New Hance Rapids

Its taken me a while to get this up, but two weekends ago, Jacob and I headed down the Grandview trail, then followed the Tonto to New Hance Rapids.  As always the scenery was incredible and a few flowers blooming made the view even better.  Only a week after the Georgia Death Race, this was a totally experience as I had time to slow down, take in the view, and stop to snack.  The whole trip put me in a rather reflective mood, so I'll share some of the thoughts I pondered.

Indian Paintbrush in bloom

The Tonto Trail

Looking out across the Tonto Platform

Some cactus in bloom

As we made our way down to the river, we stopped a few time to look at flowers, take some picture, and just appreciate the view.  After racing just a week earlier, I was thankful for the chances to stop as there were times the previous weekend when I wished I could slow down and explore a little instead of pushing on.  This got me thinking about running as a whole...specifically what I loved the most.  

Initially I got into running because I enjoyed joining my mom for runs in the woods and loved our hiking and backpacking trips which took us across many beautiful places.  Reflecting on that, I realized the spending time with my family and enjoying the scenery were a couple main reasons why I run.  And these thoughts were more in line with the current trip in the Grand Canyon which offered a chance to soak up the beauty around me and spend some time with my brother than the Georgia Death Race.  So does this mean I don't like to race as much?

Well, I realized I don't like to race as frequently.  Over the last few years I found myself running more and more, and racing more and more.  This seemed like the natural progression but I've realized I had lost a little bit of the excitement those last couple years.  Races kept coming up and I wanted to run them all, it just felt like I didn't have time to get excited for them.  Looking specifically at the Georgia Death Race, I asked myself if I was excited?  Yes!  I hadn't raced since Bighorn in June so getting to race again was an awesome experience for me.  I was excited to run, excited to see how far I could push myself, excited for the whole experience.  Over our trip in the Grand Canyon, I realized I love to push myself as far as I can.  For me, this is the true thrill of racing.  But I realized that it takes a huge physical and mental effort to push hard during a race, and that I can only give that effort once in a while.

So do I like to race as much as simply enjoy the outdoors?  Yes, but spending time enjoying the outdoors will probably be a bigger part of my running over the years to come.  I love exploring new places and soaking up great views which is something I strive to do as often as I can.  If fact, I'm blessed to have the change to soak up a beautiful view every day here in Flagstaff, Arizona.  But racing is still important to me as many of my best memories are from racing.  So with racing, I'm simply trying to find the balance where I get to race, but feel fully prepared and excited to run.  Over the years, I have said my running is much more than just racing.  I find that statement to be more true now than ever before.  And I that finding the balance between exploring and racing has made me a happier person.

Running down to New Hance Rapids

The River

Some rapids upstream of New Hance Rapids

You can't quite appreciate the river's power until right next to it

Exploring a neat side canyon 

After reflecting on adventuring versus racing, I was capture but the thrill of the Western States 100.  I can't quite express what it means for me to be heading to California in June.  The race is the most storied ultra on Earth, and is known to all in the ultra community.  Its the proving ground for ultra runners, where they can see how they stack up against each other.  So to get a chance to see how I can do against the best of the best is a huge thrill.  Racing is about pushing myself as far as I can, but I'm competitive too, so I'll be aiming high when I head to Squaw Valley.  I'm thrilled about getting to run the race, but I'm even happier at the excitement I'm finding in my running.  Some days, I can hardly wait till June.  It will be an awesome day when race day comes.

Climbing out the next morning

Those Cottonwood trees are just so green

More cactus blooms

The Georgia Death Race

At 6:45 I woke to the familiar beep of my Suunto.  I had slept well that night with no trouble falling asleep, and as I got out of bed I was excited of the day ahead.  Mom fried up a couple eggs for breakfast which I enjoyed with an avocado.  We were staying in a cabin at Vogel State Park where the race started, so it was only a short walk to check-in in the morning and to pick up our railroad spike, which we all carried along the run.  I headed to the start line a few minutes before 8, just in time to hear Sean "Run Bum" Blanton's pre-race speech before we took off into the hills.  I wasn't sure what to expect from the race as I hadn't raced since Bighorn in June, but race morning found me calm and confident.

An easy walk the day before

The pace was pretty comfortable on the initial one mile climb and couple mile descent that followed. Once we hit the long climb up to Coosa Bald, we started to pick up the pace a little and ended up climbing pretty hard all the way to the top.  As we started the climb, Michael Owen, Brian Rusiecki, and I started to pull away from the field and by the top of the climb it was just Brian and I with Michael perhaps a minute behind.  After cresting Coosa, I started rolling on the downhill and quickly pulled away from Brian.

As I made my way down the Duncan Ridge trail, I focused on running fast on the downhills, and staying efficient on the climbs, whether this be running or hiking.  I moved well for the first 20 miles of the race and soon turned down the short out and back section to Skeenah Gap.  The trail descended around 800 feet in 1.25 miles which went by fast on the descent but was a little slower coming back up.  I started passing runners on the way back up and figured that Caleb Denton was about 6 minutes back and Michael Owen and Brian Rusiecki were about 11 minutes back.  This was a pretty solid lead at that point, but I focused on running the climb well and trying to put on a little more time before I reached Point Bravo at mile 28.  Ultimately, I race to see how well I can do, but I'm a competitive guy so I knew that I needed to build a lead on the Duncan Ridge if I wanted to win the race.

I went through the Point Bravo aid station pretty fast with the help of my stellar crew and soon was alone again on the trails.  Only a minute after I left Point Bravo I thought I heard cheering.  Coming into Point Bravo was one of two small mental lows, so in the back of my mind I think I was worried about losing time to the field.  Anyhow, this gave me a good boost and I ended up climbing strong over Tooni Mountain and descended quickly down to the Swinging Bridge.

At this point, I was pretty sure that whatever cheering I heard wasn't for another runner.  Still, I focused on climbing strong over the next few miles, knowing the more runnable sections of gravel road later on would be tough to maintain a lead on.  The next 4 or 5 miles of trail climbed up along a ridge, occasionally rolling down the backside of a knob before continuing the ascent.

I rolled into the next aid station feeling much stronger than at Point Bravo and tried to make my stay as short as possible.  To this point I'd been drinking exclusively water, but I ended up filling up with Gatorade at the aid station.  This ended up being a good move as I drank perhaps 5-6 bottles of gatorade the rest of the day.

The next section of trail was largely rolling so I knew I needed so stay focused and run strong.  This section went fairly well as I moved along at a good pace and managed to sort out my electrolytes.  I got behind a little early on, which is why the gatorade tasted so good, so I really focused on taking care on myself during this section.  The section rolled along and soon I reached the big meadow where we turned off on the Benton Mackaye Trail and headed onto gravel roads.  There was short steeper descent down from the meadow for a half mile, so I pushed hard on this section know there would be many places for me to pick up time for a while.

I rolled into the next aid station filled up with some gatorade and took off onto 5 miles or gravel road.  The road rolled along winding across the hillside and I made fairly good time.  I was happy how well I was running, knowing this would be one of my weakest sections.  I also focused on getting my electrolytes dialed in as I still could feel I didn't have the right balance.  I figured I was low on electrolytes, but I didn't want to make the mistake of getting too much.  To make sure I actually need salt, I bit and S-cap in half and sucked on in with some water.  It was salty, but the salt tasted good so I soon washed it down with some gatorade.  I kept rolling along and made sure that I ate one more gel before the aid station.  A couple times earlier, I felt a little low on energy, but eating a gel soon helped so I knew I need to keep eating and have a steady supply of energy.  Soon I rolled into Winding Stair Gap, met my crew, and headed out.

I wasn't feeling great at this point, but I tried to run hard down the initial road descent to give me some confidence.  This section went well for little while, but soon the road began to level off and we turned onto some rolling trail.  This was the second section of the race that I had a mental low, but managed to keep pushing down to the Jake Bull aid station.  I moved through Jake Bull fairly quickly and soon was on the last 18 mile stretch to the finish.

Starting down the East Ridge Trail

At this point, I finally started to feel the finish.  I was hoping to feel the pull after leaving Winding Stair but that section was a struggle.  I continued on some rolling trail, but was running everything strong now and soon popped out on a gravel road.  This turned onto the one significant section of paved road on the course which rolled along for 3 miles.  I made good time here and continued to run strong on the rolling gravel road that followed.  I knew Run Bum had said that the actual climb up to the last aid station was 3 miles long, so I waited until I was sure I was climbing before I allowed myself to think I was 3 miles from the aid station.  The climb was a long grind, but all runnable, so I ran.  I remembered this section from coming down it last year(reverse route), but didn't really know any landmarks.  Eventually I reached the aid station after a solid climb and made my way out as fast as I could.

From here we climbed up an old road which soon leveled off.  I felt strong on this climb and made sure to force down one more gel before I started the descent.  The road soon leveled off and there began to descend.  As I continued along, the road became progressively more maintained, but I felt confident I was running strong enough that anyone behind me would have trouble catching up.  As the road continued I focused on just making it to the lodge at Amicalola and then worrying about the last few miles.  The course turned off the road and I followed the marking along a trail that led up to the lodge and the top of the east ridge trail.

Starting the last climb

Climbing up the stairs along Amicalola Falls

I saw Dad and Jacob here and they gave me a cheer as I went by which gave me a pretty big boost.  I headed down the east ridge trail and soon was at the bottom.  Mom was waiting here and gave me some encouragement as I began the climb back up Amicalola Falls.  I knew there first half was a paved path so I committed to running all of this section.  I passed a few people out for the day, but maintained my focus on pushing hard on up the switchbacks.  Then I hit the step and it was time to hike.  I took them on two at a time and made my way up pretty quickly.  The steps were going well until about halfway up and then I started to feel tired.  Still, I knew I was only a couple hundred vertical feet from the top, so I put my head down and powered up the last few flights.  Dad and Jacob were here and gave me a cheer as I went by.  Then I ran down the road for a quarter mile and turned off onto the west ridge trail.  The trail was little technical but not too bad so I ran down this section pretty well.  At this point I knew the race was almost done so I was starting so soak up the day and enjoy the last few minutes.  Soon the trail came down along the creek, and I could see the finish.  I splashed through the creek (using the bridge was deemed to easy by Run Bum) and was done.

A mile from the finish

No need for a bridge

Soaking it all, beneath a beautiful sunset

As always, I owe a huge thank you to my family for crewing for me and to all the volunteers who made the day possible.  Additionally, thanks to all the people who wished me the best and were cheering for me on race day.  Also, a big thanks to Salomon for providing me with great gear to run in, and to Injinji for great socks that kept my feet happy all day long.

The men's podium

The recovery begins!

Clear Creek

Last weekend Jacob and I took off for the Grand Canyon planning to head down to Clear Creek and spend the night.  After a cold week in Flagstaff, we were looking forward to some warmer temperatures in the canyon, but on the drive over we watched the thermometer slowly sink to 0 before rising up to the mid 20s when we got to the park.  After parking the car we at the visitors center we took the shuttle to the Kaibab Trailhead and took off into the canyon.  Actually we started fairly gingerly as there was still a bit of snow on the trail.

Halfway down

We made it down to the river in less than an hour and a half and soon were at Phantom Ranch where we filled up our bottles and headed up the trail.  After turning off on the Clear Creek trail we took a quick break to eat and then were back underway.  The day heated up a little at times as we made our way along the Tonto Platform but there was almost always a nice little breeze to keep us cool.  We moved along pretty quickly and soon found ourselves heading down the red hillside into Clear Creek.  We reached the creek and decided to head upstream a ways where there are some Native American ruins at the foot of a canyon wall.

The Zoroaster Temple

Hanging out by the ruins

Pretty fascinating to think about

After eating a late afternoon snack at the Native American ruins and taking some time to check them out, we headed back down the stream and looked for a place to camp.  We found a nice spot for the bivy sacks, ate dinner, then wandered down the creek a little ways before we crawled into the bags and  went to sleep.  Of course at 6:30, we weren't all that tired so we watched the stars for a while before settling down to sleep.  Clear Creek was definitely warmer than our night in the Mazatzal Mountains, but camping by the creek lead to a bit more humidity and condensation was soon forming on the inside of my bag.  The way to deal with condensation is to open up your bivy sack and get more air flow, but this also means a colder night.  Fortunately, it wasn't all that cold and I slept nearly the entire night without waking up.

When morning came we packed up quickly and were soon on the trail heading of the Clear Creek drainage.  Breakfast was chilly but it didn't take long for us to warm up on the climb and start shedding clothes.  After a couple short stop to lose some clothes, we were cruising along the Tonto Platform enjoying a warm sunny morning in the canyon.  We didn't see anyone until we were descending down toward Phantom Ranch where we filled up our bottles and started the climb back up to the South Rim.

Morning

Getting under way

Up and out

The Tonto Platform

Just upstream from Phantom Ranch

We started the hike up to the South Rim and decided to just eat on the walk to save some time so we munched on sunflower seeds, dried fruit, and jerky for the first section of the climb.  Once we reached the Tipoff we caught up with a group of mules who were only a couple hundred yards ahead of us.  Initially we were worried we'd be eating dust to the rim, but as soon as we caught up to the mules the skinners stopped the train and let us by.  What great guys!  Jacob and I continued on the long sunny section up to Skeleton Ridge and then on to Cedar Ridge where the cool air from the rim was finally starting to come down.  The climb was pretty uneventful as we saw quite a few people and mostly just chugged along.  The one mind boggling thing was the people, well, the canyon is mind boggling too.  First, you have no clue how many people where yak tracks to the bottom on the Canyon.  Maybe the first mile was icy.  Also there was this older dude who was wheeling something like a wheelbarrow full of stuff down the Kaibab.  I kid you not.  First, I don't think you can have wheeled vehicles in the canyon.  Second, how was he going get that think out?  Last, if your one mile into the canyon after noon, I sure hope you can make it to the bottom.  Anyhow, we were nearly out and ready to jog the last couple miles along the rim back to the car when we hit mule train number 2.  These were not the supply mules this time, but the touring group.  Anyhow, I have no doubt they cost us 15 minutes in the last quarter mile.  I don't think mules should be in the canyon at all, but this group really pissed us off.  Anyhow, we enjoyed a quick jog along the rim and hopped in the car much sooner than anticipated.

Nearly out

The Mazatzal Mountains

With snow all around Flagstaff and a rainy snowy mix likely for Sunday morning in the Grand Canyon, Jacob and I headed south to the Mazatzal mountains just outside of Payson.  Snow covered the ground for a long time leaving Flagstaff but once we hit the trailhead, we took off on bare ground.  The warm breeze that soon started up joined us as we climbed up trail 44 into the mountains, occasionally looking back toward the Mogollon Rim on the horizon.  We hiked up the first few miles crossing  numerous small creeks caused by the runoff from the recent snow.  Soon we hit some snow, but the travel was easy as someone had already broken the trail.  Stepping footprint to footprint, we made our way up toward the pass.  After cresting the pass we took off to the north on a bare trail that was a little overgrown in areas.  Soon we turned around a ridge and found ourselves on a north-slope hiking through snow.  The trail we were planning to take turned off to the left up a snow covered ridge, but I quickly realized that we needed to reassess our plans and try to stay on the snow free trails as much as possible.

The Mongollon Rim

Our first dose of snow

One of a few beautiful peaks

Some north side snow

We continued on the main trail and found it progressively more overgrown with brush.  The problem in central Arizona is there is a lot of manzanita and shrub live oak(manzanita with sharp leaves) and apparently no trail crews.  This really made me appreciate the work of Ed Willson and the Waldo trail crews he organizes who put in countless hours clearing the trails around Willamette Pass. We continued pushing through brush, occasionally finding chances to run open stretches, and then hiking through snow on all the north facing slopes.  Eventually we passed trail 43 which we intended to head out on.  We pulled out the map and there was no easy loop available so we realized we'd have to hike up the trail that afternoon and back down it in the morning, or head down trail 42 to another trailhead then follow trail 288 along the foot of the mountain range to get back to the car.  Even with the other trail as an option, we wouldn't be able to make any kind of loop as I intended.  We continued until around 4:30 and made dinner and prepared for the night.

We camped by this creek

Our socks were wet from all the snow so we tried to dry them as we boiled water, but that didn't work.  Over dinner we planned to make our way out as quickly as we could as the trail seemed to get progressively more overgrown and snow covered.  As we set up our bivy sacks, the setting sun brought on a rather chilly breeze that made us realize we were in for a cold night.  I knew it would be pretty cold, so I suggested that we build a fire.  After checking the forest regulations on the backside of the map, we started to gather up some pine needles and scratch out a place for the fire.  We built a quick a ring and then lit up some pine needles with the lighter and carefully coaxed them into a flame.  We slowly added more until we got a pine cone burning and then went in search for wood to pile on.  As darkness settled in we got a good sized fire going which was putting out a bit of heat.  We scooted the bivy sacks up close and headed to bed around 7 (its dark early and there's not much to do when its dark).  At 11, we were both cold and woke up so we restoked the fire, talked, warmed up and headed back to bed around midnight.  We piled up a bunch on pine cones for future use and loaded them on at 3 when we woke up again.  Fortunately this lasted us until 6 when we got up.

Getting the fire started

You gotta love a good fire

Especially at midnight when its keeping you warm

After a quick breakfast, we headed off in search of trail 42 which we thought we passed shortly before we set up camp.  We turned onto trail 42 and soon expected to crest the ridge and head down.  Only we continued to wind along the hillside.  Eventually we crossed the same creek we had camped by farther upstream.  This wasn't good so we pulled out the map.  We soon saw we must have walked by trail 42 so we turned back and headed back in search of trail 42.  With lots of snow on the ground we explored a few false starts but soon realized we weren't going to find trail 42, so we resolved to head out on trail 43.  We hiked along pushing through brush and crunching through snow, which with the warmth of the day was now in perfect condition for postholes.  We reached trail 43 and turned down the canyon hoping to get out quickly.  I expected trail 42 to head down the canyon but in contoured along the hillside for a long time before finally descending.  The north slope we hiked along was mostly snow coated with and icy crust on top, so we punched through every step a layer of ice before sinking in a foot or so.  I wasn't too happy because this hard on the shins and really slow going.  After endless snowfields, we eventually made our way into the canyon and out of the snow.  With the Mongollon Rim on the horizon and the parking lot in sight below us, we ran down the last couple miles to the car.  We were planning to head out early and maybe sneak in a run on the Highline Trail(Zane Grey course and south facing), but by the end we were thankful to be able cruise in the last few miles and get to the car.  The Mazatzal Mountains were worth seeing, but sadly the terrible trail conditions(snow excluded) will probably keep us from heading back.

Starting through the snow

Some beautiful morning views

So much fun!

Winding down the last descent

Looking back up the trail

A nice falls just a few miles from the car