Oh Where Does The Time Go?

Oh Where Does The Time Go?

Lots has happened since my last post. Tara and I moved out of our VW Rabbit after living in it for 3 months and we are now living the American Dream as owners of a condo in Golden. I orchestrated a coup at work and got the owners to back off, which in turn made me an official manager. As a result, my work level increased, but not my pay. My right foot has developed some sort of wonky twinge that has been bothering me for a couple weeks now - it only hurts when I run, not when I power hike. So, if you notice my strava data, it is all power hikes up Mt. Morrison, Bergen Peak, Grays and Torreys and the like. I'm just now able to run again and get back into it. We will see how that goes as the US Skyrunning Championships in Flagstaff are Oct. 2-3 and I'm all ready to go. I am working on another trail running guidebook with Adam Chase and Nancy Hobbs, so that has taken up a bunch of time writing up trails, taking photos, etc. It will be a complementary guidebook to my other one - The Best Front Range Trail Runs - as it will have different trails in it. Together, the two should cover just about every trail along the Front Range from Boulder to Colorado Springs. I continue to try and work on my journalism, writing up some articles here and there for Colorado Runner Magazine, but lately I have been too swamped to get much done. However, the real big deal is that I am in the midst of a project celebrating Boulder runners and Boulder running. It will be a full color magazine/book that will come out this January. If anyone wants to contribute photos, writing, art, poetry, or other items, please reach out to me. I've been reaching out to folks and getting content, etc., but I have not announced it to the world at large yet. It will probably consume most of Oct. and Nov. I was appointed Deputy Director of the Transpersonal Psychology Department at Akamai University, and as a result am now working a ton on revamping the program and sitting on two different Ph.D. committees. Oh, and I'm furiously trying to get into the mountains before the snow comes and the mountain running season ends.

So there it is, a major catch up in only one paragraph! As usual, I'm more frequent on Twitter, Facebook, and Strava, but I do like trying to keep this blog up. Hopefully I'll get some more time and keep it going.

 The haze from the western fires on my Nolan's soft attempt. Sadly, I'd develop a weird altitude/asthma thing after four peaks, at which point I had to bail because I could not breath. The haze from the fires has been pretty bad off and on - I'm praying for rain for the folks out west.

 Antero from Tabeguache - pretty straight forward drop from the saddle down to Browns Creek, around the western side of the lake and then straight up.

 Looking back at Shavano and Tabeguache from near the top of Antero.

 Princeton from Antero.

 The trail up Grouse.

 The sunset with all of the haze in the air - and my lungs!

 The old familiar - the Stevens Gulch road. I've been getting back into hitting up the Full Kelso route and doing Grays and Torreys. It is such a perfect line - 5,300' of elevation gain all on a nice, dramatic ridge with plenty of class 3. I'm trying to get a good FKT for the line - right now it is 4:01 roundtrip from Bakerville for the Full Kelso and G & T. Certainly can go faster, especially on the descent where I have to go a bit slow due to my wonky ankle.

 The start of the Full Kelso - just power hike straight up for a vertical K.

 Colors are going off right now up high.

 Another go at the Full Kelso FKT - still not happy with my time, but there was snow and ice up high this time, so it will have to wait until next year for a real fast attempt at this point.

Sunrise laps on Mt. Morrison - always worth it.

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...

Bergen Peak Double and Nathan Elite 2V Plus Pack

Bergen Peak Double and Nathan Elite 2V Plus Pack


I've been on the hunt for a good waist pack to take on long runs. Last year I used the UD Blaze Plus along with handhelds for long runs and although it worked out pretty well, there were a lot of things that I was not happy with. Like the UD Fastdraw bottle, the pockets on the Blaze are a bit small, and it is really hard to fit even a bar or two into them (although the UD bottle nipple is far superior to the Nathan bottle top - luckily they are interchangeable). This is no problem on shorter runs or aid supported runs, but for big solo days in the mountains (20+ miles) I found it difficult to carry everything. So this past week I picked up the Nathan Elite 2V Plus, which has two benefits over the UD Blaze - it carries more water so I don't also have to have a handheld, and the pockets are much bigger and removable. So yesterday I went out to demo the Nathan pack up at Elk Meadow Park on Bergen Peak (9,708'). I was a little nervous about potential bouncing as you carry (or can carry) up to 44oz around your waist, as well as a substantial amount of food, gear, camera, etc. Since I tend to the minimal side, I did not use the pack to capacity for this short run (I took the two pockets off), but rather wanted to see about fit, whether there was any bounce, and how the pockets and other features worked out.

I ran two laps covering the trails in the park and tagging Bergen Peak twice for a total car to car time of 4:03 with 4,689' of gain over the course of 22 miles. I carried two bars, one gu, and one fruit strip, along with two full 22oz bottles in the pack. I also had a very light wind/rain jacket along as it looked like it could rain at any moment and a camera. There is no way I could have carried this much with the UD Blaze without also carrying a handheld. Although I was not going super fast, the Nathan pack worked out very well.

• Very little bounce, even running on the downhills
• Easy to access water, although it took a bit getting used to putting them back in their slots
• Felt small and comfortable on the back, with no excess sweat or heat buildup
• Plenty of room - enough for three times as much food
• Removable pockets - the pack comes with two extra side pockets that you can remove when not in use

I'll have to see how the pack works out on longer days this summer, but so far I am very happy, especially when considering the price (around $50 depending on where you shop). The pack has a ton of material, and not all of it seems necessary - I'm sure I will take a knife to it and get rid of any excess here shortly to try and lighten it up a tad.

 The resident elk herd...

 Looking east from the summit...

 Looking west from the summit at Evans and beyond

 Hard to see, but that is Pikes way off to the south....