Apparently it isn't a thru-hike for us until one of us needs to see a doctor. We have pulled off trail in West Yellowstone for (hopefully) a day for Sara to get some stomach pain checked out. The doctor here is incredibly understanding of our hiking schedule and was able to get her multiple prescriptions in case the first doesn't work. I have also started feeling a bit nauseous, like my first symptoms last year, so I'll get in as well, but hopefully back on trail shortly!
The morning hiking into Old Faithful was incredible. We hiked into, and through, the Shoshone Geyser Basin. Like the Old Faithful area this was a thermal area with boiling water and sulfur mist spouting up in random places and collecting in crystal clear pools with blue and copper colored walls. While not as explosive as the Old Faithful basin, we got to walk right through this area. We were close enough that we felt nervous about the sturdiness of the trail in some spots, especially when our poles made a hollow sound upon striking the ground.
We reached Old Faithful in time for lunch and grabbed our box from the PO. The backcountry office let us take over their porch to go through all our food, then leave our packs while we played tourist for a bit. There were so many people! We watched Old Faithful do it's thing then found some food before continuing on to our last spot in the park.
On the way to our camp at Summit Lake we saw multiple trees stripped of bark by grizzlies looking for ants and grubs. Sara took it as a good sign that maybe the bears were so full of food that they wouldn't eat us. I saw it as the bears were so desperate for food they had to tear apart trees, which meant we would be attractive. Fortunately we finished the loooong day to camp with no incident.
The next day we headed out of the park and through a lot of what burned in 1988. Sara was feeling pretty rough by this point, but we still managed to hit our mileage on our way to West Yellowstone. The trail drastically changed as far as moisture is concerned. As soon as we left Summit Lake the ground dried out. We ended up on some snowmobile routes the rest of the way into town, which were also very dry. I had miscalculated our water carrying to the point we started getting a little worried, but fortunately found some just before I would have had to run a few miles off trail to a spring. Aside from that we had a fairly mellow cruise into West Yellowstone.
We are now camped at the Grizzly RV park looking on with envy at the zip line adventure course. We did find ice cream though so for now we are stationary and happy. Sorry for the lack of pictures on this post, but we don't have a way to get pics up currently.
More from Lima,
Forrest and Sara
Friday, July 18, 2014
A Moist Wind Rivers and Yellowstone
Sara and I are currently in West Yellowstone, but this is the post we tried to put up from Old Faithful, if we had internet:
"We just finished eating one of the greatest on trail desserts in thru-hiking history (self-proclaimed). Since we are resupplying at Old Faithful tomorrow we needed to finish some food so we mixed chocolate and vanilla pudding with Nutella and peanut butter. That was an excellent cap to a 22.7 mile day in Yellowstone.
The resumption of our hike has so far gone pretty well. Neither of us feel like we have been out ten days, yet here we are. We have decided that we would much rather start a long hike in the mountainous trails, even if it involves snow and river crossings, than a desert cross-country/road walk like last year. Our bodies, despite the aches and pains normal to thru-hiking, are much happier.
Amber dropped us off at the Big Sandy trailhead 10 days ago and we headed north for a 130 mile stretch in the Wind River range in WY. We were concerned about our fitness and ability to make miles over the snow, but fortunately had a fairly "easy" first two days of 14 and 20 miles with little snow. The next day, however, the Winds struck back. We crossed over a snow covered Lester Pass early in the morning then continued to hike and route find through a large valley on the way to the more snow covered Shannon Pass. From the start of that climb, and for the next 5-7 miles, we hiked in solid snow, which meant a lot of time in our microspikes. Solid as in we could not see the ground, not solid as far as footing goes. Random post holes were frequent and jarring. Fortunately the scenery in that area is breathtaking. Huge bowls are still completely snow laden and we could tell we were the only two up there (aside from the two unhappy looking gentlemen heading downhill on our way up). From the top of Shannon Pass we opted to do a traverse across an...interesting snowfield to the next valley/pass instead of dropping and climbing 1000'. Turns out the trail was not a PUD (pointless up and down) but rather avoided the even more sketchy traverse and descent on the backside. I had one slightly bad fall and one that spooked me pretty bad and left me flat on my back, head downhill and leg stuck in the snow. That fall left me with a tweaked knee that has been on and off swelling.
Since that section our snow travel has decreased drastically to almost non-existent. We made good time the rest of the way through that section, survived a "no room for error creek crossing," and were relieved to see a bridge over the very swollen Green River. We got to Brooks Lake Lodge a day early, partly because we made decent time and mostly because Forrest math said we should have 20 more miles than we actually did.
From Brooks Lake we made the decision to try for an alternate route on the map that would avoid the horse-ford on the South Fork of the Buffalo River. According to the maps, and a couple of helpful Game and Fish guys, the crossing would be swimmable at best. So we hiked back up to Togwotee Pass and Sara got us a ride, chocolate, and fresh cherries to the alternate a few miles down the highway. This allowed us to use a bridge, which after seeing the size of the river ended up being a great decision.
Just before crossing the Yellowstone border we hiked through Two Oceans Pass and the Parting of the Waters. I thought this was where Moses got his start, but it turns out that Two Ocean Creek runs down the draining and there is a very obvious split where the right fork flows to the Pacific and the left fork flows to the Atlantic. The Parting was actually one of the most interesting things to see on this section in terms of mind-blowing significance.
From there we journeyed into Yellowstone along the same trail used by horses, deer, elk, one human, and grizzlies and wolves with very large feet. The tracks are everywhere, we just haven't seen them, yet. Yellowstone has been gorgeous and we have been able to take our time through here a bit. Yesterday we saw some massive white birds that we think we either cranes or pelicans. An elk woke us up this morning snorting at our tent, but then took off when he smelled our morning breath. Most of the day was on and off drizzly, but we did have a fortunate break just before we crossed the Lewis Lake Channel, which, according to our map, should have been a chest deep ford. For me us it was a waist/thigh deep ford on a very picturesque lake in luke-cold water. The mosquitoes were even down a little in the middle of the ford so we took our time.
The one thing that has concerned us so far had been our impact on future generations of mosquitoes. Based on the sheer quantity we have killed, there have to be sections of the Winds and Yellowstone that have now been naturally selected for faster skeeters. We have squished all the slow ones out of the gene pool. The little buggers are horrendous right now so we are hoping for a couple freezing nights to show them the superiority of mammals."
From Old Faithful we were supposed to head on to Lima before stopping again. Sara has been having some severe stomach pain, however, so we sidetracked to West Yellowstone for her to stop in the clinic. She is there currently so I'm hoping everything is going ok. We will probably be here in town tonight as well, and hopefully, fingers crossed, be back on the trail tomorrow. Her stomach symptoms apparently feel pretty similar to the giardia cramping of last year, but we have been purifying absolutely everything after our experience last year, so hoping it's something else. We will find out soon enough! We'll also try and get another post up from our last stretch since Old Faithful before we skip town.
Original joke of the day:
What do you wear if you are dressing up as a bovine?
Cow-mouflage!
Happy trails,
Forrest and Sara (Track and Field)
 |
| Along Heart Creek, nasty tasting water, but pretty camp. |
"We just finished eating one of the greatest on trail desserts in thru-hiking history (self-proclaimed). Since we are resupplying at Old Faithful tomorrow we needed to finish some food so we mixed chocolate and vanilla pudding with Nutella and peanut butter. That was an excellent cap to a 22.7 mile day in Yellowstone.
The resumption of our hike has so far gone pretty well. Neither of us feel like we have been out ten days, yet here we are. We have decided that we would much rather start a long hike in the mountainous trails, even if it involves snow and river crossings, than a desert cross-country/road walk like last year. Our bodies, despite the aches and pains normal to thru-hiking, are much happier.
 |
| Top of Shannon Pass in the Wind Rivers-Miles of Microspikes |
Since that section our snow travel has decreased drastically to almost non-existent. We made good time the rest of the way through that section, survived a "no room for error creek crossing," and were relieved to see a bridge over the very swollen Green River. We got to Brooks Lake Lodge a day early, partly because we made decent time and mostly because Forrest math said we should have 20 more miles than we actually did.
 |
| Parting of the Waters on Two Oceans Creek |
Just before crossing the Yellowstone border we hiked through Two Oceans Pass and the Parting of the Waters. I thought this was where Moses got his start, but it turns out that Two Ocean Creek runs down the draining and there is a very obvious split where the right fork flows to the Pacific and the left fork flows to the Atlantic. The Parting was actually one of the most interesting things to see on this section in terms of mind-blowing significance.
 |
| Crossing the Lewis Channel at the south end of Lewis Lake, Yellowstone |
The one thing that has concerned us so far had been our impact on future generations of mosquitoes. Based on the sheer quantity we have killed, there have to be sections of the Winds and Yellowstone that have now been naturally selected for faster skeeters. We have squished all the slow ones out of the gene pool. The little buggers are horrendous right now so we are hoping for a couple freezing nights to show them the superiority of mammals."
From Old Faithful we were supposed to head on to Lima before stopping again. Sara has been having some severe stomach pain, however, so we sidetracked to West Yellowstone for her to stop in the clinic. She is there currently so I'm hoping everything is going ok. We will probably be here in town tonight as well, and hopefully, fingers crossed, be back on the trail tomorrow. Her stomach symptoms apparently feel pretty similar to the giardia cramping of last year, but we have been purifying absolutely everything after our experience last year, so hoping it's something else. We will find out soon enough! We'll also try and get another post up from our last stretch since Old Faithful before we skip town.
Original joke of the day:
What do you wear if you are dressing up as a bovine?
Cow-mouflage!
Happy trails,
Forrest and Sara (Track and Field)
Friday, July 4, 2014
Back on the Trail!
Happy Fourth of July!
We are celebrating the day we threw down our Red Coats in possibly the most "American" place in the country, Lander, WY. Since the parade ended this morning there has been an endless barrage of sparklers, bottle rockets, mortars, shells, artillery, and possibly tank fire, all in the name of freedom. Seriously, there has not been a span of more than 10 seconds without some sort of crack or boom or shriek. It has actually been pretty incredible how involved the town is in the Holiday. I have not seen such mass participation in an event since the release of the last Harry Potter book in Oxford.
Anyway, the last week was a whirlwind. Last Saturday I made a last minute decision and jumped in the Northland Hospice 5k in Flagstaff as a last hurrah and ended up winning by a couple minutes before heading to work. Meanwhile Sara cranked out two huge paintings for a couple coworkers. Her paintings are incredible so if you ever need a new piece to hang on your wall give her a call.
After that we began frantically packing our apartment and stressing about prepping for resuming the CDT. For the hike last year we spent almost a whole year looking at maps and gathering stuff we needed. This year we took Monday night through Wednesday morning interspersed with moving our apartment into two friends' garages. But, we got it done.
Wednesday afternoon we were able to leave Flagstaff for the last time as residents. It was a bittersweet moment for both of us. Flagstaff has been our home for most of our lives. We both grew up as locals and experienced the town as kids. Then after college we both moved back, made great friends (really great friends), saw the town turn into a city, and have very fond memories of the trails, pubs, and people. While it was difficult to watch the Peaks disappear in the review mirror, we are also incredibly excited for our next adventure on trail and in Missoula.
We arrived in Lander yesterday afternoon and are fortunate enough to have Evan and Amber put us up for a couple nights. I jumped in the half marathon this morning, because why not race the day before we begin hiking again? I was actually very responsible, kind of, and only raced the first six miles before backing off and running the last downhill half of the race at a tempo pace while talking to Evan on the bike. This did mean that first place pulled away a little, but I held on for second and am not too beat up to hike.
The four of us then hung out downtown a while and after an ice cream breakfast watched the parade. Despite seeing entirely too many political floats it was still fun to see the entire town of Lander out. The end of the parade was marked by a fleet of fire trucks dousing an intersection with thousands of gallons of water from their water cannons. Everyone seemed in a great mood and was able to cool off after 90 minutes of sitting in the sun.
Since then Landerites have been blasting the sky with fireworks. As it's getting darker the frequency has increased to the point where it sounds like the background shooting in an epic war movie. We have no idea how we will be able to sleep tonight. Hitting the trail tomorrow will seem more quiet than normal.
Tomorrow we're back on the trail! After nearly a year of waiting we will be back on the Continental Divide Trail. We're starting at Big Sandy trailhead near the south end of the Wind Rivers and heading north towards Glacier National Park (roughly 1000 miles). We were able to check out the snow conditions yesterday, from a distance, as we drove in from the West and it looked much more hike-able than flying over last month. There will definitely still be snow but with our Kahtoola Microspikes and hiking poles we should be okay for most sections. We just finished going through our packs and got the last bit of food so we should be ready to go.
Our fitness levels, however, may be questionable. I have been running a lot more than last year, but have been hiking less. Sara has spent a lot more time on the river and less time running and hiking. Without the specificity of training both of us are expecting to hurt quite a bit this first section.
All-in-all though we are very excited to resume our trek. Last year our hike was cut short quite abruptly and neither of us were prepared to be done (aside from wanting to figure out why I was dying). We had some unfinished business that we are now able to take care of, hopefully with fewer incidents than last year. I also still need to find a wolf puppy, which is really my main goal of hiking.
We will be resupplying at most of the same projected spots as last year, but we did change some. For most of the Montana resupplies we are mailing boxes to ourselves rather than hitching into towns. Below is a tentative schedule of when we will be where. Keep in mind this is very tentative pending our fitness and potential off days.
We are celebrating the day we threw down our Red Coats in possibly the most "American" place in the country, Lander, WY. Since the parade ended this morning there has been an endless barrage of sparklers, bottle rockets, mortars, shells, artillery, and possibly tank fire, all in the name of freedom. Seriously, there has not been a span of more than 10 seconds without some sort of crack or boom or shriek. It has actually been pretty incredible how involved the town is in the Holiday. I have not seen such mass participation in an event since the release of the last Harry Potter book in Oxford.
After that we began frantically packing our apartment and stressing about prepping for resuming the CDT. For the hike last year we spent almost a whole year looking at maps and gathering stuff we needed. This year we took Monday night through Wednesday morning interspersed with moving our apartment into two friends' garages. But, we got it done.
Wednesday afternoon we were able to leave Flagstaff for the last time as residents. It was a bittersweet moment for both of us. Flagstaff has been our home for most of our lives. We both grew up as locals and experienced the town as kids. Then after college we both moved back, made great friends (really great friends), saw the town turn into a city, and have very fond memories of the trails, pubs, and people. While it was difficult to watch the Peaks disappear in the review mirror, we are also incredibly excited for our next adventure on trail and in Missoula.
 |
| Sara's painting of Calf Creek Falls in Grand Staircase |
We arrived in Lander yesterday afternoon and are fortunate enough to have Evan and Amber put us up for a couple nights. I jumped in the half marathon this morning, because why not race the day before we begin hiking again? I was actually very responsible, kind of, and only raced the first six miles before backing off and running the last downhill half of the race at a tempo pace while talking to Evan on the bike. This did mean that first place pulled away a little, but I held on for second and am not too beat up to hike.
The four of us then hung out downtown a while and after an ice cream breakfast watched the parade. Despite seeing entirely too many political floats it was still fun to see the entire town of Lander out. The end of the parade was marked by a fleet of fire trucks dousing an intersection with thousands of gallons of water from their water cannons. Everyone seemed in a great mood and was able to cool off after 90 minutes of sitting in the sun.
Since then Landerites have been blasting the sky with fireworks. As it's getting darker the frequency has increased to the point where it sounds like the background shooting in an epic war movie. We have no idea how we will be able to sleep tonight. Hitting the trail tomorrow will seem more quiet than normal.
Tomorrow we're back on the trail! After nearly a year of waiting we will be back on the Continental Divide Trail. We're starting at Big Sandy trailhead near the south end of the Wind Rivers and heading north towards Glacier National Park (roughly 1000 miles). We were able to check out the snow conditions yesterday, from a distance, as we drove in from the West and it looked much more hike-able than flying over last month. There will definitely still be snow but with our Kahtoola Microspikes and hiking poles we should be okay for most sections. We just finished going through our packs and got the last bit of food so we should be ready to go.
Our fitness levels, however, may be questionable. I have been running a lot more than last year, but have been hiking less. Sara has spent a lot more time on the river and less time running and hiking. Without the specificity of training both of us are expecting to hurt quite a bit this first section.
All-in-all though we are very excited to resume our trek. Last year our hike was cut short quite abruptly and neither of us were prepared to be done (aside from wanting to figure out why I was dying). We had some unfinished business that we are now able to take care of, hopefully with fewer incidents than last year. I also still need to find a wolf puppy, which is really my main goal of hiking.
We will be resupplying at most of the same projected spots as last year, but we did change some. For most of the Montana resupplies we are mailing boxes to ourselves rather than hitching into towns. Below is a tentative schedule of when we will be where. Keep in mind this is very tentative pending our fitness and potential off days.
Starting out at Big Sandy (Wind Rivers) July 5th.
Arriving Brooks Lake Lodge July 11th.
Arriving Old Faithful July 18th
Arriving Lima/Targhee Pass July 23rd
Arriving Leadore July 28th (my parents should be here)
Arriving Sula/Lost Trail Pass August 1st
Arriving Anaconda August 4th
Arriving Helena/MacDonald Pass August 9th
Arriving Benchmark Ranch August 15th
Arriving East Glacier August 20th
Arrive Waterton Lakes August 25th-ish (could drop this last section for
now to make a wedding in LA)
now to make a wedding in LA)
| Arrival Date | Location | Address |
| 7/16/2014 | Old Faithful Village | Forrest Boughner & Sara Hooker |
| c/o General Delivery | ||
| Old Faithful | ||
| Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190 | ||
| 7/23/2014 | Lima | Sara Hooker & Forrest Bougher |
| c/o Mountain View Motel | ||
| P.O. Box 277 | ||
| Lima, MT 59739 | ||
| 7/28/2014 | Leadore | Forrest Boughner & Sara Hooker |
| General Delivery | ||
| Leadore, ID 83464 | ||
| 8/2/2014 | Lost Trail Pass-Sula | Sara Hooker & Forrest Boughner |
| c/o Sula Country Store & Resort | ||
| 7060 US Highway 93 South | ||
| Sula, MT 59871 | ||
| 8/6/2014 | Anaconda | Forrest Boughner & Sara Hooker |
| General Delivery | ||
| Anaconda, MT 59711 | ||
| 8/9/2014 | Elliston | Forrest Boughner & Sara Hooker |
| General Delivery | ||
| Elliston, MT 59728 | ||
| 8/14/2014 | Benchmark Ranch | Sara Hooker & Forrest Boughner |
| c/o Darwin & Shellie Heckman | ||
| $25 fee to hold boxes | 422 County Line Road | |
| Fairfield MT 59436 |
We will update our blog as much as possible, but it could be a few weeks as internet will be quite intermittent.
Happy Trails!
The return of:
Track and Field
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Weekend in the Mountains
This last week Sara and I went our separate ways for some very different adventures. She returned to the San Juan river, without me again, on her last trip guiding for Grand Canyon Youth before we leave. In total, she got to do five trips this season. She feels like she learned a lot, and is thankful to continue to be involved with GCY. Since Sara went down river, I went up river to Colorado for a race and a weekend of hanging out with Zeno.
I left town Thursday evening after coaching Kids Run Flagstaff and Step Into Running. I wanted to get a few hours of driving out of the way before making a big push early Friday to get to Idaho Springs/Echo Lake. I ended up camping just below Mexican Hat under a very bright full moon. I should have realized then that the wind that night was only a precursor for the rest of the trip.
Zeno and I got up early the next morning and drove up through Moab to I-70 and Grand Junction. The Colorado River along I-70 is flowing very high right now and at times it felt like I was the one rafting, not Sara. The bike path along the highway was underwater in many places and often the water was only feet from the interstate. After the winter we had in Flagstaff it was nice to see that some places were still wet.
We got to Idaho Springs without incident then took the windy road that climbed up to Echo Lake. I was hoping to find a spot in the campground at the start, but ended up camping a few miles up the road with a great view of the mountains. Turns out the 13,000' mountain I was looking at all evening was the second peak I would skirt in the race the next morning.
My race was the Mt. Evans Ascent. For some reason in February/March this race seemed like it would be a super-fun thing to run. Turns out it was not quite that. Beautiful? Yes. Epic? Definitely. Super-fun? NO! The race runs from 10,600' Echo Lake up to 14,200', just below the Summit of Mt. Evans. It is the highest paved road in the country, and therefore the highest road race. This year also promised to be a very competitive year on the men's side as many Pike's Peak veterans, ultra runners, and generally fast road guys all turned out.
Saturday morning I got up early, packed up camp, and drove the few miles to the start. I quickly ran into Brian Folts, last year's winner. He and I have gone back and forth in a few races so I was thinking I should be around him. I also had not seen the course at all and the race director was warning of 40+ mph winds and 34 degree temps on top, so Brian, as a veteran of the race, was a good source of layering ideas. I made a game-time decision and opted out of my Kahtoola singlet and into my Kahtoola t-shirt, which would be slightly warmer. I also had gloves and a warm hat tucked into my shorts, just in case.
Right from the start of the race my legs felt bad, which is not a good sign when you still have 14.4 miles of the 14.5 remaining. With the high altitude start and continuous climbing I knew that if I went into debt from the start I would never recover. I immediately backed off a little with the hope that my legs would feel better a little later. And they did. Around mile 3 or 4 (roughly 11,000') I started feeling a little better and could start reeling people in. I was sitting around 10th at this point. One guy started coming back to be a little, but Brian, who was ultimately who I wanted to catch, kept the same distance away from me no matter how much I picked it up.
At this point in the race we had left tree-line far below and started to experience the high winds. Every turn either gave us a tail wind, cross wind, or full on wind in the face. I caught the one guy who was coming back to me and pulled away a little bit, but then he and another runner rejoined me at a water station. At this point the wind was turning from an annoyance to a sadistic breeze that was in a twisted cabal with the elevation to send me tumbling down the mountain. So I decided to work with the other guys who had just caught me. Two of us started trading leads every 20-40 seconds. The third guy sat there and did nothing (fortunately he blew up after hammering a short downhill and finished 20 spots back. Next time he should help out!). This section, appx miles 6-9, were made much easier by the trading leads.
At about 12,000' we had a longer descent, which at this point I hated because it only meant we had to regain altitude, before climbing one of the steepest sections. This is where my race performance became inversely proportional to elevation gained. Above 12,600' the road began switch-backing repeatedly. Each switch back either had a ferocious headwind or a tailwind shoving me towards Denver. I think each direction my pace varied 2-3 minutes per mile. To make matters worse my brain had ceased function too well so my racing instincts took over. That meant that in each tailwind I purposely picked it up, which led to me being more out of breath by the time I turned in to the wall of wind. My focus switched from catching the next guy to simply trying to keep running.
Finally I could see the finish, and the last straightaway was with the wind so I looked like I finished faster than I was capable of running at the point. As I was grabbing my warm clothes I ran into Jeffrey Eggleston, my pre-race favorite and former Flagstaffian, and he asked me if I won. I laughed, and then realized that meant he couldn't have been top three or he would have known. At that point I began to understand just how competitive the field was. When a 2:11 marathoner, and good climber, finishes 8th it's a fairly deep field. My 12th didn't feel as bad then.
I donned my warm stuff and then quickly went up to the summit of Mt Evans before I lost all motivation. I then re-joined fellow Flagstaff runner Ian Torrence and Emily Harrison for another trek to the blustery summit before catching a ride back down to the start and the car.
Despite feeling miserable for a large section of the race I would go back and run it again. I definitely need more hill work, and more hill work above 12,000' before I want to try again, but all-in-all I am glad I ran it. I doubt I will ever run a road race with better views.
After the race I drove over to Jones Pass, which is on the CDT. Sara and I had hiked through this area last year, and I wanted to see it again. The bowl was completely snowpacked so I got to use my microspikes, and, because I had them, used my RnR 22 Snowshoes, although I was done running for the day. Returning to portions of the CDT was interesting. Not having Sara with me didn't feel right, because we had done spent every minute of the hike together and I think part of me recognized that anything close to the CDT should be shared with her. It was also great to be back, though. I love being up high and despite Sara not being there it was great to be able to tromp around in the snow above 12,000' again.
I set up camp in a snowstorm below Grays Peak with the hope of hiking both Grays and Torreys Peaks on Sunday. These are two 14ers we missed on the trail since we resupplied in Silverthorne rather than Breckenridge. There was still a ton of snow, especially on Torreys, and half the people hiking were carrying skis for the ride down. Zeno did great with all the elevation. He still wanted to chase another dog above 14,000', but was unsure of what to do with the mountain goats. I think the white fur that was fuzzier than his confused him. From the top of the peaks I could look East to Mt. Evans, and then every other direction to see the Divide and places Sara and I hiked. Despite trying not to freeze with the 16 degree windchill I tried to recognize as many peaks and passes as possible. I gave up at three since everything has now run together in my head.
The rest of the afternoon and evening I spent driving around Dillon/Silverthorne looking for a place to camp. After getting confused by the Keystone Resort, realizing no road was passable in the still-open-for-skiing Arapahoe Basin, and finding two campgrounds on my map to be non-existent, I opted for a motel room so I could shower and prep to show Sea Level Sucks apparel to a few places on my Monday drive back.
Despite taking the wrong road out of Silverthorne and 60+ mph winds while driving back across the Reservation, I made it home in good time on Monday. I was also able to talk with Wilderness Sports in Dillon, Leadville Outdoors in Leadville, and Backcountry Experience in Durango. Hopefully you can find Sea Level Sucks apparel in these stores shortly!
Spending the weekend in the mountains made me very excited to get back on the CDT. Based on the snow still in the Rockies, the Wind Rivers will still be snow-packed when we begin in two weeks. Despite being more challenging, I can't wait. We will be leaving Flag on July 2nd, and hopefully getting back on trail July 5th. Only a couple more weeks.
Now on to packing!
Happy Trails.
Forrest
 |
| Camping just below Mexican Hat |
I left town Thursday evening after coaching Kids Run Flagstaff and Step Into Running. I wanted to get a few hours of driving out of the way before making a big push early Friday to get to Idaho Springs/Echo Lake. I ended up camping just below Mexican Hat under a very bright full moon. I should have realized then that the wind that night was only a precursor for the rest of the trip.
Zeno and I got up early the next morning and drove up through Moab to I-70 and Grand Junction. The Colorado River along I-70 is flowing very high right now and at times it felt like I was the one rafting, not Sara. The bike path along the highway was underwater in many places and often the water was only feet from the interstate. After the winter we had in Flagstaff it was nice to see that some places were still wet.
 |
| Looking across the valley to the next morning's ascent. |
We got to Idaho Springs without incident then took the windy road that climbed up to Echo Lake. I was hoping to find a spot in the campground at the start, but ended up camping a few miles up the road with a great view of the mountains. Turns out the 13,000' mountain I was looking at all evening was the second peak I would skirt in the race the next morning.
My race was the Mt. Evans Ascent. For some reason in February/March this race seemed like it would be a super-fun thing to run. Turns out it was not quite that. Beautiful? Yes. Epic? Definitely. Super-fun? NO! The race runs from 10,600' Echo Lake up to 14,200', just below the Summit of Mt. Evans. It is the highest paved road in the country, and therefore the highest road race. This year also promised to be a very competitive year on the men's side as many Pike's Peak veterans, ultra runners, and generally fast road guys all turned out.
 |
| Sara and I spending quality time together before a weekend apart. Photo by Jacque Povilaitis |
Saturday morning I got up early, packed up camp, and drove the few miles to the start. I quickly ran into Brian Folts, last year's winner. He and I have gone back and forth in a few races so I was thinking I should be around him. I also had not seen the course at all and the race director was warning of 40+ mph winds and 34 degree temps on top, so Brian, as a veteran of the race, was a good source of layering ideas. I made a game-time decision and opted out of my Kahtoola singlet and into my Kahtoola t-shirt, which would be slightly warmer. I also had gloves and a warm hat tucked into my shorts, just in case.
Right from the start of the race my legs felt bad, which is not a good sign when you still have 14.4 miles of the 14.5 remaining. With the high altitude start and continuous climbing I knew that if I went into debt from the start I would never recover. I immediately backed off a little with the hope that my legs would feel better a little later. And they did. Around mile 3 or 4 (roughly 11,000') I started feeling a little better and could start reeling people in. I was sitting around 10th at this point. One guy started coming back to be a little, but Brian, who was ultimately who I wanted to catch, kept the same distance away from me no matter how much I picked it up.
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| Final strides in an all-out windblown shuffle |
At about 12,000' we had a longer descent, which at this point I hated because it only meant we had to regain altitude, before climbing one of the steepest sections. This is where my race performance became inversely proportional to elevation gained. Above 12,600' the road began switch-backing repeatedly. Each switch back either had a ferocious headwind or a tailwind shoving me towards Denver. I think each direction my pace varied 2-3 minutes per mile. To make matters worse my brain had ceased function too well so my racing instincts took over. That meant that in each tailwind I purposely picked it up, which led to me being more out of breath by the time I turned in to the wall of wind. My focus switched from catching the next guy to simply trying to keep running.
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| With Ian and Emily at the top of Mt Evans. |
Finally I could see the finish, and the last straightaway was with the wind so I looked like I finished faster than I was capable of running at the point. As I was grabbing my warm clothes I ran into Jeffrey Eggleston, my pre-race favorite and former Flagstaffian, and he asked me if I won. I laughed, and then realized that meant he couldn't have been top three or he would have known. At that point I began to understand just how competitive the field was. When a 2:11 marathoner, and good climber, finishes 8th it's a fairly deep field. My 12th didn't feel as bad then.
I donned my warm stuff and then quickly went up to the summit of Mt Evans before I lost all motivation. I then re-joined fellow Flagstaff runner Ian Torrence and Emily Harrison for another trek to the blustery summit before catching a ride back down to the start and the car.
Despite feeling miserable for a large section of the race I would go back and run it again. I definitely need more hill work, and more hill work above 12,000' before I want to try again, but all-in-all I am glad I ran it. I doubt I will ever run a road race with better views.
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| Playing with the Kahtoola Microspikes below Jones Pass |
After the race I drove over to Jones Pass, which is on the CDT. Sara and I had hiked through this area last year, and I wanted to see it again. The bowl was completely snowpacked so I got to use my microspikes, and, because I had them, used my RnR 22 Snowshoes, although I was done running for the day. Returning to portions of the CDT was interesting. Not having Sara with me didn't feel right, because we had done spent every minute of the hike together and I think part of me recognized that anything close to the CDT should be shared with her. It was also great to be back, though. I love being up high and despite Sara not being there it was great to be able to tromp around in the snow above 12,000' again.
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| The camp guard dog? |
I set up camp in a snowstorm below Grays Peak with the hope of hiking both Grays and Torreys Peaks on Sunday. These are two 14ers we missed on the trail since we resupplied in Silverthorne rather than Breckenridge. There was still a ton of snow, especially on Torreys, and half the people hiking were carrying skis for the ride down. Zeno did great with all the elevation. He still wanted to chase another dog above 14,000', but was unsure of what to do with the mountain goats. I think the white fur that was fuzzier than his confused him. From the top of the peaks I could look East to Mt. Evans, and then every other direction to see the Divide and places Sara and I hiked. Despite trying not to freeze with the 16 degree windchill I tried to recognize as many peaks and passes as possible. I gave up at three since everything has now run together in my head.
The rest of the afternoon and evening I spent driving around Dillon/Silverthorne looking for a place to camp. After getting confused by the Keystone Resort, realizing no road was passable in the still-open-for-skiing Arapahoe Basin, and finding two campgrounds on my map to be non-existent, I opted for a motel room so I could shower and prep to show Sea Level Sucks apparel to a few places on my Monday drive back.
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| Top of Torreys Peak with Grays in the background. |
Spending the weekend in the mountains made me very excited to get back on the CDT. Based on the snow still in the Rockies, the Wind Rivers will still be snow-packed when we begin in two weeks. Despite being more challenging, I can't wait. We will be leaving Flag on July 2nd, and hopefully getting back on trail July 5th. Only a couple more weeks.
Now on to packing!
Happy Trails.
Forrest
Monday, June 2, 2014
Time Keeps Moving, Quickly
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| Early stages of the Xterra West Championships |
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| Kahtoola race kit with the M*A*S*H* mountain (which we raced) in the back |
The second race went a lot better for me mentally. I was able to stay engaged the entire time and actually feel like I was competing from start to finish. It may have been because I had actually done a couple long runs before this race, but more likely because I got to wear my new race kit provided by Kahtoola. I drove to the LA area the day before the race in mid-May and stayed with one of Sara's college friends. I then finished the last hour to Malibu early race morning. Again, the course was more dirt road than trail, but did have a couple sweet short technical sections, including one on top of a granite ridge with views out to the Pacific. The race started out much quicker than my car-stiffened legs were happy with, but I was able to shake them out and catch the leaders by the time we started the insanely long, grinding ascent. The race gained and lost 3430' over the 14 miles and most of it was in this one climb. I was able to pull away from second place towards the top and use the downhills to create more of a gap. Despite not being able to gap a jogger on the trail during the last climb to the finish I managed to hang on for the win before driving the 7 hours back to Flagstaff to see Sara return from a river trip. One of the neatest things about the Malibu race was getting to race through the M*A*S*H* set. I was really hoping for a helicopter to come over the hills and get me up the mountain.
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| Clark Fork flowing through Missoula in early April |
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| Hiking up the Slabs on Mt Elden with Jack |
Sara and I had a trip scheduled to Missoula for this last week in which we were supposed to scope out the job situation, but with the TCH job the nature of our trip changed. Owen was very generous and let us stay in his basement and borrow a couple bikes so we were able to explore the city. This was Sara's first trip up there and a great chance to make sure she likes it (and a relief when she said she does). Sara was able to go by the University and talk to someone in the PT program and I got to go on a couple long runs with some of the top local runners. Owen also took us to watch one of the Wednesday night beer league mountain bike races, which afforded us a glimpse into our future of not getting enough mid-week sleep because we will be up as late as the sun playing. For now Missoula seems like it will be a great fit for us where we can hopefully create a new home with great friends.
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| Sara cold on the bike in Missoula |
We have exactly one month left in Flagstaff before we head back to the trail, and that month is going to be busy. Sara still has another river trip, and I have another race in Colorado, not to mention a Sea Level Sucks event at the Flagstaff Hullabaloo, packing for a move, and planning the remainder of a thru-hike. We also have a bucket list of things we want to do in town before leaving, mostly trails we want to run/bike, but we may have to put the list on hold for return visits to Flag.
That's all for now! Somewhat daily adventures can be found at:
twitter.com/forrestboughner (@forrestboughner)
twitter.com/sghook (@sghook)
and Facebook
Happy Trails.
Forrest and Sara
Sunday, April 6, 2014
What just happened?
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| Right after Sara said "yes." |
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| Sara climbing up to the proposal spot. |
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| Sara modeling a Sea Level Sucks shirt last fall. |
The week after we competed in the Mt Taylor Quad, we ventured up to Bend, OR to visit my brother, Gavin, and Sara's sister Megan. We had a great visit and actually got to explore Bend some more since our visit was rushed in September. Sara and I celebrated our birthday (we share February 25th) by completing a majority of the Bend Ale Trail with Gavin. Sara ended up becoming a competent driver with a manual transmission by necessity after our 3rd or 4th pub stop. We had a great time, though, sharing the day with Gavin and experiencing the Bend lifestyle.
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| Finishing lap one of the 10k |
Last week Sara had two friends visit from LA and they were able to sneak away into the Canyon for a few days, leaving me behind. The trip down Grandview Trail to Hance Rapid was Shannon and Herbie's first trip into the Grand Canyon and Herbie's first time ever backpacking! They had a great time escaping the Flagstaff wind and experiencing the beauty of the Canyon. For Sara trip was a great escape from a too busy month and a chance to have a wonderful visit with friends.
Sara has also found time to take EMT and psychology classes at the community college so is back into the student world of stressing for tests and finding time to read. She was able to take classes only on Tuesdays though so she is still able to guide some river trips. Between now and when we leave to finish the CDT she gets to guide 5 trips, somehow fit in finals, and go up to Missoula for a visit before we officially decide to move. Busy, busy!
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| Sequoia pretends he's still a lap dog. |
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| Zeno unsure of why we stopped running. |
I finally broke down and joined the world of Twitter, both for Sea Level Sucks and personal purposes. If you would like to follow our adventures on a more regular, mundane basis follow us @sealevelsucks and @forrestboughner. That's all until May!
Happy Trails,
Forrest and Sara
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Agassiz Uphill and Mt Taylor Quad, Round 2
Race Update:
Despite having warmer and drier weather than most spring seasons, Sara and I still managed to participate in two winter races the last two weekends. We both competed in the Mount Taylor Winter Quadrathlon last year and left it on the to-do list for this year. The race was the focus of our training (mostly) since we got off the CDT. But, before we could do the bike/run/ski/snowshoe race, we decided it would be a good idea to race the Gore-Tex Kahtoola Agassiz Uphill the weekend before.
The Agassiz Uphill begins at the bottom of the Sunset Chairlift at the Arizona Snowbowl and follows the ski runs 1,400' up to 10,853' and then back down. Since we had run in the Grand Canyon a couple times we figured we could bounce back from the downhill pounding and have a week of easy running between the Uphill and the Quad. WRONG! When I ran this race last year we had two feet of fresh powder (or Devil's Dandruff according to SNL), which made for a slow climb and a well cushioned descent. This year the snow was rather hard packed, but still soft in spots. Just about all the competitors found this is not a great combination.
This year I ran on a team of three comprised of the 2013 US Marathon Champion, Nick Arciniaga, and local triathlete Thomas "Rivers" Puzey (who has turned into some incredible runner in 2014 with a second place finish at the Phoenix Rock 'n' Roll marathon and wins at the Sedona Marathon and Great Aloha Run). Needless to say, we had a pretty stacked team. Rivers was able to get an entry for Sara so she got to run as well. Jared Scott, a former Flagstaffian and incredible trail/mountain runner, was returning for the race so I knew I would have a real challenge if I wanted a chance to defend my win from 2013.
The way this race is "run" is as follows: the race starts, people take off sprinting, then after 100 yards everyone starts walking and power hiking as the slope gets steeper. This year was no different. Jared quickly established himself as the leader on the way up and I gave chase. He ended up beating me to the top by 10-15 seconds, but I used a completely reckless downhill run to pass him and take the win. Rivers finished third and Nick finished fourth, which secured our team victory. Sara came in 4th in the women's open division in her first time in this race.
At first it seemed like it was a fun idea to race. But the next two days when neither of us could walk because of our severe muscle soreness we realized we may have made a grave mistake. Fortunately by Thursday I started feeling ok, but Sara was still feeling fairly rough. This is never a good situation when going into a 43 mile race up and down Mt. Taylor.
We left Friday afternoon to drive to Grants, NM for the race and got there in time to check in our gear and check snow conditions. Grants, like Flagstaff, has received very little snow so the ski-down course was altered some. If the Mt. Taylor Quad is new to you, it proceeds as follows: 13 mile road bike, 5 mile run on dirt road, appx 2 mile ski, 1 mile snowshoe (all that takes you from Grants to the top of Mt. Taylor at 11,333') and then back down. Both of us borrowed bikes from friends this year so we would not be hampered by Sara's 83 pound steel behemoth or my non-aerodynamic set of wheels.
The start was much warmer than last year and started slower. I latched onto the lead group of cyclists and tried to familiarize myself with the tri-bike I was using for the first time. By 4-5 miles in the group was down to a few people. Josiah Middaugh (multiple-time Quad, US Xterra Triathlon, and US Snowshoe champion, and all-around stud) made a move. I decided that 5 miles into a 43 mile race was as good a time as any to take a risk so I tried to cover. I didn't quite get back to him, but we managed to drop all the other riders. From then on it was just me and him.
Sara's ride up the mountain was great for the first 10 miles or so, but as the climb got steeper the higher gears made it a little more difficult. She still managed to get to the bike/run transition much faster than last year. The run did not go quite as well for her, though. The remnants of the Agassiz Uphill let her know that they were still around and made it a rough stretch for her.
My run went great. Despite having to borrow a tree, I caught and passed Josiah and went into the ski/run transition with a slight lead. He had a better transition though and I followed him out on the skis. We reached the snowshoes within a few seconds of each other, but another quick transition saw him leaving 20 seconds in front of me.
Sara's ski and snowshoe uphill went about like the run. Tough and not so much fun. On the ski up she got passed by a lot of people, but she had chosen to use heavier skis, which (spoiler alert) helped her later. The snowshoe went better since the snowshoes were a lot lighter than the heavy skis, and the open views allowed her notice how far we had hiked to get to the mountain in May.
My snowshoe up portion didn't go too well. I still managed one of the top splits overall, but Josiah put a little bit of time on me, and just before the summit my right snowshoe came off. I spent 30-40 seconds trying to get the strap back on. He ended up beating me to the top by just over a minute. Once I hit the top though I started getting the time back. After the uncontrollable descent at the Agassiz Uphill, this descent felt slow, but it was enough. I had the top time down on snowshoes and left the snowshoe/ski transition right behind Josiah. Then I had issues.
Both Josiah and I opted for skate skis, which are great for the uphill and last year's downhill course. The changes to this year's course did not suit skate skis. I ended up falling somewhere between 12 and 23 times and leaving a lot of skin on the slope. According to my Garmin I spent 1:50 of this section on the ground. I was wishing I was able to spend more time at the Flagstaff Nordic Center this winter so I could reduce my falling to 10-12 times. Josiah put three minutes on me here because he only fell 6-7 times. I was incredibly happy to be done with the ski.
Sara's decision to use telemark skis seemed brilliant on her ski down. The metal edges let her turn on the sharp and steep switch backs. She passed back most of the people who had passed her on the ski up.
The run down went very well for me again. I regained nearly all the time Josiah had put on me so I went into the run/bike transition only about 20 seconds back. But then he showed how much he was just playing with me. I put everything I had left into the bike down, and got to take full advantage of the aero tuck on the tri-bike, but he still put another couple minutes on me. I managed the course in just over 3 hours and 52 minutes, which was 19 minutes faster than last year, and finished second. As much as I would have loved to win, I am very happy with how I finished.
Sara also had an excellent last couple legs, especially the bike portion. Using a lighter bike helped her immensely. She also improved by about 20 minutes and finished as the 4th female overall! Interestingly we were both more sore from the Agassiz Uphill than the much longer Quad. Both races are incredible experiences and we highly recommend both.
For our next adventure Sara and I are going up to Bend to visit Gavin and Megan (our siblings). We get to spend about 5 days up there, including our birthdays. I'm hoping to squeeze in a snowshoe race there as well, and hopefully get some adventuring in with family and friends!
Despite having warmer and drier weather than most spring seasons, Sara and I still managed to participate in two winter races the last two weekends. We both competed in the Mount Taylor Winter Quadrathlon last year and left it on the to-do list for this year. The race was the focus of our training (mostly) since we got off the CDT. But, before we could do the bike/run/ski/snowshoe race, we decided it would be a good idea to race the Gore-Tex Kahtoola Agassiz Uphill the weekend before.
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| Sara finishing the Agassiz Uphill |
This year I ran on a team of three comprised of the 2013 US Marathon Champion, Nick Arciniaga, and local triathlete Thomas "Rivers" Puzey (who has turned into some incredible runner in 2014 with a second place finish at the Phoenix Rock 'n' Roll marathon and wins at the Sedona Marathon and Great Aloha Run). Needless to say, we had a pretty stacked team. Rivers was able to get an entry for Sara so she got to run as well. Jared Scott, a former Flagstaffian and incredible trail/mountain runner, was returning for the race so I knew I would have a real challenge if I wanted a chance to defend my win from 2013.
The way this race is "run" is as follows: the race starts, people take off sprinting, then after 100 yards everyone starts walking and power hiking as the slope gets steeper. This year was no different. Jared quickly established himself as the leader on the way up and I gave chase. He ended up beating me to the top by 10-15 seconds, but I used a completely reckless downhill run to pass him and take the win. Rivers finished third and Nick finished fourth, which secured our team victory. Sara came in 4th in the women's open division in her first time in this race.
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| Picture from our run down the Grandview Trail in the Grand Canyon |
We left Friday afternoon to drive to Grants, NM for the race and got there in time to check in our gear and check snow conditions. Grants, like Flagstaff, has received very little snow so the ski-down course was altered some. If the Mt. Taylor Quad is new to you, it proceeds as follows: 13 mile road bike, 5 mile run on dirt road, appx 2 mile ski, 1 mile snowshoe (all that takes you from Grants to the top of Mt. Taylor at 11,333') and then back down. Both of us borrowed bikes from friends this year so we would not be hampered by Sara's 83 pound steel behemoth or my non-aerodynamic set of wheels.
The start was much warmer than last year and started slower. I latched onto the lead group of cyclists and tried to familiarize myself with the tri-bike I was using for the first time. By 4-5 miles in the group was down to a few people. Josiah Middaugh (multiple-time Quad, US Xterra Triathlon, and US Snowshoe champion, and all-around stud) made a move. I decided that 5 miles into a 43 mile race was as good a time as any to take a risk so I tried to cover. I didn't quite get back to him, but we managed to drop all the other riders. From then on it was just me and him.
Sara's ride up the mountain was great for the first 10 miles or so, but as the climb got steeper the higher gears made it a little more difficult. She still managed to get to the bike/run transition much faster than last year. The run did not go quite as well for her, though. The remnants of the Agassiz Uphill let her know that they were still around and made it a rough stretch for her.
My run went great. Despite having to borrow a tree, I caught and passed Josiah and went into the ski/run transition with a slight lead. He had a better transition though and I followed him out on the skis. We reached the snowshoes within a few seconds of each other, but another quick transition saw him leaving 20 seconds in front of me.
Sara's ski and snowshoe uphill went about like the run. Tough and not so much fun. On the ski up she got passed by a lot of people, but she had chosen to use heavier skis, which (spoiler alert) helped her later. The snowshoe went better since the snowshoes were a lot lighter than the heavy skis, and the open views allowed her notice how far we had hiked to get to the mountain in May.
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| Result of 15 too many falls. |
Both Josiah and I opted for skate skis, which are great for the uphill and last year's downhill course. The changes to this year's course did not suit skate skis. I ended up falling somewhere between 12 and 23 times and leaving a lot of skin on the slope. According to my Garmin I spent 1:50 of this section on the ground. I was wishing I was able to spend more time at the Flagstaff Nordic Center this winter so I could reduce my falling to 10-12 times. Josiah put three minutes on me here because he only fell 6-7 times. I was incredibly happy to be done with the ski.
Sara's decision to use telemark skis seemed brilliant on her ski down. The metal edges let her turn on the sharp and steep switch backs. She passed back most of the people who had passed her on the ski up.
The run down went very well for me again. I regained nearly all the time Josiah had put on me so I went into the run/bike transition only about 20 seconds back. But then he showed how much he was just playing with me. I put everything I had left into the bike down, and got to take full advantage of the aero tuck on the tri-bike, but he still put another couple minutes on me. I managed the course in just over 3 hours and 52 minutes, which was 19 minutes faster than last year, and finished second. As much as I would have loved to win, I am very happy with how I finished.
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| Winning the Kahtoola Agassiz Uphill |
For our next adventure Sara and I are going up to Bend to visit Gavin and Megan (our siblings). We get to spend about 5 days up there, including our birthdays. I'm hoping to squeeze in a snowshoe race there as well, and hopefully get some adventuring in with family and friends!
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