G & T +++ 44 And The Massive-Elbert Loop

G & T +++ 44 and the Massive-Elbert Loop

Earlier this week I ran my 44th G & T. Now that the bigger routes have opened up, I went for the full Stevens Gulch Traverse. This is a killer loop, beginning with the "Full Kelso" up and over Kelso Mountain (13,164'), then Torreys (14,267'), over to Grays (14,270'), then along the ridge to Edwards (13,850'), McClellan (13,587'), and finally Ganley (12,902') before descending straight back down to close the loop. The loop comes in at 15.5 miles and 7,567' of gain, which may not seem like a ton. However, 85% of the entire loop is off-trail, above 12,000', includes sections of class 2/3, some navigation skills, and a bit of bushwhacking. What I really like about it is that you are in a high-alpine world all to yourself; I only encountered people on Torreys and Grays, the rest was solo running. I tried to look around on the internet for a FKT or some fast times, but only could find a couple trip reports on 14ers forums (here and here), both of which did not include the full loop and were both over 8 hours. I ran the full loop car-to-car in 5:08 with stops for photos and to shake out the shoes - just fast enough to make it back down to town for work.

 Going up Kelso's northeast ridge looking at Torreys and Grizzly Gulch.

 The Full Kelso.

 From Edwards looking at the rest of the traverse. You drop down just out of the photo on the far left.

Yesterday Tara and I drove up and I ran the Mt. Massive (14,421') and Mt. Elbert (14,433') loop. This is a classic mountain loop that takes you up and over Mt. Massive, down its backside, over to Elbert, up its backside, and then down back to the car. Start at the N. Mt. Elbert parking lot and run the road over to the Mt. Massive trailhead. Run up the East Slopes trail of Massive to the top, then drop down the backside down the Southwest Slopes route. I had to go off route and add a bit of traversing here because of some hard snow, and then I stopped to help some people ascending the route find their way. From the bottom of the Southwest slopes route, run down the road a bit and then turn onto FS 110J. This is an old mining road that takes you up the backside of Elbert. There are two creek crossing, and with all of the run-off the water was above my knees. Cruz up the road until you see a small zen-like cairn and then turn up and get onto the direct west ridge of Elbert. There is a goat trail going all the way to the top. This whole section was killer, with massive views and relief. I had been solo the whole time, but when I popped over onto the summit of Elbert, I ran into about 50 people or so. It was really weird, as my mind frame had been in a quiet, mountain zone and then all of a sudden there were tons of people, dogs, etc. From the top of Elbert, cruz down the Northeast Ridge route and back to your car to close the loop. The full loop is 21 miles and 9,200' of gain. I ran it in 6:45 with stops on each summit (5 min. each), a shake out of the shoes, and a couple stops to talk with a few people.

 Looking down the backside of Massive - I just came down this since the upper trail section was still covered in a hard snow - I got back on the trail down in the grass

 Looking up at what I came down...

 This is the second creek crossing going up to the backside of Elbert.

 Looking down at Elbert's West Ridge.

G & T 43, Congressional Circuit, Training, New Races

G & T 43, Congressional Circuit, Training, New Races


Ran up G & T again yesterday. Now that the winter is over, it is time to hit up alternative routes to make it a bit more fun and to add to the challenge (but not take away). I've climbed Grays and Torreys from every direction and by every route, but one of my favorites I call "The Full Kelso." The route involves parking down at Bakersville (as part of my G & T challenge, all attempts have to start there or from another distant trailhead - the summer trailhead would make it too easy) and running up the road past the Stevens/Grizzly split. Continue up the Grays' road past the old mining cabin, and then immediately after taking the old closed mining road on the right across the creek and ascending the northeast ridge of Kelso Mountain (13,164'). The northeast ridge of Kelso is such a pleasure, providing spectacular views of Kelso's north face and Grizzly gulch, as well as Torrey's northeast face. There is a goat trail going up it, and with a few sections of class 2/3 it provides a fun way to hit up the peaks without encountering any people. From the top of Kelso, run down the west ridge of Kelso to the Kelso ridge saddle between Kelso and Torreys. From here, run up the Kelso Ridge of Torreys straight to the top. The run via this route is 6,500' of gain in 7 miles. Then tag Grays and head back down. With the snow melting, times are getting faster, and I ran this route in 4:08 rt with plenty of time for photos and a quick emptying of the shoes. I never really pushed, and despite the crazy wind, the run felt really solid - I got back to the car feeling very fresh. I guess the winter slogs might have paid off.

 Kelso's Northeast Ridge - you get on it via the far left of the photo.

 No hope for dry shoes - just pick a line and go - no reason to waste time looking for a bridge up or down stream.

Most of the line from I-70 to the top of Torreys.

Earlier I had re-run the Congressional Circuit from the previous week. I wanted to see if my time was any good, or if it was soft. I was able to do the 5 peaks in 3:05 and change at a fairly solid effort, so I think my time is OK, but I'm sure it can be beaten. I was planning on going all the way to Bard, but had to get back for work.

Speaking of the Congressional Circuit, there is a new 50K ultra that will go right near it. The Devil on the Divide looks to be a great run. I know the course really well, having run all of it (but never as it will be in the race). It will be one of the harder and more spectacular races in the state. It is on September 6, the same date as another new race, which also sounds cool. The Hermit Pass Marathon, out of Westcliffe. I'm running the Kite Lake Triple-Triple the following weekend, so I don't know how smart it will be to do either of these this year, plus I'm planning on a project attempt in late August, but it's nice to see some more mountain races being created.

This morning I did a nice shake out run at Bear Creek. I forgot how much this system of trails rolls, and I wandered around for 15 miles and 2,000'. I was happy to not really feel yesterday's G&T+, and really had a good time enjoying all of the wildflowers, shady and overgrown nooks and seasonal creeks. I found a bunch of unmarked trails that seem like they can be interlinked in various ways for some really solid miles.

 Nice view of Bergen Peak and Elk Meadow

G & T 42, Evergreen Mountain Race, Morrison Laps, More FKTs

G & T 42, Evergreen Mountain Race, Morrison Laps, More FKTs


Ran up Grays and Torreys on Friday for my 42 time. Things are melting out and my times are slowly getting back to their summer speeds. From I-70 last fall I was averaging around 3:10-3:20 for the roundtrip, but during the winter my times went up by about 1 hour depending on the snow. Now they are finally coming back down again, with this trip taking me 4:02. The road is melted out, but there is still snow starting at the willows and going all the way to both summits. I ran with snowshoes and wizard sticks in my hands from Bakersville because I was unsure about the section coming through the willows and I had to be back down and at work by noon. Luckily I didn't need them and ended up stashing them half way up. There were a few spots of the trail showing through the snow, and it is melting fast. I won't be bringing any traction or floatation anymore - just super light and fast from here on out.

 Pretty good snow/hail storm the night before.

 Looking down the Tuning Fork - 3,000' in a single climb.

 Mt. Holy Cross - I snowboarded down the couloir back in 1996. You have to know where to bail, as there is a 200' cliff at the bottom.

I ran into GZ up there getting some sun. ;)

The following day I ran the Evergreen Mountain trail race up out of Evergreen. The race is a 9 mile sprint around the Alderfer Three Sisters park and up Evergreen Mountain (8,536'). I'm not a fast runner, but I have been trying to pick up my speed and I knew this race would have some strong competition. Local speedster Travis Macy showed up, so I knew he would be the one to follow. From the gun Travis took off, and I had to push the pack to not let him get too far ahead. We bombed down the first section of trail, and Travis looked like he knew where he was going so the lead pack just followed him. It turns out that the first part of the course had been sabotaged and all of the markers were taken, so half the field in the back added a couple extra miles to the race. The eight or so of us in the lead pack were tight on Travis' heels, but he obviously was feeling fresh and my legs were heavy from running G & T the day before, so I fell to the back a bit. After winding around the "Three Sisters" and "The Brother" the course went up the east side of Evergreen Mountain. I was hurting big time, but still able to keep a decent pace right at my anaerobic threshold, which allowed me to maintain my position. After the summit, I only saw four other guys including Travis, so somehow I had moved up into fifth. With that in my mind, I bombed down to the finish for a decent time of 1:07:44 - 5th overall, 3rd in AG. Travis came in at :59 something - obviously much faster, but still I was happy given the circumstances.

Photo via the Evergreen Park and Rec FB page

Canadian bad boy runner Adam Campbell just set a knew FKT for the Canmore 4 Peaks run, which is a brutal 30 mile run up the four peaks surrounding Canmore, Alberta. Adam's time of 9:23 is sick, with over 15,000' of gain! Amazing!

Ran two laps up Mt. Morrison this morning, and then ran over to Red Rocks and did some stair laps. I was amazed at how many people were there doing various workouts and running the stairs. I had not seen anyone on the two laps of Mt. Morrison, which is just above Red Rocks, yet when I got over to Red Rocks it was like I had stepped into some giant group exercise class. All kinds of people were doing various workouts - it was really cool and it's great to see that many people out moving around on a Monday morning. The wildflowers on Morrison are at their peak right now, really beautiful.

 A fresh coat of snow on the Divide this morning.

Looking down the ridge on Morrison.

New FKT For Congressional Circuit And New FKT For Rainier

New FKT For Congressional Circuit and New FKT For Rainier

Got up early this morning with the hopes of putting up a good time on the "Congressional Circuit," which is a lollipop loop run over four 12,000' peaks and one 11,000' peak. I call it the "Congressional Circuit" because two of the peaks are Democrat Mountain (11,700') and Republican Mountain (12,386'), and another of the peaks is Silver Plume Mountain (12,477'). Sherman Mountain (12,287') is the odd one out, otherwise, a republican, a democrat, and some silver and gold - the Congressional Circuit. The route starts and ends in Empire and the ballfields, and runs up Bard Creek road until hitting FS road 778.1. Turn onto FS 778.1 and begin the grunt of a climb up to the top of Democrat Mountain. From there, continue off trail across the tundra to Republican Mountain, then down the backside and over to Sherman Mountain and then finally Silver Plume Mountain. From there, you can cut off re-ascending Sherman, but you do have to go over Republican again until angling down and reconnecting with FS 778.1. Then it is back down to your car in Empire. The total run is 17.82 miles, 4,779' of ascent with equal descent. I came in at 2:57:14 for the roundtrip. I'm calling it a baseline FKT because I don't know of anyone else doing this loop, and I know it can go faster once the final bits of snow clear. I hope some others get after it.

 Alpine flowers starting to show up in spots.

 Looking west towards Sherman and Silver Plume from Republican.

 You can spot Empire way down center left of the photo, where the start/finish is.

Along with the recent skimo FKT on Mt. Hood, it looks like there is a new one for Mount Rainier in 3:51.40 rt. These times are getting so fast, some real chances are going to be taken by those looking to break them. Really amazing achievement!

And finally, the new Barkley 100 documentary. I'm on the fence with this race - I love it and the idea, but don't know about the orienteering part. I guess one day I may get lucky and get into it (however you do that?) and find out for myself.

G & T 41, Bergen Peak, New FKT On Hood, Bouldering

G & T 41, Bergen Peak, New FKT on Mt. Hood, Bouldering


On Friday I did my weekly run up Grays and Torreys. The weather was really unsettled that day, and it was sprinkling as I drove up. I had gotten up pretty early because I had to be at work by 1:00pm and I was not sure how slow the snow would be. There were already some storm clouds around the peaks when I started, and of the four other parties on the mountain that day, three turned around before reaching either summit due to the blackening clouds and possible torrential rain/lightning storms. The snow was really soft, as it is not freezing at night, making it necessary for me once again to use snowshoes above the summer trailhead to the big sign. The road to the summer trailhead is all melted out and runnable, but the section between the trailhead through the willows and to the big sign is a postholing nightmare unless you have some floatation. After that, it is fairly straight forward.

The following day I ran up Bergen Peak just outside of Evergreen. A fun 13 mile loop with 2,300' of gain, I wanted to see how hard of an effort I could put in following G&T. I ran the race course, and clocked 2:07 with some stops for pictures and a bit of off trail exploration near the summit. I was certainly tired by the end, but the wildflowers that are in bloom kept me going.

 I scrambled up some of this stuff near the summit.

 Pikes Peak way off in the distance.

I ran Mt. Hood way back in 1999, leaving Timberline Lodge at 10:00pm and doing a solo run under the full moon to the summit and back. I was not in the best of shape, and it took me a little over 3 hours roundtrip. I've always thought of getting back there for a solid effort, but have never found the chance. Jason Dorais recently put up a stout time on skis of 1:44:03. I don't know what the running FKT is, but 1:27:46 for the ascent is pretty good.

Shot of the Morning Watchman from my window.

Had a great bouldering session on Flagstaff the other afternoon. I hadn't been up there in a bit, but was excited to revisit the "Dark Side" and re-do all of my FAs that I put up about 10 years ago. Most are in the V2-V6 range, but they have some fun movements and this little area has a great set of boulders allowing for some peaceful climbing in the shade on hotter days.

I've also managed to get out to Morrison a couple times and work on my long-term summer project. The moves are starting to come together, but I need to stay focused and not try and link up the entire Lobby from right to left, which just pumps me out for any serious efforts.

The real climber of the area...