Sierra
Sierra
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Wednesday, 4/01/09 Sanitas
Allison wanted to shoot for a good time on Sanitas today, so I gave her a 5+ minute head start and wanted to see if I could catch her before the top. I started off fairly easy, just cruising really, then started to up the pace a bit. I felt decent and pushed it after the halfway mark, catching her at the descent to the puddle a few minutes below the top. I made the summit in 18:09, which felt infinitely easier than my 18:24 a week ago, where I felt as though I was going to bust a lung, so I was happy with that although my time is still nothing too inspiring.
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Hey Jeff,
ReplyDeleteWhen you say your ascent was 18:09, from what TH did you start? Either way that's a ridiculous pace, but I'm still curious where you're starting.
Also, you had a sweet post a while back of you biking up Mt. Evans. Since I'm running the Ascent this year, I was planning to spend my Saturdays running up there. Since I've never been, I'm curious what you recommend as far as where to park, does it cost anything, etc. I've read a few things that say the road is officially closed - what does that really mean?
I'm asking you cause you're the mountain guru around here. I think I've posted a comment before, but if not, great blog - I check it daily.
Thanks skatona, I still have a few minutes I need to knock off, but
ReplyDelete18:09 is still a little better than usual for me this time of year, despite my ITB setbacks.
When timing oneself on Sanitas, the typical starting point is the bridge across the usually dry creek next to the brick shelter, then the route follows the South ridge, all the way to the post on the "summit" (the true summit is still another few hundred meters to the North, but most people don't even know/care).
For Evans, I park at the junction of 103 (Squaw Pass Road) and 5 (Mt. Evans Highway) just East of Echo Lake. This is very near the toll booth which opens at 8:00am in the summer when the road is open. They charge for cars and bikes, but not sure about foot traffic (if starting there on foot in the summer, you would want to begin earlier than 8am anyways).
Either way, you can always access the road for non-motorized use whether the road is open or not. In the summer, when the road is open, the gates are typically left open as well regardless of whether the toll booth is staffed.
It is a long RT from the gate on foot (29 miles if you stick to the road), so you may want to get a season pass for the road and drive to Summit Lake and train on the upper section. Not sure what a season pass costs, but it might be good to have one as to not get hasseled, or just go super early before they start patrolling.