Grays And Torreys For A Year Straight - #52

Grays and Torreys For A Year Straight - #52


Well, it's done. I've now run up Grays and Torreys for 52 consecutive weeks. Each run has started and ended at Bakerville. Sometimes I ran the standard route (mostly during the winter months), while other times I ran alternative routes (mostly the Full Kelso and the north face of Torreys, as well as the Full Traverse of Stevens Gulch). I've put in over 728 miles on these two peaks, and over 275,600' of gain during this time. Although the peaks can be insanely crowded during the summer months, I've found ways to avoid most of the crowds and have really enjoyed my time getting to know these two beautiful peaks during the four seasons of the year. The fastest that I ever ran the two peaks from Bakerville was in 3:12:04 going up and down the standard route. The longest it took me to run the two peaks was 5:17:44, again going up and down the standard route (in early spring with about 9" of fresh powder, breaking trail the entire time). I only ran twice with someone else, while the other 50 runs I did solo.

I completed the challenge despite getting sick twice, competing in 7 races and one Nolans attempt, and maintaining two part time jobs. The minimum distance of each run was 14 miles with 5,300' of gain. Sometimes it was longer, when I would add on Kelso or do the Stevens Traverse, but most times it hovered right around 14 miles roundtrip and 5-6,000' of gain. I ran based on a Sunday to Sunday week schedule, so sometimes I had to run back to back, other times I had the luxury of waiting out storms for up to 10 days to fit in my once a week run. I used snowshoes in the winter, but never skis as part of the challenge was to run up and down. Here are the dates of each run:

8/13/13
8/20/13
8/27/13
9/3/13
9/9/13
9/19/13
9/25/13
9/30/13
10/9/13
10/17/13
10/23/13
10/30/13
11/7/13
11/18/13
11/25/13
12/2/13
12/11/13
12/16/13
12/23/13
12/30/13
1/8/14
1/17/14
1/24/14
1/29/14
2/3/14
2/15/14 - The Half Year Point.
2/18/14
2/24/14
3/7/14
3/10/14
3/21/14
3/24/14
4/4/14
4/7/14
4/18/14
4/25/14
5/2/14
5/7/14
5/16/14
5/23/14
5/30/14
6/6/14
6/13/14
6/18/14
6/25/14
6/28/14 - this one didn't count towards my weekly goal since I had already done it on the 25th - bonus #53 I guess.
7/2/14
7/7/14
7/14/14
7/23/14
8/2/14
8/4/14
8/12/14

The question is, do I stop now or keep going? I know for sure I will not do this again through another winter, especially a full on winter like we had last year. That was just stupid insane. I like the full year, and think that is a good number. Of course, I probably will keep doing this run, since it is so close to home and is the only run around that gets in 5,300' of gain and ~14 miles. But I think I will call the record at one year. Maybe I will sleep in this week and get some rest... but then again, most likely I won't.

 For the final run, I showed Kendrick the Full Kelso route... such a logical line and really one of the best on the mountain.

 Hard to make out the sign, but it says "Grays Peak, 14,279', #52 - Once a Week for a Year from Bakerville, 52 in 52"

I've grown to love this view of Kelso and beyond...