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.

G & T 46, Congressional Circuit, June Stats

G & T 46, Congressional Circuit, June Stats

Ran up Grays and Torreys this morning via Kelso Mountain. This is quickly turning into one of my favorite mountain jaunts, as you miss most of the people until reaching the top of Torreys. There was a thick inversion this morning, providing some great atmosphere for the climb up Kelso's northeast ridge. I don't think there is a closer run that you can get 6,500' of gain and 14.5 miles in before 10:00am - anything similar seems to be in the Sawatch or beyond.

Monday was another go at the Congressional Circuit. I elected to do this loop again because it has the most vertical gain (4,800') with the most "running". I'm doing the US Skyrunning Sky races, which are much faster then I have been training for, so I wanted to get in a run instead of a run/power hike. I also tried out the La Sportiva Bushido's for this run - I've been enjoying the Bushido's, and think they are the perfect Vertical K or similar type of race shoe, but wanted to try them on a longer run. I still could not break my fast time from a few weeks back, but did come close at 3:02:12. I stopped to take a photo of the shoes against a field of Old Man of the Mountain flowers, since they seemed to be the perfect color. I don't know how I will do at Kendall Mountain (probably get whipped by the runners who actually run...), but am hoping that some of this mountain training will pay off for the La Maratona Verticale. The Bushido's worked great, and I'm working on a review of them, but for now my thoughts are still that these are great short mountain shoes, but for anything longer then say 10-15 miles I would want a different shoe (like my Cascadia 9 or something).

 Another super windy morning up high.

June turned out to be a solid month for training. Despite working two jobs, I was able to get out and put in some solid vert and miles.

322.5 miles
92,800' gain (same descent)
37 peaks 12,000' or higher
Only 10 climbing sessions for the month

I'm hoping to put up similar numbers of July and the beginning of August. Then it will be time for a couple mountain projects. I had planned on a big traverse at the end of June, but with the snow (both from the winter, and the stuff that fell on the 28th) that was put on hold until late July, early August. It was probably smart, because it would have most likely pushed me over the edge. I feel pretty good overall, although I am worried about my speed, especially for Kendall and any other race that I might randomly jump into. I've tried to do one speed session per week, as well as one rest day, and although I've had some indications that my speed is OK (for me, I've never been fast), I'm sure it has dropped some. I guess you can't really do both - as they say, it is all about specificity.

Snow In The Mountains

Snow In The Mountains

The plan for yesterday was to attempt a long high traverse, but with mother nature throwing in overnight snow, that was quickly ditched. Instead, I tried to salvage the day with some miles and vert. on the local hill. I don't get to count this time towards my G & T Challenge since I already did it this week - nonetheless, the wind and snow and people made it a fun outing. Up Kelso, down then up G & T, then down and over and up Baker Mnt. and then down. 21 miles and 8,700' gain in 5:56.

 A fair bit of fresh snow.

 Remnants of a massive avalanche in upper Grizzly Gulch

Ruby Creek Traverse - Engelmann, Robeson, Bard, Parnassus, And Woods Peaks

Ruby Creek Traverse - Engelmann, Robeson, Bard, Parnassus, and Woods Peaks

Got up and ran the Ruby Creek Traverse this morning. I wanted to put in a hard, semi-long effort and see what time I could get on the traverse. It involves running up from the URAD mine area just outside of Jones Pass up and over Engelmann Peak (13,362'), Robeson Peak (13,140'), Bard Peak (13,641'), Mount Parnassus (13,574') and Woods Mountain (12,940'). Only the first and last mile of the loop are on any trail, the rest is either bushwhacking or running tundra and ridges. I've done this loop a couple times, and it is always spectacular as you circle around the Ruby Creek basin going from one peak to the other. Unlike many other locations in the Colorado mountains (namely 14ers), hardly anyone does these peaks and I did not see a single person all morning. From the pull out right near the "Danger, Avalanche" sign, run up the rugged old mining road for about a mile to a small clearing. From here, turn east and begin the big march straight up Engelmann's western slopes to gain it's northwestern ridge. Once on Englemann's summit, you can see the entire traverse. Continue south, making the significant drop down and over to Robeson, then onward to Bard Peak where you have spectacular views of all of the surrounding peaks, including G & T and beyond. The ridge from Bard to Parnassus is fun, with a few scrambling sections, as it drops and then climbs to the summit. From Parnassus there is a big drop down to Woods Mountain, before angling north again and tagging a final unnamed 12,700' point. From here, you drop almost straight down, gaining an old mining road that is fairly hard to follow. I ran into a bit of snow here, and had to do some postholing and wallowing through willows and soggy marsh land to make it through the basin and onto the eastern side of the creek. From here, it is a bomb of a run back down to the car. The loop is 11.78 miles and 6,430' of gain, which I completed in 3:19:27. A solid time, although when the snow all melts it might go a bit faster.

 I time the loop from the sign...

 Gained 1,000' by running up this hard snow avalanche shoot to Engelmann.

 Straight up the slope to gain the ridge.

 Summit of Engelmann, with Robeson, Bard, and Parnassus (on the right) in the background.

 Looking over from Bard to Parnassus - just follow the ridge.

 Looking back from Woods at the Traverse, with Engelmann on the far left and Parnassus out of the photo on the right.

Continental Divide Tempos And G & T 45

Continental Divide Tempos and G & T 45


With the mountain season full underway, I sometimes worry about losing any of the very little speed I might have gained from over the winter. Most mountain runs involve some running, but they also involve a lot of power hiking, scrambling, etc., and although the lungs get a solid workout, the leg turnover is rarely worked. In a small effort to work on this a bit I went up and ran Stanley Mountain and then a section of the Continental Divide that is fairly flat/rolling at 12,000'. I also wanted to see how my recovery was from last week's 24,000' of vertical. Parking at the winter lot for Jones Pass, I took the trail as it switchbacks up across from the Henderson Mine. This trail is not heavily used, and there was a fair bit of snowbank crossing, log hopping, and the like until it wound it's way over to Stanley's west face. From there you go straight up on tundra to the summit, at which point you are greeted with the open alpine plateau that makes up the Divide in this area. From there I ran over to Berthoud Pass and back, attempting to push out 7 minute miles for 6 miles. This section of trail has a great open, alpine feel to it, and with no one around, I imagined running on the moon or some remote tundra in the arctic.

 Looking over at the Ruby Creek Traverse.

So far the leg turnover seems to be holding steady, although it is really hard to say. I've been trying to do one track/fartlek run a week, which is always brutal but extremely satisfying. I was happy with my :55 /  8 mile home run this morning after yesterday's G & T. Time will tell...

Revisited some of my old problems on the "Dark Side" last week as well. This one is a fun V6 that moves left to right before topping out. It is amazing that after not touching any of the holds for 4 years, I was able to instantly remember all of the moves - body-mind-muscle memory is really powerful.

Ran G & T 45 yesterday morning before work. The accessibility of this run, as well as it's overall length and vertical gain make it really attractive. Knowing that you can tag two 14er summits and be back in town before 10:00am make this run one of the best training runs around. Summer is in full swing, and although I prefer to run alternative routes, this morning since I was lacking time I ran the regular route in 3:30. I met a Swiss man on top of Grays and took some photos of him - he did Longs and Bierdstat last year, and this year G & T. No one on the way up, but a herd of people were making their way when I was coming down. I have had a lot of thoughts about these two peaks now that I've done them through fall, winter, spring, and into summer. The change in environment, the amount of people, etc. have been rolling through my head. Hopefully I can articulate them some and put them down here soon.

 Still one decent snowfield you have to cross that you would not want to slip on...