Sunday, 03/29/09 Bear Peak

After slogging in deep and unconsolidated snow the past 2 days and not having pushed myself very hard more than once or twice in the past few months, I was itching to get in a hard run on Bear Peak, where I had hoped the trail was setting up nicely from the weekend foot traffic and warm/cold temperatures.

Started off at a brisk pace and was sucking wind a bit, but generally feeling good, all things considered. With some slipping and sliding, I topped out from the Cragmoor cutoff in about 3 minutes.

The trip up the Shanahan trail was somewhat better, hard packed snow that was quickly melting in the warm sun. Made the Mesa trail in 10:48, not quite PR pace, but surprisingly close given the conditons.

From Mesa to the Slab, footing was tricky, with 3+ inch deep frozen footprints from the day before to negotiate. Passed the Slab in the high 15’s, not great, but I was still feeling good, so I pressed on at a hard pace.

The trip to the saddle was pretty smooth, footing was good and I mainly power hiked, but ran when I could. Made the saddle in 29:??, then just went into hands on knees hiking mode the remainder of the way. The trail conditions worsened a bit, mainly just a consequence of the steepness which ensured a certain amount of slippage with every toe off. Made the summit post in 45:37, then 30 more seconds to the true summit.

Conditions were really slick back to the saddle, so I took that easy and even so, managed to get out of control a few times, but managed to keep from falling. Went fairly quick the remainder of the run, but the snow was really softening and turning to slippy and unpredictable slush, so did not press too hard as to not have any mishaps.

Finished the run in 1:13:07 and felt pretty good about it all things considered. I have a ways to go to regain the fitness I am looking for, but it is still early in the year and the trails are a mess.

Splits:

10:48 mesa
15:?? slab
29:?? saddle
45:37 summit post
46:07 summit
54:?? saddle
1:13:07 finish a cragmoor

Saturday, 03/28/09 Bear Peak

Headed up Bear again today with Allison and Sierra. The trail was packed much better than the previous day (we at least had faint tracks to follow from the previous day’s wallow fest) and we made good time up to the saddle. From the saddle to the summit, the overnight winds eroded our previous days work and at times the snow drifts were knee to waist deep, but compared to the previous day, it was a cake walk. We made the summit in 1:30, lounged for 15-20 and then took our time heading down, just enjoyed an all around great day, arriving back at the car after 3 hours total.

Took some pictures along the way, which is rare for me, but the new snow made picture taking a must today:

http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r296/jeffvalliere/2009_03_29_Bear_Blizzard/