Left the house at 3:30 Sunday morning headed for Twin Lakes. Got there about a half hour before I was supposed to meet up with the rest of the group who was camping up there. Met them all at the SE ridge trailhead at about 6:30 and we started up a few minutes before 7. Steep switchbacks dominated until we crossed the creek for the first time and got into the meadow. We hiked the meadow until treeline and things got really steep after that. Finally gained the ridge after essentially hiking straight up the drainage. I think everybody in our group mentioned it would have been nice to have a few switchbacks mixed in that section.
Once on the ridge, it was a pretty quick hike over to South Elbert at ~14,100. We didn't stop here long since the view from there to the ridge around to the real summit is pretty daunting. We took off down the saddle and started the climb up the final pitch. The first section was pretty steep but nothing like the drainage from earlier. The final climb was broken into 3 sections with a quick steep ascent, then a more mellow flat area, almost like stairs up to the summit. We finally reached the summit in around 4:25 and ate and waited for the last of our crew who from the outset said he wasn't going to keep our pace.
After hanging out for close to an hour we got a little worried that our last man hadn't made it up yet and were getting ready to head down the trail looking for him when we spotted him climbing the last couple switchbacks for the East trail. Somehow he had managed to get over there trying to avoid the climb out of the saddle between South and Elbert. He finally summitted and grabbed a few bites to eat before we headed back down.
The route down to the saddle and back up to South Elbert was more elevation gain than I remembered coming down earlier (isn't it always that way at 14k feet?), but we made quick work of it and reach the ridgeline where it was time to drop down the drainage toward treeline. It wasn't fun coming up and it might have been worse coming down with all the scree and dust in the steep trail. Once back down to the meadow it was pretty smooth sailing back to the trailhead. The temps got more and more oppressive as we lost altitude and I dipped my hat in the creek both times we crossed it for some air conditioning. Made it back down to the trailhead and the full trip was completed in 7:54. Most of that time was over 13k feet with all of the ridgeline traversing on that route. Good times!
saturday 7/24
Cliff notes: Blodgett Peak fail.
Headed over to the west side this morning to tackle a peak on the north end of town that I've never been up. Trail started out on a service road in the open space and dead ended into a single track trail near some old water works.
After heading up a drainage for about 10 minutes, I crossed the drainage and moved onto the east facing slope of Blodgett Peak. The trail petered out here and I was left to scramble up the boulderfield. Felt ok until I got to the top when it was just a scramble up a scree slope with no real trail to go by. I gained the northeast ridge but could see that I still had another few hundred feet of vertical to go with no trail.
At this point, I decided to start the slide down the scree slopes instead of continuing on. I made it back down to the water tank and the double track service road and back to the parking lot.
I looked up the routes when I got back home and saw the error in my ways. There is certainly a "route" to the top via the boulderfields, but you make it up as you go. The standard route continues up the drainage instead of traversing over to the east slope of the peak. I'll make sure I stay straight next time.
Took me almost 3 hours to cover 3.5 mi with a lot of backtracking in attempt to find some semblance of a trail around the boulderfield.
Headed over to the west side this morning to tackle a peak on the north end of town that I've never been up. Trail started out on a service road in the open space and dead ended into a single track trail near some old water works.
After heading up a drainage for about 10 minutes, I crossed the drainage and moved onto the east facing slope of Blodgett Peak. The trail petered out here and I was left to scramble up the boulderfield. Felt ok until I got to the top when it was just a scramble up a scree slope with no real trail to go by. I gained the northeast ridge but could see that I still had another few hundred feet of vertical to go with no trail.
At this point, I decided to start the slide down the scree slopes instead of continuing on. I made it back down to the water tank and the double track service road and back to the parking lot.
I looked up the routes when I got back home and saw the error in my ways. There is certainly a "route" to the top via the boulderfields, but you make it up as you go. The standard route continues up the drainage instead of traversing over to the east slope of the peak. I'll make sure I stay straight next time.
Took me almost 3 hours to cover 3.5 mi with a lot of backtracking in attempt to find some semblance of a trail around the boulderfield.
friday 7/23
Counter clockwise loop around the golf course again this morning. 4 mi in a casual 46 minutes.
Gonna go check out Blodgett Peak in the morning. 5.5 mi round trip with 2400' gain! Climbing the southeast ridge of Mt. Elbert on Sunday with 5300' and plenty of time above 13k feet.
Breaking news: Leashes only work when you actually hook them up to your dog.
As I rounded a corner this morning some lady had a leash in her hand and a dog walking next to her. Unhooked. Her dog was quite interested in Boomer and as I tried to cross the street, her dog continued to follow. I stopped and she just kinda stared like I should do something about it. I turned and ran back to the curb with her dog in tow and tried several times to continue on my way but her dog kept following... into freaking traffic. She chased the dog in circles around me 3 or 4 times before her mutt finally realized that it was in trouble and stopped. Awesome!
Gonna go check out Blodgett Peak in the morning. 5.5 mi round trip with 2400' gain! Climbing the southeast ridge of Mt. Elbert on Sunday with 5300' and plenty of time above 13k feet.
Breaking news: Leashes only work when you actually hook them up to your dog.
As I rounded a corner this morning some lady had a leash in her hand and a dog walking next to her. Unhooked. Her dog was quite interested in Boomer and as I tried to cross the street, her dog continued to follow. I stopped and she just kinda stared like I should do something about it. I turned and ran back to the curb with her dog in tow and tried several times to continue on my way but her dog kept following... into freaking traffic. She chased the dog in circles around me 3 or 4 times before her mutt finally realized that it was in trouble and stopped. Awesome!
7/21 incline
Got to lower Ruxton a few minutes after 6 and jogged up to the top of the Cog parking lot. Felt really good on the lower half and then blew up above the bail trail. Stopped my watch at 51:38 on the top. Easy run down Barr and then back down Ruxton to the car.
A touch over 4 mi on the outing in 1:33.
A touch over 4 mi on the outing in 1:33.
monday 7/19
4 mi around the golf course. Took the counter clockwise loop today and it proves to be much more difficult with a pretty significant climb over the 3/4mi or so up the hill on Constitution. Managed to run all of it and felt pretty good.
sunday 7/18
Got a late start up Barr to get up as high as I wanted to take pics of the BTMR action so I settled in at the turn for the 2nd switchback. Ended up being a pretty good spot. After the race went by, I wasn't keen on hanging out there for at least the next hour so I headed down to the finish. Found a pretty good spot to grab pics there and took quite a few of the finishers coming into the line.
Headed home, made some breakfast, watched Le Tour, and took a nap. As the afternoon turned to evening, I was itching to do something since I didn't get near enough work in the morning. I put the shorts on, grabbed the dog, and headed over to Palmer for a run around the loop that we usually bike on. Ended up with 4.5 mi in an hour at a very casual pace. Not sure if it was the clouds or what, but it seemed like it got dark awfully fast after the sun tucked behind the front range. Made it back home at 9 and caught a few minutes of BTMR coverage on the news.
Headed home, made some breakfast, watched Le Tour, and took a nap. As the afternoon turned to evening, I was itching to do something since I didn't get near enough work in the morning. I put the shorts on, grabbed the dog, and headed over to Palmer for a run around the loop that we usually bike on. Ended up with 4.5 mi in an hour at a very casual pace. Not sure if it was the clouds or what, but it seemed like it got dark awfully fast after the sun tucked behind the front range. Made it back home at 9 and caught a few minutes of BTMR coverage on the news.
wednesday 7/14 - incline
Up early and headed over to Manitou. The thermometer in my Jeep read 75F when I left the house at 5:30! However, it stayed mostly cloudy for the hike up the Incline and was quite comfortable. Up in 51:29, easy jog back down to Ruxton. Times are far from impressive but I've taken over 10 minutes off since I started going over there on Wednesday mornings last month.
Was up late watching Le Tour and got up early this morning. Time for coffee. Even now that Lance is out, I'm so completely invested in the race and I can't stop watching it. Epic stuff.
Was up late watching Le Tour and got up early this morning. Time for coffee. Even now that Lance is out, I'm so completely invested in the race and I can't stop watching it. Epic stuff.
getting close
... and I'm way behind the curve. I've been making twice weekly trips to Manitou to do the incline and then some. Last Saturday, I decided to get some time in on the real course. I hit sub 5 hr splits up to No Name and took it really easy to the 7.8 sign where I was down about 4 minutes. Turned around there and fried my quads all the way back into Manitou.
A few other runs sprinkled in around those trips to the west side of town but nothing terribly exciting to speak of.
In other news, I quit chewing Copenhagen almost two months ago. Bad news is I didn't quit eating. Gained a few lbs in the process but it beats lip cancer!
Will hit the incline tomorrow morning and then go up to Barr Camp on Saturday. Might also head up early on Sunday to scope out the BTMR and snap pics for a couple hours.
A few other runs sprinkled in around those trips to the west side of town but nothing terribly exciting to speak of.
In other news, I quit chewing Copenhagen almost two months ago. Bad news is I didn't quit eating. Gained a few lbs in the process but it beats lip cancer!
Will hit the incline tomorrow morning and then go up to Barr Camp on Saturday. Might also head up early on Sunday to scope out the BTMR and snap pics for a couple hours.
