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    I have not posted anything here in a while due to a couple of factors. First, I joined the mighty Face book nation, so I've been busy watching cute cat videos and making snide comments on social and political issues that are so complex all I can do is poke fun at them. Also, this Autumn, the season of the Fall, I have not been doing anything I am proud of, or that might be considered remotely interesting. There are a couple exceptions, which I'll get to shortly, but most of my time in this season of dwindling sunshine has been spent reading and pondering how the hell I've gotten to be forty years old while still behaving like an idealistic, directionless college kid.
     Some Fall highlights: I ran my second Canyon De Chelly Ultra back on October 11th. MK also ran it for her second ultra ever. It is a special event that brings some interesting people. It certainly is not my kind of course. It is mostly flat, two track, dirt road. The views, however, are stunning, and the feeling, the emotions of running through that Canyon are what make it so unique.  
     I also got to run a really cool loop in the Grand Canyon with my friend Sean. We descended the Boucher trail, traversed the Tonto, and ascended the Hermit trail for a fantastic day of trail running. I highly recommend this loop (a lollipop, really) with the only drawback being the god damn helicopters buzzing back and forth. The area must be right on the edge of the no fly zone, because the whirlybirds cruised a consistent out and back path to our west. They were never close enough to be too loud, but I certainly entertained a few mental images of fireballs in the sky.
     The next night I was fortunate to attend a lecture by Doug Peacock here in Durango. If anyone out there has not read any of his books, I would recommend doing so. Especially GRIZZLY YEARS and WALKING IT OFF. His talk was entertaining, although, perhaps a bit confusing for those not familiar with his work. His short side rant about mounting trophy hunters to the wall with stupid expressions on their faces was worth the price of admission. Shaking his hand and telling him "thank you" at the book signing was priceless. The night following that Doug also attended the showing of the film WRENCHED, which documents the way that Ed Abbey's writing influenced the environmental movement. I purchased the DVD, so come on over and watch it with me some time. 
     As usual, I prefer the words of others to my own, so I sum up the feelings of my Autumn with this:
     "A man was running, running for his life, across and up a naked dome of golden sandstone. Far off in silhouette against an evening sky, dark figure running across a field of gold, a flush of gashed vermillion, the flaring fanned-out rays of setting sun peering for one final moment, under a reef of purple clouds, into the slickrock desert, over the rippled sea of golden lifeless petrified dunes of sand...
     He ran, ran, ran to live, up the rising skyline curve of rock, across the huge plasmic crimson bulge of sun, black running human animal caught forever, in perpetual motion, eternal in his fear, upon the red sun and background of the yellow sky...  "

-Ed Abbey

Canyon del Muerto

Hardrock 100; The Cake

     "Well, YOU didn't just break the course record, and SHE didn't stay up all night crewing." This was my girlfriends response when I asked her why a delicious chocolate cake had not been baked in honor of my finish at the Hardrock 100.  I was showing her a picture from Emelie Forsberg's blog. Emelie had baked a big chocolate cake for Kilian to congratulate him on his amazing, course record setting performance at Hardrock.
     Mk was right. My jog around the San Juans was a bit over TWELVE hours slower than Kilian's! It was also true that MK had spent the weekend driving all around our beautiful mountains, just to wait around for my slow ass and give me the flavor of gel that I wanted. She had done enough. Undoubtedly her incredulous response also had something to do with my innocent little crush on Emelie Forsberg. What can I say, I've always been attracted to athletic women. She can run, she can ski, she can bake... I could be talking about Emelie or MK, so I've got nothing to complain about. Alright, I'll bake my own damn cake!
Emelie's cake: Hardrock 100 cake
 My cake:

I didn't get to taste the original, but I'd like to think mine was just as good. I would also like to think that, while I set no records, I enjoyed my time in the mountains just as much as Kilian. I don't have his talent, his sponsorship or his cute Swedish girlfriend. However, I can climb better than some, my crew of close friends and family was awesome, and MK has great legs and the prettiest blue eyes you've ever seen. The late, great Alex Lowe always said that the best climber was the one having the most fun. I think this is true for mountain running as well. When my pacer Leah and I pulled into the Engineer aid station amidst a raging electrical storm, or Dustin and I climbed above tree line in Cataract Gulch, bathed in morning sun, I might have been the best mountain runner in the world. I won't hold my breath for the Salomon sponsorship.

Arrow Peak 24 July 2014

     Despite a weather forecast with a 70% chance of rain, The pro from Dover and I jogged into Vestal Basin on Thursday and scrambled up Arrow Peak. Long approaches to aesthetic peaks in a wild setting... it just doesn't get much better for me.
     We kept seeing gray clouds in the distance, and heard some very distant thunder, but the worst we got was a light sprinkle while cruising down the Colorado trail towards the Animas on the way out. The Marmot God that lives on the summit of Arrow must have been pleased with us.

Summits

The ridge to Deadwood mountain

All smiles on the summit of Deadwood

American Basin with wildflowers galore

Summit of Handies Peak 14,048 feet

From American-Grouse saddle. Photo by Rosie Dog

Scot, cooling off on the descent

     The weather was favorable on my days off the last two weeks, so my dad and I managed to get up a couple of peaks. We hiked Deadwood mountain in the La Platas last week, and then  Wednesday we braved the crowd to the summit of Handies peak. A couple of beautiful days in the mountains with the toughest guy around.

Best week of the year

     Well, it's here. Momentarily I'll be packing up the truck and heading North to Silverton so I can relax for a few days before the big run. I had hoped for one more foray onto the course last week, but time constraints kept me a bit closer to home. That's alright, because Jamil's videos did an awesome job of showing course conditions, so I feel that everyone is well informed on that front.
     I'm very excited for this years run. Not only because of the high level talent, which is inspiring, but also there is energy to the whole experience that is so positive. It is very easy for me to be distracted by all the sorrow in the world. Something, maybe all the self-imposed suffering, makes me notice and appreciate all the positive emotions that surround Hardrock.  Whether I'm fast, slow, or completely destroyed, I'm sure I'll learn something this year!
     Well, it's time to shut down the computer, turn off the phone, and go to my happy place. A happy Hardrock weekend to all.

Hardrock Course June 24-25

Looking from American Basin to American/Grouse pass

American Basin from Handies summit

Starting towards Grizzly Gulch from Handies summit ridge

Descent tracks down into Grizzly Gulch

Looking back up into Grizzly Gulch

Looking down Grizzly

Saddle between Putnam and Porcupine

Dropping into Swamp Canyon

Looking back at Swamp Canyon from Oscars Pass

The classic: Island Lake

     The snow has receded considerably in the last week. Silverton to Oscars Pass was pretty straight forward with patches of snow that were mostly firm. There was some snot slick mud descending into Porcupine Gulch. The steep descent from Grant/Swamp pass is dry. That was on Wednesday 25th. The day before in American Basin was a bit different. A few good patches of firm snow, but also some decent stretches of knee deep slush with a couple holes where I fell to my waist. From the summit of Handies there was one fun glissade to Grizzly Gulch, which had a bit of mud, but nothing too bad. Looks like things will be just about perfect for race day!

Hardrock course June 17-19

Looking across the saddle between Bear and Porcupine Creeks

Looking North from the saddle into Cataract Creek and South Mineral

Maggie Gulch

Things get strange in Pole Creek

Heading up Cataract Gulch

One of the few big drifts left in Pole Creek

Descending into Pole Creek from Pole/Cataract Pass

Beautiful singletrack heading towards the confluence with the Middle Fork of Pole Creek

Pole Creek = Elk Heaven

Dives-Little Giant Pass. What a difference a week makes.

A whole lot of snow melted in the last week. I predict a fairly dry race, but not nearly as dry as the last two years.
     I received a wonderful reminder of how quickly things change in the San Juans as I huddled in some trees near the location of the Pole Creek aid station with my dogs on Wednesday. It was blowing snow and groupel with intense thunder coming from Maggie-Pole Pass (where I was headed.)  We waited and shivered for about fifteen minutes and then it was sunny and warm as we ascended to the Pass. The day before I had struggled to stay upright in fifty mile an hour winds along the ridge above Putnam Basin. I love the mountains!

Hardrock course conditions June 10-11

Basin near Green Mtn looking towards Cunningham

Looking down into Maggie Gulch

Dives-Little Giant Pass

From Grant-Swamp Pass looking North

From Kamm's Traverse looking Southwest

Looking Northwest into Ice Lakes drainage on KT

There is still a lot of snow on North facing slopes in the trees and at higher elevations. The dust is really accelerating the melt, and things are changing quickly. Lots of fun post holing for now!

Global Weirding

     Skiers are funny. Well, it's people in general that are funny, but skiers are the ones that cause me to bring up this topic. You see, we're having  a long dry spell down here in Southwest Colorado. It's been warm too.  Not so good for ski conditions, or the businesses that make money from skiers.  I hear it so many times a day; "We need more snow." "When is it going to snow?"  People bring up the Farmer's Almanac, and what some Old Timer out in Mancos said about the weather patterns way back when. Almost no one seems to bring up that the past is no longer very relevant to weather patterns. That the very lifestyle we lead is screwing up the the lifestyle we want to lead. That coal fired power plant that produces electricity to power the chair lift? The car I drove for an hour each way to go skiing in the back country? All the things we bought that are produced with petrol chemicals, and then shipped from the other side of the world powered by more petrol? It has caused an amazing shift in the climate, and it isn't going away any time soon. Bitching about the weather is kind of like a smoker complaining about air pollution. We are not innocent victims of Mother Nature's wrath. We are spoiled brat children of the Earth that cannot learn to share.
     What to do about it? I don't know, I think we're screwed for the most part. However, I've heard it said that the first step toward recovery is admitting you have a problem. What I'm advocating is that we all start admitting we have a problem with consumption that is changing the world on a very large scale. If skiing is your thing, perhaps consider a move to Montana or Canada.  Mountain biking on dry trails in January might just be the new "norm".  Or, we can stay in denial like any good addict.

The Sleeping Ute

     Enough for the Soapbox. In my little world things are good. The trails are amazing for running right now. I'm heading down to Southern Arizona this weekend to crew and pace for a friend in a hundred miler. This is something I wish I could do more of; go to Ultras and volunteer. I love the atmosphere and community at these events, and I love to witness those mental breakthroughs.