Sierra

Sierra
Sierra

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Wednesday, 10/08/08 Green Mountain

8.5 miles
3,460 vertical

Before spectating Bill's scrambling "event" from the base of the 1st Flatiron, I took a quick trip up Green via the 1st access trail. I felt great, but was building a LOT of mucus in my throat and lungs for some reason. Not sure if it was the air quality or what, but it was noticably dry and I was having a heck of a time breathing and I was very dehydrated, constantly licking my lips and such. Despite this, I still managed a 38:20 ascent and a 25 minute descent (6:13 to Bluebell Tr, 7:31 to 2nd Flatiron turn, 10:38 to base of 1st Flatiron, 20:45 topping out behind the 1st). I was going fairly hard, but never really digging too deep.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Sunday, 10/05/08 Green Mountain

7 miles
3,000 vertical

Had a nice run up Green today, past the First Flatiron to the summit (40 minutes), then cruised back down (those new shoes hook up great on the loose stuff). I have never seen anyone on this "route" beyond the back of the 1st and today saw 2 people, imagine that! I then ran the trail past the 2nd, then up the 3rd Flatiron approach trail. I did some minor scrambling up/down/around at the base and am really itching to climb the 3rd, maybe without ropes?.....

Saturday, 10/04/08 Pt. 9,300 Lost Creek Wilderness

Pt. 9,300 in Lost Creek Wilderness
10/04/08
~10.5 miles
~2,600 vertical
From Goose Creek TH
Jeff Valliere, John Prater, Dwight Sunwall, Sarah Thompson, Dominic Meiser (for the climb)
and Allison Valliere, Dave Hale, Emily Hale, Sierra, Shep and Kiefer (for the hike).

Two years ago, John, Dave, Allison and I visited the Goose Creek area of Lost Creek Wilderness with John and I climbing unnamed Pt. 9,242, a technical rock climb overlooking the actual Lost Creek. We were hoping to also climb Pt. 9,300 that day, another rock tower to the North, but the ascent of this rock tower took longer than we had anticipated and we simply ran out of time..... fast forward two years.

During the week John and I had gone back and forth on a bunch of different ideas for the weekend, one of them being to go back for 9,300. John ran the idea by Dwight and before we knew it, we had a great group of 5 committed for the climb.We started from the Goose Creek TH at 7:37am, intending to meet Dwight, Sarah and Dominic at the trail junction for the shafthouse at 8:30am, as they had camped out the night before. As the hike progressed, we realized that we were not going to meet them on time, so I ran ahead to let them know we were running a few minutes late.

We continued along the trail for another 1/3 mile or so, then began the bushwhack toward Pt. 9,300. This involved some areas of dense bushes, circuitous loops around giants rock gardens and a short ford across Lost Creek. We made our way roughly 2/3 of the way up the S. facing gulley which involved some steep walking, some class 3 moves over/around boulders. We then went climbers right to a spacious bench on the ridge at the base of technical portion of the climb.We took a short break, geared up and got on with the remainder of the ascent. Dominic led, placing a few cams along the way and had just enough rope to get to the top. Aside from a low fifth class move near the beginning, the climb consisted of nice class 3 and class 4 grippy slabs. There was a decent amount of exposure though along the way and since we carried the gear all that distance, it was great practice.

We found no cairn or register on the summit, so Dwight placed a register, only none of us had a pen on the summit to sign in with. We rapped down to the packs, signed in and Dwight zipped back up to put the register back on the summit. On the descent of the gulley, we met up with Dave, then made the short descent back to the field near the beaver pond where Allison, Emily and the dogs were napping. We took a long break, looking back up toward the giant east face of the tower.

There were great patches of aspen, and we took our time on the hike out enjoying this great area. It was great to hike with everyone as always and great to meet Sarah and Dominic. Can’t wait to get out there again soon!

As an aside.... this was little Kiefers first backcountry outing. He is an AWESOME little pup and did absolutely great on a hike this long. He learned how to cross a log bridge across a creek, bushwhack and did some very minor scrambling. It is amazing how obedient and well behaved he is at such a young age and did a great job keeping up with and learning from the older dogs.

Pictures:
http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r296/jeffvalliere/2008_10_05_9300LCW/

Friday, October 3, 2008

Friday, 10/03/08 Bear and S. Boulder

8 miles
3,300 vertical

Allison, Sierra and I got out for a great fall hike today up Bear and S. Boulder from the Cragmoor TH, going up Shanahan/Fern. Went up in 1:02 going pretty easy (moderately hard for Allison and Sierra, although we stopped a few times to let Sierra drink). It was a great day, warm but not too warm, just right really and we really enjoyed the day and each other's company. On the summit of S. Boulder, I was commenting to Allison that I have not tested any PI trail shoes in over a YEAR, the last pair being those WRX soft shells. Great shoes, but not suited to everyday running IMHO, kind of a niche shoe.

I arrive home and find an e-mail from Mike at PI, asking me to come in and grab a pair of their new (for 2010 or 11?) Syncro Infinity trail running shoes. I got a sneak preview a few weeks ago and was excited, now I finally have a pair and am looking forward to putting them through the ringer (and having a bit of traction for my daily steep uphill/downhill runs). I have not been this excited about a PI shoe since the Peak XC came out last year.


Thursday, October 2, 2008

Thursday, 10/02/08 Green Mountain

6 miles
2,500 vertical

Sierra and I got out for a nice walk today up Green via the 1st shortcut. It was cloudy and the temperature got really cold near the summit. The distant rumble of thunder had me debating turning around, but I pressed on to the top and turned tail quickly, as it was coming in quick from the West and North. Soon the wind really picked up dramatically and it began to rain and hail. I wanted to move quick, but with slick road shoes, wet rocks/ground and waiting for the dog, it was not too fast. Dressed in just shorts and a tee, I was freezing on the upper half, and although wet, was comfortable on the lower half (only if I kept moving).

Up in 57
RT in 1:31

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Wednesday, 10/01/08 Green Mountain

~9.5 miles
~4,000 vertical

Got out for a run up my now usual route up Green. I was running tight on time, but did not feel like pushing. I just figured I would go up until my watch said 4:15pm, as I was to meet Dave at 4:45 at Chautauqua to run up to the 3rd to watch a few friends do some scrambling. I got to the summit at 4:18 and did an immidiate U turn (42:26 up), and then backtracked my ascent route and went a decent pace on the descent (as well as possible on loose dirt, rock and pine cones with slick shoes) and was back down in 23:?? for a 66 minute RT. I had just enough time to grab my camera, eat a Powerbar and glug half a liter of water before I joined up with Dave to run up to the 3rd. We went at a pretty easy conversational pace, I think it took us 18 or 19 minutes. Dave scrambled up, while I waited at the base to take pictures. I think there were 8 scramblers tonight, all moving fast and I got some cool photos and video. Great evening in Boulder.

Photos and Video:

http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r296/jeffvalliere/2008%203rd%20Flatiron/

Olympic Highlight

I really got a kick out of this race and especially the post race interviews.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player.html?assetid=0821_hd_atb_hl_l1148&channelcode=sportat

I know nothing about these guys, nor anything about track, but Jeremy Wariner really came across as big time cocky and it was fun to see him get trounced by LaShawn Merritt. Love the comment 2 minutes into the video by LaShawn, good stuff! The dude diving for Bronze was great too.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Tuesday, 9/30/08 Sanitas

~4 miles
~1,700 vertical

Allison and I got out for a nice hike/run around Sanitas, going up the East side, down the S. Ridge, then back up the valley trail before descending back to the car. The weather has been just so perfect lately and it is impossible to resist the lure of the trails.

Summed up my stats for September:

220.4 miles (PR)
84,170 vertical feet (PR)
45 Peaks

Monday, September 29, 2008

Monday, 9/29/08 Green, Bear, S. Boulder, Bear, Green

~15 miles
~5,700 vertical

Got out for a run up Green today up past the 1st (again). At the back of the First, I was on PR pace, then a minute or two later I breathed in a bug which caused major coughing fits and cost me 3 minutes by the time I got to the NE ridge. I recovered and made up a minute and got to the summit in 38:28, scrambled up the rocks and back, then decided the morning was too nice, so I continued on to Bear. Got to the base of W. Ridge in 47:58, top of Bear at 1:13, then figured since S. Boulder was so close, why not? Got there at 1:23, back to true summit of Bear at 1:33, Green at 2:11 (yeah, I was starting to dog it), then took NE ridge route down back to Chautauqua, arriving there at 2:39:22. I felt great until I started the trip from Bear to Green. As I became increasingly tired, my coordination suffered a bit, and I started to cramp, as I brought no food or water. Still was a great run for a Monday.

Saturday, 9/27/08 LCW Peak Dash

~18 miles
~7,000 vertical

"Peak Y" (12274')
"Zephyr Peak" (12067')
"Peak Z" (12244')
Payne Benchmark (11780')
"No Payne" (11789')
Shawnee Peak (11927')
"X Prime" (12100')
"Peak X" (12429')

Participants: Jeff & Allison Valliere & Sierra, Dave Hale & Shep, John Kirk, Dwight Sunwall, Keith Bershader, Patrick Lilly, Jill Salva, Bob Dawson, Ryan Kowalski, Greg Hakes, Jeremy Hakes, Derrill Rodgers, and Kevin Baker

Got out with a great group of friends on Saturday for a jaunt in the Lost Creek Wilderness, starting from the Long Gulch TH, about 10 miles South of Jefferson near Kenosha Pass. Aside from hunkering down near treeline prior to our last two peaks due to a bit of lightning and graupel, we had great weather. Most of this was a bushwhack/tundra walk, but we did get a few miles of trail at the beginning and end which was nice. This was a very cohesive group in many ways and we really had a great time.

Pictures:

http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r296/jeffvalliere/LCW%20Dash/?start=0

Friday, September 26, 2008

Friday, 9/26/08 Green Mountain

6 miles
2,500

Again, the First Flatiron route to the summit. Took Sierra along, so things were quite slow. An hour up, and 35 or 40 down, did not even look. Great morning though, nice to slow down and soak it all in.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Thursday, 9/25/08 Green Mountain

6 miles
2,500

Went up past the First Flatiron again to the top of Green. Went pretty easy, going up in 42, down in 29. Awesome fall day, the colors are getting to be really nice on the mountain, but it was a little warm, felt good though.

Wednesday, 9/24/08 South Twin Cone Peak, LCW

~12 miles
2,420 vertical
Jeff, Allison and Sierra Valliere

Allison and I met her parents at the Fort and carpooled up to Kenosha Pass. We were hoping to do one of our favorite fall hikes on the Colorado Trail heading East through the HUGE stands of towering aspen. However, when we arrived at the pass, we noticed that our favorite stands were still green, yet the trees on the approach to N/S Twin Cone looked to be changing nicely.

We walked the extra mile from the pass along the smooth dirt road, to the 2wd TH described in Roach’s book, then past the gate and along the public right of way through the 1.5 miles of private property. The trees and willows through this stretch were stunning and I was snapping pictures like mad. The road switchbacks up the hillside through some great aspen that are now at their peak and we found an amazing rock outcrop over looking the valley to have lunch.

I did not intend on going up S. Twin Cone, but with it right there staring us in the face and the fact that we (I) intended to climb it 2 years ago when we were up on N. Twin Cone in the winter, I had to go. Allison and Sierra joined me, as her parents hung out and took a nap. We were tight on time, so we went pretty fast, doing some high speed bushwhacking through the trees on the way up, then some serious (but luckily not too long) willow bashing on the way down to regain the dirt road. It was a quick cruise out on the road and we eventually caught up to the rest of the group.

Pictures:

http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r296/jeffvalliere/South%20Twin%20Con/

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Tuesday, 9/23/08 Green Mountain

6 miles
2,500 vertical
36:46 up (from Chautauqua)
23:38 down
60:24 RT

Wow! What a difference a day makes! Yesterday I busted my b@lls trying to get a PR on SBP and missed by 2 minutes. I felt like I had two left feet on the descent and was trashed all day, culminating with a splitting headache that made me sweat that evening, I could hardly hold my head up.

9.5 hours of sleep later, I felt great and busted my hump at work all day doing very physical work. All afternoon, I thought I would get done at a decent hour and have plenty of time to go run at a leisurely pace, but I kept getting set back, culminating with an error which cost me an extra 45 minutes, so I was running way behind. I got to Chautauqua and figured I would see how things went and started up my new favorite route up Green, going up past the 1st Flatiron and then bushwhacking to the NE ridge, then up Greenman. Fueled by the adreneline of not having much time, and an espresso (I don't really ever drink coffee), I was jacked and feeling good.

I made it to the Mesa trail in 5, bottom of the 1st in 10:37, top of the 1st in 20, NE ridge in 25:?? then the summit of Green in 36:46, my fastest EVER from Chautauqua by a lot (don't feel like investigating previous PR now), but by at least a few minutes. So much for my confession yesterday that I need to take things easy. Today I just felt absolutely on top of things and would have done another lap if I had time, I felt that good. Legs were unbelievably strong, lungs and breathing were hardly labored, my focus was absolutely intense and I was even listening to my MP3 player (Competitor Radio interview with John Howard).

I ripped the downhill (for me), sticking to the Greenman, Saddle, Amphi trails. 20:10 to the Gregory lot jct, then another 3:28 to the car. I was hoping to have done the RT in under an hour, but missed it by 24 seconds...... Dang. Oh well, maybe next time. It is runs like today that produce such a high, it constantly keeps me seeking that next fix to match it and cancel out bad days like yesterday that make you wonder how it is you can derail so bad.