Belford To Columbia, Idaho FKT, Fat Dog Video, And Myostatin

Belford to Columbia, Idaho FKT, Fat Dog Video, and Myostatin


Got out and ran part of the "middle" section of Nolans on Monday with Kendrick. Going from Missouri Gulch to North Cottonwood was a fun line (Belford, Oxford, Harvard, Columbia), and the drop down into Pine Creek was really quite easy. We nailed the descent, had hardly any bushwacking, found a part of the river to cross that didn't require getting your feet wet, and then found a perfect line up to the North Ridge of Harvard. All in all I think it took us just under two hours from summit to summit. My quick notes - drop off Oxford towards the southwest, generally following the ridge but then angling down into the valley staying on the grassy tundra. When you get to the hanging valley with the willows, go around the west side of them, find a game trail that traverses southwest and when that trail begins to climb, drop almost straight down through the trees. This takes you through the cliff section without really having to deal with them. When you hit Pine Creek, cut straight across, and climb up through the forest staying on the granite slabs until reaching the northeastern side of the north ridge. From here, go straight up on a really steep grassy slope that takes you directly to the ridge above most of the cliffs and talus. From there it is a easy climb on the ridge to the summit. We did this section in ~7:30 at a fairly slow/mellow pace.

 Top of Belford looking at Harvard

 Top of Oxford looking at Harvard again

 We went straight through the woods here, and went up the grassy slope in the center of the photo, angling right and hitting the ridge right above the cliffs in the middle/right side of the photo

 Columbia from the summit of Harvard

 Harvard getting pounded with rain

Summit of Columbia looking at Yale

A big contrags to Jared Campbell and Luke Nelson on their Idaho 12ers FKT. Looks like a fun time, and a line that does not seem to involve too much pre-work before an attempt. Of course, Jared makes everything look easy! 28:14 for the total time.

One of the races that I've thought would be cool to run is Fat Dog 120. This is a new video from this years race. With it now being a Hardrock qualifier, it seems to be filling very fast, and some have suggested that it will have a lottery in a year or two. Time to get after it - just gotta figure a way to get up to BC.



New article on myostatin and muscle fatigue. Research has shown that blocking myostatin results in the growth of extra large muscles, which has been of interest to body builders and people in the livestock industry for several years. Now, in this article, the authors have found that myostatin "endows skeletal muscle with high oxidative capacity and low fatigability, thus regulating the delicate balance between muscle mass, muscle force, energy metabolism, and endurance capacity." So, will there be research into making more myostatin in humans for endurance sports? Another form of EPO I guess that will be coming in future years.

Belford, Oxford, Belford, Emerald, Iowa, Missouri

Belford, Oxford, Belford, Emerald, Iowa, Missouri


Last week I ran a variation of the Belford>Oxford>Missouri route while scoping out some routes. I had a good time, but was slightly disappointed in my time, as I thought it was a bit slow. Having raced the day before, I knew I would be tired, but still thought I could have gotten a better time then I did. After taking longer then expected this past week to recover - speed races really get me apparently - Tara and I went back yesterday and I tried the run out again. This time, however, I added on Emerald Peak (13,904') and Iowa (13,831') via the upper Pine Creek basin. I started at 5:32 and cruzed up Belford fairly fast - it's just a pure power hike from bottom to top. From there, it's an easy jaunt over to Oxford and then back, with a quick re-tag of Belford's summit. From there I ran down to Elkhead Pass and then down somewhat into the basin. There is a high bench with a small pond below Iowa which I aimed for. This allows you to then traverse fairly fast over to the eastern slopes of Emerald instead of side hilling it along Iowa's eastern face. From a hidden, second lake I ran up a grassy ramp to Emerald's east ridge, which I then went up. Emerald sits in a spectacular location at the head of Pine Creek, offering excellent views of Harvard, the Apostles, Ice Mountain, and beyond. From Emerald, it's an easy run over to Iowa and then to Missouri via it's south ridge. From the top, I still had plenty of energy, and contemplated dropping to Huron, but the monsoon clouds were getting pretty thick and I didn't want to get caught in something big on Huron's eastern scree face. So I just ran down Missouri, at which point I ran into William and we caught up on things - including learning the results of Hardrock (only in the mountains of Colorado can you be out and randomly find out who one Hardrock). He turned off and went up Belford and I cruzed down back to the car. I felt much better this time around, with a time of 5:45 with the addition of two more peaks - total numbers are around 18 miles and 8,500' gain.

 Summit of Emerald looking south

 Harvard from the summit of Emerald

Iowa and Emerald from Missouri

Scar Top Mountain Race And Belford, Oxford, Belford, Missouri

Scar Top Mountain Race and Belford, Oxford, Belford, Missouri

On Thursday night Tara and I learned about the Scar Top Mountain 12K race up in Coal Creek canyon. I had just been complaining about losing my speed, so we drove up on the 4th and registered. I knew this was going to be a very fast race, as it is basically a hard road race with some solid climbs at altitude. Still, why not go out and see what kind of time one could get - this would be the second shortest race I've ever done. The mile by mile report of the race is boring, I was basically in the top fifteen for most of it. Towards the end, however, is when it got exciting. I still had some gas, and with a nice downhill a bit from the finish I really pushed hard. I was able to pass a fellow that I had been a couple hundred yards behind for most of the race. I really had to crank, and when the course climbed again, he caught back up and we were shoulder to shoulder. I've never been in a real "race" like this, and it was super fun. We were pulling each other, finding slightly faster and faster gears, edging each other down towards the finish. Mentally this was new and I was digging it. I also was in the back of my head getting excited because I felt like I was trying so hard that I wanted to puke, which was exciting to really push that hard. We brushed elbows as we continued to really hammer - hard, hard, hard - and then there was a turn to the right and a 400 yard dash. We had pushed each other enough that we caught up with the guy in front, and together, around the corner we went. They had one more gear, and my mind just collapsed, not being able to dig down one more level. We all finished within seconds of each other. I ended up with 12th overall in :55 and change. This was such a hard, killer race - and I mean race. I've never sprinted shoulder to shoulder with someone for over a mile, pushing harder and harder, just hammering. I tried hard the whole race, but the finish was so cool. We were just feeding off each other - no words - but simply flying down the final stretch. I was on a high all day afterwards. Not from my finish or place per se, but from the pure exhilaration that came from racing. I don't know if I would do any more road races, but I can really understand the appeal - although the pain involved is intense - a very different kind of suffering then I'm used to.

Brandon is crazy! 

The following day we went out and did the Belford (14,197'), Oxford (14,153'), Missouri (14,067') group of 14ers. I was checking some things out, so I spent some time on Oxford and Missouri, and then instead of dropping down the regular way, went west down Missouri's west ridge to Clohesy Lake. I could feel yesterday's race - both in some tight spots from the speed and in my core energy - so I just stayed mellow the whole time. I started at our camp spot, a bit west of the Missouri Gulch trailhead and ran the standard route up Belford. This is a great, grunt of a climb gaining over 4,000' in 4 miles. The run over to Oxford from there is also straightforward. I messed around on Oxford looking at a couple lines down into Pine Creek, which seem pretty easy, and then headed back over to Belford for another tag. From there, I went over to Elkhead Pass and then hooked up with the Missouri Mountain trail. This was the first time I ran into anyone other then two parties on Belford earlier, and just put my head down and cruzed on by. From Missouri, I went back a bit on the ridge, and then dropped down the west ridge to Clohesy Lake. There is a fairly good goat trail with some cairns here and there - no real route finding issues. Originally I had planned on then going up Huron, but the clouds were building and I was lacking in motivation - I guess I tried fairly hard during yesterday's race. So instead I just went down to Rockdale and ran the road back to camp. It's a fun loop with no real route finding or anything, just lots of time above 13,000' - it's 19 miles and 7,400' of gain - I did it in 5:56 with a bunch of time on the summits checking things out and taking photos for folks on their smart phones on Missouri.

 Cheap wine, a fire, and some running in the mountains... not bad.

 Going up Missouri Gulch.

 Flowers on Belford.

 Summit of Oxford looking at Harvard - just drop the ridge...

Huron from Missouri.