Some photos from Apex yesterday morning. This is near my place, so it is a regular loop of mine.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Apex
Apex
Some photos from Apex yesterday morning. This is near my place, so it is a regular loop of mine.
Some photos from Apex yesterday morning. This is near my place, so it is a regular loop of mine.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
The M5 Challenge
The M5 Challenge
I decided to do some laps on Mt. Morrison this morning, with no real set goal in terms of the number of laps, just with the idea of getting in some solid vert. The south ridge trail up Mt. Morrison is brutally short - 1.8 miles with 2,000' of gain. It's pretty much straight up and then straight down. As I started, I began to try and come up with some sort of goal, and when I was running the numbers in my head, I realized that 5 laps pretty much equals 10,000' of gain and 20 miles (I tagged on an extra ~2 miles to get to an even 20 by running up the road a bit between each lap). I thought that was pretty cool: 5, 10, 20. So I settled on 5 laps. It was a great morning, although windy on the ridge, but with no one else on the mountain, I just put my head down and got to work. One my fifth lap Jeff V. showed up, which was great, as I was getting tired and he re-motivated me (and blasted past me on the climb up). However, after that fifth lap I gave up and decided it would be better to go get lunch then try and do another lap - plus I was attracted to the numbers. Seems like the M5 Challenge could be a cool annual event - until someone decides to do a M10 Challenge!
I decided to do some laps on Mt. Morrison this morning, with no real set goal in terms of the number of laps, just with the idea of getting in some solid vert. The south ridge trail up Mt. Morrison is brutally short - 1.8 miles with 2,000' of gain. It's pretty much straight up and then straight down. As I started, I began to try and come up with some sort of goal, and when I was running the numbers in my head, I realized that 5 laps pretty much equals 10,000' of gain and 20 miles (I tagged on an extra ~2 miles to get to an even 20 by running up the road a bit between each lap). I thought that was pretty cool: 5, 10, 20. So I settled on 5 laps. It was a great morning, although windy on the ridge, but with no one else on the mountain, I just put my head down and got to work. One my fifth lap Jeff V. showed up, which was great, as I was getting tired and he re-motivated me (and blasted past me on the climb up). However, after that fifth lap I gave up and decided it would be better to go get lunch then try and do another lap - plus I was attracted to the numbers. Seems like the M5 Challenge could be a cool annual event - until someone decides to do a M10 Challenge!
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
G & T 32 And Sunrise Track Sessions
G & T 32 and Sunrise Track Sessions
Another run up Grays and Torreys yesterday. Started off fairly cold, with the wind blowing up high. Not a ton of new snow from the weekend storm, but enough that above treeline through the willows the trail was all blown in and required postholing/slogging. I've gotten really good over this winter at knowing where the "packed" trail is and how to stay on it despite not being able to see it. It is almost like reading braille, as I weave my way through the willows and around the avalanche shoots of Kelso Mountain. Really windy (as usual) up high, with steady gusts pretty much the entire time.
This morning Tara and I got up early for a Sunrise Track Session. Haven't done many of these lately, but each time I really enjoy them. Something about running on a track in the pre-dawn hours that is really meditative. Pushing hard with almost no light, but not needing it because your footing is solid, shuts the mind down and allows one to just move. Sets of 400s and 800s to start the day off right!
Another run up Grays and Torreys yesterday. Started off fairly cold, with the wind blowing up high. Not a ton of new snow from the weekend storm, but enough that above treeline through the willows the trail was all blown in and required postholing/slogging. I've gotten really good over this winter at knowing where the "packed" trail is and how to stay on it despite not being able to see it. It is almost like reading braille, as I weave my way through the willows and around the avalanche shoots of Kelso Mountain. Really windy (as usual) up high, with steady gusts pretty much the entire time.
It only took me 32 times running by the old mining cabin on the summer road to notice this!
It's only 2,000' if you step off from Torrey's summit to the valley floor...
This morning Tara and I got up early for a Sunrise Track Session. Haven't done many of these lately, but each time I really enjoy them. Something about running on a track in the pre-dawn hours that is really meditative. Pushing hard with almost no light, but not needing it because your footing is solid, shuts the mind down and allows one to just move. Sets of 400s and 800s to start the day off right!
Saturday, March 22, 2014
North Table Mountain - Running Through History
North Table Mountain - Running Through History
I like to run at North Table Mountain, as I can put together a fun loop, bag a small peak, and work on rollers. I also like to know a bit about the places that I run, including my local home runs. North Table has a rich history, although little of it is known. It was first used extensively by the Northern Arapaho and other tribes, often for hunting and for defensive purposes. In Northern Arapaho North Table is nenebiihi' bii3hiitoon, which literally means "north table." The actual place name has been lost. There is historical evidence of continued N. Arapaho use up through the 1870s, until they were forced onto reservations during the Plains Wars. Then, in 1894 Frank Bussert homesteaded on the top of the mesa, building a large house and farming several acres of land. According to Heine Foss, who purchased much of the mesa in the 1950s from Bussert's grandson, most of the prairie grasses had been overgrazed, and there were numerous eroded ditches and gullies, so much so that one would be hard to recognize it compared to today. Foss embarked on a multi-year program of planting grass seeds across the mesa to restore it, and when Jefferson County acquired most of the mesa land as open space, much of the mesa has slowly returned to it's pre-human environment. Today there are several small seasonal streams and ponds on the mesa, as well as a burgeoning population of mule deer and other wildlife. I prefer to run the mesa early in the morning, when the light is just coming up. Today, with the weather changing, instead of a spectacular sunrise it was cloudy and grey. Still, it is possible to imagine what it was like 100-200 years ago when the mesa was truly wild and open - running through open prairie, past towering cliffs, over ancient lava flows, and along trickling brooks exposing weaknesses in the geology.
I like to run at North Table Mountain, as I can put together a fun loop, bag a small peak, and work on rollers. I also like to know a bit about the places that I run, including my local home runs. North Table has a rich history, although little of it is known. It was first used extensively by the Northern Arapaho and other tribes, often for hunting and for defensive purposes. In Northern Arapaho North Table is nenebiihi' bii3hiitoon, which literally means "north table." The actual place name has been lost. There is historical evidence of continued N. Arapaho use up through the 1870s, until they were forced onto reservations during the Plains Wars. Then, in 1894 Frank Bussert homesteaded on the top of the mesa, building a large house and farming several acres of land. According to Heine Foss, who purchased much of the mesa in the 1950s from Bussert's grandson, most of the prairie grasses had been overgrazed, and there were numerous eroded ditches and gullies, so much so that one would be hard to recognize it compared to today. Foss embarked on a multi-year program of planting grass seeds across the mesa to restore it, and when Jefferson County acquired most of the mesa land as open space, much of the mesa has slowly returned to it's pre-human environment. Today there are several small seasonal streams and ponds on the mesa, as well as a burgeoning population of mule deer and other wildlife. I prefer to run the mesa early in the morning, when the light is just coming up. Today, with the weather changing, instead of a spectacular sunrise it was cloudy and grey. Still, it is possible to imagine what it was like 100-200 years ago when the mesa was truly wild and open - running through open prairie, past towering cliffs, over ancient lava flows, and along trickling brooks exposing weaknesses in the geology.
Friday, March 21, 2014
G & T 31 And El Barrio
G & T 31 and El Barrio
It may be the second day of spring, but up high, it is still winter. I was hoping that I could sneak in my weekly run today prior to the snow starting to fall this evening - there was no snow, but a nice steady wind was blowing from treeline up. There are certainly signs, however, that spring is here - lots of birds in the trees, evidence of melting and refreezing along the Stevens Gulch road, and compaction and solidification of the snow above treeline. Wind, and windchill, apparently doesn't follow any season, and it certainly was cold this morning as the wind blew at a constant 20mph (I've thought of this a lot, and I have no idea how powerful the wind gusts are that I have had to deal with this winter. I read on 14ers.com and other sites of winds in the 60mph range all the time, but how is one to know? Look, its windy and it sucks, need I quantify it more?).
Still a solid morning on the mountain, and despite running the Salida marathon last Saturday, I didn't feel any lethargy. As race season approaches, however, keeping up the challenge is proving to be even more difficult (like it needs to be any harder). I have to prey for a weather window early in one week so that I can tapper a bit before a race, but then hope that the following week allows me to tag the summits later in the week. Once "winter" is over, I won't be too worried, but there is still April, which can bring tons of snow up high.
Along the Front Range, climbers are blessed with a number of natural, outdoor gyms to train on. Indoor gyms are great, and you can get wicked strong really fast by climbing inside everyday. However, climbing on real stone is always better, and spending time outside in the woods, meditating between sessions has always been something I've greatly enjoyed. One of these natural climbing gyms is El Barrio. Located up Boulder Canyon just before Castle Rock, El Barrio is a fun little place to work not only power, but also endurance. I've been climbing here for at least a decade, and the other day I was reminded why I enjoy the place despite its location directly off the road. With a few natural rock benches to chill out on, El Barrio hosts a couple long 5.13 problems as well as a ton of hard, contrived, eliminate problems that you can use to work almost any weakness you may have. Right now I have a lot of weaknesses, after taking some time off from climbing, so coming back to El Barrio and re-visiting problems I sent years ago was fun and challenging. One summer, in fact, I read all of Reinhold Messner's books here, doing laps on the main .13a problem in between chapters. El Barrio is not "in" among most climbers, and that is fine with me, as you can usually bank on no one being there and having a solid session free of any disturbances. However, now that it is spring, one has to watch out as I found a tick on my bag when I was done climbing, and there is nothing that puts a buzz kill on a climbing session like finding ticks crawling all over the place.
It may be the second day of spring, but up high, it is still winter. I was hoping that I could sneak in my weekly run today prior to the snow starting to fall this evening - there was no snow, but a nice steady wind was blowing from treeline up. There are certainly signs, however, that spring is here - lots of birds in the trees, evidence of melting and refreezing along the Stevens Gulch road, and compaction and solidification of the snow above treeline. Wind, and windchill, apparently doesn't follow any season, and it certainly was cold this morning as the wind blew at a constant 20mph (I've thought of this a lot, and I have no idea how powerful the wind gusts are that I have had to deal with this winter. I read on 14ers.com and other sites of winds in the 60mph range all the time, but how is one to know? Look, its windy and it sucks, need I quantify it more?).
Still a solid morning on the mountain, and despite running the Salida marathon last Saturday, I didn't feel any lethargy. As race season approaches, however, keeping up the challenge is proving to be even more difficult (like it needs to be any harder). I have to prey for a weather window early in one week so that I can tapper a bit before a race, but then hope that the following week allows me to tag the summits later in the week. Once "winter" is over, I won't be too worried, but there is still April, which can bring tons of snow up high.
Along the Front Range, climbers are blessed with a number of natural, outdoor gyms to train on. Indoor gyms are great, and you can get wicked strong really fast by climbing inside everyday. However, climbing on real stone is always better, and spending time outside in the woods, meditating between sessions has always been something I've greatly enjoyed. One of these natural climbing gyms is El Barrio. Located up Boulder Canyon just before Castle Rock, El Barrio is a fun little place to work not only power, but also endurance. I've been climbing here for at least a decade, and the other day I was reminded why I enjoy the place despite its location directly off the road. With a few natural rock benches to chill out on, El Barrio hosts a couple long 5.13 problems as well as a ton of hard, contrived, eliminate problems that you can use to work almost any weakness you may have. Right now I have a lot of weaknesses, after taking some time off from climbing, so coming back to El Barrio and re-visiting problems I sent years ago was fun and challenging. One summer, in fact, I read all of Reinhold Messner's books here, doing laps on the main .13a problem in between chapters. El Barrio is not "in" among most climbers, and that is fine with me, as you can usually bank on no one being there and having a solid session free of any disturbances. However, now that it is spring, one has to watch out as I found a tick on my bag when I was done climbing, and there is nothing that puts a buzz kill on a climbing session like finding ticks crawling all over the place.
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