High Lonesome 100 - July 2017

100 mile races confront runners with challenges that need to be overcome in order to achieve goal #1 of finishing, but the problems I had completing my first 100 last year in The Bighorn left me wondering what could have been, had I not been battling injury and lots of pain for many miles. That experience provided a good lesson in what it takes to finish one of these events.

I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish in the inaugural running of the High Lonesome 100 on July 28-29, 2017. Coming in 10th place was surprising and I was very happy to finish this extremely challenging course in just under 28 hours. If you're interested in all of the statistics, click on the Strava link below, but here's a beautiful satellite view of the course from Relive.cc.

As always, I could not have done this without Jennifer, and I think this time, I got an even bigger boost from her. We just had a blast of a weekend together. Starting with camping out the night before the race, I always get a kick out of how excited she gets when we break out the tent. She made me a pre-race meal of - get this - Chana Masala rice OVER mashed potatoes. Folks, don't try this at home when not topping off your glycogen stores (and then some) in advance of a big physical exertion!

White Carb Loading

We had a fun, light Thursday before the 6:00am Friday start. At the start, she told me how much she loved me and I just felt loose, happy and carefree. And for the remainder of the race, she just knew when to let me have fun when I was having fun and pieced me back together with nutrition and precisely the right words to set my mind back into a determined state when it was wavering. After 27 years together I love this woman and am so proud of our team efforts. We're Team Kick Ass to each other.

Notes I Found In My Food Bags

TKA

Start to Antero Aid -  Miles 0 to 16.7

At 6:00am the Race Director (RD), Caleb, fired the gun to begin the adventure in a high field at the base of Mt. Princeton.

Caleb Contemplating The Start - Or Opening the Complaints Dept. Not Sure.

The first couple miles are on perfectly smooth pavement, but the entire field managed to negotiate this difficulty pretty smoothly.

Unfamiliar Footing, but All Came Through Un-Scathed

I BS'ed with a few others and noted that it must be a pretty experienced group, as the energy was nice and controlled. I hate a high energy start and try to separate myself from it, but no need this time. In hindsight, it's pretty perfect to be on wide roads for the first few miles to let the field spread out a bit before we hit singletrack and it becomes a bit more complicated to pass or be passed. Fortunately, by the time we got to the singletrack for for the first 1000' climb, I didn't have to do much of either.

3 Miles Down!

Great start and soon enough, I saw Jenn at the Raspberry Gulch Aid. I also saw Caleb up close and personal and almost ran over him. No harm, no foul. Smack on the back to Caleb, quick refuel, water and kisses from Jenn and 3 minutes later, I was off and feeling great. Only 93 miles to go!!

Coming Down into Raspberry Gulch Aid

Almost Crashing into the RD

Feeling Good

I was very fortunate to have done training on some key sections of the course in the preceding weeks and on the next section, up the Little Brown's Creek Trail to the high point of the course at the gorgeous 13,000' saddle between Mts. Antero and White, I knew exactly what to expect. That's a meaningful benefit when you know the terrain and where the top is. Plus, I knew the altitude wouldn't be an issue for me. It can be a problem for those coming from lower elevations.

Up Little Brown's Creek to Antero Saddle - Mt White Above

Approaching the Mts White / Antero Saddle

Topping out with Dave Golden - Photo by Elizabeth Sasseman

At the Antero Aid Station I had fun learning a new term from one of the super helpful young ladies running the aid station...Douche Climbs. I'd understand exactly what they are in the last 30 miles or so...climbs that don't look like much on your maps, but just kick the living crap out of you when you're down and out in the dark of the night and trying to move forward on tired legs. Ultra fun!

Descending the Jeep Roads Just Above Antero Aid

Antero to St. Elmo, Cottonwood Out and Back - Miles 16.7 to 37.3

During the climb, then down the jeep roads on the other side of Antero, all the way to St. Elmo, I enjoyed the company of some great guys. Young Ben Dhiman from Silverton, who ended up finishing 4th, my Canuck friend Chris Mackey finished just ahead of me in the 9th spot accepted my humor of both making fun of and appreciation of our neighbors to the north and Dave from Durango (11th place) with whom I'd bungee back and forth all race. It was a particularly fun segment and, as it turned out, the only dry one. As I came upon the only major stream crossing of the course, I thought I remembered someone saying that big rocks had been strategically placed as perfect steps to cross without getting wet. I noticed nothing of the sort and went right through the knee-deep water. I actually took a picture of this spot to show Jenn, since we have memories of a painfully cold crossing here when we climbed Mt. Antero back in 2010. Maybe I missed something here on the right. Ya think?

Damned If I Can See any Perfectly Placed Rocks to Cross On - You See Anything?

Further down the road, I was able to do my good deed of the day and pick up Dave's rain shell and Jenn got it to his girlfriend at St. Elmo. I ran into him on the Cottonwood out-and-back and he was so relieved it was found. I was really happy I was able to help him out, as I'm sure he was really stressed about it for a while. Ben, Chris and I continued through the small town of Alpine at the base of Antero and I was tickled that a few dozen people had come out to cheer us on. Really cool! As far as I can tell it's mostly just ATVs that pass through there. Just before reaching St. Elmo at about 3.5 hrs in, the rain began to fall. It didn't stop much from that point on. But really, it didn't bother me much. Footing remained pretty good, with only a few sections of  ankle-deep mud that threatened to pull my shoes off, it didn't get below 40F, winds weren't an issue below 11,000' and most importantly, the storms didn't go electric, for the most part.

After a 6 minute stop, refuel with I think my second Red Bull and kiss in St. Elmo, I was headed out on the only out-and-back of the course, 2000' up and over a pass, down to Cottonwood Creek Aid, then back up 2000' and down to see Jenn again at St. Elmo. This 13 mile out-and-back was nice because it gives runners our only opportunity to see the leaders as they head back in the opposite direction, but also the rest of the field and you can gauge where you are in the pack.  Mile 90 Photography had two photographers out on the course taking beautiful photos. I've never had this before. Here are a few by Jordan Chapell from the climb up the pass.

I figured I was around 11th or so at that point. Wow! I've never been so bouncy on a course, but I was just having fun. When I got to Cottonwood Aid, things got even better! None other than Blake Wood, finisher of 21 Hardrock 100s, President of the Board of Directors of the HR100, one of the originators of Nolan's 14 and finisher, and really smart dude, took care of refilling my hydration bladder. Blake, if you're reading this, sorry if I was yelling in your face and pointing too much, but that was really cool! A final word about the Cottonwood Aid...!! PIEROGIS!! I stuffed all I could in my face and grabbed the rest for the way back up the hill. Everyone who came down as I was going up heard about the pierogis that hopefully would be awaiting them at the bottom.

 

St. Elmo to Hancock - Miles 37.3 to 48.8

I arrived back into St. Elmo 3hrs 10min after I'd left and after refueling (chocolate croissant!) and kisses and 7 minutes at 3:11pm, I was off again with a full 2 liters of water on my back and my poles for the next 12 mile section. 

Up the jeep road I mostly hiked, past the unmanned Tin Cup water stop and out on a beautiful section of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). 

Beautiful Stretch of the CDT

This is a section I ran overnight a few weeks earlier as my last big training run. Definitely worth repeating. You don't run into too many people, other than the occasional CDT thru or section-hiker back there between a bunch of 12 and 13,000' peaks. The field really spread out from here on, as well. I went to my music for the first time.

Just under 3 hours later, I rolled into the halfway point at the Hancock ghost town site and Jennifer's kisses and care. As always, she takes care of everything. In this spot, she got my mandatory nighttime gear check done without delaying me at all. As I've said, she is my secret weapon!

Hancock Aid - Mile 48.8

Rolling into Hancock

I was surprised to see some runners who I knew were ahead of me sitting under the tent as I downed a 5 Hour Energy and a tofurkey, swiss cheese and mustard wrap. 11 minutes after arriving I was off, but not after resisting Jenn's correct insistence that I replace my hat with a Buff and put my headlamp on. Smartly, I fell into line and did as told and was off into the approaching night at 6:20pm, amazingly in 6th place - I didn't know at the time, but WAIT, WHAT?!?! 12:20 after starting and feeling great with Judas Priest You Got Another thing Comin' maxed in my headphones. I might have replayed it 4 times in a row.

Heading Out in into the Approaching Night

As the sun set, it really started to rain heavily, so I put on my hard shell for the first time. I'd keep it on most of the rest of the night. This next section is the crux of the course. Lonely, dark and multiple big climbs. It's a place where it's totally understandable for anyone without experience in a high alpine environment alone to get a little freaked out. Throw in cold, wind, rain, fog and technical footing up on the 12,000' ridge we traverse approaching Monarch Pass and it's a recipe to dampen a party mood. It did mine. Ideally, I would've stopped, put on a layer and gloves and stuffed my poles in my pack, but I knew that I'd go hypothermic almost immediately if I stopped. I wasn't comfortable, but my core didn't get too cold and I prioritized keeping my hands functional. Losing usability of my hands would be dangerous, as I would lose ability to adjust zippers, tie shoes, feed myself should I get injured and have to stop.

 

Monarch to Blanks - Miles 66.6 to 82

Just after midnight, in the fog and rain, I was escorted by a gentleman in glowing blue Devil's horns across Rt 50 at Monarch Pass at mile 66.6. I recall making some reference to Running with the Devil and maybe one or two other Satan references and I'm pretty sure I offered an apology for my foul mouth for the second time in the race. The Devil was cool with my language. I told him I'm from Jersey originally.

Jenn was waiting for me and put me in the passenger seat of the Jeep. She knew immediately that we'd left the fun part of the activity and were embarking on the hard stuff.

Accurate Depiction of How I Felt Arriving at Monarch - Cold, Wet, Fatigued

I changed my shoes and socks and put a fresh coating of Trail Toes lube on my toes and heels, got bundled up, and Jenn cooked up some noodle soup on the JetBoil and we went over to the aid tent.

Dazed, but Ready to Push On

Daisy Clark, who took expert care of me way back at the Antero Aid was here again and gave me a good looking over to make sure I was OK and good to go on. I didn't realize at the time, but she's a registered nurse. Makes total sense. Anyway, I was in good shape, so after 26 minutes in the Monarch aid station, I was off, down Satan's Slip N Slide as the RD liked to call it to the Fooses Creek Aid about 5 miles away.

Fortunately, Satan's Slip N Slide wasn't too slippery or slidy, but it was steep with some rutted trail, which made for difficult footing. With fatigued quads the descent was slow for me and even when it leveled out a bit, the trail was rutted and rocky and forced me to walk more than I wanted. I rolled my right ankle, which wasn't bad, and then I rolled my left, which was worse. The pain stuck with me a while as I walked it off in the rain, fog and night. I got the High part of the race done, now I was entering the lower, but Lonesome part. I limped into the Fooses Creek aid, the fantastic aid volunteers refilled my bladder, gave me hot broth, I think some chips and I was off into the night toward the Blanks Cabin Aid and my next rendezvous with Jennifer a little over 10 loooong miles away.

This could be officially called the Douche Hills section. The overall climb to Blanks doesn't look like much on the map, but it's just constant little ups and downs and often the footing is rough. On fresh legs, much of this would likely be runnable, but not 70+ miles in and in the dark, for me, anyway. It was during this section that I got passed repeatedly by guys I'd been with earlier with pacers and they were chugging along. This was frustrating, but I did keep consistently moving forward and the dark miles slowly clicked by.

Just before arriving at the Blanks Cabin Aid, I was confronted with about 58 green lights blocking the trail. I haven't been prone to hallucinations on night runs, but what the heck was this? Then I realized I had been hearing nearby cow calls of two groups of the herd vocalizing to each other. COWS! Big Black Cows! Lots of 'em! Lots of little ones too, and one really big one right in the middle of the trail. Concluding that was the bull (no horns, but BIG), I stopped, took one step back into a huge fresh cow patty, eased behind a tree and started talking sweet to them for several minutes. "Niiice cows...gooood cows and bull...You know, I haven't eaten your kind for over a decade now...niiice cows". This was me on this day in the total darkness, by myself at probably 4:30 in the morning, 80+ miles in, up for about 25 hours now, hiding behind an 8" wide tree, sweet-talking to a good number of ungulates, in the rain. Making memories, I suppose. Then the "bull" moved out of the trail. I eased by safely and made my way into the aid less about a mile away. Scared the crap out of me, but definitely broke any monotony of that long night.

Blanks Aid at an Ungodly Hour

Coming into Blanks Fresh off the Satanic Cows Experience

Jennifer sat me down, told me she was proud of me, refilled my water and food and talked me out of the dark place I'd lapsed into. I was convinced I was doing horribly and just moving way too slow. My mind was not calculating numbers properly (it's generally advisable to not engage in math in ultra distance events, but by yourself in the dark for many hours, the mind does things) and I was perceiving a real possibility that I would not be finishing much faster than my 30:40 at the Bighorn 100 last year when I was injured. Was I just kidding myself that I could do better? I also love to impress Jenn and I had in my mind that I'd be letting her down in some way. The things she said to me here started to bring me out of this darkness, but I still had a long way to go on multiple levels.

I think I got some broth from yet another in the string of great aid station volunteers and after 11 minutes at 5:34am, I was off again with a kiss on the unfathomably distant almost 10 miles to the last aid station, once again at Raspberry Gulch.

 

Blanks to Finish - Miles 82 - 97.8, but Let's Call it 100

Strategy going into the race was to be easy on my body the first 60+ miles and 80% of climbing to Monarch. Then hopefully, have enough in the tank and not be too beat-up to finish strong. I think the first 66.6 miles went according to plan, 66.7 to 91.7 didn't quite live up to expectations, but I do feel I did finished strong.

Morning twilight was supposed to begin around 5:40 and sunrise right around 6:10am. Well, the much anticipated sunrise didn't happen this day. The rain clouds made sure of that. I did come across 4 young women out for a hike in the rain at that early hour and they did get treated to a beautiful orange and red ribbon at the horizon, but that's all the sun could muster this morning. If I looked like I was on the miserable side of mile 85, they didn't let on and just continued on with their giddy enjoyment of this murky morning. I can't figure out what the heck they were doing out there.

The miles clicked off as the trail was a bit smoother here, enabling me to settle into a sustainable trot for most of the way and log some respectable mile splits considering where I was in the race. Even if the sun didn't rise on this day, it was still a somewhat uplifting milestone to be able to see by ambient light and turn off my headlamp. Raspberry Gulch Aid mercifully came a little earlier than I'd expected and as always, Jennifer was out in the middle of the trail in her red rain jacket, waving me in. Such an awesome sight every time and at these stages, I get physically emotional to see her. I've gotten better in controlling it and most of the time I'm able to will my throat to not close up like it used to.

Emerging from the Depths of Darkness and into Raspberry Gulch Aid

In the 4 minutes I stopped at the aid, Jenn shoved two small pieces of one of her "cookie dough" energy concoctions (she has a repertoire of at least 8 different homemade energy snacks that she makes for me) in my mouth and set my intention for the last 7 or so miles. "Go finish this in a way YOU'LL be proud of!"

I didn't know how it would happen, but I was inspired seeing a fellow runner and his pacer climbing the hill just a few hundred yards in front of me. I thought he was so much fresher than me the way he'd passed me a few miles back, but obviously he didn't just sprint to the finish, as I hobbled along, as I'd been imagining. The hill was my savior. I'm not a fast runner and not the best descender, but I can climb. So I did and I passed my friend, telling him that I'll probably see him again on the descent. But I didn't. I didn't see anyone as I made it back to the road as the skies opened up again. The pouring rain didn't bother me at all, as I made it first to the smooth dirt road and then the paved road and the final climb back up to the start/finish line. I ran, like I was not able to in the final 5 miles of Bighorn and MAN! There are few feelings better than finishing! Finishing means you can STOP and sit down and laugh again and just BE THANKFUL! So Thankful for what you've accomplished and for those who love and support you and all of the wonderful people who volunteer to help you do these silly things that can make you really feel so much of what's wonderful, painful, primal about being alive! The following photos are from Mile 90 Photography and are of utter joy and gratitude!

TKA at the Finish

B&W Photo Op with the RD & Jenn

The Aftermath

I physically feel like crap immediately after finishing. Can't eat much, can't do much of anything. Finish line accoutrements were outstanding, like I've never seen before. Bottomless quesadillas, hot water bottles, down blankets, chairs, whiskey - what else could you ask for? Thank you Kelly!

Seeing my winnings below, you can surely now understand why this is all worth it. Right? All makes sense now...right...doesn't it?

Custom Buckle

Custom Bourbon

Hugs with the RD

Jenn, who also was up as long as I was, and I drove home late that Saturday morning and I slept for about 4 hours that afternoon, and then got an awesome night's sleep, until 4am when the hunger of a 17,000 calorie activity hit. 3 hours until the breakfast place opens! In the meantime, I woke Jenn up and we started our process of reliving and sharing our experience. This goes on for days or weeks. At 7am, we walked into Bread + Salt in Frisco and ordered 4 breakfasts. We had to put food on the chairs when we ran out of space on the table. I was a little disappointed that I left half of one pancake, but damn, it's good to earn a hunger like that and then satisfy it!

Recovery has been amazingly quick. I'm usually able to descend stairs without the assistance of railings or walls by Wednesday, but after the Bighorn last June, I was in a walking boot for 2 weeks. So, I was a bit concerned when departure for my business trip got moved from Wednesday to Tuesday the week following the High Lonesome. Fortunately, I was showing off to Jenn by Monday that I could go up and down stairs unassisted. Things I did differently this time were - firstly, not getting injured. I also incorporated taking Arnica (a homeopathinc anti-inflammatory) tablets before and after the event, thanks to the generous advice from ultra legend, Kirk Apt, using topic Arnica gel on my sore mucles and immediately after finishing, getting Gnarly Vegan Feast and Block Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) into my gut. 

I am unequivocally proud of our teamwork that enabled me to finish in an official 27hrs 56min 36 sec. A few days later, I realized that the spreadsheet we'd put together that tracks a bunch of data, including my estimated fastest and slowest times for each segment, and thereby rolling up to estimated finishing times, had my optimistic finishing time as 27hrs 53 min!

No blisters this time, thanks to DryMax socks and Trail Toes.

I can't thank Caleb and all of the volunteers enough for running this race so smoothly and taking such great care of all of us runners. This was the first year of the race and it couldn't have been smoother. Incredible work! The High Lonesome 100 is a top-notch addition to the Mountain Ultra Trail (MUT) scene and I anticipate it will become quite popular in the years to come.

That's it for this season as far as athletic challenges. The rest of the season, we'll be out hiking and camping as much as time allows!

Thanks for reading!

San Juan Solstice 50: 2017 Edition

Connecting with the ultra trail running community has been great. Jennifer and I have made so many great friends over the years and we are connected by this common experience that most people consider lunacy. The San Juan Solstice 50 Mile Run is a great event and my second time running it a few weeks ago was special because of all the friends with whom we shared it and the new friends we made this go-round.

One of the highlights was at about mile 45, as I was just cresting the last climb, I came across a runner with whom I'd been jockeying back and forth all day and who I assumed was his pacer (runners can take on a pacer for the last 10 miles in the event). The pacer was carrying something out of the ordinary. When I caught up to them, he was already playing his ukelele and asked for my name. Once provided the required info, he sang me a custom hula song and I hula'ed for him. Turns out the musician/pacer was Roch Horton 10 time Hardrock finisher and his runner was Allen Hadley on his way to setting a new course record in the 60+ age group (which he just entered on the 60th birthday the day before).

Here's the cool satellite terrain video of the run from Relive.cc 

I first did the SJS50 two years ago. Here's the link to that recap. This is the first ultra trail race that I'm repeating. Being familiar with the course helped with my confidence.

Here's how my second go at the SJS50 played out.

All in all, things went pretty smoothly and I was generally pleased with how I performed and that I can say it was a fun race. A really cool thing is that Jennifer and I knew so many more people compared to last time. I got to run and hang out with some of my friends who I am very happy to say, I kind of kept up with for more than half the race! In the end, I finished about 30 minutes ahead of my 2015 time.

Pre-Race Briefing

So, race prep...Jennifer is the ultimate in making sure I'm ready. As always.

Jennifer prepping all my supplies

It was great being able to do my early-season training out on the red dirt in the desert of Western Colorado until late May. Then had a solid 4 weeks back at 9000'+ in the mountains to get re-acclimated to the altitude. Important, since the SJS50 course spends a lot of time over 10,000' up on the Continental Divide. I put some pictures and videos from my training into this album.

The race went well. I was pretty close or ahead of most of my estimated times coming into aid stations, I stayed hydrated (it was pretty hot) and ate enough. No foot issues. Only blisters were on my hands from using poles. I used them quite a bit from 16 miles on. I need to make sure to tape my hands next time I'm planning on using them that much.

As usual, there were some snow fields to negotiate, but I found them less annoying than in 2015.

I met Anna Frost, the winner of the last two Hardrock 100s, one of the first two female Nolan's 14 finishers and overall mountain-ultra-trail running star. Very sweet and great Kiwi accent. Big Fan. AND she remembered my name during the San Juan Solstice 50 Mile Run the next day!

I climbed extremely well, which is important on this course which has about 12,900' total ascent (the Strava # is off). Problem was, most of the people I passed on the ascents caught me on the descents. I was mediocre on the flat and rolling sections and downright slow on the descents. I think it was an issue with my head more than my legs as I've gotten this image of taking a big spill stuck in my head. This is based on experience. Falls hurt!

It's a beautiful course in one of our favorite areas in Colorado.

Another great aspect of the race is that the whole town of Lake City supports it and come out to participate. The proceeds go to the all-volunteer Lake City Emergency Medical Services. It's a fantastic weekend!

THE FINISH! 12 hrs 41 min

Day After Breakfast Picnic and Awards

Next up for me is the inaugural running of the High Lonesome 100 on July 28-29. 

2017 Trail Run Plans

It's been a while since the last post due to a busy winter and some uncertainty about my plans for this coming season.

First a brief recap since my Nolan's attempt last September. I ran very little from November through January. This was a bit longer than usual off-time for me, but I guess I needed a bit of a mental break. I do like to take time off, to let my hunger for running build back up and I believe it's important to give the physical, mental and endocrine systems the opportunity to rest and regenerate. This is also the first year that Jennifer and I have been splitting our time between the High Rocky Mountains, where we will spend our summers and the desert and canyon lands of Western Colorado, where we'll spend our winters. So, a lot of work went into getting our new desert home up and functioning. The other big event was Jennifer's foot surgery in April to remove a fractured sesamoid bone in her foot. She had spent the better part of 2016 trying to rehab it, but in the end, it was determined that the best course of action, with the highest probability of full and less painful functioning that will allow her to return to all of the high intensity outdoor activities she so loves would be surgery to remove the compromised bone. I'm extremely happy to report that she took her first bike rides this past weekend, 7 weeks out from surgery!

One of the reasons we're spending our winters in the desert at 4500' elevation, vs. 9200' in the mountains is so we'll be able to hike, bike, run and train without much snow for just about the entire year. So, I was able to run on dirt starting in mid-February, steadily upping my mileage in the subsequent months. If you're interested, please feel free to connect with me on Strava.
So, my plan for this season is the following:

• San Juan Solstice 50 Mile Run on June 24. I ran this in 2015 and this will be the first trail race that I'm doing more than once. It's a gorgeous loop course with close to 13,000' gross ascent, a lot of time spent above 10,000' (so acclimatization is important) and a great small mountain town vibe, wonderfully supported by the host town of Lake City, CO.
• High Lonesome 100 on July 28. This is the inaugural running of this event. It promises to be an interesting and scenic course in the southern Sawatch Mountain Range. This will be my second 100 mile run after last year's Bighorn 100.
• Spend time exploring the back country with Jennifer and our dogs Bella and Penny.
• Possibly make another attempt at Nolan's 14 over the Labor Day long weekend. This is dependent on a combination of time availability to scout the line, share time in the mountains with Jennifer, work commitments and my physical and mental state at the tail-end of the season. 

So, there you have it. I'm so fortunate to have the support and advice of my wife/coach in all of these adventures and to get to experience so many amazingly beautiful places along the way. Here's an album of some of my experience these past few months.

I understand the San Juan Solstice is going to offer live GPS tracking. I'll try to put up a post with the info prior to the start, but if I can't I'll definitely put up a post-race recap.

'Till then...

Sad News from Nepal

Started today with tragic news from Nepal. Our friend Lakpa Thundu Sherpa lost his life guiding on Ama Dablam when a 5.4 earthquake stuck as the team was pushing for the summit. The earthquake triggered an avalanche and Thundu was struck in the head with falling ice.

Jennifer and I spent the better part of April 2015 with Thundu trekking in the Khumbu Valley and climbing a couple of peaks. His skill in the mountains earned our implicit trust very quickly and his kindness and thougtfulness left a permanent impression. I'm proud that he called me his friend and I the same. Since our time together in 2015, we've kept in touch via with regular Facebook direct messages, where he'd always start by asking, "Jennifer/John how are you?". Sometimes we'd chat a bit about goings on in our lives. Other times, we did little more than exchange these basic pleasantries or recent photos, but we were always touched by his consistent outreach that let us know we were in his thoughts.
After learning of his passing this morning, I turned on my PC and this was my desktop background from my rotating set of photos. Thundu on the left and me in the center wearing the jacket that Thundu borrowed for me from a friend in his home village of Pangboche.

Summit of Lobuche East - Thundu on left

Thundu, you were a special person who made the world a better place. Whenever Jennifer and I talked about returning to Nepal, teaming up with you for some more adventures always came up. We will miss you, my friend.
If you would like to help (no amount is too small) Thundu's wife and two young sons in Kathmandu, you can by donating to the Juniper Fund. Their program provides relief funds to his family for five years after this accident as well as vocational training and business grants to widows to get them back on their feet. The Juniper Fund works on the ground with these families.

Place the name "Lakpa Thundu Sherpa" in the reference field of the donation page to indicate your donation is directed to this accident and family.

Thundu, Bandi and the boys, Sajan (14) and Dorji (8)

Use the link below or use donate button on the Juniper Fund's Facebook page.

http://www.thejuniperfund.org/donate/
https://www.facebook.com/thejuniperfund/
- Thank you -

Nolan's 7 - Sept 2-3, 2016

Despite the fact that I had no plans to give Nolan's 14 a try before 2017, if at all, Jennifer had started suggesting that I should consider giving it a go this year, since I'd connected with a great group this summer with whom I'd scouted a large portion of the route. After all the effort she'd put into my races earlier in the season, I had told her the rest of the summer season was for doing whatever she wanted. She had heard me talk about Nolan's for awhile (from the initial "That is crazy!" to the pondering "I wonder if I could....") and knew coming off my races and scouting that I was in the right physical shape, and she saw the opportunity for me to give this project I'd been thinking about a Go. So, the first weekend in September, I found myself toeing the line for a North to South attempt on the legendary line connecting fourteen 14,000' mountain peaks.

Jenn (and Bella) Organizing All My Food Options

Bella and Penny Guarding the Gear...well, kind of

In the month that's passed since my attempt to complete the Nolan's 14 line over fourteen 14,000' mountains in the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in a single push under 60 hours, I've accepted that what I did accomplish -- 7 summits in ~30 hours, covering around 50 miles and total ascent of 23,000' -- was a significant accomplishment. But, it wasn't what I had set out to do, and as difficult as it is to admit, in retrospect I still had some more to give to this effort. Physically, anyway.

The rain began to fall just as our group of 6 headed out on the trail from the Fish Hatchery Trailhead on the outskirts of Leadville just after 5:00 am on September 2.

The Starting Six L-R: Brandt, Robbie, Julian, Me, Erik, Adam

The rain turned to snow as we climbed the northeast flanks of Mt. Massive, but we made it to the cold and windy summit at 8:00 am in just under 3 hours. Not bad. 

Here's Adam's video from the summit of Mt. Massive

The View of Massive from Below the Clouds

Descending the southwest slopes on-trail was uneventful and by 10:15 am, we were heading up the steep west ridge of Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado at 14,433'. Steep off-trail ascents and descents of these mountains is commonplace in Nolan's, but this is one of the burliest, climbing 3000' in about 0.9 mile. By this point, it was just Julian, Brandt and me, as Robbie had turned around after Massive, and Adam and Erik were blazing ahead of us in the rain on a parallel ridge up Elbert. At 11:50 am, we stood on the summit, hit the appropriate buttons on our DeLorme and Spot beacons to alert our crews and followers that we'd summited peak #2 and were quickly off into the cold, light rain, following Erik and Adam's fresh footprints in the snow.

Despite the wet beginning, things were going according to plan. The off-trail descent traversing below Bull Hill, through the Golden Fleece Mine ruins and eventually on to the 2 mile road run on Rt. 82 went without a hitch. At 2:30 pm we jogged into the La Plata Trailhead to the encouraging cheers of our crews. 

Brandt and Me at the La Plata Tralhead

At this point, I guess it wasn't feeling too much different than an ultra-marathon, which can be approached as a run/hike between known aid stations, albeit, these were a bit farther apart. I'd also see Jennifer again pretty quickly, after one more climb up and down 14,336' La Plata Peak. As usual, Jennifer led me to the spot she had prepared for me, refreshed the food/water/gear in my pack, changed my shoes and socks, and got food and liquids into me for about 15 minutes and then the three of us were off, down the road to the trail up and down La Plata Peak.

Julian, Brandt and I heading out toward La Plata Peak

It was steep, but at least it was on trail, so we could turn our brains off for a while. Feeling good and in dry weather, we reached the La Plata summit at 5:20 pm and quickly began the talus hopping down the other side of the summit, hoping we could make it to the next aid at the ghost town of Winfield without headlamps, which we did just before 7:30pm. This was the turning point for me.

Crews at Winfield awaiting our arrival - Photo: Brad Olwin

Jogging into Winfield Aid

Coming into an aid station and seeing Jennifer always lifts my spirits, but leaving can be tough, especially when I'm having problems or knowing the next section is especially difficult. In this case, I came in feeling strong and confident and in the space of the 25 minutes I sat there, eating soup and pasta, drinking my Coke and Red Bull, and changing shoes and socks, my mood and outlook began to mirror the increasing darkness of early night. 

Prepping for a long overnight push - Photo: Brad Olwin

I knew that between Winfield and the next aid were 7 big mountains, 24+ hours and a long night. I was emotional as I shouldered my bigger pack and complained how heavy it was and Jenn immediately took it and removed some things to lighten the load a bit. It felt lighter, but my spirits didn't. Jenn walked with me down the road for a while and encouraged me.

Heading out of Winfield and into the Night

When I left her, I struggled to keep up with Julian and Brandt. I'd run up to them and before I knew it, they'd once again be 50 feet ahead. This continued on the road and on the climb up Mt. Huron. I stayed close, but it got in my head and got me concerned about being able to eat and drink enough while in such a constant rush just to keep up. One of the things I've learned is to do everything possible not to get in a caloric or hydration deficit in these long endeavors. Once you do, it's often impossible to catch back up. At the summit of Mt. Huron at 10:30 pm we met up with Adam and the four of us worked our way down the steep, loose, nasty east gully, boulder-hopped at the runout and followed Julian on the tricky route-finding to the faint trail that brought us down to Chlohesy Lake, where we'd find the trail up Mt. Missouri. Struggling to keep up the pace, I began to worry that I was falling behind on my calorie consumption, but I did stop to do a quick fill of my hydration bladder in a stream early on ascent of Missouri. I knew I would need it, as we'd be up high for the next 3 mountains, with no water access. The full 2 liters felt heavy on my back as we continued to climb.

Sometime between 2:00-2:30 am and about 500' below the summit of Missouri, Adam and I stopped to rest and we lost Julian and Brandt. Adam was no longer able to keep food down and told me to go on. I was now on my own. It was a pitch dark night with no moon, so fortunately I had a trail to follow, for the most part, and I got to summit of Missouri a little after 3:00 am. It was cold and windy, but not that bad, considering I was at over 14,000' at the coldest part of the day. After some indecision on which route to take over to Mt. Belford, I decided to take the safe, but longer route, descending down into Missouri Gulch, then re-ascending to Elk Pass and up to the summit of Mt. Belford, which I reached just before the red ribbon of sunrise lit up the horizon to begin Day 2 at about 5:50 am. There I stopped, put on every clothing layer I had, as the temp seemed to drop very suddenly, and ate and drank. I then proceeded off down the mountain in the wrong direction for about 10 minutes. Fortunately, it was getting light, otherwise who knows how long I would have gone before realizing my navigation error. 

Once I got back to the Belford summit for the second time, it was a quick trip over to Mt. Oxford...peak #7 and as it turned out, the last one for me on this excursion. By the time I got to Mt. Oxford at about 7:15 am, the solo decision-making and physical and mental (more mental in retrospect) exhaustion was taking its toll on my tired brain. The photo below from a route scouting hike in August is the view ahead, coming off Mt. Oxford, down into the Pine Creek basin, and Mt. Harvard ahead and is typical of what Nolan's 14 doles out...
...climb big mountain...
...big descent...
...climb big mountain...
...descent...
...repeat...and so on.
It wasn't this view that got me thinking about if and where I might bail, but the knowledge that after Harvard, there were two more mountains with big and rough ascents and descents and probably about another 12-14 hours before I'd get to the next aid and see Jenn again.

The Descent off Mt. Oxford into the Pine Creek Basin with Mt. Harvard Next

Looking back at my GPS track, I now realize that I actually made respectable time navigating my way off the mountain into the remote Pine Creek basin, but it didn't feel that way at the time. I began to feel that I was wasting way too much time stopping repeatedly to check my GPS and maps, changing clothing layering, eating, drinking, tightening my shoe laces and various gear-fiddling. I started irrationally trying to think of ways to contact Jennifer to discuss my situation. I had an old cell phone, which I was using as a music player. I knew it wasn't connected to any cell network, not that I was within many miles of connectivity anyway. Then I figured for a moment that I could send her an email over wifi. What the hell was I thinking? Was there was a Starbucks nearby?! Was I in any shape to be making serious decisions in the mountains thinking stuff like this? I suppose this is the beginning of delirium.

I was having thoughts of quitting in that beautiful, but No Man's Land of Pine Creek Basin. It's probably one of the worst places to consider bailing, and that's saying a lot on a route with a lot of bad options to bail. Reversing course for a 3000' climb back up Mt. Oxford, then back to Belford and down that mountain makes no sense. The hike out along the gentle terrain of the Pine Creek Trail is 10 miles, and the prospect of climbing up Mt. Harvard and onward, either out the Hornfork Basin or up and over Mts. Columbia and Yale was quickly starting to seem insurmountable to me. 

The day was warming up and I was literally in the middle of nowhere, so I made the smart choice to continue toward Mt. Harvard by crossing Pine Creek and start picking my way through the thick trees and deadfall at the base of the mountain at 9:30 am. In 30 minutes (it felt like 2 hours), I'd made it to treeline and stopped to access the route, my condition and the weather. There were dark clouds coming over the ridges to the west and approaching. Then I made the rash poor decision that it would not be smart, moving as slowly as I thought I was, to be ascending the third-highest mountain in Colorado with questionable weather approaching. So, I made the final decision to turn around and call it quits right there, 29 hours, 52 miles and 23,000' total ascent into my attempt at Nolan's 14 and begin the 10 mile walk of shame out via the Pine Creek Trail.

Elevation over distance. Blue line end of the road this time.

About an hour from the trailhead, Jennifer, who had been watching my movements from my Spot beacon met me on the trail.

The End

So happy to see her, but more than a little ashamed to be meeting her here, rather than at the next aid meet-up. She valiantly tried to talk sense into me to turn around and keep going. There was still plenty of time, she told me, I looked strong she told me, the weather was beautiful she told me, I can go back and get Mt. Harvard and then decide if I could get others she told me. I was having none of it. I was done and that was that.

I have regrets. I try to avoid regrets. I have come to grips with the fact that I just was not mentally prepared for the combination of challenges it presented. I've spent a decade gaining experience being in the mountains, I've dealt with route-finding, I've managed pain in ultra-marathons, I am well acclimatized to altitude, I'm fit. But the combination of all of these things at once, along with the fact that I've never felt what it's like doing a single push of more than 30 hours and being alone with no aid for many many many hours and miles over difficult terrain and having to make all decisions solo, while being mentally exhausted was too much on this day.

I should have laid down in the woods at the base of Mt. Harvard and taken a 30-45 minute nap. Upon awakening, I would have seen that the weather threat had passed and maybe I would have felt just refreshed enough to push on. Lesson learned.

Nolan's 14 is more like an adventure race than an ultra-marathon. In an ultra-marathon, the course is generally well marked, on trails of some sort and laid out for you. A prepared competitor is very familiar with the course, but there's generally not much in the way of route-finding. There are also well-stocked aid stations every 7-10 miles. When you run into pain, you have to deal with that and not a whole lot more. In something like Nolan's you're on your own for long periods of time, most of the time not on trails and often you're alone deep in the mountains. Although there are a lot of similarities, there are very meaningful differences in the combination of challenges that need to be dealt with. Lesson learned.

I'm fairly certain I'd like to give it another shot. Stay tuned.

Huge thanks to Jennifer for encouraging me to try this and investing so much of her time and effort to support my attempt and all that goes into prepping for it for months, to Julian Smith for teaching me what he's learned in his experience on Nolan's, and to Lisa Smith for driving us to trailheads on scouting treks and for gathering us up at the other end.

Nolan's 14 Charitable Cause

Nolan's Charitable Cause Opportunity

I will be donating $15 for each peak that I summit to the Colorado 14ers Initiative.
The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative is a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and preserve the natural integrity of Colorado's fourteen thousand foot peaks through active stewardship and public education.

If you'd also like to support the effort with a donation for each peak I successfully summit on my Nolan's 14 attempt (even $1 or $2 a peak, would be helpful to maintain these beautiful natural environments) please dontate thru their website link.

Thank you for considering this.

Nolan's 14

This Friday at 5:00 am MT John starts his attempt on Nolan’s 14. This one is not a race, nor an organized event. Nolan’s 14 is a “run” over 14 peaks over 14,000 feet in Colorado’s Sawatch range, from Mt. Massive to Mt. Shavano in either direction (dreamt up in the late 90’s by Jim Nolan, Blake Wood, Fred Vance in response to the question “How many 14ers could you put in a point-to-point 100-mile course?”).

Elevation over distance profile for Nolan's 14

  

You can choose your own route between summits, most routes are around 100ish miles with 44,000 ft. of climb and descent. There is no defined route; just the start, finish, and 14 summits. Most of the course is between 10k and 14k feet except where it drops down to 9k' for about 5 miles. There are a lot of miles above treeline and much of the course is navigating off-trail travel. There will be 2 full nights on the course. Sleep is unlikely, though a couple of 30 minute catnaps may happen along the way if necessary. Cutoff is 60 hours to the last summit, that’ll be Sunday at 5:00 pm MT for John. Only 16 people have ever completed the route in 60 hours, approximately a 15% finish rate. Check out the site here: http://mattmahoney.net/nolans14/
Also a couple good articles:
January 2015 National Geographic
September 2014 Outside Magazine

I’m so proud of him. This is a big one. He’s got the backcountry skills, the endurance skills, and the fitness to pull this off. It’s bound to be an interesting (and strange at times) adventure. Go Get It John, we’re all cheering for you!

So, as you’re firing up the grill, hanging at the beach, or enjoying some cold ones this Labor Day weekend, send him some love and energy (and then the next day too! and then the following day as well!). It’s gonna be a long one! You can follow along on his Spot device here: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0ztH6ORckq5cGu8XlGfYOyC5nn6enHVEP

John will also be supporting the Colorado 14ers Initiative. If you'd also like to help, please click here for more information.

#nolans14 #n14 #sawatch #colorado #gogetitjohn