Red Cloud/Sunshine

I drove him down the road to the Red Cloud/Sunshine trailhead and he started up around 10:15 a.m. He has nine peaks done and "just" 49 to go. He did 8 peaks in the first 24 hours (7 in the first calendar day) and is heading for his 2nd and 3rd peaks of the second 24-hour period. We're about 2.5 hours behind the original, idealized schedule. The bad weather caused us to get behind, but Homie did Handies 20 minutes faster than that original schedule. These next two peaks are supposed to take four hours. 

On the short drive down we talked a bit more about the tough Wilson group. Thoughts of giving up the 14er quest a half day into it ran through his mind. They went through mine as well and I wondered how he'd handle it. So much preparation and now so much interest (there were over 500 follow-up posts to his original announcement on 14ers.com - after only 12 hours!) had been put into this venture. I wondered how I'd comfort him if he gave up. I'd say that you can't control the weather, but that wouldn't be enough. I figured he'd have to just keep going and try the Wilson group again later, in better weather. I met a guy in Silverton while waiting for Homie's train to come in. He was riding the entire Colorado Trail. He was on this 14th day with still 90 or so miles to go to Durango, the terminus. He figured it would still take him three more days. He was sitting out the entire day because of the bad weather report. I asked him if he ever thought of quitting and he immediately replied, "Every day. I hate this. It isn't fun. I don't like struggling to do 20 miles in a day. I can easily do 100 miles a day on a road bike." Yet he was committed to finishing it. He didn't want to have to come back and do it again. He even said, "One and done." Before Homie stepped on the train Wednesday to start this whole thing he said, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing." I figure he will finish it regardless of how long it takes and regardless of what barriers are put up to bar him. Obstacles are just opportunities to prove to himself how badly he wants this. To break the record takes incredible planning, toughness, and world-class endurance, but it also takes luck. Since he can't control the luck, all he can do is keep going, keep adjusting, keep strong, keep showing how badly he wants it.

Seeing something like this up close, and I know I'm barely over 24 hours into it as I type this, well short of his Hard Rock 100 time of 36 hours, I'm still amazed at the level of suffering. Heading up the next pass at Hard Rock, knowing there are many other runners around you and being on a good trail nearly the entire time is a long, long way from being completely solo, in the dark, in a driving rain, at 14,000 feet while trying to negotiate a 4th class slab. But that's obvious. There aren't hundred and hundreds of people clamoring to do this each year. It takes a level of masochism that so rare and so far beyond Hard Rock. To me, it seems the only way anyone should go through something like this is during a war, where you life is at stake. Where if you don't keep moving, keep fighting, you'll die. That's the only thing that should motivate someone to go to this level of suffering...

Homie left for Sunshine at 10:21 a.m. Once again he was wearing his Gortex shell. Alas, it never really rained very hard and I doubt he had it on for long. He did both peaks in 4:06 roundtrip. Cave Dog had done 4:09, so this is really close so far. I then drove him up to the Nellie Trailhead for him to launch up Uncompaghre. He left the car at 3:55 p.m. Based upon that departure he is currently 14 minutes ahead of Cave Dog's pace. Which is essentially a dead heat in something that will last almost 11 days. 

We talked to Mark Oveson as we passed through Lake City. He's coming down in his FJ to drive Homie into San Luis at a faster pace than I can do with all the gear in my Land Cruiser. I'll follow at a more pedestrian pace (literally, as Google Maps says it will take me 3.5 hours to cover 60 miles.) San Luis is 14 miles roundtrip and Homie will be starting it around midnight. We then go to the Crestones where Mark will accompany him on those five peaks. Then he'll do Lindsey in the dark and get to Culebra by 6 a.m. Sunday. At least that's the plan.