Creek again

Miah and i went to Indian creek from the 23rd to the 25th. the weather is getting better every time i go down there. this makes me increasingly more psyched to go again.

23rd. went to Battle of the Bulge and tried digital readout and got spanked again that thing is way too hard. then i did disco machine gun and that route is supper fun.

24th went to the wall and and no fun at all

25th power wall- this wall is small but has many good shorter routes on the face including the classic power line. i tried really hard on power line and was lucky enough to onsight it very happy about that one. i then went for a walk and looked at ultimate crack this thing is sick. supper splitter and beautiful. the down side is that it is full on sand cuz no one gets on the thing but they should. i then got on power line again so Miah could shoot it and tore my finger off at least a full pad. this pissed me off but a bear helped to calm me back down and now its almost heeled so all is good.

Indian Creek Oct. 3-6

Peter Vintoniv and i went to Indian Creek from Oct. 3-6th. We both had to work the night before so i got 2 hours of sleep and Peter had no sleep but slept the whole way down in the back of my van.

Oct. 3

Both of us had never been to the Wall before so we went there to check it out and did a super fun 12a finger corner to worm up and then headed over to learning to fly. it was a strange size for me my first knuckle was really rattly and i could not get my second knuckle in. on my second go i tried hard though and was almost to the foothold and fell out and ripped a huge chunk of my finger off. What a way to start a 4 day creek trip. next we got on the judge and saw a bolt next to a perfect nut placement WTF is wrong with people. i skipped the bolt and used the nut.

Oct. 4

cat wall we went up and got on burl dog which, is a beautiful line. Peter killed it i could not do it but would like to go back and do that line.

Oct. 5

4X4 wall-wormed up on 4X4 so good. then we got on hydraulic pump. this thing has a really powerfull start and then goes into .75 laybacking for ever. both of us didnt send so we went over to broken tooth to meet up with peters girlfriend and crew to play. we both did broken tooth and unbelievable super classic. then we went around to the front of the wall and i did rock lobster and peter did inflicter.

Oct. 6

Scarface-my finger blew up on mantel illness and i fell peter sent. then we got on the cleaner and i fell on the last hard move peter sent. there is another pointless bolt on this route i will give another WTF. then we went over to Desert Shield and i onsighted it amazingly enough after falling on everything else that day. then peter sent too. this route is all time and the best 12 i have done in the creek.

Desolation Marathon

I ran the Desolation Marathon in the end of September. this was also my first marathon i have run. It started at the Brighton store and links up to the crest trail via scotts pass. It was a cold morning with puffiies defiantly being necessary. the race start was so casual i missed it. i was throwing on my hydration pack and then i hear a paper bag pop and thats it the time started. then my friend alex showed up so i gave him a quick run down of the race and then i started down big cottonwood canyon. i still had no idea how to get onto the crest trail so my plan was to stay with someone who knew the trail until that point and then run my pace. lucky on my way up Gardsmens i talked with a supper nice guy(sorry i forgot his name). he gave me the know on the course, which was kind of funny getting the beta while running the first few miles. once i got on Scotts pass i knew the way to dog lake so i turned on the pod and rocked my way to the first and only aid station. her i was informed that i was on Karl Meltzers pace but who knew if i could keep it up since i didnt even know where i was going. i chugged some water and kept running. the foliage was unbelievable with he vibrant yellow leaves all over the trail. once to dog lake the guessing game began with where to go. i was forced to stop at every sign to try and figure out where i was going. this next part was extremely overgrown and i had trouble keeping any type of pace through this section. luckily the colors were amazing and distracted me from the blister that had began to form on my left foot from the slanted trail. once i got through this section which was the most difficult so far because of its slightly uphill angle i was blessed with being at the eastern base of mount Raymond. this meant i was very close to the last 8 miles of leg pounding downhill running. when i first started going downhill i felt great, however, once about 4 miles went by my legs felt destroyed and every step was painful. after so many switchbacks i finally heard some music from the Millcreek inn and knew i was close and god damn it was about time. my final time was 3:33 which, is pretty good for that course i believe. My Sister and friend Miah was there and greeted me with a amazing Rouge nut brown ale mmmm so good thanks Miah. thank you Sis for driving me around and being the most supportive sister around even though you are in med school and dont have any time means a lot. i hung out for a few hours then i had to leave to take a shower and go to work.

Moose Knuckle!

So, you see, i was thinking, ok enough i went to checkout the bottom portion of the desolation trail on Friday the (a fly is driving me nuts) 9/18. i made the grid over the ridge and was surprised by how overgrown the trail was in spots and other areas it was fine. Kind of weird but once i started to run down into the bowl and began the switchbacks up to another ridge i heard some rustling in the bushes. i looked to my left and i was about 30 feet from a monstrous moosey (i named him MaximousMoosimous and moosey will be called this from now on). MaximousMoosimous is a boy with horns and all, and he stared at me. this stare was not the nice googly eyed stare i like. this stare was full of rage, which looked similar to the spanish bullfighting, bull stare. so i added a little pip to my step and tried to put some acreage between me and MaximousMoosimous. just when i thought i was ok and in the clear i heard the same damn rustling again. Fucking, MaximousMoosimous was making up ground and he still had me in his bullfighting stare. at this point i put a whole lot more than some extra pip in my steep. this was "hammer time," I rallied up the switchbacks and got on to the ridge. i musta put the hurt on MaximousMoosimous. The rest was an enjoyable run to the point, where i turned around.

on the way back i was more nervous, for the reason that i thought MaximousMoosimous was going to be hiding and waiting for the right time to get on his rears and pound my precious face into he ground. on the way to the to my battle ground i came up with the fantastic idea of grabing myself a rock. Hells yeah, no moosey is going to punk my ass now not even the great MaximousMoosimous. Rocks are 1. heavey 2. can Konk like a sludge hammer 3. have points, giving them extra penetrating powers. i felt so much better now, so care free, the way that running should be (sorry for that gay line). Bullshit, who am i fooling i still felt like i was a gladiator about to enter the Colosseum to be slain. I made it to the bowl/ Colosseum and started to make my way down slowly, while trying to be as stealthly and silant as possible while running. For your information its not easy running with a 10 pound rock in one hand. It feels like you are extremely lopsided. After i make it down a few switcheroos i see it; BIG, DEEP, and right on the trail its MOOSE KNUCKLE! MaximuosMoosimous has walked down the trail, at this point all i can say is WTF. I do all i can and that is keep a healthy grip on my rock and continue my lopsided running down the trail, while staying alert to any rustling in the bushes. MaximousMoosimouses moose knuckles veer on and off the trail for the next two miles and then a hard swithback from right to left comes, and MaximousMoosimouses moose knuckles are off into the wilderness for good. thank god im safe, and then its time for the no more MaximousMoosimous dance. I was so happy at this point i did not even think twice about my bad ankle and over it goes, rolled for the i dont know 50th time this summer. That doesn't matter that much though im only 3 miles from being done.

Desolation trail

I decided that since i was already in ok shape after doing the horseshoe traverse. I might as well keep running for two more weeks and do the Desolation marathon. Today was my first run on the trail and it was so much better than i could have hopped. It is a single track trail with wonderful Aspen trees that were changing colors. over the first few miles a fierce thunder storm rolled in and dropped some painful hail on me as well. this made the beginning even better cuz i am into shitty weather running. then as the miles went on the sun came out and dried my soaking wet cloths as well as lighting up the peaks. this added a nice beauty element to the mix of an already fantastic run. i ran a mile or mile and a half past desolation lake and then turned around. even though the running back was gradually uphill i felt great and had a negative split, which is always icing on the cake. this run got me that much more psyched for the marathon and i cant wait to boot up for the big day.

The Horse Shoe Traverse

Last August i did the alpine traverse and was completely trashed afterwards i could barley walk and it took me 13 hours. After doing this i thought there was no way i could ever do the whole Horse Shoe Traverse: however, this summer i got really psyched to start training and make this thing happen. I started running the Pfeifferhorn and sections of the traverse a few times a week and mixed in some more casual trail running as well. One day after doing a section of the traverse from the Pfeifferhorn to Lone Peak and down Bells Canyon i sprained my ankle badly. This injury continued to haunt me while i rolled my ankle repeatedly on training runs to the point i thought i would not be able to do the traverse. finally it healed enough and i knew i was ready to give the traverse a shot so i stashed watter on the Pfeifferhorn and Superior and on Monday 9/7 i started at 3am. 10 min. in i got lost in the dark and went bush whacking up a sand slop for 2o min. and ended up having to retrace my steps back to the point i got lost in the first place. i almost threw in the towel right then. The rest of the way up to the SLC twins was easy going with no problems with route finding. the sun began to rise a few peaks after the twins and this was very nice and i was able to pick up the pace a bit with the increased visibility. i felt great after Superior and i took a five min. break to chug some gatorade and refill my bladder. this is where i could start running more because you are on a trail instead of boulder hopping on a ridge this is where i thought the easiest section would be; although, i was wrong. My knees started to become very sore and my hip, which had been an issue for a while was starting to really give me trouble. i struggled and my pace showed as i was slower than i had hoped on this section to hidden peak. once on hidden peak i meet my mother, father, and my friend Miah who where nice enough to support me by coming up and giving me some extra motivation. i had another gatorade, refueled my water, and took some advil for my knees and hip. then i was off and i felt great with the advil working wonders and alleviating all my pain i was able to focus on the running and i was able to move much faster than i had anticipated. The AF Twins went by easily along with Red and White Baldy. I made it to the Pfeifferhorn in 13.5 hours i was stoked. My knees began to become tender again but i was on the home stretch and was able to keep it off my mind. I increased the amount of Gu and Powerbars i was eating to help with my extra fatigued muscles. Once on thunder ridge i saw many mountain goats and in my tired state i found some amusement in yelling at them and they happened to be on the same route i was on going up South Thunder so i had a rabbit to help me keep pace. We actually went up South Thunder and down to the base of Big Horn together before the mountain goat decided (what a sissy) to take the easier route down and right into the upper Bells Bowl. I continued up Big Horn trying not to look up for the reason that this is steep but short so i figured keep my head down and keep on chugging. This seemed to work and i was up on Big Horn and climbing up Lone Peak quickly, which seems to always be a grueling part of the traverse when your legs are worked. Up on Lone Peak in 15.5 hours and my friend Peter and his girlfriend Jules were climbing. Peter was the one who actually got me into this ridge traversing and has made some fast times on section in the past. It was nice to hear a friendly voice after so many hours of seeing no one. Down i went trying to go as quickly as possible. The shoot i had gone down in the past was clear of snow, which sucked because it is easier to glissade down than it is to hike down a bowling alley of loose rocks and sand. I made it down and then began the boulder hopping. This always gets to me and mentally i just get to the point where i am just over it. I found the trail and worked my way down Bells Canyon and back to the road where my dad picked me up and took me home where a few family friends where hanging out at the camp fire. my mom had made some pasta and it tasted so damn good after 17 hours and 48 min. of running and eating Gu and bars. i topped it off with a Sierra Nevada Torpedo and some cake and ice cream my sister made. thank you so much family and friends for all the support and inspiration. i would not know what to do without you all. here is a map from google earth of the ridge. its so beautiful and close so go play on it and do the thing.