Companions Are the Key Now

On Pikes Peak (photo by Jeff Kunkle)

Homie is now on the big Sawatch Traverse - Missouri, Belford, Oxford, Harvard, Columbia, and then, hopefully, Yale. Homie said that he reserves the right to say "enough." At least for that day. Right now by far the biggest concern is his shin splints. They are very painful and he has a large bulge on his shin - a clear overuse injury. He's wrapping and icing and doing all he can to manage it.

Companions are the key now, as the fatigue and strain is making him emotional and the power of great, strong friends is the only salvation. Because of this, he's going to be much more selective about his companions, especially in the Elks, if possible. This is not meant to reflect derogatorily on any of the volunteer companions. Everyone one is a kind soul, a giving person, a super strong hiker,  and an experienced mountain man. But if Homie doesn't know the person, it justs, just slightly, to his stress.

Right now the plan is Sawatch today and tomorrow with the Elks on Friday. Joel Gratz (weather forecaster to the stars) has given this plan the thumbs up. We'll need 4WD drivers for tomorrow and have volunteers standing by. Jason Halladay is with Homie today and he couldn't have better help on that terrain.

For the Elks, standing by, we have Stefan Griebel... Someone commented on summitpost.com that I have a man-crush on Homie. Guilty. He's a great guy, a true friend, an incredible mountain athlete. What's not to love? I've got it bad for Stefan as well. In my opinion he is the best partner (except maybe Homie) you can possibly have. His range of skills is staggering. He's climbed Half Dome and El Cap in a day. He, along with partner Jason Wells, have the speed record on the Naked Edge (7 pitches, 5.11, under an hour) and the Longs Peak Triathlon (just set two days ago in under 10 hours where they climbed the Diamond in under an hour!). He's biked the 500-mile Colorado Trail in under 5 days. He set the winter speed record for Capitol Peak (which Homie broke the following day!). He owns the speed records on First and Third Flatirons. He's done Longs Peak, roundtrip, in 2h48m. Etc, etc, etc. But that all pales in comparison to him as a supportive team member. If Homie can't do that traverse with Stefan, then he can't do that traverse.

This isn't to say that Jon Kedowski, Ben Hoyt, and Andrew Hamilton (all of who volunteered to help out in the Elks) are not welcome and encouraged to join in. Andrew Hamilton's human-powered 14er record is, in my opinion, the greatest endurance feat I've ever heard of. He's an incredibly nice guy as well.

But this all depends on the shin and the next two days.

Jeff Kunkle photos from Pikes are here.