Hiking in the White Mountains

John had a long weekend available over the 4th of July, so we decided to take the opportunity (and brave the holiday crowds) and go to the White Mountains for some hiking.  We have been wanting to climb Mount Washington and experience the Whites after hearing many good things.  White Birches campground outside Gorham had a tent spot available so we were on our way.

Up early on Friday, at the Pinkham Notch parking lot, with chai latte and ready to roll:

Maybe need a little more caffeine this morning... somehow, John can sleep here:

Beautiful cascade to start the morning:

Ah, sunshine!

We could see a big cloud blowing over the top of Mount Washington.  It was quite an interesting perspective, with sun in the valley and a big white ceiling moving over us.  So yes, we're heading up there...

Back there looks nice:

Up there - not so much:

Tuckerman Ravine and a really pretty bowl with water flowing down all the rocks:

Yep, still nice in the other direction:

It felt so much like Colorado, really a wonderful reminder of those mountains except we could breathe better here.  I was very happy.

One piece of snow remaining - I always seem to locate a little bit of snow in July just for John  :)  I'm not so sure he appreciates it though.

Mountain flowers:

We climbed up above the bowl and into the cloud.  It didn't take long before deciding we needed to don jackets and warmer headwear.  The wind wasn't too bad on this side of the hill, at least.

We followed large cairns and climbed for a while in the mist.

Out of nowhere a car went by just above us - I guess we're near the top!

How did we get so close to the summit and not know it?

The experience continued as the wind hit us hard near the top.  We climbed up to the summit sign and hung onto it to take some pictures, trying not to get blown away.  I hope the sign is sturdy, I'm sure we're not the first to use it as an anchor:

Lots  --  of  --  wind  ! ! !

Love this one:

We quickly found the entrance to the summit building and hustled in.  Wow, that was something!  Welcome to Mt. Washington State Park - the worst weather in the world.

Time for a hot chocolate warmer-upper, mmm:

John noticed this display of the wind speed - over 40 mph at that moment, 60 mph max in the previous 15 minutes (we might have been in it!).  At least it was slowing a bit since the overnight hours.  We were pretty excited to get to experience this.  And then to come inside.

We hoped to hike over to a couple more of the presidential peaks along the ridge to the north.  It wasn't certain whether the blowing mist would accompany us the whole way, but we decided to give it a try.  Initially there was a lot of wind on the way down to the AT, then it let up a bit as we continued downhill.  Crazy weather on the top of that mountain.

We heard rumblings and got to see the cog railway train come through - hello!

Goodbye!

We diverged from the Gulfside Trail to go over the top of Mount Clay and then along toward Jefferson.  Eventually there was even a view below the cloud, nice!

Still windy, especially in the cols.

Practicing the Summit Pose:

On top of Mount Jefferson amid lots of rocks.

Rocks, rocks, more rocks.  It was slow going but entertaining.

Look, over there - ?

Another nice view:

I believe this is heading down toward Edmands Col:

A cairn with a white rock on top - seemed to be the thing along here.

A nice look at the ridge ahead:

Climbing more rocks, this time up to Mount Adams:

The weather got nicer and nicer as we went along:

Looking at Madison Spring Hut and Mount Madison beyond it:

One last big climb up Madison, excellent climbing today.

I asked John, "so what do you think?" and he gave me this pose:

Whenever we got a glimpse back toward Mount Washington we would check it out.  Most of the day it was still in that same blowing cloud.  Right as we were on the way down the Osgood Trail off Mount Madison, we looked over to actually see the Mount Washington summit!  Yay!

It was a long, steep descent, first down a rocky ridge, then down a narrow trail in the trees.  I wasn't excited about it, and I was moving slowly, but eventually we got to the cutoff trail and things got better.

One of the many brooks in the Great Gulf Wilderness:

Nice bridge:

We followed the AT along the Madison Gulf Trail, over creeks and across some mud (but nothing too bad).  The hike was taking quite a bit longer than I had guessed it might, at least we had carried some extra food and plenty of water (and there were plenty of water sources along the way).  We crossed the auto road and even ran a ways on the smooth trail called Old Jackson Road.

Finally the notch and our truck.  Wow, that was quite a day!

And I got to add another entry to our high points page:
http://www.kipley.com/marcy/highpoints/index.html

Manitou's Revenge 56-mile race

I recently heard about a new race, 56 miles on rocky trails in the Catskills.  I've been up and down the Escarpment Trail a few times, and I've been wanting to see the Devil's Path.  The timing was good as a lead-up race for the Vermont 100, so I said "what the heck".  John agreed to crew for me and it looked like he would also be able to come with me for the Devil's Path portion, so that settled it.

We got up ridiculously early, got to chat with a local policeman who was curious why we were out driving at such an odd hour, and made it to the start without further incident.  There were quite a few people running this inaugural race (and a tough race at that).  We started with a 3-mile jog up the road, which was the only easy part of the whole event.

Whoever was still behind me when we started into the woods and up the hill, I let most of them by.  Today was all about training for my climbing legs.  The Long Trail treks had been a great start, now it was time to get serious.  So I didn't want to go crazy at the beginning, just treat this like a training run and ease my legs into the work of getting up the hills.

I was impressed with how most of the field disappeared ahead of me.  These folks are serious athletes, very few back-of-the-packers.  I made my way up to the Escarpment Trail and over to the steep climb up to Blackhead Mountain.  There was a photographer and his dog coming down, hi guys!

We got occasional views into the cloud-covered valleys as the trail climbed up into the sunshine.  A nice morning, starting to get a bit warm.

There were a couple friendly volunteers at the Dutcher Notch aid station - thank you!  The climb up to Stoppel Point went well, and I started seeing a couple other runners on the way to North Point.  Compared to the lung-buster Escarpment Trail Race, this was a very pleasant way to traverse the trail.

John found me as I was approaching North/South Lake and got to see some views down toward the Hudson Valley.  Good morning!

I grabbed a couple snacks at the aid station and gave John a kiss.  The next few miles down to Palenville were mostly pretty easy, and I was warmed up and ready to run a little.  I enjoyed the long downhill to the next aid station where John was waiting.  More water, a couple snacks, time for some real work.

I had previously climbed the next trail in training so I was ready for a long, steep grind.  Yep, that's what it was.  A group of 3 runners passed me, but for the most part I was alone in this section.  I had heard that the trails on top were quite muddy, but the traverse over to Buttermilk Falls was actually better than my previous experience.  There were, however, quite a few large downed trees to climb over.  I enjoyed sitting on each one as I swung my legs over, a nice rest for a couple seconds.

On the next little climb I actually passed someone, I must be doing OK.  The traverse back toward Platte Clove took a long time.  I had done this section in training too, but from the other direction.  Now the trail was in worse condition than I had seen before.  Ah well, you can't win 'em all.

Ho hum, how long does this trail go?  Finally I got to the last big aid station.  Hi John!  He was dressed and ready to come with me for a few miles.  Awesome!  We started with a jog down the road to the beginning of the Devil's Path.  Time to go see some Catskill trails I had not been on before.

I was surprised to start catching up to several other runners.  My legs were doing great so I motored up the climb to Indian Head.  Well, at least until the trail got gnarly and required some grabbing onto tree roots to pull ourselves up.  Very cool.  Glad that John got to experience it too.

Devil's Path was super interesting - lots of rocks, roots, figuring out how to get up and down.  We went over Indian Head, Twin Mountain (2 peaks close together), then a long drop and climb over Sugarloaf.

John took several photos through here - he had no trouble keeping up and taking pictures at the same time:

Who came up with the idea for this trail?

It took quite a long time to get to Mink Hollow and the next aid station.  I had been ahead of my estimates for the first half of the race, but this section started cutting into that "lead".  Mostly I was hoping to get off Devil's Path before dark.  The sun was dropping but there was still light left when we reached Mink.

This is where John was taking off back to the car.  Thank you for the great company!  I refilled my water bottles, ate a cup of delicious chicken noodle soup (wow, that was really good), and bade farewell to John for the evening.

Time for one last big climb.  I passed another guy on the steep ascent of Plateau Mountain, then near the top I saw two guys taking a break.  They commented on the fact that I was still moving, and I told them that it was still light out - we can rest when it gets dark.  They seemed to agree, so we headed on together.  Their pace matched mine so we decided to hang out for a while.

That turned out to be a great way to spend the next 10 miles.  It was David's first time doing a challenging 50-miler, and Bryan was working on running a race (marathon or more, I believe) in every state.  They were funny and talkative, and David set a great pace with his trekking poles and trail-finding ability.  We turned off Devil's Path onto a trail that was much less traveled, more overgrown, and a bit of a challenge to follow in the dark sometimes.

It seemed like we were making good time, but these miles still took forever.  Part of "overgrown" included stinging nettle, ouch.  Not a fan!  David was smart with his knee-high gaiters.  We descended to a notch and then climbed a bit before a long downhill toward the creek.  Here is where my downhill ability decided it was done for the night.  I got slow and tentative on the rocky trail.  Sigh.

Eventually we got to the creek and waded across.  The cool water was nice, and my feet are plenty used to being wet lately.  I took the lead on the other side, setting a solid uphill pace and enjoying feeling strong again after that wimpy descent.  I wasn't looking forward to the final 3-mile downhill, but first things first.

The climb made several sharp switchbacks, and there was often a trail marking on the tree right at the corner.  I would walk up to the marker and stare at it, trying to figure out where the trail went from there.  The guys then would tell me that the trail was behind me - funny!  After a while I learned to look for the switchback over my shoulder.

The trail leveled out and we found the Willow aid station.  They were rationing out water, like half a cup per person.  Hmm, that's not ideal, but at least I was still carrying just enough to mix my last Spiz.  Their campfire was blowing smoke in our faces so we didn't stick around long.  Thank you for being there, ladies!

It was a decent traverse/slight uphill to Tremper Mountain.  Bryan was moving slower so they told me to go on ahead.  I told them I would need some extra time to get down the hill, so on ahead I went.  There was a fire tower at the top, also some rustling in the bushes - porcupine!  Time to go!

Just three miles down a small road, yep, that was the hardest part of the whole race for me.  Mostly because my knees were tired of going downhill (a remnant of the Long Trail training, I believe) and my feet were starting to hurt.  The gentler slopes were OK but the steeper stuff was a challenge.  I made my way down the best I could.

After way longer than I would have liked, I neared the bottom.  There was John waiting on a rock.  Hi sweetheart!  We went down to the last aid station, got a reflective vest for the road section, and walked it in to the finish line.  Phew, I am so glad that's over.  No photo, let's just say I looked relieved.  David and Bryan finished not long after - well done!

It's hard to believe, but it took me 21 hours and 40 minutes to travel 56 miles.  One person at the finish line commented that he beat his Vermont 100 time by 15 minutes... that's pretty much how I felt.  It's a doozy of a race, an excellent experience and super good training.  Thank you to Charlie for putting it together, I think you've got a good idea on your hands!

The Sniper Adventure Challenge

Time for a guest post!  Last summer John and I were honored to crew for a couple of our friends at the Death Race in Vermont.  Steve Daniel and John Murphy are now preparing for another big adventure, and it sounds like another amazing experience!

Steve explains:

24 - 40 hours in the New Mexico desert. 45+ pound pack. Rattlesnakes. Dehydration. Getting hooded and handcuffed to a tree.  Does that sound like fun to you?  Well it does to me and my teammate, John Murphy.  We'll be competing in the 24 hour Sniper Adventure Challenge over the July 4th weekend, and those things plus other unknown challenges await us.

John has been doing triathlons, bike racing, adventure races and canoe races at a competitive level since high school.  We met through adventure racing in 2003 when I moved to Denver from Austin, Texas.  I had been doing adventure races and canoe races for some time, and we quickly became friends.  Since that time we've done a number of longer adventure races, two bouts of the Texas Water Safari, a Goruck, and the Spartan Death Race together.  Two years ago, John got me interested in long range shooting competitions.  I've always enjoyed shooting rifles, so the thought of competitions centered around shooting sounded like fun.  Although the formats vary, most involve having to travel over various terrain to areas where you have a limited amount of time to locate, range, and engage metal targets.  At distances of 300 - 1000 yards, this can be relatively difficult for a novice like me.

 
In 2011, John convinced me to enter the Competition Dynamics Team Challenge.  This was a three day stage race involving shooting at targets in various scenarios.  We had such a great time, that when CD announced it was going to run an adventure race in 2012 with shooting, it seemed like the perfect match for us.  The race was in northern Utah in late July.  I can honestly say that it was one of the harder races I've ever done, but it was also the most fun I've ever had at an adventure race.  Not only were there six different shooting stages for both pistol and rifle (one pistol stage at night), but there were special challenges we had to overcome to gain additional points. The hardest challenge was the first, where they had us carry a 100 pound duffle bag full of rocks 3-4 miles towards the first checkpoint.  Adding the 100 pounds to our already heavy packs was a real crusher for a lot of teams.   We had to solve a math problem involving two buckets of water.  We did a tyrolean traverse at night with our full 45-50 pound packs.  At a signal challenge we had to send a signal to someone a few miles away at the top of another hill.  Another challenge found us having to break a code they provided.  Our favorite challenge was the "escape and evade".  Both of us were hooded.  My hands were duct taped around a tree.  John was handcuffed, and our packs were chained up with a padlock.  We had 15 minutes to get out of our bindings and pick the lock to the packs.  Although we quickly got out of our binds, we couldn't pick the lock.  Add to all those challenges about 40 miles of hiking some of the steepest terrain you can imagine while trying to locate various checkpoints.  It was a tough race.  At the end of the 24 hours, John and I ended up 2nd overall - missing first place by only 18 points out of over 2460 points that the first place team received.

Our goal this year is to improve on our performance from last year.  We would like to shoot better as we were in the bottom half of last year's competitors.  I made a few navigation errors last year as well, so hopefully we can have a cleaner race from that perspective.  We don't hold any illusions that we'll win this year.  Most of the teams that are competing are current or former military - Rangers, Delta Force, Marine Recon, etc.  Those guys are tough, they can shoot very well, and they have a lot of real world practice navigating.  In order to improve on our chances, we've been practicing our shooting more than last year.  John has done several practical shooting matches as well.  I've worked more on my navigation skills through doing as many orienteering meets as possible.  We've been doing quite a bit of rucking with heavy packs as well.

Many people will think we're crazy for doing an event like this.  For some reason, most people tend to think that anything more than a two hour bike ride, a half marathon, or a ten mile hike is extreme.   John and I are part of a very small group of folks who enjoy the physical, mental, and emotional challenges that come with pushing yourself beyond what is considered normal or "acceptable" by the general population.   By pushing ourselves beyond what our bodies and minds tell us we can do, we learn a bit more about ourselves and what we're capable of.  In just a few days I have a feeling we're going to be doing a whole lot of learning about ourselves...

Good luck guys!