a big laugh.

Then he warns the crowd about various medications that can shut down kidneys (Ibuprofen), digestion (Immodium), and other drug related problems. At the end of the medication warnings, he warns people who take Viagra for the run. No, these folks don’t take the little blue pill for the normal reason. They take the pill because it helps “increase blood flow” which is beneficial when the oxygen level is as much as 40% less than sea level. He tells the crowd that he doesn’t want anyone on Viagra to fall and hurt themselves as “he is not going to be happy about having to splint that”. The crowd erupts again.

The meeting lasted about an hour with introductions of last year’s winners as well as many participants who have run the race 10 times or more! If you complete 10 races (1000 miles) you get a huge buuuc-kle which is actually so big it makes sitting down almost impossible. Gotta love Colorado. There is even one guy who has run and finished all but one of the races!

Davy along side another runner & Hans with their 1000 mile Buc-kles

After the meeting, the crew people (David, Brad and I) listened to some further instructions about aid stations and driving/parking along the route. Then we hit the town to buy some last minute items and souvenirs.

We also stopped by one of the old mines in the area to look around. Leadville had one of the most profitable mining industries in the world and the area is full of the results. In town, houses are built right on top of mine tailings which are everywhere! But now-a-days all the mines are shutdown as it is not cost effective to mine in the area.

We drove 25 minutes back to our campsite across the valley in Twin Lakes where Davy (the one actually running the race) told us about the race course and where he would like to be met along the route, his supplies, and other information about pacing him. I was surprised at one point when he pointed to the trail I would be running with him. I had no idea it ran right through town! To think you are 25 miles from the race start and the trail goes right through your campsite just about. Too funny.

That night we all turned in early. We were all a little nervous about the next day and the day after. After all, we would get up at 2:30am to drive Davy over to the start which was at 4am. Then we all would be awake until he finished which was the next day (Sunday) at 7am or so according to his 27 hour pace goal. And although we knew we could get some cat naps along the route, it would be hard to get any real sleep. And each of us were also planning to run with Davy (pace him) during the second half of the course as we each had a section of the last 50 miles. We had quite an adventure ahead.

2:30am – Beep, Beep, Beep goes a watch
3:15am – In the car and driving to Leadville
3:30am -We park in Leadville. The town is totally closed but its like night of the living dead with people walking all over the place in the dark. Weird.
3:55am – “5 minutes to go to the start” we hear over the loudspeaker.

Davy Crocket #304, dawning his Coonskin Hat

At precisely 4am mountain time, the Mayor of Leadville fired a 12 gauge shotgun and 580 runners were off with headlamps blazing in the early morning darkness. For most people, the next time they would see the starting line would be 25-30 hours later.

Within a few moments everyone was gone and David, Brad and I walked back to the car. We drove over to the first aid station (mile 13) and snoozed for two hours waiting for Davy to arrive. Eventually we got up and moved the crew bag and all of his gear over to the aid station and layed out what we thought he would need….mostly water bottles full of half Ensure/water and half Poweraid/water.

When Davy arrived I was ready. I screamed as loud as I could “Oh my God! Its Davy Crockett…Go Davy, Go Davy…” The crowd laughed and cheered him on. I kept going with the screaming and then Davy got close enough and told me to “shut up already” and we both laughed. I was just following his notes and trying to make it seem like he was some kind of super hero or movie star or something. Who wouldn’t get a kick out of that kind of welcome.

After about a minute, Davy was gone. Running up the next hill. But before he left, he asked for some anti-gas pills. We said we would find them in town. We would see him again at the Fish Hatchery.

We all piled back into the car and drove back into town. We got to the Safeway at 6:45am and had to wait until 7am for them to open. But we got the gas pills and a few breakfast items for ourselves. We quickly left town and drove back into the valley to the Fish Hatchery.

The sun was up now and the fish hatchery was alive with lots of people and a heck of a lot of fish! Trout to be exact.

We got Davy’s supplies out and waited for him to arrive. Elasticon Tape, scisors to cut Elasticon Tape, one Bean and Cheese Burrito, an anti-gas pill (green), a small bottle of Hammer Gel, and water bottles of Ensure and PowerAid. Yum Yum.

Davy arrived at the Fish Hatchery (Mile 23) at 10:12am. For those keeping score, that’s nearly a marathon in 6 hours 12 minutes. Keep in mind that this was run on trails and included several thousand feet of hills both up and down.

Next up was “Treeline” which was more of a place to park next to the trail as opposed to a true aid station. After Treeline, the trail ascended into the woods and mountains and we would not see him until Twin Lakes which was another 13 miles farther along the course (Mile 40). Davy arrived and had some “lower stomach” issues. I took point and told crew people to get out of the port-o-pots. Thankfully one person got out quickly allowing Davy to get in. He took a longer than planned break but came out feeling better and ready to charge ahead. After a few bites of a bean burrito (is that the right kind of food for a race?) he continued on.

Dave, Brad, and I drove 35 minutes around to our camp ground in Twin Lakes. We dried out the tents that we left at 3am and packed everything up. We drove the short distance to “downtown” Twin Lakes and got a parking place on the road. The town is tiny with only 10 inhabitants (my estimate). But today there were at least 500 people all around. We grabbed some burgers at the restaurant and an extra burger for Davy.

Davy arrived around 1:51pm and he looked strong. He powered into the aid station, checked in, and met up with Brad and David for his burger.

Smile with your mouth full

Davy left quickly and looked great. He was just a little off his pace (4 min late) but this could easily be explained by his 10 min stop at Treeline….completely necessary

The next section of the course was perhaps the hardest. It was a 10 mile run from Twin Lakes to Winfield, Colorado, an old ghost town. The difficulty is that the elevation goes from 9,200 feet to 12,600 feet and back down to 10,000 feet. This would be a big test for Davy and we discussed what we thought he might look like on the other side.

We left Twin Lakes and drove about 45 minutes on dirt roads to reach Winfield, the halfway point of the out and back trail. We got there about 90 minutes before we expected Davy. I curled up on my themr-a-rest mattress and tried to sleep a little. Brad, who was first up in the pacing, immediately got ready. I think he was a little nervous and just wanted to have everything ready to go.

I could not sleep much but I did get a little rest. After an hour or so, I got up and explored the little ghost town village. It was well maintained by a local historical society. The town is actually a nice little place to visit and pitch a tent. Lots of trails, a nice stream, etc.

Then Davy arrived. He looked good for having run 50 miles.

I ran with him over to the medical tent and food tent. I could see he was not doing 100% well and something was bothering him.

After he had checked in, he made his way over to the Davy Station and took care of a few things.

Now he looked good. He was alert and talking and said he felt strong. Oh, god, poor Brad. You could almost see that look on Brad’s face of “What the hell am I about to do?”. But neither David nor I would offer anything other than “Have fun!” And away they went.

As they ran off, David and I got into the Explorer and started down the very crowded and dusty road. Not only was it crowded with cars, but it now had tons of runner on it. I was driving and I was very careful to go slowly around the runners – not just for safety but also to keep the dust down as much as possible.

As we got to the point where the trail left the road, we came up on Davy and Brad. I could see Crockett look back and spot the car gaining on him. He then took off running to be sure we did not beat him. That would be the last we would see of our friends for another 3+ hours.

We drove back to Twin Lakes and parked in the public lot. It was actually a great spot and we decided to get some nap time. I was next up in the pacing duties and was starting to get some nervous jitters. I had never run 16 miles in the big mountains and I was not sure I could do it. But I managed to get a little sleep.

When I got up, the rain and thunder could be heard booming in the distance. But down where we were it was beautiful with a nice rainbow across the sky. We would later find out that up on the pass it was hailing, snowing, sleeting, raining, and lightning at a rate that forced even Crockett to seek shelter for a while. Glad I wasn’t up there!

Around 6pm I suited up with my running gear and sorted out my Camelbak pack to take the things I thought I would need. Some gels, a power bar or two, water with some powerade mixed in, and some tape for my feet. I lathered up my toes in some Bag Balm (petroleum jelly) and laced up my shoes. I was ready.

Around 7pm Davy came storming into town. But Brad was not with him. We asked Davy about Brad and he just laughed!

Then 20 seconds later I spotted Brad running as fast as he could. He had fallen behind his runner! How embarrassing! Here’s a guy who had run 60+miles and had beaten a guy who had run just 13 or so! Well, soon enough my laughter would turn to tears. More on that below.

Brad had to sit down and relax for a minute after his torture session.

I was up next. We started walking away from the aid station at Twin Lakes and I was feeling really good. I was ready.

As we began our leg together, we had a very long and very steep ascent from 9200 feet to 10,700 feet in 3 miles (10% average grade).

We basically started walking up the hill. Davy was eating some things and drinking some other things and he wanted to walk. But as he finished up, I wanted to go a little faster. But he wouldn’t. So I started remembering how he said I was “soft” on him in Vermont a few weeks earlier. So I started to yell at him a bit. I called him a wuss. I said my grandma could do better (or something like that). And I complained that he was just wasting time.

Wellll, eventually something worked. As we crested the 10,700 foot level the trail started to level off a bit and Davy started to run. I kept up with him without too much of an issue. He would run a little faster than I could but not for long and I would catch up within 30 seconds or so.

Then darkness started to fall. We turned on our headlamps and settled in for running on mountains at night. At mile 4 we hit some downhill sections and Davy was starting to run a lot faster than me. I still kept up, but the technical nature of the dark trails were starting to limit my ability to keep up.

After mile 7 the trail was all downhill. Davy started running and I did not catch up. I went as fast as I could (5 min miles approx) but Davy was way up ahead. So I shifted to a lower gear and tried to enjoy the time alone. I would run a bit and then rest for a while. The amazing thing was that my heart rate was not all that high yet I could not go any faster. I was breating in and out these HUGE breaths of air trying to find some oxygen. Thank god we had hiked the Four Passes Loop just days before, otherwise I would be dead! It was an amazing experience running at 10,000 feet and great training.

I was running quickly enough to overtake a few actual runner. I kept asking them if they had seen a guy with a green light. Some people said no. Others said yes, but that he was way ahead. So I just kept going. Every once in a while I would see a green light up ahead only to find out that it was just a glow stick marking the trail. At one point I started runing with one guy who was very nice. We struck-up a conversation and introduced ourselves. He told me his name was Kirk Apt and he won the race in 1995 in 20:33! I was amazed. I was running with one of the gods. It was really cool. We ran together for a mile or so but I eventually moved ahead in search of Crockett.

As we neared mile 9 I came to our first aid station, Half Moon. It was a welcome sight for me. As I approached I heard a person ask for my number. I told them I was a pacer for #304. Then I heard laughter. Yes, I was a pacer without a runner! Have your fun! But I saw Davy up ahead and rejoined him after the station.

The next section of the trail was flat to downhill. I ran a fast pace (almost 6 min miles) to keep up with Crockett. He slowly pulled ahead but I pretty much kept pace. Eventually we could see car lights ahead at the Treeline stop. As we ran into Treeline we saw Brad and David. They had just gotten there which meant we were really making good time…and we were! We had picked up at least 20 mins or so on the goal pace and had passed dozens of runners. And Davy was in great spirits.

After a short stop at Treeline, we continued on to the flat, road section of the run. This was Davy’s worst section as he hates hard road running. He was also having some knee pain so he took some pills to help. But he was struggling a bit and just walking a lot. I made fun of him but it did not help him get started again. As we were now walking a bunch, I turned off my light and so did Davy. We just walked on the dark road and watched the stars overhead. It was amazing and I will never forget how many stars were above us on the dark road in the middle of nowhere.

Then some female runners passed us and that got Davy running again. We passed them and ran on ahead. But then Davy needed to take a break for the potty which took him a while (its hard to go when the cars are whizzing by, pun intended). The girls passed by again while Davy was using the “facilities”. I waited up ahead. When he was finished he came up to me running at a good pace. I ran a little faster and using my gps watch told him “this is a 10 min/mi pace” and Davy put it into a higher gear and kept up. Then I stepped it up and teased him “this is a 9 min/mi pace…can you do this?” and he stepped it up again. I went to an 8 min/mi pace and he again stepped it up. But then I was gasping! I tried to stay with him but I couldn’t. He was gaining on the goal up ahead which was the two girls. The last I heard him say was that he was going to pass them again and “slam the door”.

Davy and I passed the girls. As Davy passed he powered ahead even faster into a sprint. This was to ensure that they would not try and pick up their pace to keep up. I passed them a bit slower and said hello again and then booked ahead a bit uncomfortably. Oh well, it is a race after all!

Davy continued on ahead on the road. I could see him about a 1/4 miles ahead with the green light and tried to keep up. I did not want him to arrive at the Fish Hatchery without me. After all, I laughed at Brad for being left behind on his leg. I did not want to eat my words!

I ran hard. I kept going as much as I could. I was gaining a little as Davy was finally slowing down a bit. But I just could not keep up the pace required. I could see the lights from the aid station up ahead and I knew I had to keep pushing. But I was in pain. My lungs just heart. And my chest was pounding as only a strenuous cario workout can do.

As we turned right into the Fish Hatchery Davy had slowed to a walk. This was my chance. I was just 100 yards behind him. I ran and shouted at him. He was still walking. I was within 50 yards and then I gave out. I doubled over and staggered a bit. I had to walk. David and Brad saw me walking in about 30 seconds behind the man. They laughed. I ate my words.

I sat down and was a little bit in shock. I got some warm clothes and put them on quickly. At the aid station I got some warm soup and ate some cookies and ham sandwiches. I was tired, but I had done it! This was a terrific accomplishment for me.

Davy was pretty beat and took a few minutes to get himself together.

Davy and David Hansen took off shortly after that and Brad and I went to the Mary Queen station to get some rest in the car as we waited for the runners to arrive. I remember them arriving and sitting at the station briefly before taking off but not much more. It was cold!

Brad and I drove to the last place we would see them before the finish….a boat ramp on Turquoise Lake. I remember waiting a long time in the dark and seeing a few runners (walkers at this point) pass by. But we kept looking for that green light and could not make it out. Finally I thought I saw a green light. But it was so far away at the far end of the lake I was not sure. Then it stopped for a minute. And then it kept going. Was that Davy?

It was a very cool and still night. And I think the lake and the air created some sort of sound chamber of sorts. I was able to yell “Davy” from well over a mile away – maybe two miles – and he could hear me! They answered back. We were talking to them!! Cool. So I began singing the national anthem. When I stopped, I heard “Shut Up”. Yup, that was Davy and David!

Maybe an hour later, we were at the finish line in town and saw Davy and David run up the hill to the finish. He had finished one of the toughest 100 mile races in the world!

Davy Crockett at the Finish of the Leadville 100

In years past we have visited many amazing places in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, California, and Arizona. This year we would hit Colorado for the first time and hike the Four Passes Loop trail near Aspen. The trail is in an area called the Maroon Bells and is a loop trail which circumnavigates the main feature of the area, Colorado’s 27th highest peak, Maroon Peak which stands at 14,156 feet.

Maroon Peak from Maroon Lake

One of our team members, who shall remain nameless (though his last name rhymes with ransome), had an inkling to try and bag the peak itself as he personally has not been to the top of a 14-er. The rest of the team was discussing the difficulty of summiting this peak due to the technical nature of the climb, non-ideal weather conditions, and short time frame due to our mandatory departure on Friday for other activies. We convinced “Mr. X” that attempting the summit on our first day might cause my sea-level lungs to rupture, so we decided to hike the loop in the counterclockwise direction saving the possible summit for the last day. David (whoops! agreed succumbed.

What exactly is “Qualified” anyway?

…in case the rescuers need to know what colors we were wearing.

The hike began at beautiful Maroon Lake (9,580 feet) where Ansel Adams took his famous image of Maroon Peak and continued up past Crater Lake (10,000 feet). There were a lot of people out and about and the trail felt like a freeway at times. After Crater Lake the trail splits with an option to go towards West Maroon Pass (clockwise) or Buckskin Pass (counter clockwise). As we ascended towards Buckskin Pass (12,400 feet), the pedestrian traffic lessened as expected. For me, the climb was a bit slow as I was still adjusting to the altitude, but I took my time and concentrated on breathing in deep, slow breaths which helped. My friends kicked my butt and were at the top 30 minutes ahead of me, but that is pretty much par for the course with this group.

Around 1:15pm we reached the pass and ate some snacks/lunch before descending down to Snowmass Lake, our destination for the night. As we ate, we noticed that the weather was beginning to look a little threatening. When we felt a few drops of rain, we aborted food and started down. We have been caught on peaks in thunderstorms many times and once you have experienced one (or seven) you don’t really need that experience again.

Buckskin Pass Panorama

We descended a couple of thousand feet into a beautiful glacial valley. The weather continued to look bad and we heard thunder around us, but were not bothered by rain where we were, thankfully. After reaching the valley floor, the last section of the day was a 400 foot climb to Snowmass lake. I was tired and it felt like that little distance took forever. But eventully we all arrived at a very crowded Snowmass lake. After scouting around, we began to see that we would not be alone in the woods at this site which was a bummer. David wanted to continue on and over Trail Rider pass and into the next valley (another 1500 feet up and over). But the group decided that this would be too much given the weather, distance, and uncertain camp site options on the other side.

We set-up camp and Brad did some fishing. Within an hour, Brad caught not one, not two, but three 8″ to 12″ trout (rainbow and cut throat). As Brad prepared the fish, I cooked up some Jiffy Pop popcorn which was a backcountry experiment. It turned out OK but I don’t think I will bring it again as it made a mess when the oil dripped out of a hole in the foil below and all over David’s stove. But it was tasty!

We cooked Brad’s fish in tin foil with some water and Butter Buds. The fish did not turn out very well for some reason. The meat never got firm. I ate some of it anyway, but we need to get a better set-up for cooking fish in the back country should we ever catch another fish.

A deer visited the campsite and we basically walked up to him and took some pictures. I was about 6 feet away from him before he looked up at me and walked away. Must be a regular at the location. Looked well fed too

It started to rain so we played several rounds of Settlers of Catan in the tent. I won the first game, Brad won the second, and I colluded with Brad to take a victory away from David in the third game which was just mean on my part…oh well The rain continued throughout the game and into the night so before bed we decided to get up early the next day to avoid the late day weather and see if we could make some progress on our mileage.

Cumulonimbus over Snowmass Lake

The next day we ascended from Snowmass Lake up and over Trail Rider pass at 12,400 feet. The hike up was much easier for me as I was fresh and starting to adjust to the elevation. We reached the pass just before 11am and stopped for some pictures and a bit of food before continuing on down into the valley. We had set our sites on getting to the next pass, Frigid Air, before the afternoon weather, although we were not sure about water and campsite options in that area.

Snowmass lake from Trail Rider Pass

Davy Crocket, Brad Clements, the Jewish guy, and David Hansen

As we descended, into the valley, I think this was one of the most beautiful places we have ever hiked. It was lush and green and had towering peaks in all directions. The pictures don’t do it justice but do give a sense of the awe.

Panorama Looking Down Trail Rider Pass

Down we went. When we got to the bottom of the valley we crossed a stream and began the gentle upward climb through a forest of pine and aspen towards our campsite goal, below Frigid Air pass. Our first steep part of the ascent was a 400 foot waterfall which Davy climbed first. It was a flowing fairly well from all the rain they had had over the last few days.

Where’s Davy (hint: he is wearing red) ?
(click image to enlarge)

Then the trail continued up slowly to about 11,500 feet which was about a half mile from and 1000 feet lower than the pass. We re-grouped to discuss our options. Turns out there was not much water at 11,500 feet (yup, water flows downhill). Also turns out that the map only showed a very small pool of water on the other side of Frigid Air pass which was an option Mr. X was lobbying for. A passing hiker told us they did not see any water on the other side which swayed the quorum to not going over the pass. It was around 3pm and the weather did not look good either. Storms were all around us and we had been rained on a little already.

Davy appeared from up above and said that he had spotted a small spring up ahead around 11,700 feet. We followed him up a bit and found the water source which was just fine for our needs. We almost camped right next to it, but Davy explored up on the bench above and found a “better spot” with a big rock. We love rocks, so we ended up camping up a bit higher at nearly 11,800. This would easily be our highest (and most exposed) camp ever. In fact it is higher than most of the peaks we climb. Always good to set new personal records…. right?

High Camp 11,800ft with Maroon Peak in the background.

After a short rest, we set-up the tents and decided to go get some water and wash up as the sun was out and it was very warm. When we returned to the camp the weather was beginning to turn. So we did what anyone would do and played Catan. David won the last game after a masterful demonstration of brick hoarding.

Storms Building

By 9pm it was dark and raining fairly hard. We cleaned up Catan and settled in for some shut eye. Then a flash of lightning hit and was so bright it lierally blinded everyone. I remember starting to count in my head after the flash but I only got to about a half second before the thunder errupted in a deafening blow. My whole body stiffened and I clenched my sleeping mattress as the echos rumbled over and over off the mountains for at least 10 seconds. The strike was obviously close and likely just up on the pass from us. I remember shouting over to Davy Crockett in his tent to see if he was still alive. He said he was “smoldering” which got a laugh from everyone.

We would endure 3+ hours of storms which seemed to sit right over top of us. The lightning was bright and the thunder was loud. There is something about being at 12,000 feet wtih a thunderstorm hovering at 15,000 feet combined with huge mountains to echo the sound that makes for some frightening moments. I don’t recommend it. We regularly questioned the logic of an exposed, above treeline, 11,800 foot campsite. My mind wondered how much contact our aluminum tent poles made with the ground around us. I don’t think we will do that type of campsite again especially with the weather as it was. Eventually the storms slowed down and we finally got to sleep around midnight.

The next day was crisp and clear. Davy found about an inch of rain in his cup. No drought up here! The temperature was around 37° according to my GPS’s diagnostic screen which I accidentaly discovered the day before (hold the enter key while powering up on a Garmin). We began to understand the signifigance of the name of the pass just ahead (Frigid Air). When the sun came up over Maroon Peak the temperature jumped to 50° in about 30 minutes. We shed clothing and put on the sun block before leaving for Frigid Air pass.

Davy Crockett on the way up to Frigid Air Pass
(Campsite was by the small rocks to the right of center)

We reached the pass at 11am and enjoyed 50+ mile views in all directions. After a group shot or two, we headed on. We had to reach the next pass and also drop down 3000 feet and walk 8 miles back to the trailhead in order to leave the wilderness and drive to Leadville, Colorado for our next adventure. Oh, this also meant that we would not have time for the Maroon Peak summit which was fine by me. We had heard enough about the difficulty of the route from Rangers along the way, especially with the weather. Not to mention the guy who died last week on the mountain. Oh well, maybe next time

Jewish Guy (me) at 12,400 ft

I reached the last pass, West Maroon, around 12:30pm. Turns out it took me about 90 minutes to get there but only took Davy and David 30 minutes! I took a lot of flower pictures on the way over, but I also found out that Davy and David had essentially raced the whole way over and Davy won by about 4 paces. This would be a childish foreshadowing of the days to come in Leadville.

After a group photo, we began down at a very fast clip. I was practically running at times and we averaged almost 4 miles/hour (with packs on!). It was just time to get out and try and find a shower.

Group at West Maroon Pass

We hit the Aspen forests and eventually arrived back at the trailhead around 4pm. Maroon Bells turned out to be everything we had expected and so much more. Visit this place if you ever get a chance especially in the Fall when the Aspen leaves are changing (hint: Fall is in three weeks!)

Next up was a trip east over the continental divide to the mining town of Leadville, CO for a little run in the woods.

Aspen along the trail

More pictures here.

Map of hike is here.

Our good friend Davy Crockett who used to bring up the rear of our hiking group (with me) started running in these crazy 100 mile races back in 2005 called Ultra Marathons. In order to train for these races which cover 100 miles (duh!) and 1000’s of vertical feet, he often ran the Grand Canyon.

Davy is in exceptional shape and knows his body very well….and his limits. No one should really do this alone (like Davy) nor venture out into the GC without proper training and know how. It is just way to dangerous. But given that Davy had done this many times and that the rest of us would only be going half the distance Davy was going, we felt confident we could do it.

Do it? Do what? Well, Davy’s plan was start at 1am and to run from the South Rim along the Bright Angel Trail down to the bottom and cross the Colorado River at Phantom Ranch. He would then continue up to the North Rim on the N. Kabob trail. Once he got to the North Rim, well he had to get back home…..no car shuttle involved. Just turn around and run back the other way!

For the mere mortals (me, Brad Kim and his son, and David H.) we planned to start a little later in the morning (4:30am) and run from the South Rim down to the river and Phantom Ranch and after a brief break, “run” back up to the South Rim.

At 1am, we drove Davy to the edge of the Canyon and pushed him down the Bright Angel trail. We all went back and tried to get another couple of hours of sleep. Then at 4:00am we ate some oatmeal and drove over to the trail head. Plenty of parking at that hour of the morning!

On a cool moonlight night, we had fairly good visibility as we started down into the canyon wearing headlamps for better vision. As we descended we could feel blasts of warmer air coming up from down below. The GC is about 5000 feet deep so just with the elevation alone, the air down below is easily 15-20 degrees warmer. But it usually more than that.

As we got warmed up, we began running on the trail. It was kind of fun. Sort of like skiing a bit. Your body was in a fall and you would move your feet around to make sure that each running step had a good place to land…avoiding rocks and debris. The more we did it, the more fun it was and the better we got till we were all running at a very fast clip. I was beginning to understand why Davy liked these downhill sections of his runs a lot.

As dawn broke, we were in the vicinity of the Indian Gardens camping area about 3000 feet down. From there we took a right turn at the trail branch and headed into a section called Devil’s Corkscrew. This is just a steep descent along a stream with lots of switchbacks.

As we reached the end of the corkscrew we got our first glimpse of the Colorado River! We all let out a big yell as we had made it all the way down. What a thrill! We continued along the river upstream about a mile or so till we reached the bridge that took us over the Colorado to Phantom Ranch. I think we arrived around 8am to a large group of mule riding tourists enjoying a hot breakfast before they departed on their mules for the rim. We ate and drank and filled up on water before fairly quickly starting back up the trail to our starting point.

As we crossed the bridge back over the Colorado we started out with a reasonable jog pace along the river. The trail was pretty flat and not too difficult to maintain a pace even for me. Brad was startled shortly after we started running by a rattler in the middle of the trail which he almost stepped on! But instead of a crisis emergency, he saw the snake in time and instead settled for a picture as it slithered away.

We headed up the cork screw in the next section. We were all still fairly fresh and power hiked the section at a very rapid pace, but not a run. None of us were in the kind of shape required to run the uphills. But I was still impressed with my ability to keep a fast pace going.

Once we got up to Indian Gardens, the heat and dust was beginning to get to us. The pace slowed a bit and we were sure to fill up our water at each ranger station/rest stop on the way up. Above Indian Gardens there is water about every 1000 vertical feet. I also found that soaking my shirt in water made the heat a lot more tolerable. With a dew point in the single digits, my mobile swamp cooler worked wonders.

We reached the top around 2pm and got some ice cream at the lodge. I felt pretty good as did Brad and David H. We grabbed some showers and waited out the arrival of Davy and Kim and his son. They all showed up around 4pm or so. Davy said he had a great run. We piled into the cars for the long drive home.

For me, this was one of my greatest physical accomplishments, especially for a guy near the big 40 mark. What a great thrill to do something most people could never do. Of course Davy went on to do several quadruple crossings (over, back, over, back!) later in his training expeditions. Wow.

Grand Gulch was a very different hike than I had ever been on before. We had done many hikes in the southern Utah high dessert but this hike was very different as it had a number of Anasazi cliff dwellings from the time of 1200BC to 1300AD to explore along the route.

The trailhead is in the southern most part of Utah near the towns of Blanding and Mexican Hat. There is a ranger station along RTE 261 where you can get a pass to stay in the back country. And if you want, you can even start your hike from there. But we dumped a car and started at the southern entrance instead.

We began hiking down a small sandy path which quickly gave way to some moderate canyon country. Not too long after, it started to rain! No kidding, rain in the high dessert! And not just a little rain, but a steady cold rain. Luckily we were just about at the first set of ruins and decided to climb up to explore in the nice sheltered area above.

The first ruin required a short climb up some rocks and then a narrow belly crawl through an opening which allowed us to visit the larger inside are of this cliff dwelling. It had a ton of artifacts like pottery bits and even corn cobs. Amazing how this stuff could survive so many years. We climbed down a wooden ladder into an underground part of the shelter which was pretty cool.

After a while the rain subsided and we were able to continue along our route to our first camp near the confluence with Bullet Canyon. We made camp and played a little Settlers. Before too long we were greeted by a group of younger kids camping nearby who were having issues with their stoves. I can’t remember exactly what their issue was, but they had two stoves and neither of them worked. We let them use one of ours for the night for which they were greatly appreciative.

The next day we hiked up Bullet Canyon to the next set of ruins which were way above on a cliff. We climbed up and observed another very nicely preserved site. I have been to many archeological sites from Williamsburg to ancient cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde. But the really neat thing is that these dwellings are just sitting there…no tourists, no tours, just sitting there to explore, carefully. Really a neat experience.

Once we were down, we pumped some water at a very nice stream/spring. One thing to watch for in this canyon is that water is not always easy to find. Not that it is hard to find, but you do have to plan your day a bit or you may end up thirsty as we would find on the last day.

A bit further down the trail we came across the best of the dwellings in my opinion called Open Kiva. Clay and Wood buildings still in perfect shape. We weren’t supposed to go very close, but I did make a short trip up to one of them to take a few pictures. I was very careful not to touch anything and leave minimal footprints. The site was very well preserved. I am still a bit baffled at how these sites can be in such good shape considering the number of people who travel these canyons. There must be a group that helps police/maintain them.

We camped nearby and met a unique individual who told us about a ton of other nearby ruins that are much less known to the public and in even better shape. Brad copied down the guy’s email and later got detailed instructions on how to visit some of these more remote sites. Brad visited these other sites the next year and was very impressed.

On the last day we hiked out of Bullet Canyon. This was a fairly long hike especially because it was dry (no water) and we were all running low. I was fairly dehydrated by the time we got up to the cow fence. David Hansen offered me one of his famous apples that he had carried the entire trip and not yet eaten. It was delicious. Best apple I ever had!

Another 30 minutes up the hill and we were out and back at the ranger station. We got some water and headed down 261 to get the other car. Our next stop would be the Grand Canyon!

View Kane Gulch to Cedar Mesa in a larger map

California is a long way from Salt Lake City so I decided to fly from DC out to San Fransisco and rent a car and meet the crew there instead of endure the 12+ hour drive. After about a 4 hour drive north, I found myself in Shelter Cove, CA. A small town right on the Pacific Ocean with a resturaunt or two and a landing strip. How many days of the year could they actually use the strip with all the marine fog in that area? I don’t know. But it was there and very well maintained.

Shortly after I arrived, the SLC crew got in and we dined at the Shelter Cove Restaurant. Food was good as I recall. But the view and sunset was to die for! Now I know why people lived here.

We made camp on the beach just north of town. The beach was small rounded stone and it was actually quite comfortable. We needed to stay there in order to get our bear canisters and back country permits at the office in the morning before our LONG drive to our starting point, about 30 miles north.

The next day we set out for the backcountry office and got all squared away with our bear canisters and tide charts and everything we would need for our adventure.

Since we needed a shuttle, we all piled into Brad’s Jeep and drove north. It was just a 30 mile hike, but due to the roads and mountains, the driving distance was a little longer – 43 miles. But this was not your typical 43 miles! Instead it was a nearly two hour constant twistiest turniest most winding road you have ever been on. I don’t think there was a single straight section the entire way. Forget about passing anything. We were all exhausted and ready to barf at the end of it!

View Larger Map

Once we finally got to the Mattole River via Lighthouse Road, we suited up and started down towards the beach. We saw our first sign warning of us of the dangers ahead. We loved this sign. What was a sleeper wave?

Later we would see signs for other types of waves of “unusual size and force”. How big were these sleeper waves anyway? I knew from the maps that we would only have a few feet of shore between the ocean and the rocks. Should we be worried?

For now, we just continued on down the beach. It was a wide beach up and we saw all sorts of seals and starfish and other stuff on the way. After maybe a mile or two we reached the Punta Gorda Lighthouse. We climbed around inside and enjoyed our lunch.

After lunch we continued on for a while until we hit our first section of beach that would need to wait for low tide. Had we gotten an earlier start, we might have made it without delay, but given the time of day, we had to wait it out for about 3 hours. Luckily, Brad brought a new game called Settlers of Catan, traveler edition! I watched David, Kyle and Brad play a game. They were very into it. Lots of trading of cards and building stuff. I thought it was a cute game but I was more into exploring around. It would all change later.

After the tide began to go out, we packed up and tried to get around the headlands. We did not really give it enough time though and the travel was tricky and fun. One person would go up ahead and try and get around a rock in between waves (of unusual size, remember). For the rest of us behind, we would watch and take pictures or a movie for entertainment while the first guy attempted it. But then the first guy would vanish behind that next rock. What was on the other side? 100 more yards of rock? Some sand/beach?

So the next guy would go and find out that it was just more rocks and lots of waves! By the time we got to our camp for the night, we were all soaked. Good thing it was foggy and damp for our clothes to dry out over night  – not!

The next day we continued south exploring abandoned structures and old ranches along the route. The hike was generally easier and we did not have any issues with tides to deal with. We got to camp early and it was nice and sunny. After relaxing on the beach and catching a few rays, we hunkered down for some serious Settlers. I played my first game and started to realize how adicting it was. We played well into the evening by the light of the green L.E.D.

After hiking several more miles on the third day, we made camp near a small river that exited the hills and joined the Pacific. Like most of the trip, we were into our camp by about 2pm which left a lot of time for exploring or playing around. The guys started making a damn with the soft sand/rock. I watched for a while and waited till they had a nice damn going. Then I walked up stream and shot a few pictures of some wild flowers. On the way back I had a quick idea. I would create another damn above theirs. It did not take much time before I had the stream totally blocked above. The water literally stopped flowing and as I walked down stream to the “lower damn” I recall them wondering aloud “What happened to the stream?” It vanished! I smiled.

Then it was on to more Settlers. I think Crockett had had enough of listening to us screaming out trades. He saddled up his running shoes and went running up above the clouds. This was one of the first years of his ultra running career. He was getting pretty good at it, but none of us had any idea what it would become.

On the final day we made our way the last few miles south towards Shelter Cove. Strange things were written in the sand. Messages from the Lord (of Catan).

Once we got to our other car in Shelter Cove it was time to pile everything into my tiny rental car and drive back to our starting point. We took the bigger “main roads” this time and that saved a little on the vomit index. Once we redistributed our gear, the guys headed east to Salt Lake and I went back to San Fran to meet up with some friends before my flight back home.


View Lost Coast in a larger map

In July 2004 we embarked on our second trip to the wonder Wind River range in Wyoming. The first time we went we wondered the northern edge of the park. This time it would be an out and back in the center of the park not far from the big town of Pinedale, WY.

After stopping in Pinedale for a bit, we drove up towards the trailhead which was off of Fremont Lake. But on the way up we saw a sign for dinner on Half Moon Lake. I think it was called the Half Moon Lake Resort, but my memory fails me now. Anyway, we enjoyed a nice steak dinner and I even had a glass of wine all while over looking a beautiful lake with boats and water skiing. Someday I thought I might return for a week or forever

After a nice dinner, we continued up the main road (Skyline Dr) along Fremont Lake till we reached the end and a small campground at 9200 feet. We made camp and enjoyed the sunset.

The next day we broke camp and started our hike headed more or less east towards Photographer’s Point. We never actually made it to that location as it was a bit off the trail and out of the way, but it was not the best day for a view anyway.

We continued along the trail ascending slowly upwards to Seneca Lake at around 10,300 feet. The trail continued on rolling up and down along various river and lake valleys until we hit Island Lake where we rested and I think a few of us even took a quick swim.

Eventually we continued on just a bit further into the start of Titcomb basin where we made camp on a small hill at about 11,000 feet. The basin was extremely beautiful and the skies had wonderful clouds. A photographer’s dream.

I enjoyed the sunset and snapped away while the guys made some food. The bugs were bad. No, they were terrible. It was one of those spots where you had to wear rain gear to keep them off of you. But otherwise it was very nice.

I learned how to play a game called “Scum” which I would later learn again, five years later when my kids learned it as a game called “Caps or Capitalism”. We played a lot of scum because it kept us away from the bugs.

The next day we day hiked up to Indian Basin which was an above treeline alpine basin…our favorite kind. From there, the guys decided to climb Jackson Peak at 13,517 feet. I wasn’t quite up to it so I climbed a trail which reached a pass just below the peak which would give me a nice view of the Bull Lake Glacier at about 12,800. After a nice hike and beautiful views, we returned to camp around the same time. The guys reported a successful climb of Jackson Peak.

On our third day we again climbed up to Indian Basin with our intent to climb Fremont Peak, the third highest peak in the state at 13,745 (Gannet is the highest at 13,804 and is just a few miles north). We started out fairly early but the weather looked iffy the whole way up. We slogged up some snowfields just above Indian Basin around 12,500 feet and it started to rain. But it was not too bad yet. So we continued on up Freemont which was basically a bolder hopping, steep climb. Very steep.

The weather worsened as the afternoon grew long. Thunderstorms were all around us as we made our way up a terribly exposed rock face around 13,200 feet. We reached the summit ridge and as I started to look over the top I could not see anything! It was all cloud. I immediately sat down and tried to get my balance. It was the most intense and scary feeling I may have ever experienced. As soon as I saw just fog/cloud at the top, I lose all sense of balance and reference and felt like I was falling. I slowly got back up and looked again and it was the same. Weird feeling!

With storms all around, we did not stay long and began a quick descent. Not quick enough. We started to get hit by a storm and found some “shelter” under a large rock over hang. It was not much, but it did give us some shelter from the storm. First rain, then sleet, then hail. The mailman was not delivering up here! The lightning shot in the pictures was taken during this period.

After maybe 30 minutes, the storm cleared out a bit and we were able to continue down on the wet slippery rock. Thankfully we made it back down to the saddle just above Indian Basin and were able to enjoy glacading down the snowfields and back to camp.

The storms cleared out that evening as the sun went down. More sunset pix for me

The next day we hiked out the same way we had come in. The storms came earlier today and pounded us relentlessly. Sleet and Hail just powered down on us. It literally hurt to be out there. But it was also kind of amazing to see what mother nature could do.

As we made it to our car at the trail head we realized that these storms were ONLY on the mountains. The valley where Pinedale is located (just 10 miles away) was completely sunny – not a cloud in the sky. Yet the Wind River mountains were totally socked in with storms. Amazing stuff.

Once back in Salt Lake, we visited the largest copper strip mine in the world just in case you were wondering where you could see those big trucks.

View Untitled in a larger map

My approach to this years spring canyon hike was a bit different to say the least. The week prior to the hike, my wife and I went to Las Vegas! We ate, drank and gambled while we took in shows by Blue Man and Penn and Teller. Not quite the way I usually prepare for a week in the backcountry. Well, I did rent a Jeep TJ….so I guess that counts for something.

After our week of vice, Rylan flew home and I drove to Hanksville to meet up with the guys for our hike down Muddy Creek. On the way I drove through heavy snow and winds on the way up through Zion NP and towards Escalante NM. At times it was down right freezing in my Jeep as I had no rear windows (the guy said they had been stolen). So imagine cruising along at 60mph over 9000 ft passes with it snowing an inch an hour. Even with the heat up all the way, it was cold.

When I got into Escalante, the weather was better. I decided to drive down the Hole in the Rock road and take some camera gear into Spooky and Peek-A-Boo (slot canyons) for some pix. The light was nice, but nothing that special so it was a short trip. Plus I needed to get going as I still had 5 hours of driving ahead.

As darkness fell, I rolled into the Muddy Creek area. I saw some dirt roads on the map and thought I could drive in from RTE 24 around Caineville to meet up with the group. But as the road becomes worse and worse and darkness set in, I decided to bail and find a place to spend the night. Hankesville was open for business and I made some freeze dried food in my room. Yum.

The next morning I continued north on RTE 24 from Hanksville and found a better road that went in to the west and took me to the trail head. I found the gang just finishing breakfast and wondering where the heck I had been.

Once they were finished packing up, we set sail down the creek. At first it was just a sandy walk with some stream crossings but soon after it became a water slosh most of the rest of the trip. I was sure glad I had stopped in Zion NP at an outfitter and purchased a pair of canyoneering hiking shoes made by Five Ten. These shoes were a huge improvement over the Teva sandals I wore down Coyote Creek in the Escalante wilderness. They drained water really well and kept most of the fine sand and rocks out. And combined with my waterproof Seal socks, I had a very comfortable and warm go at it.

As we walked further down the canyon it started to “slot up” as they say. The walls were now 75 to 100 feet or higher and the canyon was starting to get narrow…maybe 30-50 feet across. And the water was deeper and colder, of course. But it was a pretty walk.

We stopped for lunch and Brad’s kids produced a huge super ball! They started winging it against the canyon walls and it would bounce all over the place. What a great idea. I backed away and took a few pictures trying not to get hit by a 30mph ball.

We continued down river until we reached the intersection with Chimney Canyon. There we found a small sandy area at the mouth of the canyon where we made camp.

The next day we did a full day hike up Chimney Canyon seeing all kinds of stuff along the way. We saw an old Model T near an old miners camp along with tons of strange rock formations. The best the canyon had to offer had to be the “ghouly walls” which can be best described as ghostly haunted looking walls with many holes carved from blowing sand. It was just a place filled with weird natural creations. Rocks the size of buildings sitting in the middle of the drainage, fun places to climb and walk, and much more. Definitely worth the trip if you are down in Muddy Creek.

As we were getting closer to camp on our way back down Chimney Canyon, we saw a weather front approaching. We were slightly nervous about flash flood issues as our camp was fairly close to the main creek and we knew that the weather had called for t-storms in the area. Not that we would die from a flood as we had many options to move to higher ground, but our tents and gear were below and not far above the water.

As we came into view of the tents the front was nearing and a wind picked up and blew down the canyon from our backs towards the tents which were only 100 yards ahead. Then we watched as our tents got uprooted by a sudden burst of 40mph wind. My small green tent was blown, with sleeping bag, etc, rolling over and over into Muddy Creek. I dropped my pack and we all ran after our gear. Moments later the wind stopped and we were able to fetch our gear out of the river. The damage was done. My tent had 5 holes in the rain fly and it was filled with sand and debris. Amazingly it was not that wet inside considering it blew right over the river. And my sleeping bag was in great shape. Lucky!

We regrouped and nailed things back down and started dinner. Before we ate, Davy made a wonderful cheesecake that he set down by this big rock in Muddy Creek to cool down and solidify. After dinner we found that the cheese cake had actually been eaten by the rock and it was no where to be found. We were all very upset. You brave your way through the Jamaican BBQ, using as much Taco Bell fire sauce as you can tolerate, all the while looking forward to that cheesecake…only to have your gut ripped out in the end. We never found the cheese cake or the pan it was in.

On our last day we awoke to a beautiful morning free of clouds and threatening weather. I opened my tent flap and saw some beautiful light in our campsight. I grabbed my tripod (yes I brought a full tripod!) and my Hasselblad 501cm (yes, with two lenses – what was I thinking) and snapped a very memorable image that sits on my kitchen wall to this day – a 50″ print!

The last day we hiked about an hour or so down river to David H’s car that the guys had staged for our return. The car was parked on an airport landing strip – no kidding. Complete with wind sock! I wanted to get a picture of the gang at the end of the hike and was feverishly looking for something to sit my small compact camera on for a self-timer shot. I complained to the guys that there was nothing good to use when Brad piped up, “How about using that TRIPOD you hauled for the last 10 miles!”. He was right. I was crazy

We departed the scene and made our way to Green River for lunch at Ben’s. After a solid meal we continued on to Moab where we would do a little 4-wheeling on the Merrimack Trail. The best part of this was that we had 3 vehicles…all of them white. We looked like the freaking’ United Nations on a tour of some African war torn nation.

The jeepin was fun and we enjoyed all that Moab had to offer. After all, it was Jeep week (isn’t it always?). Soon after the guys headed back to SLC and I went back to Vegas via the highway through St. George.

View Muddy Creek in a larger map

In 2001, we took our first hike in the Wind Wiver range of Wyoming. The range is located about 75 miles southeast of Jackon Hole, WY. The main “big town” near the Winds is Pinedale, WY. Our router started in the northern edge of the wilderness in an area called Green River Lakes and would continue up to the continental divide and then back down a drainage area in a loop to our starting point.

We spoke with a ranger before we got going and showed her our planned path. The ranger was very helpful and warned us that part of the route we had chosen had been badly burned many years back. The trail in this area was not very well maintained she told us. Of course we looked at the route on our map and it clearly showed a nice black dashed trail. How bad could it be? We went off-trail all the time. Any trail would be easy for us even if it was “not maintained” very well.

So on a beautiful crisp morning, we set out around the lakes on the northern side. I took a lot of pictures on the way around. Fairly soon we found our trail headed up to the north to Clear Lake. It was a fairly steep but fairly short climb which only got steeper as we neared the first plateau. Lots of bolder hopping, some trail, and a lot of just picking a path.

Once we got to the top of the first section we had a more level and easier trek for a short while. But we could start to see the burn area the ranger spoke of. In short order, the path was becomming very hard to follow. Dead trees burned in a fire many years before and had fallen over. The fallen trees were everywhere. We all took differet paths trying to find a route. Some took the high route up on the edge of the canyon wall. This path was free of most trees, but it was difficult to find a route and had a lot of up/down to follow. Some of us (me included) stayed low, but we found tons of brush to cut up our legs and very wet soppy conditions if we ventured too close to the drainage/creek area. It took us a LONG time to make our way up that burn area but eventually we got up the waterfall at the end of the canyon and up to Clear Lake (8,900ft) where we camped.

We made a nice camp on the lake and had dinner. Some of us took a swim in the 38° water. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and turned in. The next day had more climbs on up to Crescent Lake (10,500ft).

The next morning we set out on another beautiful day. We hiked up to 10,200 feet to another lake (named?) and had lunch. We were now above treeline and the views of the peaks and continental divide were wonderful. The last little bit of up for the day was about 800 feet to a pass. We could see the trail up ahead. It was a very well maintained trail and it got us up to the pass fairly quickly.

Once on top, we could see Crescent Lake below…and why it had that name. We had to go down only 500 feet or so and we could pitch camp on the lake.

Once we got down and set-up camp, we enjoyed a VERY refreshing swim in Crescent Lake. Well, I didn’t swim…I just bathed on the shore. But some of the more daring folks in our crew went all the way in! The lake had to be hovering around 34° as there were snowfields extending into the water. Oh well, at least the air was nice and warm when you got out – NOT! And it was windy.

Windy you say? You bet. They don’t call it the Winds for nothing. In fact, while we were having dinner on the edge of the lake we experienced a very bizarre localized meteorological event. We could feel the wind picking up a little at one point during dinner. Actually we could hear it. Then we spotted the wind coming across the lake…no, we couldn’t see the wind, but we could see the disturbance on top of the water. As it made its way across, it got closer and closer. After about 10 seconds or so it hit us! Must have been a burst of air blowing at 40 or 50 mph! It blew over all of our stuff, uprooted our tents and scared the crud out of us. But it only lasted for 10 seconds or so. Strangest thing I have even witnessed.

After a good nights rest, we awoke to near freezing temps and plotted our course up to the continental divide. Our plan was to do a day hike up to the divide and explore the Continental Glacier a bit. The hike began by circumnavigating Crescent Lake. At the far end of the lake we met “The Goat Man” so aptly named (by us) because he was surrounded by goats. He had been hiking in the Winds for a month or so with his team of goats to carry the gear. Just him, alone. A little strange, but certainly not a terribly way to spend a summer.

After the goat man, we started up through the drainage to the divide. We hit several small lakes/ponds and small streams feeding from the snow and ice above. Eventually we got the the headwall ad started up the last 500ft or so to the continental divide. Lots of boldering and some all fours and we were there.

Once on top, we took some time to grab a bite to eat. I found out that we could hit the cell towers farther out to the west (Jackson Hole!). So we all made some quick calls back to the families to let them know where we were. It’s always fun to be able to call home from the middle of nowhere. Brad noticed during our calls that we could even see Mt. Moran in the Teton Range. It was a very clear day indeed.

We moved on and toured the edge of the continental glacier. Ice, crevasses, and snowfields abound. It was slow going on the snow, but we eventually made it to easier walking as we continued mostly south. We decided to return to Cresent Lake via a separate route which took us south of the morning route. It eventually wrapped us around and we found a slot to descend through and get us back to goat man and Crescent Lake.

On our fourth day we descended down the Roaring Fork river basin along a nice trail. For the first time on the entire trip (other than the goat man), we saw signs of life! A lone cowboy on a a horse towing a nother horse with his gear. We politely got to the uphill side of the trail and let him pass on by. If you want to be alone, the Wind Rivers is for you!

We descended down the Roaring Fork quite a ways to about the 9000ft level and made camp by the stream. We were in camp early so we had time to kill. Davy started working on a damn in the river. He found some very large planks of wood….not logs…planks. He found them while wondering around down stream a bit. Evidently they were left over from the construction of a bridge just down stream. Using those nice starting pieces, we spent several hours working on the worlds first Roaring Fork Damn. I think it raised the water level a foot or so during peak operation.

The last day we crossed the roaring fork and wondered along the trail which cut across a pretty open meadow before heading back up (ughh, I hate going up only to go down again) about 250 feet before crossing over to the last downhill leg leading back to Green River Lakes.

Once back in Pinedale, we did a little souvenir shopping and enjoyed burgers at a local pub before the long ride back to SLC.

View Wind Rivers: Green River Lakes Loop in a larger map

A couple of years back we enjoyed a splendid hike in Yellowstone National Park, so in August of 2000 we set our sites a little further down the road to Grand Teton National Park. Brad found some nice routes in the northern most section of the park where we hoped to avoid some of the crowds but still get nice views of Mt Moran and the Grand Teton on a nice loop hike. It even included a canoe ride across Jackson Lake!

But as sometimes happens, nature had a way of changing our plans.

This year had been a particularly bad year for fires and Grand Teton was no different. Electrical storms had set numerous fires and the valley was pretty much engulfed with a smoky haze. After a little alpine sliding, we all arrived at our camp site on Jackson Lake the afternoon before our hike. From there we could plainly see the smoke and fires up in the hills. Once nighttime fell, we could see the orange glow from the flames shooting 50-100 feet into the air. Brad got back from the back country office and told us that the area we wanted to hike in was closed. No complaints from any of us! We would look for alternatives in the morning and enjoy a beautiful sunset for the time being.

In the morning we went to the back county office and found that the Death Canyon to Alaska Basin areas were open and we could get permits. Not bad considering we might have just been turned away completely!

We drove out some small dirt roads to the trail head near Phelps lake and began a long day of up. Nothing too strenuous, but it was a fairly crowded trail (day hikers) and not much shade in the middle of the day. We ascended from 7000 feet to about 8500 feet and made camp midway up Death Canyon. From there, Davy and David had spotted a “short cut” straight up the side of the canyon. This would save 3 or 4 trail miles but required the steep ascent of the 1000 ft canyon in the span of just a half mile. 20% grade with a pack. Oh well, that was tomorrow.

We broke out the Jamaican BBQ and had supper. As we were eating we spotted a small cub bear and his mom at the top of the basin where we wanted to go in the morning. The bears ran down the canyon in about 2-3 minutes, covering as much ground as we had during the whole day just about! Wow, were they cut out for this work. Impressive.

We had a nice evening and awoke to a bright sunny morning. After downing some oatmeal and hot cocoa, we started up the steep grassy slope. I took it slow and burned some film on wild flowers. The guys went ahead and we fairly quickly reached the Death Canyon Shelf area and picked up the trail again.

As we headed North we passed over Mt Meek Pass. We now could plainly see the Teton range from the south. It was really beautiful. We continued on until we reached a quick decent into Alaska Basin. Alaska Basin is a large open, mostly above treeline area with a number of small creeks and ponds. We made camp in a somewhat sheltered area in time to beat the PM T-storms.

The next day we set out heading north east towards what looked like a very faint trail that cut up and over something called “The Wall”. Once we were over this ridgeline we would drop down to Snowdrift Lake and continue on towards the South Teton for a summit attempt.

The hike went fairly quickly and we enjoyed views all the way. But the weather was looking increasingly iffy. We broke for a quick lunch at Snowdrift lake but continued on quickly. As we approached the climb to the South Teton the weather started to descend on us. Half of our team decided to continue up the Teton as it was only about 1000 ft to the summit. I went with Davy’s son downhill towards Schoolroom Glacier and eventually the trail back over Hurricane Pass towards Alaska Basin. We just did not see how a summit attempt in the rain and possible hail/t-storms was worth the trouble. And where would the view be anyway?

As we descended down towards the glacier, I would look back to see what the weather looked like. It kept looking worse so I felt like we had made a good choice. Later I would find that the guys spent two hours or so hunkered down about 700 feet from the summit using their emergency blankets and all the clothing they brought for the day hike to the summit to keep dry and warm. They were cold and wet and eventually gave up and traveled back the same way we came to get to camp.

For me and Davy’s son, we visited schoolroom glacier (which I wonder if it is even still there today?). Then started working our way up the trail towards Hurricane Pass. I was behind and going slowly as usual. When I came around one bend I saw my partner sitting in the cold rain. I wanted to continue and get back to camp so I asked why he was waiting. He just smiled and told me it was not yet “time” to go over the pass. I asked him if the weather was his deciding factor and he said I should drop my pack and go around the next bend. And so I did only to be greeted by 60-70 mph winds whipping around the next corner. OK, time to take a break and let the weather settle down.

After an hour or so we were able to continue around the bend. The rain had stopped for the most part and the pass was fairly clear. We could see all the way into Idaho and it was perfectly clear to the west. Amazing how it can be so clear and the mountains create so much weather!

We eventually got back to camp and the sun was out and the late afternoon was fairly pleasant. Shortly thereafter, the “summit group” got back and told their tale of their cold, failed attempt. They were bummed about missing the summit but happy to be back and warm.

The next day was our hike out. We headed mostly due east towards Buck Mountain and Static Peak. The trail was one of the most memorable in all of my hiking days. We started up a steady but solid incline that got steeper and steeper with switchbacks all along the way until we hit a pass just below Albright Peak. The view was incredible….the entire Jackson Hole valley was visible on a fairly clear day. What happened to the fires and smoke? Not really sure. But it was the best view we had of the trip. And the trail was sort of “etched” into the side of this mountain. It was just incredible that we could walk there at all. I guess thank the Great Depression for that trail work.

Just after we cleared the pass, the trail descended steeply into a shady forest with a lot of switch backs. Davy kind of ran the descent as I recall…pack and all. The rest of us tried to keep pace. But either way, it was a fast descent that eventually got us back on the trail that we had started on which ran around Phelps lake.

When we got back to the car we knew pizza would be our savior. We got to Jackson Hole and found a good local joint. In the wait for our pie to show up, some folks at the table next to us got up and left, leaving nearly half a pizza behind. I nabbed it and we all had a slice. Appetizers!

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