Pyramid trailbreaking

With Dwight S. Broke trail to 10,600' or so on the west slopes route on Pyramid. Followed an existing snowshoe track from camp initially but eventually diverged from it in an open area. Pretty rotten snow up the lower west slopes until the gully formed up, where at least the lower part of the gully had slid, so the snow was nice and firm.

I'm guessing 2 hours roundtrip from camp?

Sarah, Dominic, and Kiefer broke trail toward North Maroon but encountered rotten snow and tough going. Thus, we opted for Pyramid the next day.

Hike to Crater Lake

Hiked the Maroon Creek Road from the T Lazy 7 Ranch to Maroon Lake. Then on snowshoes, on an existing track, to a camp at Crater Lake.

With Dwight S, Sarah and Dominic M, and Kiefer T (from Maroon Lake to Crater Lake).

0:00 - T Lazy 7 Ranch
~2:15 - end of the road at Maroon Lake (took a 30+ minute break here getting hot cocoa from the "trailer", running into Kiefer)
~4:10 - camp near far end of Crater Lake

Belford, Oxford

With Jeff V (to Belford), Tony K, Jeff K (from treeline down to the trailhead). Started at 8:16 am. From the Missouri Gulch TH, trail up to treeline, lost the trail for a bit until over to Belford's northwest ridge, then on or near the trail to the summit, over to Oxford, back over to Belford, down the trail. Strong winds. Probably gusting close to 60 in the saddle between Belford and Oxford. But quite warm.

0:00 - Missouri Gulch TH
2:35:33 - Belford (took a break here for around 20? minutes)
3:33:17 - Oxford
4:20:28 - Belford
5:29:17 - Missouri Gulch TH

Huron

With Dwight S. Started at 7:44 am. From Winfield, hiked the road on an existing snowshoe track to the standard trailhead; then followed a snowshoe track that started on the trail, but eventually diverged, up to treeline (put snowshoes on at maybe 11,200'); across the flats at 12,300'; then up the north/northwest slopes near and occasionally on the trail to the summit. Stashed the snowshoes at around 13,200'. Did not use the snowshoes at all on the descent.

0:00 - Winfield
54:23 - trailhead
3:44:42 - Huron summit
3:57:54 - started down
5:09:06 - trailhead
5:58:43 - Winfield

Green (descent PR)

From Baseline at about 6th St, up to the Baseline trail, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down Greenman, Saddle Rock, Amph, Gregory TH; then walked the road back to my car.

Started at 3:48 pm. Didn't get up Green on Christmas Day, so the streak ended at 22 days. Almost didn't get this one in, but I'm glad I did.

Quite windy today. Unfortunately, there was some drifting, most notably above the Saddle Rock/Greenman junction. Fortunately, there were a couple of snowshoers descending as I went up.

Pretty much was all out on the descent. Conditions weren't ideal with the drifting, as I was spinning my wheels in a few places and thrown off balance at times with the unsure footing. I definitely felt like that cost me a little time. The light was getting pretty dim near the bottom as well, but I don't think that really slowed me down much, if at all. Very happy with this descent.

15:45 descent, 42 seconds faster than on 12/21/2011.

0:00 - Baseline
4:24 - Baseline/Amph
? - Amph/Saddle Rock
29:26 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
51:56 - Green summit
53:32 - started down
1:09:17 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From the dirt pullout on Baseline, road up to Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 7:00 am. With Jeff V.

0:00 - dirt pullout
4:40 - Gregory TH
15:26 - Amph/Saddle Rock
36:03 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
1:01:46 - Green summit
1:08:18 - started down
1:40:43 - Gregory TH
1:44:05 - dirt pullout

Crosslite2.0

Green

From the dirt pullout on Baseline, road up to Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 4:17 pm. Slow descent in the dark.

0:00 - dirt pullout
2:44 - Gregory TH
13:30 - Amph/Saddle Rock
34:09 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
1:03:32 - Green summit
1:06:11 - started down
1:33:08 - Amph/Baseline
1:33:16 - Gregory TH
1:35:26 - dirt pullout

Crosslite2.0

Green

From the dirt pullout on Baseline, road up to Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 7:12 am. Day 20 of the streak was a chore as we got a big storm overnight. Got a late start after shoveling at home for about 30 minutes. For the most part, the snow was a few inches below my knee. In a few sections, it was only mid-shin deep. Then there were also a few sections where it was a few inches above my knee and a few sections where it was up to my crotch.

On the descent, the snow was still too deep to do hardly any running. I saw Tony K's footsteps heading up the 1st Access trail and on the Saddle Rock shortcut. I took a pretty good fall down the steep rock steps just above the Saddle Rock spring. Smacked my shin on one of the steps and bled pretty good. But I wouldn't discover the more concerning issue until I got to work and pulled off my socks to shower. Two of my toes were mostly numb. As I showered, they went from numb to very purple to tingly to just mildly numb. Fortunately, the thawing was not painful. Hopefully, this wasn't bad enough for any long-term issues.

0:00 - dirt pullout
2:28 - Gregory TH
14:49 - Amph/Saddle Rock
40:00 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
1:20:09 - Green summit
1:20:47 - started down
2:05:08 - Gregory TH
2:07ish - dirt pullout

Crosslite2.0

Green (descent PR)

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:34 am. Had no intention of going so hard on the descent. But I started down, immediately felt great, and just let loose. Despite being sketched out on the ice yesterday with my old Microspikes, conditions weren't a factor today, as the newer Microspikes worked great. Legs felt great all the way down. Just a super-fun descent!

16:27 descent, 26 seconds faster than on 12/17/2011.

GZ, to answer your question from the other day, Charlie Nuttelman descended in 16:39 on 6/10/2003. That was with the old Saddle Rock/Greenman trail alignment, though, which descended some 50-100 vertical feet more than the current trails. His time was to the Amphitheater/Baseline trail junction, though, whereas I'm stopping my watch when I hit the pavement at the Gregory trailhead.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:18 - Amph/Saddle Rock
25:50 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
45:12 - Green summit
49:35 - started down
1:06:02 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:33 am. Decided to use old Microspikes today due to lots of rocks showing through yesterday. Big mistake. Was slipping a lot on the up and felt like I was going to fall with every step on the descent.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:56 - Amph/Saddle Rock
27:58 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
48:59 - Green summit
(dup) - started down - probably 53ish
1:19:51 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down Greenman, NE Ridge, toward the First, bushwhacked directly down to the Saddle Rock trail, Saddle Rock, Amph.

Started at 6:43 am. Slower.

Lots of ice on the trails after the warm weather yesterday. Pretty lousy conditions. Decided to descend a different route due to the ice, but the NE Ridge to the First wasn't in very good shape either, so I just took a direct route down to the Saddle Rock trail through sugary snow.

0:00 - Gregory TH
10:27 - Amph/Saddle Rock
29:18 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
51:08 - Green summit
54:51 - started down
1:21:06 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:28 am. Slow.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:55 - Amph/Saddle Rock
27:22 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
49:44 - Green summit
53:12 - started down
1:16:42 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green (descent PR)

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 11:28 am. Was nice to start a little later in the day than usual. Felt great and pushed hard on the ascent. Very pleased to sneak under 40, as that is rare for me.

While ascending, I thought about going for a roundtrip PR, but I pushed quite hard near the top to get under 40, which left me spent on the summit. I decided to rest and descend more casually, or so I thought. Within a few steps down the trail, I apparently decided that my legs were feeling pretty good. Kept the effort high all the way down. Wasn't really thinking I was within reach of a PR, though, so a bit surprised to see a 16:53 descent, 1 second faster than on 12/8/2011.

0:00 - Gregory TH
8:02 - Amph/Saddle Rock
22:21 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
39:39 - Green summit
43:31 - started down
1:00:24 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:41 am. 17:48 descent.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:06 - Amph/Saddle Rock
25:43 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
46:05 - Green summit
50:32 - started down
1:08:20 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Gregory, Ranger, West Ridge, Green; down Greenman, Saddle Rock, Amph.

Started at 6:37 am. With Bill W. Casual this morning, chatting non-stop.

0:00 - Gregory TH
20:46 - Gregory/Ranger
47:44 - Ranger/West Ridge
53:12 - Green summit
54:28 - started down
1:21:39 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:39 am. Felt great again this morning. Probably slightly ahead of yesterday's pace until I stopped briefly to introduce myself to Corey K just before the Greenman junction. Worked reasonably hard for the 17:20 descent but not all out.

0:00 - Gregory TH
8:30 - Amph/Saddle Rock
23:47 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
42:06 - Green summit
48:18 - started down
1:05:38 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:?? am. After being so tired yesterday morning, I thought I might be ready for a break. But I don't want to take a break, and I needed to work off some calories. Felt great this morning. I think this is my fastest ascent since all the new snow fell a couple weeks ago. 18:41 descent.

0:00 - Gregory TH
8:46 - Amph/Saddle Rock
23:31 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
41:50 - Green summit
44:47 - started down
1:03:28 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:42 am. Dead tired. 21:48 descent.

10 day streak on Green matches my previous best from February 17-26, 2010.

0:00 - Gregory TH
10:26 - Amph/Saddle Rock
28:55 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
52:34 - Green summit
55:45 - started down
1:17:33 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:25 am. 18:45 descent.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:28 - Amph/Saddle Rock
25:16 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
44:11 - Green summit
49:20 - started down
1:08:05 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 9:22 am. 19:14 descent.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:30 - Amph/Saddle Rock
25:44 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
43:59 - Green summit
45:38 - started down
1:04:52 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same (with a little extra up/down).

Started at 6:43 am. Cloudy and foggy driving to the trailhead, but climbed above the clouds today. Tired so nothing fast. Ran into Jeff V just below the log steps on my descent. Turned back up with him, heading almost back to the summit before he came back down. Took it easy descending and chatting away.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:58 - Amph/Saddle Rock
27:17 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
48:26 - Green summit
51:35 - started down
1:26:25 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green (descent PR)

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:35 am. Snow conditions were excellent!

Went for it on the descent again. Right from the start, the legs didn't feel as peppy as yesterday, where I was flying down the initial switchbacks. Still, I sustained a reasonably hard effort down to Greenman Spring, did all I could on the "flat" section, then I think I managed to pick things up a bit down Saddle Rock and Amph. Passed Bill as he was ascending (again) and got some encouragement. Perhaps too much, as I wiped out right at the Saddle Rock spring.

So, 16:54 descent. 52 seconds faster than yesterday's 17:46. I think I could shave more time. Not sure I'll keep pushing this hard, though. Satisfying to put up some fast personal times, but not quite as enjoyable while I'm out there.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:21 - Amph/Saddle Rock
26:43 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
48:09 - Green summit
50:11 - started down
51:35 - end of long switchback, just above the two mini-switchbacks
58:01 - Greenman/Saddle Rock
1:07:05 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green (descent PR)

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:35 am. Amph and lower Saddle Rock had fresh snow, up to maybe an inch, but I'm pretty sure that had just blown off the trees overnight. So everything still isn't packed out perfectly yet. Pokey on the ascent again. Probably a combination of conditions, being a bit tired, and just not working very hard.

Started down intent on going all out. Was doing great until just above the talus section (all snow now) where I caught a Microspike on a small root. I barely broke stride but noticed that one foot was a bit lighter. I looked down and saw the Microspike missing. It came off so smoothly that I didn't even feel it come off. So lost maybe 20 seconds or so going back and putting it back on. Unfortunately, this broke the rhythm I had going, and I didn't push nearly as hard for the rest of the descent. Still, this 17:46 descent was 19 seconds faster than my 18:05 three days ago. I'll keep trying, I guess.

0:00 - Gregory TH
10:07 - Amph/Saddle Rock
(dup) - Saddle Rock/Greenman
51:08 - Green summit
53:35 - started down
1:11:21 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:35 am. Cold morning, around 0°F. Snow was pretty well packed, but not perfect yet. Probably slowed me down some on the ascent, but I also didn't work very hard.

Started down and ran into Bill just below the final switchback. Turned to head back to the top with him, but he was planning to descend Ranger/Gregory, and I wanted to pack things out on Greenman/Saddle Rock, so I turned down before reaching the summit again. So, my 21:15 descent included maybe a minute of that. Ran parts of the descent hard, some easy. Another day or so and the trails should be set up perfectly for a fast descent.

Broke out the new Microspikes today.

0:00 - Gregory TH
10:25 - Amph/Saddle Rock
29:01 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
52:57 - Green summit
56:14 - started down
1:17:28 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:35 am. Single digits. Maybe 3-4 inches of snow from late yesterday. Took it easy up and down.

0:00 - Gregory TH
10:41 - Amph/Saddle Rock
30:39 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
56:26 - Green summit
57:24 - started down
1:22:54 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green (descent PR)

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 11:46 am. Hardrock lottery was in progress. Worked pretty hard on the ascent, dreaming of the San Juans. Snow conditions were good for the most part but did slow me down a bit on the upper part of the mountain. Started down and immediately knew I was going to be pushing hard all the way down. Conditions were superb for descending fast, just a bit slow from Greenman Spring back to Saddle Rock. 18:05 descent is a PR. Previous PR, in dry conditions, was 18:21 on 7/5/2011.

Euphoric from the descent, I checked Hardrock's Twitter stream and had my hopes dashed.

0:00 - Gregory TH
8:33 - Amph/Saddle Rock
24:25 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
46:06 - Green summit
49:13 - started down
1:07:18 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down West Ridge, Ranger, Gregory.

Started at 8:13 am. With Bill W. Broke trail through deep snow on the ascent. Scott J, Jenny U, and Peter ? topped out via Gregory/Ranger/West Ridge just after us, so we headed down in the track they'd broken.

0:00 - Gregory TH
34:24 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
1:04:10 - Green summit
1:43:58 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, First Access, NE Ridge, Greenman, Green; down West Ridge, Ranger, Gregory.

Started at 6:41 am. With Bill W, Tony K, Scott J. Got the first significant snowfall in some time overnight. Had to park in the dirt pullout along Baseline since the Gregory gate was closed. A bit after I pulled in, I saw Tony and Scott cruise by on the road. I figured they'd just head on up. When Bill arrived, we jogged up the road to the trailhead to find they had waited quite a while and were just starting up.

Tony led the way up Amph, then his shortcut of Saddle Rock, then up the First Access to the NE Ridge, and Greenman to the top. I stopped to put on Microspikes on the 1st Access as I was slipping around quite a bit.

Running down Ranger was a blast in the fresh snow. The ice on the top switchback was now hidden, so that section was a bit "fun". Had to adjust my Microspikes several times on the run down as they kept twisting off the front of my shoes.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:13 - Amph/Saddle Rock
39:29 - NE Ridge/Greenman
51:58 - Green summit
54:06 - started down
1:23:10 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down Greenman, NE Ridge, Saddle Rock, Amph.

Started at 6:48 am. Warm morning (low 50s). Used the Microspikes from the log steps to the top and back. Had to be really cautious even with them. Glad I carried them.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:06 - Amph/Saddle Rock
24:36 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
43:54 - Green summit
47:44 - started down
1:09:06 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock shortcut, 1st Access, NE Ridge, Greenman, Green; down ?.

Started at 3:47 pm. With Jeff V, George Z, Tony K. Took a shortcut on Saddle Rock to try to go directly to the Saddle Rock/1st Access junction, but George and I lost sight of Tony and Jeff and got lost a bit, going too high, too far left.

0:00 - Gregory TH
7:58 - Amph/Saddle Rock
33:33 - NE Ridge/Greenman
41:39 - Green summit
47:16 - started down
1:17:24 - Gregory TH

Shoes?

First Flatiron

From Chautauqua, up to the First, started with the Fandango start, then onto Baker's Way and the North Arete to the summit, rapped off, then back to Chautauqua.

Started at 6:12 pm. Got a late pass from Lori to get out, so I missed the First Flatiron stage of the Tour de Flatirons. I wouldn't have done the official route anyway but would've probably done this alternate route. Anyway, I saw the first handful of scramblers finish, then headed up.

Didn't push too hard on the approach. Passed the remaining scramblers as they ran down toward Chautauqua. Stepped onto the First at an easy spot, well below the start of Baker's Way. Pretty sure this is the start of Fandango, or at least meets the start of Fandango. Veered onto Baker's Way, then up to the North Arete. The daylight was getting dim here, so I climbed cautiously.

At the summit, put on my headlamp and rapped off. Then jogged slowly back to Chautauqua.

0:00 - Chautauqua
21:31 - stepping onto the First
36:07 - top of the First
47:04 - on the ground, starting down
1:05:18 - Chautauqua

Superfly

Bierstadt

Climbed Bierstadt solo from Guanella Pass. Started at 1:35 pm. A balmy 50+ degrees at the trailhead. Bit breezy. Carried most of the usual winter gear in the pack (with the exception of a down jacket). Jogged a bit but mostly hiked to the summit. Sort of lost the snow-covered trail at 13,500' or so and headed more directly toward the summit. Wind picked up quite a bit near the top. Hung out on top for a few minutes (pulled on shell, hat, and gloves), briefly pondering continuing on to Evans, but decided to get back home earlier. Slow jog on the descent with the heavier pack (though I did dump most of the two quarts of water I'd carried).

0:00 - Guanella Pass TH
1:25:15 - summit
1:34:12 - started down
2:26:00 - Guanella Pass TH

MontrailHurricaneRidge (really should retire/replace these)

Boulder Reservoir bike ride with Mia

Went out to the Res in the evening to briefly cheer on George Z, who was running the Boulder 100. It was probably around 7:40 pm when Mia and I started biking around the east side of the Res. We took things slow in the dark. Mia loved it and cheered on runners as we'd pass them in either direction. Found George on his way back just after we passed Coot Lake. Turned back and followed George and gang back to the start/finish (around 8:30 pm). Didn't hang out too long as Mia was tired but did chat a bit with Tim W and Bob S.

Satan's Slab

Climbed the East Face of Satan's Slab with Bill W and Mark O. This was the last of Roach's *Classic* routes for me.

Approached via lower Skunk Canyon. As we passed the talus field just below the Mesa Trail, I noticed a bear above us, moving up the talus.

Once at Satan's Slab, we weren't sure exactly where to start the route. We eventually started out on the rock well below the start of the route. We sort of traversed up the lower portion of the rock, never too high above the slope below us (rather silly), until finally reaching what we determined to be the start of the route.

I led our first pitch, up and left to a bulge, further left to overcome the bulge, then back up and right to a belay stance. A bit exciting, as I haven't led squat in recent years. Bill took the next pitch, traversing right to reach the black water "groove," then up to a belay right of the groove. I led the third pitch, back left into the groove, then up to the large pothole which is at the top of Roach's second pitch. I got in no gear on this pitch. Again, a bit exciting for me. Bill led up the last of the groove from the pothole. Mark and I briefly simul-climbed behind Bill until we reached the crux, where Bill put us on belay. We then simul-climbed all the way to the summit from here, with Bill leading.

Descended to the northeast, crossing under the Amoeboid, and reached the Royal Arch Trail. Descended to Woods Quarry, then down to Kohler Mesa, and back to lower Skunk.

A bit long for a pre-work scramble, but an awesome morning!

0:00 - Deer Valley Rd/Hollyberry Ln
3:18:46 - Deer Valley Rd/Hollyberry Ln

StreakBlueB and rock shoes

Third Flatiron

Climbed the Third by moonlight with Chad K. Tom K and Kirk W were also out there, along with a couple of their friends. And one other party of two.

This was Chad's first time up the Third, and probably his first multi-pitch route, and his first rappels. He did great and really enjoyed the outing. My scouting mission the previous morning proved useful, as I easily located each of the eyebolts, which made things easier (ie, I didn't need to turn on my light to place gear except for a few pieces on the first and last pitches and for the one gear belay).

At the summit, we hung out a bit and let Tom's crew rap ahead of us. I wanted to be very cautious on the descent and didn't want to be rushed. We did two raps to get off. On both, I set up Chad's rappel and then tied off both strands below his device and clipped each into the bolts. I then rapped with Chad rapping second after unclipping the knots below him and with me giving him a fireman's belay. Worked nicely, but took a bit of time to ensure that everything was set up safely.

Perfect weather on the evening. Just a bit of a breeze on the summit. Nice, clear sky.

Approximate times:

7:03 pm - started from Chautauqua
7:35 pm - East Bench
7:50 pm - starting up the face
9:20 pm - summit
9:50 pm - started rapping
10:50 pm - on the ground
11:30 pm - back at Chautauqua

Superfly

Third Flatiron, Green

Started at 6:36 am. Hiked pretty easy from Chautauqua up to the Third. Changed shoes, then took my time on the face, locating each of the eyebolts in anticipation of a moonlight ascent. Did two raps to get off. Heard Bill W and crew scouting the Regency/Royal Arch/Fifth route. And saw Tony K pass below heading up Green as I set up the second rap.

Continued up Green, stashing my pack a little ways up. Passed Tony and friend as they descended Greenman. Descended the same way.

0:00 - Chautauqua
25:13 - East Bench
30:09 - starting up the Third
44:45 - top of the Third
1:04:24 - starting up Green
1:28:39 - Green
1:59:21 - Chautauqua

StreakBlueB and rock shoes

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 4:35 pm. Goal was to mostly hike it today but to hike it hard. Felt good throughout. Quite surprised by my ascent time, given my gluttony and relative inactivity of late. 19 seconds off my best this year and 30 seconds off my PR.

Ran into Eric L at the trailhead and chatted with him a bit before starting out. Also saw Aron R's truck as I pulled in and passed him as he descended upper Amph. Saw more runners than usual on the trails today.

0:00 - Gregory TH
7:58 - Amph/Saddle Rock
22:08 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
39:08 - Green summit
48:27 - started down
1:09:24 - Gregory TH

StreakBlueB

Green

From Chautauqua, Baseline, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 8:19 pm. Night hike with Jeff V.

0:00 - Chautauqua
7:35 - Baseline/Amph (Jeff had to swap batteries)
16:18 - Amph/Saddle Rock
32:43 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
52:22 - Green
58:35 - started down
1:33:37 - Chautauqua

HokaStinson

Aspen Four Pass Loop

Ran the Four Pass Loop clockwise with Bill W.

Started at 6:42 am.

0:00 - Maroon Lake trailhead
26:03 - Crater Lake junction (ie, Buckskin Pass Trail junction)
1:56:29 - West Maroon
2:35:13 - Frigid Air
4:52:19 - Trail Rider
6:32:27 - Buckskin
7:10:58 - Crater Lake junction
7:29:11 - Maroon Lake trailhead

HokaStinson

Green

From Chautauqua, up to the Third Flatiron access, to the NE Ridge, Greenman, Green; down Greenman, NE Ridge, First/Second access, Saddle Rock, Amph, Baseline back to Chautauqua.

Started at 7:02 am. With Jeff V, Tony K, and Brandon F.

0:00 - Chautauqua
53:50 - Green
59:19 - started down
1:29:31 - Chautauqua

StreakBlueB

Morning After

Climbed the East Face (F7) of the Morning After with Bill W and Mark O. Bill led each pitch (4 pitches, I think). Mark and I followed on separate ends of our doubled rope. After bagging the arch that is the summit (over and under), we then downclimbed via the south ramp and the "peculiar flakes" (although there was a decent rap anchor at the summit).

Tony B also joined but opted for scrambles on the Eyes of the Canyon. Started at 6:08 am, finished around 8:39 am. Not a particularly fast outing, but the weather was perfect, so it was nice to just take our time this morning.

Only got three hours of sleep as I'd been at work until 1:30 am! Amazed that I got up for this.

StreakBlueB and rock shoes

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 5:57 pm. Hiked fairly hard for most of the ascent. Only ran a few sections. Had my head up on the lookout for bears after seeing a bear on Saddle Rock last week (I had missed the sign at the trailhead mentioning that a bear had been sighted at 5:00 pm this evening near the trailhead!).

Quite a change with the ladybugs at the summit. They had previously been isolated to the trunk of a single tree. Today, they were spread out around the summit area more - mostly in small groups on smaller tree branches but some on rocks as well. Since they were spread out, there seemed to be more, but probably not. Wonder if the recent wet weather had anything to do with them spreading out.

Worked pretty hard on the descent but not all out (19:47).

0:00 - Gregory TH
8:39 - Amph/Saddle Rock
23:44 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
41:25 - Green summit
50:58 - started down
1:10:45 - Gregory TH

HokaStinson

Third Flatiron, Green

From Chautauqua, standard approach to the Third, up the Third, down the SW Chimney, up to the Northeast Ridge trail (had a permit), Greenman, Green; down Greenman, Northeast Ridge, down to the First/Second Flatiron trail, back to Chautauqua.

Started at 3:56 pm. Just as I parked, I saw Jeff V pull in behind me. Jeff joined me up to the base of the Third, which kept me running more and running harder than had I been solo. I stopped to change shoes at the base, then Jeff generously carried my running shoes and pack up to the back side of the Third and waited for me. I made good time on the face but never felt like I was pushing things. 9:24 up the face is probably a PR for me (previous best may have been 10:10 on 10/15/03).

The weather was a bit iffy nearing the top, and I felt a few rain drops and a few rumbles of thunder. Downclimbed cautiously but was pretty comfortable. I just don't know the downclimb that well to move much faster. I've gotten from the summit to the bottom of the raps, doing 3 raps, in around 10 minutes before. It probably took me around 16 minutes to do that via downclimbing on this day.

Met back up with Jeff and switched back to my running shoes. Then chased Jeff and an oncoming storm to the top of Green. Pretty tedious work getting up to the Northeast Ridge trail from the back side of the Third. The rain was steady (but not too heavy) by the time I topped out (a couple of minutes behind Jeff). Met back up with Jeff on the descent. Nice running in the rain for a bit.

0:00 - Chautauqua
18:25 - East Bench
19:35 - starting up the Third
28:59 - summit of the Third (so, 9:24 for the face)
41:59 - bottom of the SW chimney
1:10:01 - summit of Green
1:37:39 - Chautauqua

StreakBlueB

Green (PR)

From Gregory TH, Gregory, Ranger, West Ridge, Green; down Greenman, Saddle Rock, Amphitheater.

Started at 5:52 pm. Finally no more soreness in the legs. Ran pretty hard up Gregory, past the lodge, past the Greenman junction, and up to the last, steep log steps before things lay back on Ranger. Walked those steps and never really got going again until the West Ridge, hiking pretty much everything up to the four way junction. Did dig pretty hard on the final push up the West Ridge, though.

Checked out the lady bug situation. Maybe fewer than when I looked a couple weeks ago.

Ran down at a pretty decent effort. The Mafates were giving me a blister (up and down - right foot, second toe), though, so I held back a bit.

Can't seem to find a faster time for myself for this route, so I'll call it a PR. Kinda weak given my performance up on Ranger, though. I think my time up Gregory was probably 30 seconds to a minute faster than I've run it before. Previous PR was 44:13 on 7/25/07 (I think).

0:00 - Gregory TH
16:30 - Gregory/Ranger
39:15 - Ranger/West Ridge
43:09 - Green summit
45:50 - started down
1:08:19 - Gregory TH

HokaMafate

Third Flatiron

Started at 6:34 am. With Bill W, Mark O, and Adam M. Legs still pretty dead/sore from Pikes. Fortunately, we took it pretty easy. Jogged a bit on the approach. Casual on the face and on the downclimb. At the bottom of the SW Chimney, went back up to the standard descent trail. Once off the talus, jogged easy back to Chautauqua.

Originally was thinking I'd take a rope to rap off but I chose to leave it behind. Felt very comfortable on the downclimb.

0:00 - Chautauqua
24:18 - East Bench
40:04 - summit
47:06 - started down
1:05:42 - bottom of SW Chimney
1:30:59 - Chautauqua

Eagle/Sage

From the Eagle TH, Eagle, Sage, Boulder Valley Ranch TH, Sage, Eagle, Eagle TH (so CCW lollipop).

Started at 7:56 pm. 36:20. 3.7 miles per the OSMP maps. Tried to keep it nice and easy.

HokaStinson

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down West Ridge, Ranger, (up) Greenman, Saddle Rock, Amph.

Started at 5:56 pm. Was trying not to put much stake into how this run went, but I hoped to restore a bit of confidence. After my demoralizing trip up Green on Friday, I started out much easier on this one.

Given my pace and effort up Amph, I figured I was going to top out Amph in around 9 minutes, so I was surprised to see 8:13. On up to Greenman, I wasn't feeling particularly strong or fast, but I guess I was moving along pretty well. On Greenman, did reasonably well keeping the run going as much as I could, but I still thought I was moving slowly. At the top of the two short switchbacks (start of the long switchback) above the log steps, I saw 36:01 and knew I could at least get under 40. Managed to run it in from there (except the last few steps before climbing the summit boulder). Not a PR, but I felt much better about this one.

Decided I needed to burn a few extra calories so ran the longer descent route, which I enjoy quite a bit. Wasn't really planning to work hard on the descent, but I just started rolling and ended up running it pretty hard the entire way. Probably not the best for my legs at this point but good for my head.

0:00 - Gregory TH
8:13 - Amph/Saddle Rock (dup split here, but I'm pretty sure I saw 8:13)
22:21 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
39:05 - Green summit
40:36 - started down
1:07:43 - Gregory TH

HokaStinson

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:19 pm. Feeling fresh, I went into this hoping to set a PR. So I went out hard. I know better than to go out too hard, but I did it anyway. Fast for me up Amph, but I was hurting at the top, and I just slowed from there on. Legs felt OK, but I was breathing super-hard and not making good time. I'm wondering if nearly two weeks at lower elevation affected me.

After topping out, I looked around for lady bugs. They're all on one tree and nowhere near as thick as a couple years ago.

Was all over the place on the descent. Walked a fair bit. Jogged some easy. Tried to run hard a few times but felt like my heart rate skyrocketed and my legs were weak.

Very disappointing run. Had confidence going into Pikes, but this killed it.

0:00 - Gregory TH
7:24 - Amph/Saddle Rock
22:13 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
41:23 - Green summit
48:13 - started down
1:17:45 - Gregory TH

HokaStinson

Sanitas

From Centennial Park TH (Sanitas parking), up Sunshine on trail, Timber Trail, etc, up west side of Sanitas; down East Ridge and Sanitas Valley.

BTR night run. Started at 8:32 pm.

0:00 - Centennial Park TH
1:24:56 - Centennial Park TH

HokaStinson

Spencer Butte

From Spencer Butte TH, southwest route to the summit; down the same.

Started at 2:12 pm. With Mia. She did a great job up and down on this steep trail despite only having her Crocs to hike in. She even ran it in at the finish to squeeze under an hour (I had nothing to do with that, of course). Super fun hike!

0:00 - Spencer Butte TH
25:51 - Spencer Butte summit
35:48 - started down
59:56 - Spencer Butte TH

StreakYellowA

Spencer Butte

From Blanton Road TH, Ridgeline Trail over to 52nd & Willamette TH, Ridgeline Trail, "North Ridge" trail, Spencer Butte summit; down main trail, Ridgeline Trail back to 52nd & Willamette, Ridgeline Trail back to Blanton Road TH.

Started at 7:11 pm with Lori and Jen but we all ran our own paces. Ran somewhat hard over to Willamette. Didn't feel as strong going up the "North Ridge" as last time, but I did see 78 ft/min at one point. From the start of the "North Ridge" trail to the summit is right around 800 feet per my altimeter. Waited on the summit until Jen arrived, then followed her down the main trail. Mostly walked the rocky stuff down to the junction, but then Jen motored back to Willamette. I then pushed ahead back to Blanton.

0:00 - Blanton Rd TH
16:03 - 52nd & Willamette TH
23:16 - turn onto "North Ridge" trail
(dup) - summit - maybe 36-37 - looked at watch some time after topping out and saw 37:xx
47:16 - starting down after Jen topped out
1:29:16 - Blanton Rd TH

HokaMafate

Mt. Ashland Hillclimb Run

2:26:07 - 32nd overall

Despite having a cold all week, it didn't seem like it affected me much during the race. This race isn't very steep until the final half mile or so, so it suits "real" runners well. I ran everything until that last half mile, but a bit more running (rather than hiking) in my training would've suited me well.

Started pretty conservatively. Saw lots of folks ahead of me in the first mile or two that I hoped weren't going to beat me. Picked off lots of these folks when things steepened a bit in the next couple miles.

Then things got pretty spread out, although I slowly caught and passed a few more runners between the White Rabbit and Four Corners aid stations. At one point in there, one guy passed me, but I was able to turn the screws a bit on a steeper section of the road and pull away from him for good. Nice to be able to have another gear at these lower elevations.

One guy, though, (Mike O) was ahead of me for a long time, and I was barely reeling him in. I'd gain when the road got a bit steeper, then probably lose ground on less steep sections. I caught him at one point, but he pulled away easily on a short downhill. I finally caught and passed him for good shortly after the Four Corners aid station. He'd linger not far back, though, for the rest of the race. Having him back there forced me to work harder on the long flat section approaching the Bull Gap aid station. I passed one guy in that aid station, then ran a steep section after the aid station, thinking that would increase my gap on those guys, but they were still there not far back.

Continued running well up to the Ski Lodge. From there, the race up the ski hill is mostly hiking, and I knew I wasn't going to get caught on that terrain. I saw a few folks up ahead leaving the Lodge that I hoped I'd catch. Turns out I'd catch and pass quite a few (5-10 total?) on the ski hill. I ran several sections here and was hiking strong when not running.

Pretty happy with my time, I guess. Didn't really have any expectations.

Hung out on the summit for a bit. Chatted with Mike O. Hiked up to the true summit. Chatted briefly with Steve Kominsky who'd recently attempted to climb the 10 highest Oregon mountains in 6 days but was thwarted by snow conditions.

After a half hour or so, I started hammering down the ski hill. Saw Jen just a few minutes down and encouraged her to chase a few runners ahead of her. Continued hustling down and found Lori a few minutes above the Lodge. Turned and hiked back to the summit with her. Then hammered down the ski hill again back to the Lodge.

Fun race.

HokaStinson

Hood

Standard south side route from Timberline Lodge with "Old Crater" finish.

Started at 5:43 am. With Dan M. Hmm, the two other parties that climbed that day had started at 11:50 pm and 12:30 am. Guess we got a bit of a late start. I knew the weather wasn't going to be an issue as every day in Oregon had been perfect, and the forecast was for more of the same. I was concerned about rock fall and avalanche danger due to warming/melting snow but figured we'd get up and down pretty quickly.

Suffering from a summer cold, I wasn't feeling very strong. Also didn't want to wear myself out or trash my feet before the Mt. Ashland race. Fortunately, Dan was just off Liberty Ridge, so I think he was a bit tired out himself. So, we took it pretty easy, taking several breaks on the way up. Really not in too much of a hurry. We were surprised to see the ski lifts start running as early as they did, and skiers were coming down before we'd climbed above the lifts (we were on the climbers' trail, though, out of their way).

At the Hogback, we decided to take the finish that most folks were using this season, the "Old Crater" route. Saw at least one football-sized rock come down this before we started up, so we did motor up this section. We had a nice boot track that allowed us to move up quickly here. On up to the ridge and on over to the summit. Pretty straightforward climb.

Snow was still pretty firm as we descended the "Old Crater" route, so I felt quicker and more secure facing in.

0:00 - TH
3:54:46 - summit - taken late - probably topped out in under 3:50
4:06:44 - starting down
6:07:09 - TH

Black Crater

From the Black Crater TH to the summit and back via the trail.

Started at 1:40 pm. Didn't run anything on the way up. Fair bit of snow up high still so that cut out a couple switchbacks. Great views of the Sisters, Mt. Washington, etc, from the summit. Jogged down much of the way but my back was really sore, and then I really started feeling awful in the last mile or so. Upper body tingly, almost dizzy. Seriously depleted back at the car. Dehydrated, not enough calories, on top of the cold. Just had to sit there for a bit before driving down to Sisters to get some food in me.

Great summit but no views of anything but trees for most of the hike.

0:00 - TH
~1:16 - summit (dup split)
1:27:35 - started down
2:19:10 - TH

HokaMafate

Belknap Crater, Little Belknap

From Hwy 242 at McKenzie Pass, north on the PCT, left the PCT heading west to reach the north ridge of Belknap at around 6500'-6600', up the north ridge to the summit, down the trail on the south ridge, then down one of the trails on the east/southeast slopes, back to the PCT, up to Little Belknap, back to the car.

Started at 10:34 am. Very cool hike through the lava rock. Rough on the shoes, though! Neat lava tubes on Little Belknap. Superb views of Mt. Washington. Hope to get back for that someday. Jogged a bit on the way up and a bit on the way down, but wasn't feeling great with my cold. Also, my lower back was still quite painful whenever I jogged.

2:30:02 total time

HokaMafate

Pisgah

From the Arboretum TH, up the Beistel Trail to the summit, down the same.

Started at 3:16 pm. Felt pretty hot out. Feeling really lousy from my cold but wanted to get out for something today. This wasn't even much fun as I felt so bad. Hiked slowly on the ascent, then jogged part of the descent before walking it in on the lower part of the trail/road. My lower back was killing me whenever I jogged. But I just wanted to get back to the car.

0:00 - TH
29:42 - summit
38:07 - started down
51:50 - TH

HokaMafate

Spencer Butte

From 52nd & Willamette TH, Ridgeline trail, "North Ridge" trail, Spencer Butte; down southwest trail to Spencer Butte TH, east back to the "main trail", north back to the Ridgeline trail, back to 52nd & Willamette TH.

Started at 7:29 pm. Worked pretty hard running up the initial trail. Amazing how "easy" it is to run at this lower elevation. Saw a wide trail turning off to the right after a series of switchbacks. It looked steep, so I didn't think it was the correct trail, but I took it anyway. This trail was just awesomely steep with superb footing, so I was into hiking mode not far up. I eventually had to switch my watch to altimeter mode to see my rate of ascent. Highest I saw was 75 ft/min, and I was probably sustaining something not far below that up this trail. Just super fun!

Topped out, and the summit was somewhat crowded. Got some trail info from a helpful guy I had passed near the top. He pointed me down the steep trail to the Spencer Butte TH and said it should take 8 minutes to get down. I just had to take a split and hammer the descent after hearing that. Made it down in about 4.5 minutes, then worked pretty hard climbing back to the trail that I'd intended to take to the summit. From there, the trail back was just perfect downhill singletrack (well, some uphill) through a tunnel of greenery. Awesome! I was just flying, and the Hokas were super-cush. Fantastic run!

0:00 - 52nd & Willamette TH
19:04 - Spencer Butte summit (taken a bit late as my watch was in altimeter mode, so probably just under 19)
27:21 - started down
31:48 - Spencer Butte TH
39:27 - just past the "main trail" junction, where the sign said 2.04 miles back to my TH
53:31 - 52nd & Willamette TH

HokaMafate

Silver Falls State Park

Short hike to Upper North Falls and North Falls with Lori, Mia, Anya, Jen, Scott, Kyle, and Xander.

Tom Dick and Harry Mtn

From the Mirror Lake TH, up to Mirror Lake, clockwise around the lake, back to the trail junction, then turned back up toward Tom Dick and Harry, to the west summit (end of the main trail), faint trail with lots of ups and downs over to the main summit, continued east to the top of the ski area on a good trail, then hammered down the ski area service roads and mountain bike trails to the base.

Started at 3:22 pm. Ran everything up until the last few minutes below the west summit where the trail got quite steep and loose. Amazing running at these lower elevations. Did poke around a bit at Mirror Lake, taking some pictures and locating the correct trail to continue up. Mostly hiking over to the main summit. Jogged over to the ski area. Then flew down the ski area. Super fun descent!

0:00 - Mirror Lake TH
50:02 - west summit - taken a bit late
1:07:26 - main summit - taken a bit late
1:29:07 - base of the ski area

HokaMafate

Umbrella Falls

Nice little hike with Lori, Mia, and Anya from just below the Mount Hood Meadows Ski Resort. Both girls had some fun running down the trail from the top of the falls, then Mia ran hard all the way back to the car.

Multnomah Falls & Larch Mtn

While Lori went for a run, Mia, Anya, and I hiked up the Multnomah Falls trail. We made it up a bit less than a mile before turning back.

After Lori returned, I headed back up the trail (starting at 3:08 pm). Felt SO good starting out from basically sea level. The paved trail here is quite steep, and it felt like nothing running up this. Legs and lungs felt great powering up this trail. Inadvertently took the spur out to the top of Multnomah Falls, but it was nice to see that. Then onto the beautiful singletrack, past some more waterfalls, under the HUGE trees. Just an awesome run! Passed a hiker at a trail junction (road 315?) maybe a mile or so from the summit and hiked with him for maybe 5-10 minutes before pushing on. Otherwise, ran most of the ascent. Dropped into the parking lot on the way up, then continued up to the summit at Sherrard Point. Ran back down over the SW summit, skipping the parking lot. Then worked pretty hard on the descent. Amazing running in the woods here!

0:00 - Multnomah Falls TH
(dup) - recall seeing something like 1:40:15 or 1:40:17 when I took the split at Sherrard Point
1:49:03 - starting down
2:57:17 - Multnomah Falls TH

HokaMafate

Saddle Rock

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, turned back at Greenman jct, went to the upper summit(s) of Saddle Rock, then down the same.

Started at 4:44 pm. With Lori. Starting out, I was intending to go up Green. But we wanted to take the girls to the pool, so I turned back as going to the top would chew up too much time. Waited for Lori at Saddle Rock, then she headed down. I tagged the high points off the trail above Saddle Rock (but LOJ lists the lower northern summit). I then caught up to Lori and descended with her.

0:00 - Gregory TH
10:00 - Amph/Saddle Rock
27:52 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
56:13 - Gregory TH

HokaMafate

Pikes

Started at 5:32 am.

0:00 - Barr TH
1:26:38 - Barr Camp
1:27:28 - leaving Barr Camp
2:09:16 - about at the A Frame aid
3:08:18 - race finish/turnaround
3:10:42 - Pikes summit
3:18:12 - starting down
4:13:22 - Barr Camp
4:16:14 - leaving Barr Camp
5:10:52 - Barr TH

HokaStinson

Green

From Chautauqua, Baseline trail, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:19 am. With Chad K.

0:00 - Chautauqua
6:05 - Baseline/Amph
15:54 - Amph/Saddle Rock
36:19 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
1:00:52 - Green summit
1:13:22 - started down
1:56:36 - Chautauqua

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:38 pm.

0:00 - Gregory TH
8:10 - Amph/Saddle Rock
22:43 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
40:28 - Green summit
(dupe) - started down (approx 45:00-46:00)
1:07:49 - Gregory TH

Green (roundtrip PR)

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:33 am. Today I wanted to put the Hokas to the test on familiar terrain. I hoped to put in a hard uphill effort, and I was able to do that. Kept on the gas pretty hard all the way up and was just 11 seconds off my PR. Fastest time this year by 5 seconds. Given that, I don't think the Hokas are significantly (if any) slower on the up.

Knowing that I was putting in a solid effort on the ascent, I started thinking about putting in a hard downhill effort to go for a sub-hour roundtrip. I've only broken an hour once for the roundtrip from Gregory (59:33 on a 40:46 ascent), but that used the Northeast Ridge trail and lots of other shortcutting. I've been thinking quite a bit lately about breaking an hour sticking to the trail. While I don't think I could match my reckless 18:21 descent from a couple weeks ago after a hard ascent (that descent was after a slow hike up), I figured a sub-40 ascent and sub-20 descent should be doable on a good day right now.

Unfortunately, the last few switchbacks today did me in, so I plopped down on the summit and decided not to push for a hard roundtrip. Well, it only took me a minute to recover and change my mind. Started down and the legs didn't feel super-sharp, as expected. But the Hokas were working their magic and smoothing out the terrain. While I didn't feel nearly as quick today compared to the 18:21, I still managed 19:03 down, which is probably my second fastest descent time. So, not only did I get under an hour, I went under 59, and that included the minute on the summit.

Needless to say, a pretty satisfying run. Pretty happy with the Hokas at this point.

0:00 - Gregory TH
7:38 - Amph/Saddle Rock
21:35 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
38:49 - Green summit
39:56 - started down
58:59 - Gregory TH

HokaStinson

Fairburn Mtn

After the church campout at Pickle Gulch CG, drove up Missouri Creek, parked, then hiked up and down the WSW slopes of Fairburn.

0:00 - car
58:34 - car

Dakota Hill

Started at 10:11 am. From the Pickle Gulch CG during the church campout, got out with Lori. I think we went up the road to Stewart Gulch, up to the four-way junction, then up to the ESE ridge of Dakota Hill, and followed the ridge to the summit. I think we continued over the summit, down the SSW ridge, then back east into Stewart Gulch. Loved testing out the Hokas on some of the rutted, rocky roads on the descent.

0:00 - Pickle Gulch CG
2:04:04 - Pickle Gulch CG

HokaStinson

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down West Ridge, Ranger, (up) Greenman, Saddle Rock, Amph.

Started around 6:30 am. Cool, damp conditions. Figured this would be a slow hike as I only got around five hours of sleep and could barely get myself up and out of the house this morning. But I felt OK starting out and ratcheted up the effort up Amph. Knew I had a decent time atop Amph so wanted to keep it going. Thought I'd lost some time to the Saddle Rock/Greenman junction, but seeing that I was under 22:00 there, I kept pushing hard. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough left in the tank in the final switchbacks to push to a PR. Recovered for a bit on top in the fog, then ran down pretty easy.

Stupid watch reset after the run for the umpteenth time over the last several months, so I lost my splits. I did look at them at the finish, so these are from memory. Had a duplicate split at the summit anyway, but I recall seeing 38:54 at the summit and calculating that I was 16 seconds off my PR. Time to replace this watch.

0:00 - Gregory TH
7:3x-7:4x - Amph/Saddle Rock
21:53? - Saddle Rock/Greenman
38:54? - Green summit
41:xx - started down
1:11:xx - Gregory TH

StreakOrangeA

Hardrock pacing

Paced Jennifer R from Grouse Gulch to Ouray. Started at 12:33 am and finished at 7:52 am.

Green (descent PR)

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 10:11 am. Felt awful on the ascent. Pretty sure this was a massive descent PR for me.

0:00 - Gregory TH
10:26 - Amph/Saddle Rock (5-10 seconds late - totally out of it)
29:31 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
53:42 - Green summit
1:04:36 - started down
1:22:57 - Gregory TH (18:21 descent)

Flatirons Vista

From Flatirons Vista TH, Flatirons Vista South (?), down the hill on Doudy Draw, Spring Brook Loop (probably CCW direction?), back up the hill on Doudy Draw, Flatirons Vista North (?). (Guessing at the route 3 years later.)

Started at 3:41 pm. 94 degrees.

0:00 - Flatirons Vista TH
21:34 - gate atop Doudy Draw
30:47 - Doudy Draw/Spring Brook connector
33:34 - connector/Spring Brook
55:59 - Spring Brook/connector
58:25 - connector/Doudy Draw
1:09:13 - gate atop Doudy Draw
1:18:15 - Flatirons Vista TH

Princeton attempt

Started at 11:00 am from the parking at the bottom. Once onto the trail, the weather started looking a bit iffy. Stopped for a while to see what it would do. Turned back when it started to sprinkle a bit. Of course, when I got back down to the TH, the sky was perfectly clear over and behind the summit.

0:00:00 - TH
1:01:00 - radio towers
1:33:01 - leaving the road onto the trail
2:07:36 - starting down
2:50:32 - TH


2870 up (+26), 2840 down (-65), 1 lap, 2:51

10:59 am, 8660 - started
12:38 pm, 11500 - stopped to see what weather was going to do
1:07 pm, 11530 - started down
1:49 pm, 8690 - finished

Shavano, Tabeguache

Started at 5:23 am. Hung out on Tab for a while chatting with Steve, an attorney who works in Boulder. Ran into Hardrockers Tyler C, Jon M, and Rickie R on the way down. Saw 8 bighorn sheep.

0:00:00 - Shavano/Tabeguache TH (Blank Gulch)
2:00:01 - Shavano
2:26:36 - Tabeguache
2:46:32 - leaving Tabeguache
4:23:37 - Shavano/Tabeguache TH


4970 up (+31), 5040 down (-54), 3 laps, 4:24

5:23 am, 9440 - started
7:23, 13580 - Shavano (didn't stop)
7:38, 13130 - low
7:50, 13490 - Tabeguache
8:09, 13490 - started down
8:17, 13120 - low
8:36, 13560 - back over Shavano
9:46, 9380 - TH

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 4:16 pm. Kept it fairly comfortable up Amph and Saddle Rock. Neither the legs nor the lungs felt like I was working very hard. Quite surprising. I did stride it out a few times and elevated the heart rate a bit as the legs were feeling spry, but then I'd ease back off.

Seeing a pretty good time at the Greenman junction and still feeling pretty good, I decided to try and run as much as I could on the upper part of the mountain. I ran pretty easy - too easy - to Greenman Spring. Up through the talus it started to hurt a bit more. Kept the run going a ways, but it ended a bit below the steep rocky section. I then let myself ease off a bit too much until the final few switchbacks. I think I would've been better off putting myself into the mindset of hiking as fast as possible rather than running as much as possible. Oh well, still was psyched to be under 40:00.

Decided not to push the down. Walked most of it.

0:00 - Gregory TH
8:18 - Amph/Saddle Rock
22:46 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
39:57 - Green summit
42:37 - started down
1:13:32 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

South Boulder, Bear, Green

From South Mesa TH, Mesa, Towhee, Shadow, South Boulder; over to Bear; down Bear West Ridge, Green-Bear, Green West Ridge, Green; down ?.

Started at 2:09 pm. Hot (90+).

0:00 - South Mesa TH
16:14 - Towhee/Shadow (16:17?)
26:44 - Shadow/Bridge
(dup) - top of Shadow
1:09:27 - South Boulder
1:23:26 - Bear
2:12:25 - Green
2:19:32 - starting down
3:41:42 - South Mesa TH

Shoes?

Bear (PR), South Boulder

From Devils Thumb TH, Bear Canyon road, Mesa, Fern, Bear; over to South Boulder; back to Fern; down the same.

Started at 6:02 am with Bill W, Matt S, and Jim H from work. Bill put time on me from the start. He headed up Bear Canyon and West Ridge to Bear, but I wanted to see what I could do for Fern. I wanted a comparison with Cragmoor and also thought I could get a PR for this route.

Pretty hard effort the whole way up Bear. Was a bit bummed to not break 50:00 for the ascent. Decided to tack on South Boulder, so didn't really stop on Bear. Down the west face of Bear, hustled to the saddle, then slowed a bit to the top of South Boulder. Didn't stop there either, tried to hustle back to Fern, but faded even more. Saw Bill walking down Fern just as I started down, so I caught up to him quickly. Saw Jim and Matt a bit further down. They continued to Bear while Bill and I took it pretty easy jogging back to the trailhead.

Fairly clear that the Cragmoor route is faster. I got to the Shanahan/Fern junction in 18:42 from Cragmoor last night and in 22:06 from Devils Thumb this morning. And I probably ran that stretch a bit harder this morning than last night. From that junction to the summit of Bear, I was 43 seconds faster this morning than last night.

Not sure what my previous PR was for this route, but I believe it was in the 52-54 minute range. I'll call this a PR.

0:00 - Devils Thumb TH
14:49 - Mesa/Bear Canyon
16:25 - Mesa/Fern
22:06 - Fern/Shanahan
34:22 - saddle atop Fern Canyon
50:58 - Bear
55:02 - Bear/South Boulder saddle (Shadow jct)
1:02:09 - South Boulder
1:06:02 - South Boulder/Bear saddle
1:49:21 - Devils Thumb TH

StreakNavyA with insoles from MountainMasochist

Bear

From Cragmoor TH, North Shanahan, Fern, Bear; down the same.

Started at 6:08 pm. Worked pretty hard for most of this. Might have run the approach to Fern a little easier, but pushed hard up Fern and the upper ridge. Ran down easy.

Got stung on the ankle by a bee (I presume) approaching the Slab on the ascent. Stopped briefly when it happened, then again a minute or so later as it was bothering me a bit. Decided to go on and didn't notice it after a few more minutes.

Thought this was a PR from Cragmoor, but I'd forgotten about the 8ers group TT on 6/4/09, where I went up in 48:04. Today, I was 48 seconds slower hitting Fern but just 13 seconds behind at the summit.

0:00 - Cragmoor TH
11:44 - crossing Mesa
18:42 - Shanahan/Fern
31:01 - saddle atop Fern Canyon
48:17 - summit
49:38 - starting down
1:20:34 - Cragmoor TH

StreakNavyA with insoles from MountainMasochist

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:22 pm. Intended to start off easy. But the legs felt spry, so I was really moving up a few sections of Amph. Faded, of course, as a result. Decided to see what I could do for a roundtrip time even though I knew breaking an hour was unlikely. Pushed pretty hard on the descent, but the legs weren't turning over as quickly as I would have liked. Not a bad run, though.

0:00 - Gregory TH
7:36 - Amph/Saddle Rock
22:44 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
40:42 - Green summit (didn't stop)
1:01:10 - Gregory TH (20:28 down)

StreakNavyA with insoles from MountainMasochist

Pikes

Didn't even get a new Grid slot for this one. Must be training for something.

Started at 6:34 am. With Bill W.

Wore my Nathan pack (wind shell, balaclava, gloves, empty water bottle, space blanket, etc), carried a hand bottle, and tied a shirt and pants around my waist. Had planned to leave the pants behind, but the forecast for the summit had a 40% chance of snow in the morning, winds above 20 mph, and a high for the day in the upper 30s. Turned out to be quite nice up there. Cool, clear, and just a little breezy. Never made any clothing adjustments, going up and down in shorts and a t-shirt.

From the start, my goal was to run more than my trip two weeks ago. I started out a few minutes ahead of Bill. For sure, having Bill out there had me working harder than I would have otherwise. Ran much of the W's. I was working pretty hard here and was sweating profusely. I started taking S-Caps and Endurolytes and Shot Bloks early on.

Bill caught me right around the No Name Creek aid station and went by. On some steeper bits just past here, I lost about 30-45 seconds to Bill as I walked a bit. But I eventually got back to running and mostly kept Bill in sight until maybe five minutes below Barr where I walked a few sections again. I'd worked pretty hard to Barr and got there about 11.5 minutes faster than two weeks ago. Stopped to quickly fill/treat my bottle at Barr.

Between Barr and A Frame, I tried to run a bit, but my legs were pretty worked already. I mostly got into a fast power hike. Almost no snow remaining on the trail below tree line. I was about 16 minutes or so faster to tree line than two weeks ago.

Above tree line, I stuck with the trail. Turns out there would be almost no snow to contend with even above tree line. Just a few sections to pass through. The past two weeks had made a huge dent in the remaining snow up there.

Shortly above tree line, I caught sight of Bill, and he wasn't that far ahead. I was shocked! He'd had a few hard workouts in the days prior, and that must've caught up with him. I managed to run some of the more gentle grades above tree line and caught and passed Bill in the vicinity of the 2 miles to go sign (don't recall exactly when/where it was). Continued working pretty hard on up to the top. There was only one switchback that I cut a bit due to lingering snow. Otherwise, I was on the trail the whole way. My time was actually faster than my PPA PR, but of course, I started from the Barr Trail trailhead rather than the park down in town. Had I taken the direct route above tree line that I took two weeks ago, I'm pretty sure I would've been around 3 hours to the top. So a much harder effort this time.

Went over to tag the summit, then saw Bill topping out. He informed me that he was planning to hop on the Cog Railway to ride down. My legs were pretty worked, and I was very tempted to join him. I knew I'd be slower on the down than two weeks ago, but I figured the miles would still be good for something.

Started down after 15+ minutes on the summit. Had filled up two bottles on the summit so that I wouldn't have to treat at Barr (and then wait to drink it). Wasn't feeling great, but did OK running down to tree line. Between A Frame and Barr, I walked a number of times. Was feeling pretty worked there.

Stopped at Barr to fill up a bottle to pour on myself on the way down. I also poured water over myself again and again while there. I then decided to go chat with Theresa, et al, who were sitting outside the cabin, since I wasn't in a hurry to get back to the pain. I ended up spending almost 10 minutes at Barr.

Slow from Barr on down. Walked quite a bit; most of the uphills, some of the flats, and probably even some downhill sections. Tried to latch on when a runner went by me above the W's, but I couldn't hang for very long. Was pretty worked when I finished. I was glad that Bill had moved the car from near the PPM finish (the closest parking we found in the morning) to the Cog parking lot.

I ate 3 packs of Shot Bloks, a granola bar on the summit, and quite a few S-Caps and Endurolytes. Drank about 80 ounces of water, 60 of that with Nuun.

0:00:00 - Barr Trail TH
1:28:03 - Barr Camp
2:12:47 - A Frame
3:13:53 - race finish/turnaround
3:16:27 - Pikes summit (highest rocks in the middle)
3:31:48 - leaving the summit
4:06:20 - A Frame
4:32:58 - Barr Camp
4:42:53 - leaving Barr Camp
5:42:20 - Barr Trail TH

Suunto watch log data:

7220 up (+36), 7110 down (-54), 1 lap, 5:43

StreakNavyA with insoles from MountainMasochist

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down West Ridge, Ranger, (up) Greenman, Saddle Rock, Amph.

Started at 6:28 pm. Good effort on the ascent, running quite a bit throughout. 23 seconds off my PR for the ascent. Worked pretty hard on the descent as well.

0:00 - Gregory TH
7:59 - Amph/Saddle Rock
22:04 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
39:01 - Green summit
40:18 - started down
1:08:52 - Gregory TH

StreakNavyA

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:51 am. Tired. Legs felt heavy from the start. Mostly a hike. Ran into Kraig K on the way down. Good to see him out again.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:04 - Amph/Saddle Rock
25:43 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
46:43 - Green summit
48:41 - started down
1:11:09 - Gregory TH

StreakNavyA

Green, Bear

From Devils Thumb, Bear Canyon road, Mesa, Bear Canyon, Green Bear, West Ridge, Green summit; down West Ridge, Green Bear; up West Ridge, Bear summit; down Fern, Mesa, Bear Canyon road.

Started at 3:04 pm. Hot. Wasn't going hard/fast but was working hard just to run to the start of the climbing on Green Bear. Then mostly hiked up Green from there. Tagged the summit and started down immediately. Worked pretty hard on the descent to the start of Bear West Ridge. Then dunked my shirt in the creek and proceeded to walk most of Bear West Ridge. Ran a few sections but was pretty beat. Topped out on Bear, sat for a minute or so, then started down. Worked pretty hard on the descent. Was a bit less sloppy than usual in Fern. Dunked my shirt again crossing Bear Creek on the Mesa Trail.

0:00 - Devils Thumb TH
15:36 - Mesa Trail/Bear Canyon trail
41:06 - Bear Canyon/Green Bear/Bear West Ridge
56:08 - Green Bear/Green West Ridge
1:00:37 - Green summit
1:10:17 - Green Bear/Bear Canyon/Bear West Ridge
1:45:43 - Bear summit
2:17:23 - Devils Thumb TH

StreakNavyA

South Boulder

From South Mesa TH, Mesa, Towhee, Shadow, South Boulder; down the same.

Started at 6:16 am. Worked pretty hard from the start and was feeling pretty good. Looks like I really faded above the saddle, but I think that's more of a reflection of how fast I went above the saddle on my PR last year. Was pretty happy with my ascent time.

On the way up, I was thinking about trying to get the round trip in under 1:30, which I don't think I've ever done. At the top, I took a break as I was hurting, and I was thinking that I wouldn't hammer the down. But once I started down, I was feeling OK and started pushing it. Worked pretty hard to the saddle and down Shadow. Pushed pretty hard getting down to Towhee. Turning onto Towhee, I was thinking I didn't have a chance at 1:30, and I think I slowed a bit on upper Towhee as a result. But lower down, the clock seemed to be moving slower than expected. I worked pretty hard for the last several minutes and ended up closer to 1:30 than I thought I was going to be. Wish I'd taken a split at the top of Towhee so I'd know what to expect if I try this again.

Pretty satisfying run overall.

0:00 - South Mesa TH
15:25 - Towhee/Shadow (0:01 behind 6/22/2010 PR)
23:27 - Shadow/"Bridge" (0:16 behind PR)
50:52 - top of Shadow (0:16 behind PR)
57:49 - South Boulder (1:04 behind PR)
59:32 - started down
1:03:17 - top of Shadow
1:15:51 - Shadow/"Bridge"
1:30:48 - South Mesa TH

StreakNavyA

First Flatiron

Started at 6:24 pm. From Chautauqua, hiked pretty easy up to the base of the First (17:47). From the base, I hiked up to the right, under the fallen tree, to the easier start on the north side. Changed shoes then started up. Climbed the East Face Gully. Sort of got onto the right wall of the gully for a bit when the gully looked smoother and more polished. Not sure it was any easier where I went, though. Got back into the gully after a bit and worked my way up to the last (easy) exit option on the left before reaching the North Arete. A bit of trickier scrambling leading up to this exit. Exited the gully there, up past the Route Junction Knob, and on up to the North Arete. Followed that to the top (about an hour). Rapped off. Then jogged down (1:31:17).

Lots of crampon scratches in the gully and on the rock leading up to the gully. Folks have obviously been hitting the ice on the route over the winter.

Was shocked to see a dude riding a mountain bike up the Chautauqua trail on my way down. Not sure if he was clueless or just a rebel. My guess was the former.

StreakNavyA

Pikes

Nice day to get a May ascent for The Grid.

Started at 5:08 am. Wore my Nathan pack (wind shell, balaclava, gloves, Microspikes, empty water bottle, space blanket, Spot, way more food than I ate, etc), carried a hand bottle, and tied a shirt and pants around my waist.

Legs felt dead from the start. Jogged a bit of the W's, but just couldn't keep that going, so mostly hiked. Jogged on and off up to Barr Camp, but mostly just the flat and downhill stuff. Filled up and treated my hand bottle at Barr. Jogged almost nothing from Barr up to A Frame. Snow started some distance below A Frame (1/2 mile, 3/4 mile?) but was firm/packed so not a big deal. Left the trail at tree line and headed straight up. Much more snow above tree line than when I was up on 3/2. Unfortunately, the snow wasn't completely firm, so I was sinking in a bit (just a few inches, not much postholing) and thus tried to avoid the snow for the most part.

When I hit the Barr Trail on its long traverse over to the Cirque, there were good footprints in the snow on the trail, so I opted to follow it up. After the Cirque sign and a few more switchbacks, ran into another snowfield. From here, I followed steps/tracks up the snowfield to the summit area, topping out maybe 50 yards south of the Barr Trail. The wind was ripping on the summit. Ran over to the highest point, then popped into the summit house. Nice and warm in there. The employees were setting things up for the day. Filled my hand bottle. Considered buying a candy bar but ate a granola bar that I'd carried, then started down.

Cautiously descended the snowfield. Then stuck with the snow rather than the trail back over to the Cirque. Then mostly dry ground straight down to the A Frame. My goal for the descent from here on was to run everything but not beat myself up too bad. My descent on 3/2 had crushed me. Felt like I was running super conservative compared to the PPM but I was flying compared to 3/2.

Filled up both bottles at Barr and carried both in my hands. Only treated one, the other was for dumping on myself. Since I had to give the treated bottle 20-30 minutes, I ended up drinking very little of it. But I mostly emptied the other bottle on my quads and neck, even though it wasn't all that hot out.

Did manage to run all the little uphills on the descent, but they were a grunt. I did walk whenever I passed other hikers/runners heading up or down. That got to be very frequent in the W's. Pushed just a bit to get under 5:30 but not too hard.

Felt pretty good after finishing. Except for one toe. It was painful for much of the descent, and I figured I'd end up with a decent blister. I stopped at one point to snug up my shoes to see if that would help, but I didn't want to spend the time putting anything on the blister. Turns out I got a small blister but also a purple/black toenail. Grr! I think I've maybe had this happen once before. Not sure. Hoping I don't lose the nail.

So, felt that the ascent was pretty slow overall. Even when I was hiking, I didn't feel like I was working very hard. A few times, I forced myself to pick up the effort, but I'm sure I let myself back off again. Just didn't feel like working hard on this day. Fairly encouraged by the descent. Even more encouraged that my legs were almost totally fine the next day, and I had no soreness two days later.

Did not use the Microspikes. I think I ate 3-4 Gus, 2/3's of a pack of Shot Bloks, a granola bar, and maybe a half dozen Endurolytes. Drank about 65 ounces of water. Actually, 20 ounces of that was with EFS drink mix.

Ended up jogging/walking another few miles later in the day taking the girls down to watch the Superior Morgul Classic crit races. That was pretty exhausting.

0:00:00 - Barr Trail TH
1:39:36 - Barr Camp
2:29:25 - A Frame
3:32:08 - Pikes summit (highest rocks in the middle)
3:38:42 - leaving the summit
4:06:14 - A Frame
4:32:51 - Barr Camp
4:34:14 - leaving Barr Camp
5:27:56 - Barr Trail TH

Suunto watch log data:

7210 up (+35), 7190 down (-65), 1 lap, 5:29

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down West Ridge, Ranger, (up) Greenman, Saddle Rock, Amph.

Started at 6:37 am. Legs felt pretty dead again from the start. Given that, I was very surprised to basically match my time from yesterday. Pretty happy with that type of time given the way I felt. Opted to get in a little more time and distance on the descent, so headed up Greenman from Ranger over to Saddle Rock.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:38 - Amph/Saddle Rock
24:43 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
42:24 - Green summit
51:32 - started down
1:23:42 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:36 am. Didn't get enough sleep and was tired. Started out with the intention of just taking it fairly easy. Legs felt heavy and dull from the start. Did jog a few less steep sections, but was only able to do that because I was taking it easy. I'm sure I increased the effort as I moved up the mountain, though (given my time). I looked at my watch near the top of the log steps and was surprised to see 39 low, so I pushed really hard the last few switchbacks. Quite happy with my time given the easier start and the dead legs.

Talked with a guy on the summit that I'd seen on Green at least once last week. Joe has been using Green to rehab from a leg injury last year. Hope to see him lots more on the mountain this year.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:03 - Amph/Saddle Rock
24:18 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
42:22 - Green summit
48:59 - started down
1:09:49 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0 - noticed a tear in the left shoe before starting out :-(

Green

From Gregory TH, briefly up Amph, then back down; then up Gregory, Ranger, West Ridge, Green; down Greenman, Saddle Rock, Amph.

Started up Amph in the afternoon/evening. Super slow. Then saw Jeff V flying down toward me. Turned to run down to the TH to chat with him since it'd been a while since we'd chatted. After 10 minutes or so of chatting, I switched it up and headed up Gregory. Still slow and mostly hiking.

Stupid watch reset before I got the splits so these are from memory.

0:00 - Gregory TH
~4:00 - back at the Gregory TH - stopped the watch while chatting but didn't reset the stopwatch
~24:00 - Gregory/Ranger
~57:00 - Green summit
~1:01:00 - started down
~1:29:00 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 9:24 am. Started with Lori, but the plan was for me to hustle up and down, go get the girls, then come back to pick up Lori.

0:00 - Gregory TH
8:30 - Amph/Saddle Rock
23:27 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
41:48 - Green summit
42:48 - started down
1:03:34 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:19 pm. With Lori. My most enjoyable outings are when we can get out together!

0:00 - Gregory TH
10:58 - Amph/Saddle Rock
34:36 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
1:03ish - Green summit (duplicate split on my watch)
1:06:29 - started down
2:03:49 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:00 pm. Pretty continuous snow on the trail above Greenman Spring. Thus took the upper part of the descent reasonably cautious. Picked things up below the Spring. Stopped to move a large rock off the traverse below the Greenman/Saddle Rock junction. Then just absolutely flew down the rest of the descent. Ran down Saddle Rock and Amph probably faster than I ever have. Wish I felt that "on" all the time, but this was just one of those days.

0:00 - Gregory TH
8:38 - Amph/Saddle Rock
24:03 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
43:xx - Green summit (stupid watch with its duplicate splits, but I remember seeing 43 low)
43:47 - started down
1:05:05 - Gregory TH

Crosslite2.0

Green, Bear

From Devils Thumb, Bear Canyon road, Mesa, Bear Canyon, Green Bear, West Ridge, Green summit; down West Ridge, Green Bear; up West Ridge, Bear summit; down Fern, Mesa, Bear Canyon road.

Started at 5:50 am. With Bill W. Think this was pretty casual for Bill, but I was working pretty hard. I walked much of Green Bear while Bill kept the run going and topped out on Green a minute or so (?) ahead of me. Psyched that I managed to run much of Bear's West Ridge. Bill got ahead of me again here, but I caught up (more likely, he eased off) at the bottom of the final steep climb. We then hiked that together. Felt un-smooth as usual in Fern. Quads were pretty fried near the end of this run.

0:00 - Devils Thumb TH
58:04 - junction of Green Bear and West Ridge of Green
1:02:25 - Green summit
1:14:42 - junction of Green Bear and West Ridge of Bear
1:45:56 - Bear summit
2:21:49 - Devils Thumb TH

Crosslite2.0

First Flatiron, Green

From Chautauqua, up to the First, on up to the start of Baker's Way, up Baker's Way and the North Arete to the summit, rapped off, directly up to the Northeast Ridge, Greenman, Green summit; down Greenman, Northeast Ridge, directly back to the First, down the First/Second trail, back to Chautauqua.

Started at 6:04 am. Headed up to the First with Bill W, Tom K, Bill H, and Maria P. Tom and I started up Baker's Way (after I changed shoes), then kept on going, while Bill climbed with Bill and Maria. Tom and I topped out and rapped off. I then stashed my gear, and we headed up Green. Topped out right behind Sheri W and Kirsten. Tom headed down Ranger/Gregory with them. I hustled down, gathered my gear, and caught up to Bill and Bill near the base of the First, then jogged down with them. Fun morning!

0:00 - Chautauqua
17:50 - passing the turnoff to the base of the First
25:14 - start of Baker's Way
57:02 - on the ground, headed toward Green
1:19:51 - Green summit
1:23:13 - started down
1:52:33 - Chautauqua

Crosslite2.0

Treadmill

30:00 - all at 1% incline

30:00 @ 4 mph

StreakYellowC

Treadmill

60:00 - all at 1% incline

60:00 @ 4 mph

StreakYellowC

Bridge Mountain, G2, 6360

Climbed Bridge with Bill W, Loobster, and Dan M. Then, Dan joined me for G2 and 6360.

5010 up (+19), 4890 down (-24), 5 laps, 10:14

The Wickiup

From the I-70 exit, jogged roads until I was pretty much due south of the summit. Headed up and ascended via the south/southeast side, then the obvious weakness on the summit block. Mike G summit register from last fall. Returned more directly cross country on the southeast ridge until meeting up with the road again. 1:12:10 total time. About 0:40 to the summit.

The Tunnel and Running Coyote Arch

Jogged/hiked out to The Tunnel in Arches. Then on to Running Coyote Arch. 1:28:11 total time.

Devils Garden

Hiked into Landscape Arch with Lori, Mia, and Anya. Then Lori did the loop while the girls and I hung out for bit then hiked out.

South Boulder Creek trail

From the Bobolink TH, South Boulder Creek trail south to Marshall Road; back the same.

Started at 6:02 pm. After registering for the PPM today, time to get off the couch. This nice, flat run should be perfect training for that race. Ran this reasonably hard. Not very fast, though.

0:00 - Bobolink TH
27:55 - Marshall Rd
53:48 - Bobolink TH

StreakNavyA

Pyramid attempt

Photos

Started from the T Lazy 7 Ranch around 4:30 am. Skied up the Maroon Lake Rd, on up past Crater Lake, and a few hundred feet up the West Face of Pyramid. Stashed the skis and worked our way up to the NW Ridge. On up the ridge on easy terrain. At the bottom of the "loose gully", we went off route and followed cairns traversing south across the face. Bailed on that after crossing several gullies (we reached the third ridge along this traverse) and returned back to the "loose gully". Headed up this, exited right via the crux wall, worked our way up a bit further, and finally made the call to bail at around 13700-13800' at around 4:30 pm. The remaining climb to the summit would've taken us at least an hour, probably longer, and would've had us possibly descending difficult terrain in the dark.

Around 22 miles.

Suunto watch log data:

Log 1: 6140 up (+12), 880 down (-13), 0 laps, 12:00
Log 2: 160 up (+9), 5640 down (-29), 1 lap, 4:35
Total: 6300 up, 6520 down, 16:35

(didn't "spring forward" on my watch for DST overnight, so times below are an hour behind)

3:39 am, 8260 - started
3:40, 8260
3:50, 8310
4:00, 8360
4:10, 8380
4:20, 8450
4:30, 8520
4:40, 8580
4:50, 8640
5:00, 8730
5:10, 8780
5:20, 8880
5:30, 8970
5:40, 9040
5:50, 9140
6:00, 9260
6:10, 9370
6:20, 9490
6:25, 9540 - took a break at the bus turnaround at Maroon Lake
6:30, 9540
6:40, 9540 - skiing again
6:50, 9500
7:00, 9600
7:10, 9750
7:20, 9880
7:30, 10000
7:40, 10050
7:47, 10080 - high on ridge before dropping to Crater Lake
7:50, 10020
8:00, 9980
8:10, 10030
8:20, 10120
8:30, 10140
8:40, 10190
8:50, 10170
9:00, 10390
9:10, 10530
9:16, 10580 - stopped to stash skis, change boots, don crampons
9:20, 10570
9:30, 10580
9:32, 10580 - hiking again
9:40, 10700
9:50, 10850
10:00, 10950
10:10, 11110
10:20, 11230
10:30, 11330
10:40, 11510
10:50, 11640
11:00, 11800
11:10, 11980
11:20, 12050
11:30, 12120
11:40, 12190
11:50, 12320
12:00 pm, 12440
12:10, 12580
12:20, 12600
12:30, 12740
12:40, 12900
12:50, 13020
1:00, 13120 - started traversing off route across the face, rather than up the "loose gully", at about this time
1:10, 13150
1:20, 13150
1:30, 13170
1:40, 13190
1:50, 13190
2:00, 13170
2:10, 13150
2:20, 13120 - back at the bottom of the "loose gully", starting up it
2:30, 13230
2:40, 13300
2:50, 13370
3:00, 13440
3:10, 13510
3:20, 13580
3:29, 13640 - high point - turned around
3:30, 13630
3:38, 13520 - end of first log

3:38, 13520 - start of second log
3:40, 13490
3:50, 13380
3:56, 13380 - rapping the crux wall at the top of the "loose gully"
4:00, 13300
4:10, 13100
4:20, 12940
4:30, 12620
4:40, 12340
4:50, 12120
5:00, 11640
5:10, 11350
5:20, 11030
5:29, 10500 - back at the skis
5:30, 10510
5:40, 10510
5:50, 10500
5:51, 10510 - starting ski down
6:00, 10160
6:10, 10040
6:20, 9890
6:30, 9960
6:40, 9900
6:50, 9700
7:00, 9440
7:10, 9390
7:15, 9370 - stopped to remove skins once back on the road below Maroon Lake
7:20, 9360
7:21, 9370 - skiing down
7:30, 9010
7:40, 8600
7:50, 8380
8:00, 8180
8:10, 8070
8:12, 8040 - finished

Meadowlark & Mayhoffer-Singletree

From home, down Bristol, Andrew, cut through to the bike path, to the Coalton TH, new Meadowlark Trail north to old town Superior, then Mayhoffer-Singletree over to Coal Creek Dr and on to 66th; back on Mayhoffer-Singletree and the start of Meadowlark, cut off by Key Bank over to McCaslin, bike paths, short jump onto McCaslin, Christensen, Andrew, Bristol, home.

Started at 4:23 pm. Finally got out to check out the new Meadowlark and Mayhoffer-Singletree section.

0:00 - home
5:23 - Coalton TH
29:10 - TH in old town
35:18 - Coal Creek Dr
51:25 - 66th - turned back
1:07:30 - Coal Creek Dr
1:13:14 - TH in old town
1:29:14 - home

StreakNavyA

Pikes

With an excellent weather forecast, I had to take the day off and get out on my 40th birthday.

Started at 7:09 am. Carried a pretty decent pack (down jacket, bivy sack, wind pants, other winter gear, etc, in my 30L BD Speed pack). Would've been nice to go lighter but didn't want to do that solo on a weekday. Don't think I jogged any of the W's. Jogged on and off up to Barr Camp. Managed to jog some beyond Barr up to A Frame. Conditions were excellent. Very little snow. Didn't use Microspikes on the ascent. Above tree line, headed straight up toward the summit, managing to avoid any postholing. Pretty windy above treeline and on the summit.

Came down to A Frame alright, but was pretty much fried after that. Put Microspikes on at A Frame. Did manage to run probably a decent amount, but I was also walking a fair bit. Stopped at Barr Camp to chat with Neal T, who I'd finished right behind at Hardrock last year. Wore Microspikes a ways below Barr but eventually removed them (around Bob's Road?). Again, was just wasted coming down, but still managed to run a good portion, I think, but walked on and off as well.

0:00:00 - Barr Trail TH
1:48:31 - Barr Camp
2:46:46 - A Frame
3:56:06 - Pikes summit (highest rocks in the middle)
4:07:59 - leaving the summit
5:20:29 - stopped at Barr Camp
5:32:02 - leaving Barr Camp
6:49:56 - Barr Trail TH

StreakNavyA - first run in these since Hardrock!

Holy Cross

With Dan M. Thanks to a track broken by friends Ken N, Jean A, Dwight S, Kevin B, and Dominic and Sarah M on Friday and Saturday. Looks like this was somewhere around 27-28 miles.

Suunto log data:

Log 1: 7570 up (+17), 4810 down (-28), 2 laps, 12:00
Log 2: 1080 up (+15), 3790 down (-36), 1 lap, 3:31
Total: 8650 up, 8600 down, 15:31

3:51 am, 7980 - started
4:00, 7990
4:10, 8160
4:20, 8260
4:30, 8390
4:40, 8520
4:50, 8680
5:00, 8790
5:10, 8910
5:20, 9040
5:30, 9150
5:40, 9230
5:50, 9330
6:00, 9490
6:10, 9670
6:20, 9710
6:30, 9900
6:40, 10120
6:50, 10250
7:00, 10190
7:10, 10150
7:20, 10150
7:30, 10240
7:40, 10330
7:50, 10520
8:00, 10750
8:10, 10980
8:20, 11110
8:30, 11230 - arrived at the group's camp
8:40, 11220
8:44, 11230 - hiking again
8:50, 11400
8:58, 11510 - high at Halfmoon Pass
9:00, 11450
9:10, 11250
9:20, 10950
9:30, 10590
9:38, 10400 - low - took a break - stashed a quart of Gatorade here
9:40, 10400
9:50, 10390
9:51, 10400 - hiking again
10:00, 10560
10:10, 10750
10:20, 10940
10:30, 11150
10:40, 11210
10:50, 11450
11:00, 11560
11:10, 11840
11:20, 11980
11:30, 12170
11:40, 12400
11:50, 12630
12:00 pm, 12860
12:10, 13110
12:20, 13210
12:30, 13280
12:40, 13530
12:50, 13800
12:53, 13870 - Holy Cross
1:00, 13880
1:10, 13880
1:18, 13880 - started down
1:20, 13810
1:30, 13500
1:40, 13270
1:43, 13190 - stopped to wait until I could see Dan descending from the summit
1:50, 13190
2:00, 13200
2:10, 13200
2:11, 13200 - hiking again
2:20, 13040
2:30, 12600
2:40, 12370
2:50, 11690
2:51, 11650 - stopped at treeline to wait for Dan to catch up
3:00, 11650
3:02, 11660 - hiking again
3:10, 11350
3:20, 10900
3:30, 10550
3:31, 10540 - quick break to pick up stashed Gatorade, eat, adjust clothing
3:38, 10530 - starting climb back up to Halfmoon Pass
3:40, 10580
3:50, 10740 - end of log 1

3:50, 10740 - start of log 2
4:00, 10970
4:10, 11080
4:20, 11120
4:30, 11350
4:40, 11430
4:50, 11520
4:56, 11630 - high at Halfmoon Pass
5:00, 11570
5:10, 11340
5:20, 11010
5:30, 10470
5:40, 10300
5:50, 10290
6:00, 10310
6:10, 10390
6:20, 10120
6:30, 9660
6:40, 9300
6:50, 8990
7:00, 8610
7:10, 8280
7:20, 8030 - finished

Pikes

Pikes via the Crags with Dan M. Nice new Crags trailhead below the campground with a new trail that cuts over to meet the old trail near the "3 pipes".

-4 °F as we started out but no wind. Not much to note about the ascent. Cold, I guess, but never felt too bad, as the wind was never really strong until the summit. Caught a group of 5 a bit before "Little Pikes". The road was open to the summit, so the occasional car passed by, but not a lot of traffic.

Dan was bummed to find the summit shop closed, as he'd remembered to bring money for donuts. Spent over 40 minutes on the summit.

Noting that the rangers had departed the summit a bit before us, we decided to descend the road to avoid the boulders just below the summit. Trotted down the road until we saw the ranger driving up again, then headed back over to the trail. Tagged "Devils Playground Peak" for a new cohp for Dan. Then on down to the trailhead. Nice day out.

4890 up (+22), 4870 down (-35), 1 lap, 6:53

8:03 am, 9890 - started
8:10, 10080
8:11, 10120 - high
8:15, 10080 - low
8:20, 10170
8:30, 10410
8:40, 10560
8:50, 10840
9:00, 11150
9:10, 11480
9:20, 11570
9:30, 11720
9:40, 11990
9:50, 12230
10:00, 12460
10:10, 12600
10:20, 12640
10:30, 12800
10:40, 12800
10:50, 12980
11:00, 12970
11:10, 13150
11:20, 13300
11:30, 13540
11:40, 13810
11:46, 14010 - "summit plateau" - strong winds on the summit seem to have messed with the altimeter a bit
11:48, 14060 - summit rocks, I guess
11:50, 14010
12:00 pm, 14010
12:10, 14020
12:20, 14010
12:28, 14020 - started down
12:30, 13960
12:40, 13560
12:50, 13230
1:00, 13080
1:10, 12840
1:20, 12910
1:30, 12950
1:32, 13000 - "Devils Playground Peak" ?
1:33, 13000 - started down
1:40, 12670
1:50, 12610
2:00, 11850
2:04, 11700 - break at treeline to shed, eat, drink
2:10, 11700
2:11, 11700 - hiking again
2:20, 11310
2:30, 10720
2:40, 10260
2:45, 10100 - low
2:50, 10150 - high
2:55, 9920 - finished

Bear, Green

From Chautauqua, Mesa, Fern, Bear; Bear West Ridge, Green-Bear, Green West Ridge, Green; Greenman, Saddle Rock, Amph, Baseline, Chautauqua.

Started at 10:51 am. Took it pretty easy getting to Fern Canyon. Sections of the Mesa Trail were pretty slick, and the soles of my shoes are getting pretty worn. Passed Tony K a bit past the NCAR junction. Pulled the Microspikes on as I started up the Bear Canyon road. Saw Sheri W coming out of Bear Canyon and chatted with her for a bit (Bill was still heading up/down Green). Worked pretty hard up Fern and up the ridge to Bear. Didn't stop on Bear.

Passed Tina L on Bear West Ridge and stopped briefly to chat. Ran each of the little hills on West Ridge, which sometimes force me to walk. Wanted to put in a good effort up Green. Hoped to at least run all of Green-Bear if not all the way to the summit. Passed Jason S and Jacob R on Green-Bear. I petered out about a minute from the top of Green-Bear, then walked all of the West Ridge. Didn't stop on Green.

Put in a pretty hard effort coming down Green. Snow conditions were excellent. I caught a runner just below Saddle Rock, and he let me by. Unfortunately, one of my Microspikes came off my toe less than a minute later. I stopped to fix it, and he went by, then I gave chase again. He had gotten a pretty good lead, and I wasn't catching him very quickly. Pretty sure he picked up the pace from what he was running when I caught him. Might've gained on him a little, but didn't catch up to him, before the bottom of Amph.

Good to get out for a little longer run than my usual Green of late. Time to start doing more of this.

0:00 - Chautauqua
6:13 - turn from Bluebell road onto singletrack
(dup) - turn onto Bear Canyon road
33:49 - Mesa/Fern junction
40:44 - Fern/Shanahan junction
55:13 - sign post at top of Fern canyon, moving onto the ridge
1:14:28 - Bear summit
1:36:33 - Bear West Ridge/Green-Bear junction
1:51:04 - Green-Bear/Green West Ridge junction
1:56:41 - Green summit
2:17:12 - Amph/Baseline junction
2:22:14 - Chautauqua

StreakOrangeC

South Boulder, Bear

From South Mesa TH, Mesa, Towhee, Shadow, South Boulder; over to Bear; down the same.

Started at 12:28 pm. With Jeff V. Started out working pretty hard into the wind. But Jeff was just chit-chatting as he was going so casual. I eventually had to ease off in order to answer his questions. So ended up taking it more casually after Towhee. Caught up to Rex H and Caroline in the upper part of Shadow Canyon, so we hiked and chatted with them up South Boulder.

0:00 - South Mesa TH
16:21 - Towhee/Shadow
26:39 - Shadow/"Bridge"
1:00:50 - top of Shadow
1:10:40 - South Boulder
1:25:34 - Bear
2:05:50 - South Mesa TH

StreakOrangeC

Green

From Gregory TH, Amph, Saddle Rock, Greenman, Green; down the same.

Started at 6:36 am. It was surprisingly warm at just over 40 degrees when I started, so it was nice to go in shorts this morning. It's still pretty dark at this time, and I've chosen to start without a light when starting out at this time. I figure it forces me to start out conservatively, which should be a good thing. Not having been up Green in eight days and having done nothing the past four days, I was hoping I could put in a hard effort this morning. Not to be. The conservative start over the first 10 minutes or so felt good, but after that I just couldn't get myself to work hard.

The trails weren't as good as I was expecting them to be. I was hoping the snow would be well-packed, perfect for the Microspikes, but some sections, particularly on Greenman, were drifted over (although Tom K and Kirsten had gone up Greenman ahead of me). And even where things weren't drifted, the snow wasn't as packed as well as I'd like. I guess those ideal conditions are rare. Maybe we're lacking the base that we usually have. Or maybe those conditions will come later in the winter. Or maybe my Microspikes have gotten too dull.

Disappointed with the up, I decided to work hard on the down. Was really spinning the wheels from Greenman spring back to the Greenman/Saddle Rock junction, as the drifting was a mess through there, so I didn't expect my overall time to be that great. Also didn't feel like I really went all out. So fairly surprised to see that I came down in 19:43. I think my best from last winter (and probably best all time for me) was 18:56 on 2/5/2010.

0:00 - Gregory TH
9:38 - Amph/Saddle Rock
27:02 - Saddle Rock/Greenman
51:27 - Green summit
53:43 - started down
1:13:26 - Gregory TH

StreakOrangeC