Friday, 08/06/10 Grays and Torreys

Got an early start with Nate. Drove to the summer TH in the Corolla and it did great, as the road is in pretty good condition. There were a surprising amount of cars which required us to park down the road a little bit, crowded like a Saturday and way more cars than last Friday.

Nate was ready to go, so he hit the trail, as I took care of some business in the woods and took my time getting ready and warming up a bit. Began my run at 7:51am and it felt like I had started off a bit hot. I backed off a some and was able to regain my composure along the flatish section below Kelso. I was moving good, but I could tell I was not at my best and had a sneaking suspicion that a PR was not in the cards today. I continued to push myself, running when I could, but power-hiking often on the upper sections. I eventually caught up to Nate not too far below the summit and he put up a strong effort, running more than I was for sure, but my legs were about had and I was stooped over, hands on knees and breathing very hard. Relieved to see the vacant summit, I collapsed on a rock in a heap, huffing and catching my breath after a 55:58 ascent (~1:20 shy of PR).

Nate arrived a few minutes after and with only a minute or two pause, we began the traverse to Torreys. The rocks were a bit wet from a very recent hailstorm/rainstorm, but the “super-computer” was firing at full speed and I made quick work of it. Crossed the very low point of the saddle in 5:18 and felt pretty solid heading up Torreys and topped out in 15:18, which was a traverse PR for me by 20 seconds. I could see that Nate was not on his way up, so figuring he had cut off at the saddle, so I turned on the jets to chase him down. Arrived back at the saddle in 4:??, then ripped the descent until I caught him at around 13k. I was feeling good and having a fun time with the down, so after a few words, kept on cranking back to the TH, setting a descent PR of 34:57.

Though I missed PR up Grays by 1:20, I was not at all disappointed, as I was not really committed to it from the start. I am really feeling acclimated, especially on the traverse to Torreys, it really felt smooth and effortless (OK, not really, but I felt very good). Everything seems to be coming together and I am looking forward to August 21st.

Splits:

Summer TH 0:00

Sign: 17:??

Kelso cutoff: 22:05

Grays Summit: 55:58

Grays to Torreys: 15:18

Torreys back to TH: 34:57

Total RT: 1:46:14

Thursday, 08/05/10 Green Mountain #100

Today I celebrated my 100th ascent of Green Mountain thus far in 2010 and GZ and Sierra were kind enough to join in the festivities, which really added to the enjoyment.  Took George up a new route (for him) that he was impressed with, got to start hitting this one more.  I think I had 43 on the up from Gregory over the convoluted route, spent some time enjoying the summit, then came down Ranger/Gregory, not sure how fast, as I was too busy chatting to look at the watch or care.  Another awesome day in Boulder.