Primal Quest – part 3

             It was Day 8 and we had been moving well and were still feeling ok.  Will had been battling broccolis but seemed to be getting better.  Brian’s feet were getting better, in large part because Todd, the crew for Team Intrepid,  had come to the rescue and was now doing all of our foot care. I actual felt very good.  Overall our sleep strategy seemed to be working pretty well.   By the end of the race we slept about 27 hours.

             We were in the TA just before the rope section.  This was right along the river and was a beautiful valley. We had wanted to hit the ropes in the very early morning so we would be doing the orienteering section in the day light.  We were informed, however that the ropes were taking around 8 hours and that the orienteering section was fully optional and that any CP’s found would subtract an hour from the final time.  In the TA I did a quick plotting of the O map to get an idea if there would be any easy CP’s we could grab.  There was 1 and a couple that seemed to be close, but we agreed that we did not want to spend any time looking for controls.  I was starting to get concerned about the final cut off and didn’t want to waste any time. 

             The entire race we had been well ahead of the cut offs.   We were still ahead of the curve but we didn’t have time to waste. We were being pushed by the goal to complete the long course.  We still had a ropes section, an Orienteering section, another very long trek and a bike ride with a big climb before we got to the finish.  Also, being unranked, the O course wouldn’t do anything for us.  However, we did pick up one control, so we officially did the O course.

  An Example of a part of the climb

      It was a good 3 or 4 mile walk to the base of the climb.  The ascent section of the ropes was a climb up a very exposed wedge of rock that stepped up the side of the mountain. We were going to climb up about 1200 vertical feet. This would be far and away the biggest climb I had ever done.  I was no longer tired.  I was totally pumped up with a combination of fear and adrenaline.

            The single track trail along the river was rugged and had a couple of places where we needed to clip in.  Finally we got to the based of the first climb.  This was a 5.4 free climb.  We were clipped in with a camming devise hooked to the harness.  This was not an easy climb and was the first of 6 or 7 climbs. 

            After the free climb, I hooked in and crossed a “step” over to the next climb.  From here on up it was jumaring.  The climbs varied between free hang and low angle with everything in between.  Every climb would have a least one knot that had to be crossed over and several climbs had 3 or 4.  Passing a knot requires you to unhook each jumar and reattach it above the knot.  You always stay attached to the rope with two connections so it really is safe, if you do it right.  If you do it wrong, it could be bad.   Still you can cross up the ropes, which I did several times, and have to unattach and reattach again.  All of this 100’s of feet off the ground.

             At the top of each section you would cross over a razor thin step to the next climb. This was a beautiful rock to climb and was very challenging.  On about the 3rd or 4th climb the Panda’s caught up to me.  Masha and I jugged up together the rest of the way.  This was just an epic and fun climb.  I have a very healthy respect for high places and find it a lot easier if I just never look down.  By the last jumar, my arms were shot.  I could barely straighten them.  I had run out of water about 30 minutes before and was sweating like a pig. 

 
Top of the climb.  It was harder then it looks.

            After we had all gotten to the top we hiked up another several hundred feet to the actual checkpoint.  Then we started working toward the trail back to the TA.  This was total bush wack over fallen trees.  It was a tough trek.  Between the climb and this part of the trek, I was beat.  We were all out of water.   The Panda’s shared a Red Bull at the top, but what I really needed was water. I felt like that little reserve of energy that I always seem to have was gone.  From the O course we had to walk back to the TA and then up a cliff behind the TA to the CP at the top of the repel.  On the way we found water and filled up. The repel was a 150 foot free hang.  It was fun but didn’t fit in the flow of the race very well.

Walking from the climb to the repel.

            We caught Team Blue and were ahead of the Panda’s over to the top of the repel.  We actually found a short cut and pulled maybe a half hour on both teams.  It was kind of fun to repel down all three of us at one time.

             It was about 8 pm and we were feeling pretty good about making the final cut off.  Our big concern was the up coming trek.  How long would that take?  We were figuring about 24 hours (we were told Merrill did it in 20).  After eating and sleeping an hour we took off around 11 pm.   It had been raining abit for an hour or so. The storm that rolled in prevented the teams that were on the ropes or waiting to be turned back.  There was lighting and thunder and it came down pretty hard for a while. Once the trek started the rain stopped and the weather got better.

 Day 9

             This last trek had two monster climbs and was 38 miles long.  From the trailhead the trail just climbed and climbed.  Brian’s feet were getting better and Will seemed to be doing OK.  I was still pumped up from the climb and was feeling great.  That changed. 

             We were moving at a good clip up the mountain.  In the early morning we took a quick 15 minute lay down. 

             We got up and we moved along at a very nice pace all the way to the CP at Spanish Creek.  We caught up to the Panda’s (who apparently didn’t do a sleep) and were feeling OK.    We hit the CP just at first light. 

             We quickly got out of the CP while the Panda’s lay down. From the CP was a good climb over the next ridge.  On this climb we saw 2 bears.  A few hours in to this part of the trek and the wheels started to fall off for me.

             My little toe on the right foot started to really hurt.  I was running out of energy.  At about this time we came to an area that had a great deal of fallen trees.  These trees littered the forest and completely covered up the trail.  Thinking the trial turned  more to the left we followed what appeared to be a trail till it just ended.  Then we tried a cross country route which didn’t work out.  Finally we did what you are supposed to, but rarely do, we went back to the last place we knew exactly where we were.  From there we were able to pick up the trial again.  We probably only lost an hour, but the timing was bad.  Shortly after we got going again we started raining – hard.  Huge drops.  This was the only real weather that we had and it didn’t last too long but again it was at a time where I was really hurting.  Finally I had to deal with the toe.  The entire thing was a blister.  After draining and taping it, it was much better.  I was still the walking dead but at least my toe was better.

             We caught up to the Panda’s yet again.  They had passed us when we were “lost”.  Somewhere between 25 and 30 miles in to this trek there was a section where we were instructed to follow ribbon that had been put out.  I don’t know if we were just so tired or it was poorly marked but we (all 8 of us) had a horrible time following the flagging.  Finally, after what seemed like a couple hours, we got to the edge of the ridge above Ennis Lake.  It was great that we could see the lake, but we still had 5-6 miles to go and 2000 feet of down hill.  At this point in time, the downhill was harder and hurt far more then going up hill. 

             We left the Panda’s and got down to lake level as quickly as possible.  At one point, our path was blocked by a cow.  If that cow had not moved I would have killed it with my bare hands.  I was running on empty and needed sleep in the worst way.  This was the first time that I have ever felt that I was totally on empty with nothing left in the tank.

             On the 3 mile walk down the road to the TA we all agreed that we needed to sleep even though all that was left was a 6 hour bike.  I was quite sure that I would fall asleep on the bike and crash.  I just couldn’t keep my eyes open. 

             We got to the TA right at dark.  I tried to stay awake to eat but couldn’t and just feel asleep.

 

We look pretty happy for a death march

A few hours later, we were shaken awake and kicked out of the TA.  We started the ride around 1 am.

             The ride itself was uneventful.  At the end we had a long steady climb.  Throughout the nighttime dark we all struggled to keep our eyes open.  I know I fell asleep a couple of times.

            Finally, a couple of hours after the sun came up, we got to the high point and were greeted by a Big Sky representative who had us follow him down the hill and to the finish.  We finished at 7:02 am – just short of 9 full days – 213 hours.

             At the line was my entire family, the entire DA I team, both crews and other friends and family.  Everyone got up early to be there to greet us.  It was great to cross that line.  We did every inch of that course and were proud to have completed the race.

 

 

 

Sphere: Related Content

The following is super write-up, by Leo Roth of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, that describes the basics to adventure racing.

 —

Adventure races are nonstop, non-motorized, multi-sport team events that take place in the wilderness.

Contestants navigate to checkpoints using only maps and compasses. Mountaineering, hiking, kayaking, rafting, river boarding, orienteering and mountain biking are required skills. But endurance, strength, commitment, selflessness and sheer will are also tested.

Primal Quest, featuring co-ed teams, is the sport’s premier event. Held in locales in Washington state, Colorado, Utah and Montana, Sportales.com included it on its list of the “Seven Hidden Wonders of the Sporting World.” The Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska and the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon are also on the list.

Primal Quest race director Don Mann relishes that his events are nicknamed “Sufferfests.”

“Suffering is what they come for,” the former Navy Seal and Ironman participant said in an interview.

Here’s how to get started:

Types of races: Beginners usually start with sprint races that last 2-12 hours. Weekenders last a few days and require more logistical planning and night navigation. Expedition level is for experts. These last 3-15 days and require the whole gamut of outdoor travel and survival skills.

Events: You’ll need to gain proficiency in navigation/map reading (orienteering), trail running and trekking, mountain biking, paddling (canoes, kayaks, rafts), climbing fixed ropes, and river swimming (use of river boards). Some races require certifications or skill testing to enter. Some allow support crews.

Training: Simulate the wilderness experience as best you can. Be sure to practice at least two disciplines so the body can get used to transitioning from say biking to running or mountaineering to kayaking. Train at various times of the day with a full backpack. Test out foods and fluids that keep you both physically and mentally refreshed as well as the laundry list of gear the sport requires. When it comes to gear, lighter is always better and never scrimp on quality footwear.

Learning more: Volunteering at an event is a good way to find out if you’d like to give adventure racing a try. Or attend an outdoors school. The sport isn’t cheap. Entry fees to events can run from $200 a team to well into the thousands, plus travel expenses.

Sphere: Related Content

N the AR world this is like asking for a Tow. Donato Polignone | NuGeneration Technologies, LLC | 100 Professional Center Drive, Suite 101, Rohnert Park, CA 94928 | 888-996-8436 x 106 | Fax 707-820-4079 | www.nugentec.com | High Performance Chemicals and Services Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T. Please excuse any Type-O’s.

Sphere: Related Content

Day 4

Since the kayak had been canceled, we were to do a 80+ mile bike ride in it’s place. We got a good nights sleep and as the sun rose, we jumped on the bikes. We powered along in a nice paceline. We covered the 80 or so miles from the TA to Big Timber in about 6 hours. This was basically a road ride through a couple of towns and following along the Yellowstone River. We were more concerned with conserving energy then going fast. With the four of us sharing the pulling, we were able to cover the road with a minimum of effort. As we were pulling into Big Timber (the location of the TA) Susan told us we needed a team meeting. To my great surprise Susan had rubbed the skin off of both of her heels down to the tendon sheaths.

We made such good time, that we beat the crew to the TA. Susan immediately went into the medical tent. Other team’s crews were very kind in making sure that we had food and drink. After talking to the doctors in the medical tent it was clear Susan would not be able to go on. We had three more long ultra marathon treks plus some bike riding.

Once it was clear that Susan could not go on, and our crew arrived, we packed for the next leg. While this “delay” didn’t cost much in time, it was a huge blow. We, as a team, had talked about this possibility and had all agreed that if one could not go on, the other three would continue. Although we were now unranked we still had resolve to continue the journey and continue to race.This next leg, required biking 20 miles to the foot of the

Crazy Mountains, dropping the bikes and trekking through the Crazy’s. This ride was a lot longer then I expected and we were carrying a trekking gear along with all the mandatory gear.

<!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–>
riding from Big Timber to the bike drop at the foot of the Crazy’s

We arrived at the bike drop around 7 pm. There were 5 teams at the drop. We switched to our trekking gear and headed out. I knew that we would need sleep and wanted to do so before we got into the snow. We trekked up Big Timber Creek. Around 11 pm we began to hit snow and felt it was a good place to do a laydown for a few hours.

Will had been battling bronchitis for most of the race and Brian feet were pretty messed up. This was going to be a critical trek for us. Because Will was sick, I was doing most of the navigating. From the outside we looked pretty good. In reality we were on the ropes. But everyone was staying up beat and not complaining. In fact, it was hard to determine just how bad everyone was because no one was complaining. We put Will in the mandatory sleeping bag and everyone fell asleep.

Day 5

We got up around 1-2 am and hiked through the snow and then up over the ridge. The climb up was steep and no clear trail where we were. I had a bit of trouble finding the trail over the ridge. Finally, with Will’s help, we got a good location and bearing and quickly found the trial over the saddle. The Crazy’s are a very rough and steep series of ridges. The terrain is rocky and the snow sections were exposed. This was not an easy trek. Once we got over the saddle at about 10,000 feet we headed down into a valley to the South Fork of Sweet Grass Creek.

<!–[if !vml]–> <!–[endif]–>
Finally got to the top of the ridge in the Crazy’s

This descent into the valley was fraught with hazards. Aside from the steep rocky trail, there were streams running under the snow. These can cause a very dangerous situation. If you fall through the snow and into the stream, it’s very bad. As we worked our way down the valley we trekked for miles through wet, marshy and sometimes snow covered ground. The trial took us down the valley, around the mountain and up the Middle Fork of Sweet Grass Creek. This valley was totally covered with snow so we could see a “trail”. We followed the footprints of the teams in front of us. We weaved our way up the valley and had to climb up another ridge up to Campfire Lake which sat the CP. I was told later that when set the CP flag was at chest level. When we got there it was way over my head and I couldn’t touch it. Also, there was no punch. From this CP, it was around the lake and up a very exposed snow field. 20 minutes of nervous climbing and we were at the top of the ridge at 9500 feet.

<!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–>

Brian and Mike coming up the last ridge in the Crazy’s. The CP was at the end of the frozen lake below them. The valley climbed is below the lake.

At the top of the ridge, it was very windy but a great view. We quickly headed down the other side and got to glissade down a part of the ridge. From there is was down Trespass Creek valley out to the road and then a long 10K walk to the TA. These long walk outs on the road were very hard both mentally and on the feet. Every trek had a long walk out from the mountains to the TA. We got to the TA in the late afternoon shortly before dark.

One of the odd things about this trek was that from the time we slept till we got into the TA we didn’t see another team. It was a weird feeling to go 18 hours with no contact with anyone else. It just added to the strangeness of the Crazy Mountains.

Day 6We laid down and got a few hours of sleep before jumping on the bike for a 90+ mile, mostly road ride. We left around 1am for the road just ahead of the Dancing Pandas but took a longer way to the main highway. Without Susan it was much harder to paceline. Also, Brian was having a tough time for a few hours so we moved along as best we could. We got to CP 19 a little after dawn and were about 30 minutes behind the Pandas. From CP 19 the road was rolling hills basically around the Bridgers Mountain range. The only interesting part of the ride was a canyon through the northern part of the Bridgers. The canyon was pretty, slightly down hill and curvey . It was a hoot to ride. The rest of the ride went ok but as the day wore on it got hotter and hotter. By the time we got to the TA it was very hot and dry. The teams that did that ride during the day must have hated it. About 5 or 6 miles before the TA we caught the Panda’s and arrived in the TA ahead of them.We got to the TA at the base of the Bridgers around 1 pm. Brian got his feet worked on, we ate and took off, just behind a handful of teams on the trek. Susan was limping around trying to help crew. She would later fly home to be with her family and heal up.

This trek started with a 5000 foot climb to the top of Sacagawea Peak. It was steep and beautiful. Again we were traveling with the Dancing Panda’s. Brian was in a bad way with his feet. We took all of the heavy stuff - like water - out of his pack and tried to help him as much as possible. Brian never complained and just kept marching on.

<!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–> Brian and Mike at the top of the ridge in the Bridgers.

We got to the top near Sacagawea Peak with the Pandas at about 5 pm. Also close by was Team Blue, Shasta and a 3^rd team. With the Panda’s we decided to drop down the valley and find the trail . The other teams traveled along the ridge. I didn’t like the look of that ridge and it was going to be dark before you finished. So I was happy to take the trail. As it turned out, we put a lot of time on the teams that took the ridge.

The trail had a ton of climbing over each arm that dropped down towards Bozeman. As darkness fell, we crossed over Ross Pass at 7,600 feet. At this junction we could have jumped on the ridge. As it was now dark we determined that staying on the trail would be the best course of action.

Day 7

As the trail went on we were all getting tired. We took a 15 min laydown around 1 am and later around 3 am did a regular sleep for a couple of hours. Still we trekked hour after hour. Up and over, time and again. We did most of our trekking with the Panda’s that night. Once out of the mountains, we had a couple of miles of walk out to the TA at a recreation area.

Hiking through the Bridgers with Bozeman in the background

Finally, around 1 ish we got to the TA which as a recreation area in Bozeman. There was a lake and I jumped in while Brian got his feet worked on. We got some food and I got maps and bikes ready. The Bridger’s had been tough on us but we knew we were getting close.

The next leg was on bikes from Bozeman over the mountains of the Gallatin National Forest back to Storm Castle and the TA for the ropes. The CP on the way was at the Little Bear Cabin, a forest service cabin that over looks the Little Bear Creek valley. I figured this was about a 6 hour leg.

We got some local info on how to travel through Bozeman to get to Little Bear Creek. The bike ride was uneventful, with some good climbing to the cabin.

Take a left and follow this road . . .

We got to the cabin just before sun set. From that point there were lots of fireroads going everywhere. We had to be very careful about taking the right roads so the movement was slow. Above 7500 we had to hike a bike through the snow. We wanted to get to the ropes in the daylight so we weren’t too concern about moving slow, we just didn’t want to go down the wrong road. Finally we hit the intersection where we would ride the only non- road in the entire 300 miles. It was a very steep ATV track. It was a little dicey because of the speed, loose, rutty trail and the fact that we were getting pretty tired.         After a couple of near crashes we made it down to the road at

Storm Castle and into the TA for a bit of sleep before the ropes and the start of Day 8.        7 days into the race, we were still in the top 20 and holding up well despite everything. We missed having Susan with us but we were still racing and looking forward to the ropes. Will’s bronchitis was getting better and Brian’s feet were actually healing. I was feeling pretty good and was confident that we were going to complete the long course. We needed to keep moving steadily but we had time. We only had the ropes course, a long trek and the last bike. The end was in sight.

Sphere: Related Content

The Dirty Avocados sent two teams to Big Sky. My team – Dirty Avocados II made up of Susan Bower, Brian Schmitz, Will Gilmore and Mike Chastaine. The Dirty Avocados I were Jennifer Rigoni, Adam Doti, Adam Armijo and Donato Polignone.

I found this race report very hard to write. The story and race were so big that I could write a novel. In order to keep this readable I’ve broken it up into three reports. In part because the race, at least for me, was in 3 parts. Second, this report is only about DA II’s. Each team had different experiences.. Through out the race we rarely saw each other and generally it was in passing. I will leave it to them to write there own story.

Team 56’s journey to PQ was a year long venture with lots of hard training, much skill work and many strategy sessions. I’m not going to go through all of our preparation. Check out our blog over the past year and you will see what we did. Suffice it to say we all trained very hard for a year to be ready. With crew in place, hundreds of pounds of new gear and an air of excitement we packed up the trailer and headed to Big Sky.

We took 2 days to do the drive opting to try to arrive rested and ready. Aside from having a trailer tire blow out and tear off the trailer fender, the trip was uneventful. We arrived in Big Sky Friday evening.

Team 56 with crew and Lone Peak in the background

Check in, certs and maps

We made it through all of our certs without any problems. We had all of our gear; we knew how to use it and could demonstrate the same. We got checked in, got our SPOT and proved that we all fit in our tent. We were shown some tricks to make our jumaring easier for the long climb we were looking forward too.

The evening before the start was the prerace meeting. We learned that the course was well over 500 miles with 65000 vertical feet of climbing. About 200 miles of the course was trekking. We were warned how to deal with Grizzlies and Moose. Our own observations confirmed what they told us – the rivers were wild and the water was very cold.

The course was basically long treks over mountain ranges connected by bike or river. Nav wasn’t going to be too bad. Much of the course was dictated by the race rules so route options were limited. This race was about trekking. We were starting with 46 miles of trekking, the first 3 miles up to the top of Lone Peak, a very steep 11,162 foot mountain.

The course they told us we would do.

The course we actually did. Map from the Wall Street Journal

We were given the maps and had about 14 hours to plot, plan routes and get some sleep. Both DA teams plotted together and planned out the routes. At midnight, having done all could I went to bed. Start was at 10 am but we needed to be at the starting line an hour before.

Day 1

The sky was over cast. Lone Peak, our first destination, was covered in a shrouded of clouds. 224 nervous racers milled around, shook hands and played around with gear for the millionth time.

Both DA teams at the starting line.

Just before 10 the sky cleared and there in all its glory was Lone Peak. I was very nervous about this climb. How would I do at 11,000 and how will my IT band hold up? How hard was this really going to be?

The ski patrol set off a charge just after the helicopter flew by, and off we were. We went out in the middle of the pack falling into a pace that was comfortable. We understood that the race wasn’t to the top of the mountain. We trekked up the mountain in a long line of teams, traveling often with Lucky, Police Defenders and other local teams that we know. We steadily worked our way up to the ridge, having to clip in to a safety line across the razor sharp ridge at around 9500. This caused a slight bottle neck but teams moved along steadily. We were well above the snow line and moved like a parade up the mountain. After about 2 hours we reached the summit check point at 11,162. We crossed over the ridge and then glissaded down the upper mountain.

Susan Brian

We followed a mostly marked trail down the mountain, running as much as we could. After just less then 4 hours we passed by the start line to the transition area. All we did was drop the harness, change socks, load snow shoes and go. We had a 37 mile trek ahead and daylight was a burning.

We trekked at a steady pace uphill and jogged a bit on the downhill’s and flats. The first part of the trek was a loop down to Big Sky Village. Then along the West Fork of the Gallatin river and passed a raging Ousel Falls. It was scary how hard and fast the water was moving. Just passed the falls, we began a very long and gradual climb from around 6,400 feet up to over 9,400. We trekked all day long. We would see other teams frequently. As we got above the snow line we just followed the sloppy snow trail up the mountain.

Which way do you think we should go?

As it got dark we reached the saddle at 9400. At this point the footprints in the snow went off in every direction. And there were no other teams around. After checking the map we picked a direction and headed down into the valley. For about a ½ hour we threw on the snow shoes. This was the only time we wore them even though they were mandatory gear in the first few treks. As we dropped below the snow line we followed along Buck Creek. We needed to cross Buck Creek which was more like a river and was running cold and fast. We found a spot where we could forge across. We were in mid thigh. The water was so cold. We got across and continued up the fire road. A couple of miles along we arrived in the saddle of the last real ridge at 7800. I made a quick navigation error taking us south on the fire road rather then heading east then heading south on the single track. To our good fortune we only went about a mile or so the wrong way before we ran into another team coming the other way and correct our selves.

As we headed down the single track toward Taylor Creek we passed the other DA team who was filling up their water bottles in a creek. We just ran by and keep pushing to the river. Just before the sun came up we came to Taylor Creek. Like all of the creeks and rivers, it was at or above flood level and was absolutely raging. At the junction was another team. They said there was no other way across. In the dark we didn’t see another way across and the CP was just on the other side. We tried to forge across an 8 person wedge. We got across half the river to an island, but the river on the other side was running too fast and cold. We had to turn around and forge our way back. As light broke, several teams came up, saw the trouble we were having and traveled up river a bit and found a bridge. We got out of the river, half frozen and crossed over the bridge. It was a six mile trek down the road. We were all very cold and close to hypotherma and it took the entire trek to the TA to get warmed up. Even though we lost lots of places at this CP, I knew that this was only day one and we would have lots of back and forth with other teams.

We were looking forward to getting on the water but I felt that we needed to get a little shut eye before we got in the water so we are fresh and use good judgment.

Day 2

We got to the TA at the end of the first trek around 6am or so. We were just starting to warm up from the attempted river forging. We planned to do a two hour sleep before we got on to the river. The crew was ready for us with the tent set up. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and lay down. While I laid down for about an hour 45, I only slept for about an hour. The daylight plus the other teams coming and going was distracting.

We got up and began dressing for the river. As we would go straight from the kayak to the riverboard, we dressed with full pads. I wore a wetsuit under a dry suit. By the time I got all the pads on I was burning up and couldn’t wait to get in the water. The weather was great and sunny and warm.

We had worked hard on our white water kayak skills. As a result, I felt very comfortable on the kayak and we got through the kayak section without any problem. Apparently other teams were having a lot a trouble and we saw Police Defenders flipped right in front of us.

The battle to put on fins.

We got to the end of the kayak section, struggled to get on the fins and got on the riverboards. I had a blast on the riverboard. It was my favorite part of the whole race. The only problem we had was Susan got a hole in her dry suit causing her legs to fill up with water. We had to pull over and cut a hole in the bottom of the suit to let the water drain out so she could climb out of the river. As we were flying down the river, I saw the other DA team on the side of the river. I went by so fast there was no way to stop. When we got to the take out the other DA team was just starting to come in. Apparently they had a much tougher time in the river then we did. We learned that shortly after we got out of the river it was closed down because of all of the rescues.

We came in to CP 9/TA around 4pm. The elevation of the river is about 5,300. We changed clothing, ate and headed out on the 2^nd trek around 5pm. This was going to be the longest trek – around 50 miles with tons of climbing. At this point we were in the top 20 and feeling good. We wanted to cover as much ground as we could before it got dark. We were trekking along at a good clip. We traveled out the fire road up Storm Castle Creek Canyon. After a few miles we turn heading up Telephone Ridge. We climbed up the road until the road ended. It was suppose to turn in to a trail. It wasn’t much of a trail so we climbed up the ridge over fallen logs. We climbed up above the snow line and found the “PQ trail” in the snow. As we got to the top of the ridge at around 8,700 feet, it got dark. We dropped over the ridge and down (it was a long way down) to where we thought the CP would be. the run down was deep snow and pretty steep terrain. There were several teams looking for this unmanned CP. This CP was on Bear Creek. With all of the snow melt creeks had developed everywhere. It was hard to determine what were actual creeks and what was just snow run off. The run off threw us off for a bit but finally we moved on and found the flag. We trekked down a snow covered road for miles. Finally the road ended and we were supposed to drop into Wheeler Gluch. We were to travel down Wheeler Gulch, go around a mountain and back up South Cottonwood Creek. It was about 3 am so we pulled out the tent and took a sleep till the sun came up.

Through the night we heard several teams go by. After we got up we packed our stuff, shook the cobwebs off and we headed down the valley and around the mountain. At the junction were we would head up the South Cottonwood, the trail crossed the creek. I’m sure, normally this would be an ankle deep trickle. However, when we got there it was a scary raging river of ice cold water. It was clear we couldn’t forge across it. Fortunately, down stream there was a log that had fallen across the river. We were able to scoot across the log. While it wasn’t all that hard to get across, the consequences of falling off that log would have been disastrous.

Crossing South Cottonwood Creek

The creek was at 6,500 feet. We pushed on up a huge climb over the next ridge (8,800 feet) and down the other side. Feet were beginning to get blistered. We all were starting to have some issues. Susan had some blisters on her heals but I patched them up as best I could and they seemed to be ok. Turns out that they were not.

This trek just seemed to go on and on. We trekked past Mystic Lake and past Bear lake. Up and down, over logs and around other obstacles we continued on. Finally, after trekking all day we got to the bike drop. As originally laid out, we were to do a short bike leg then a long (70+ mile) kayak leg on the Yellowstone. This was to be a dark zone. However, when we got to the bike drop we learned two things. First, the kayak leg had been canceled due to dangerous river conditions. The river was well past flood stage and huge logs were flowing down the river. Second we learned that Will’s bike had been run over by a car or truck or trailer. No one seemed to know and no one took credit. Will’s bike was totally destroyed and completely unusable.

Will’s bike - what’s left of it.

Fortunately, the race director loaned Will his personal bike and it was set up and ready to go when we got there. As bad as this could have been, with the bike loan we felt very lucky.

We arrived with Team Shasta and learned the Kayak had been canceled and . . . oh by the way . . . .

There was a camera crew waiting and trying to get a reaction out of Will. Will, to his credit, refused to take the bait. Will acknowledge the loss, thanked Chris for loaning him his bike and we got ready to leave.

We got to the bike drop around 8:30pm with darkness setting around 10ish. With the destruction of Will’s bike we spent almost a hour in the TA. We got on the bikes and headed off for the 30 mile ride to the TA getting in just before midnight. Our original plan was to use the dark zone for rest. We decided to still take that time to sleep and got a solid 5 hours before day break. This turned out to be a wise move on our part.

DA TA

Sphere: Related Content