Mt. Whitney - The rest of the story



Mt. Whitney is the tall one.  Notice the haze?  Yeah, us too!



So, if you read my last post, you know my son Brendan and I did not make it to the summit of Mt. Whitney.  Very bummed, but due to some (*&B#!* forest fire (caused by lightening a couple weeks prior), smoke was engulfing the Mt. Whitney trail - and just our luck it was the same days we were climbing it (I knew I should have bought a lottery ticket in L.A.).

Brendan and I started climbing at 5:30am (in retrospect, this was a tad too late).  Found this sign and off we go....

That'd  be the moon!

Sunrise.  Uh, yeah...notice all that smoke in the valley??

Brendan on the trail as the sun was rising

One of many streams we crossed.  Yep, that's me and my 21
lbs of badass backpack - killing my shoulders!

Approaching tree-line

Loved this pretty little meadow.  Until now, my heel had been doing
very, VERY well.  Did I mention it was doing very well?  Around this point, about
3-hours in, I started noticing some annoyances with it, but nothing I too
unmanageable.  YES!!!

We arrived at "Base Camp" (it's actually called "Trail Camp", but since it is where we were going to be parked for an evening of sub-freezing-to-death temps, Base Camp is what the name became) exactly 5-hours after we started (ok, 5:01 to be precise).  Not speedy, but since Brendan was carrying the bulk of the load (he got the tent and most of the food.  Hey, it was freeze-dried, it barely weighted 10 oz total!), we stopped for a few breaks so he could get the pack off.  We found this little gem of solid granite for a campsite at 12,000' in 30mph winds. Joyous!

View from our campsite when we first arrived, sweet, huh?  Still blue skies where
we still needed to climb. 

Home for the night. 

We got to base camp, elevation 12,000' (6.3 miles) about 10:30am and it was windy and cold and we just plopped our tent on the first granite surface that didn't look like it contained a thousand rocks underneath.  At the time, the skies to the West, where we still needed to climb another 5 miles and 2500', looked clear.  But we could smell it - the crazy wind was causing the smoke from the Sequoia fires to move in - fast!  2-hours later, the camp site area was filled with smoke!

View of Whitney from our campsite 2-hours after we first arrived.
NOTICE the freaking bad, bad, BAD haze now??  UGH!

We hung out at camp for a couple hours so Brendan could unload his pack here, make some lunch, and I soaked my foot on that blanket of snowy ice.  My foot was complaining after being on it for 5-hours with a heavy pack, but it was behaving much better than I thought and I was beyond thrilled for it.  After I took my shoe off and let it rest a couple hours (waaaaay too long since we still had 5 miles up and 5 miles down back to camp), when I put my shoe back on I was ecstatic that the heel and ankle felt fantastic!  I was so excited to get going and when we left about 12:30pm to head up to the summit, I could tell Brendan wasn't doing well.  He was dragging as we were climbing and finally after an hour leaving base camp, at 13,200', I called the climb.  He was coughing horribly and really gasping to get air. 

Down we went, back to Base Camp.  It was about 3:00pm when we reached camp and by now the smoke was so heavy at camp.  Bleh!  Our friends arrived (they left later in the morning as they were not going to summit until the following day, unlike us who wanted to summit on the first day - due to my heel not really liking going downhill!) just as we got down so we chatted with them awhile.

Brendan and I.  Yes, I'm freezing!  And that's our
tent way in the background

Friends Kettie and Lynne

Lynne and her two brothers and Kettie.  Lots of yucky, stupid smoke!

Me and Kettie...on our way to find a "rock" for a porta-potty

Beings it was like early afternoon, and we're at camp with virtually nothing really to do (who the hell wants to drag up cards or books in the pack - that's excess weight for crying out loud!  Never mind our BA friends who carried 30 lb packs full of Pringles, Oreos and M&Ms - I mean, we can just mooch off of their snacks!) and I am not the best "camper" in the world, especially on hard granite, I tried to talk Brendan into going back down to trail head, get in our car, and head to the nearest hotel with comfy pillows and beds.  But nooooo, the kid couldn't wait to spend the night at 12,000'.  I had a migraine like you wouldn't believe from the lovely air quality so just as well we didn't hike for more hours I guess - and this whole trip was for his 16th birthday, so I downed a few hundred Advil and hung out in the tent awhile.

Kate: THIS is camping.  Just sayin'

 While Brendan had dinner - freeze-dried yum (aka: freeze-dried yuck):

About 7:00pm, after we chatted all we could chat and with nothing else to do, I decided to go to bed.  I slept horribly the night before (actually, the entire trip - bleh!) so I actually relished the thought of plopping on my rock hard bed.  Combated with 4 layers of long-sleeved winter running shirts and one 20 degrees sleeping bag, I laid awake most of the night .... shivering.  Worst night's sleep e v e r!!!

It took me awhile to crawl out of my sleeping bag in the morning since it was so cold but who could pass up breakfast:

Sitting at the breakfast table with the camp stove at my feet, heating my oatmeal.  At least at 12,000',
water boils fast and I got something warm in me quickly

Seriously amazing blue skies when we woke, the smoke moved out over night.  YAY.  Brendan and I discussed trying to attempt the summit on day 2 but we ruled it out: We were both freaking exhausted, my foot probably was not going to handle 16 miles and more than 12-hours of hiking in one day, and by now we were just over the whole summit thing.

 So we packed up, loaded the backpacks back on (oh my goooood, my shoulders hurt!) and Brendan and I headed down as our friends headed up to the summit.

These little purple flowers were simply amazing

Mirror Lake

Still a little smoke in the valley, but overall much clearer on day 2

It took us almost as long to get down as it did to get up.  We took our time early on, admiring all the flowers and the lakes along the way, but after about 3-hours, I just wanted to get down.  It was getting very warm and my feet were starting to ache.  Amazingly, my foot was being semi-cooperative and not giving me too much grief, but overall my feel just simply hurt.  A lot!  And I wanted off that mountain and to the hotel!  :)

I should have taken some pictures of Brendan and I when we finally reached the bottom but the only strength I had left was to drag my backpack on the ground to the car, walk back to the trail head, and order a hamburger from the Mt. Whitney portal store at the base of the trail.  It was a.m.a.z.i.n.g!!!!

Though the summit wasn't reached, I slept like total crap, I almost shivered to death and my feet, shoulders and back felt like they'd been put through a meat grinder.... I had an absolutely amazing experience.  It was so hard and humbling, and I was so tired afterwards but I reached out and explored my edge and reach for that higher bar, something out of my comfort zone.  And I survived.  And I even smiled. 

And I got to do it with my son. 

Absolutely priceless!

Next up: Death Valley (I promise, not so many pictures...but a great A.D.D. moment), blogger meet-up and the wonderful hospitality at Meg's, shoe reviews, a 195 mile relay, heel updates, an upcoming mountain adventure.. or two (no, it's not Whitney), a job announcement, and of course - many more answers to those questions.  I think I'm good for blog posts until Thanksgiving! :)  (and I apologize for my lack of blog appearance lately, what a whirlwind of life craziness upon my return home).

Run strong, Friends!  I'm off to do hill repeats in the morning with ya!  Finally!

This doesn't look like Colorado

No ocean in Colorado last I looked.  But I've been gone for a few days so maybe some phenomenal geological plate tectonics occurred and I'll return home to a little of this ocean stuff I love so much....but in the mean time, I have just returned from my 2-day trek up Mt. Whitney (more on that in the next post).  Unfortunately, Whitney didn't provide the results my son Brendan and I had hoped due to some stupid fire near Sequoia National Park which invaded the camp ground we were staying at in Mt. Whitney.  Brendan has some pretty bad breathing issues and we had to cancel the summit at 13,000'.  Bummed for sure but it was better to be safe, he was having some pretty severe problems.  I'll share all the details in a few days, but in the meantime ... we've had some fantastic beach time pre-Whitney.

Rodando Beach

With the fab Running Green Girl

San Clemente Beach

Sand crabs.  Ewww

Brendan, the awesome Meg from Meg Runs, and her very nice hubby, Boy Scout

Meg made me some sand signs

Had a fantastic visit with The Running Green Girl where she made me eat some de-lish frozen yogurt and I got to see her cool digs and catch up on her crazy world.  So fun.  Then Brendan and I headed down South to stay with Meg and her husband at their beautiful home in Encinitas.  They live in an adorable little Southern Cali town and made Brendan and I feel so welcomed in their home and took us to the beach for the day where Brendan and BS had fun digging for sand crabs.  Ick.  We're headed back to Meg's on Friday where I hope to see many bloggers for Meg and BS's bloggie BBQ - I hear they're making homemade pizzas in their backyard brick oven.  Yum!   Can't wait.  But first, Brendan and I are headed to run a little at Badwater in Death Valley tomorrow.  Hoping I can make it a half mile in the 120 degree heat...only 134.5 miles remaining for the race!

Until later....

Half way up Pikes Peak and a few As to the Qs

Pikes Peak in all her glory.  Elevation 14.115'

Wow!  I think I got about 1085 questions to answer for Chris' stupid lovely Q&A.  This is good actually, this way I have something to blog about for the next ... year or two.  I enjoyed reading all the questions and actually look forward to sharing them - but because I'm such an exciting person and all, and live life on the edge daily, I'll cut the answers into a few posts so I can share some of my latest adventures also.

Last Friday I continued on with my mountain hill running climbing quest and tackled half of Barr Trail, which eventually reaches the top of the infamous Pikes Peak (elevation 14,110').  I decided to run alone this week (aka: couldn't bribe my either boys to go with), a little test to see where my current sucky fitness level is.  I actually already know where it is, pretty much down there with the pond scum, but I am slowly chipping away at the body fat and my mileage is picking up ever so slightly - this, coupled with my insatiable desire to test my mortality, I wanted to see if I could make it the 7 1/2 mile trek to Barr Camp - about the half way point to the top of Pikes Peak - and how long would it take me and in what condition - both mentally and physically. 

Well, I'm sitting here writing - which at least answers your question if I survived. 

I started about 3/4 of a mile before the trail as this is where I had to park my car due to peak tourist season invading the parking lot near the trail head.  Not that a lot of out-of-towners like to torture themselves hiking this thing (though many do, and I always cringe how many wear flip flops, or have no water, or are on their cell phones, gasping for air....) but there is a Cog Railway which goes from the bottom of Pikes Peak to the top and it's a huge "must do" for tourists.  So my starting elevation was 6330' according to my Garmin.

When I arrived at the trail head, I already ran about 3/4 of a mile and gained several hundred feet.  According this little sign, I had about 7 miles to Barr Camp:

It was a gorgeous day, filled with Colorado's famous bright blue skies, but a little muggy from all the rain we've recently experienced due to the invading mid-July monsoons.  I know I shouldn't complain about 67% humidity, but when you're used to 28%, it feels pretty blah!  The trail was a little muddy in spots but not too bad; it's mostly marble to golf ball-sized grave for the first 3ish miles.  And steep.  I think these first trail miles are the steepest of the entire trail (but lower in elevation than towards the top, where breathing becomes rather .. um...difficult).


The trail starts about 6500' and by mile 2 you are already at 9500'



After about 3 miles on the trails, you come to Arch Rock where you get to run through a little arch, kind of a fun point along the trail.

Running through the arch

I'm not doing a lot of running these first 3 trail miles, it's just too dang steep for my out-of-shape legs and lungs, but I'm maintaining a pretty good hike pace and feeling strong.  I'd run where I could but mostly it was just a strong hike; my goal was to make it to Barr Camp in under 3-hours so no time to lollygag.

Around mile 4 (3.25 on the elevation profile....remember, I ran about 3/4 of a mile to the trail head and thus start of the elevation map), the trail widens and is less steep so I manage to run a little here.  Pikes Peak comes into view, too....and yowzie it looks far away (about 9 miles to the top).

The peak of Pikes Peak hiding behind the trees, seems a lot  further than 9 miles

With a couple miles to go, the trail becomes steeper and I resort back to a hike yet I'm still feeling pretty dang good but can tell the altitude gain is catching up to me a little.

Liking that butt shot?  HA!  I was in a hurry and didn't take the time to
see where I was in the view-finder.

Pikes Peak - again

The last mile takes you back to the wooded area and I just keep plugging away until I knew I was close - been on this path a few times in the past when I was training for the Pikes Peak Ascent so I tried to run a little and finally, Barr Camp:


Welcome to Barr Camp, elevation 10.200' (the best thing is they have a potty here!  :) )

I really didn't know how I'd fare or if I could make the 3-hour cut-off time I had set in my mind (this is the cut-off time for the race) so I was pretty stoked that I DID IT!!  7.22 miles in 2:32 with a bit over 3900' elevation gain.  Definitely not my fastest (in fact, it is my slowest) but even adding another 5ish minutes on to the that 2:32 time (due to the fact the race actually starts about a half mile further into town than where I parked and started), I made it with a bit over 20 minutes to spare.  Hum........

Barr Camp marks about the half way mark distance-wise and elevation-wise to the top of Pikes Peak.  I did it a little faster than I thought.  My heel and ankle were cooperating.  So far.  I was beaming.  At the entrance to Barr camp is a little stream, shown above.  You can rent a water filter from the camp people inside for $5 or bring your own if you have one, but I had my 70oz Camelbak and my 20oz water bottle around my waist (the latter filled with electrolytes) and felt I had enough fluids to get me down safely so I didn't refuel with water here (though by the end of the day I sort of wish I had) but I did dip my hands and face in this ice-cold water. It. Felt. Amazing!!!!

I didn't linger around too long at the camp; I know the longer I am on my foot, the more my ankle and heel start to protest - especially going DOWN, which I had 7.22 miles of to do.  So off I went.  I did run most of the way down, but my run actually was more of a shuffle - I tend to get a little freaked by how steep the trail can get and I have fallen on this once during the first time I raced the ascent (2008.  Long story...I'll have to share sometime) so I took my time.  By the time I reached about mile 10, my ankle was starting to bother me and by mile 12, it was screaming.  With only two more miles left, I just took it really slow and walked it in and I finished with 14.64 miles (not sure how I put on more mileage going down than I did going up.  Weaving I guess) in a total of 4:51.  I know, I know - 11 minutes faster to get down than to go up.  Yeah, that damn heel and ankle.

But I did 14.62 miles, climbed 3900', made the 3-hour cut-off in ample time, survived... PLUS, the next day my foot was just fine.  3 months ago, this would not have been the case.  By Sunday, my calves were done screaming at me for making them climb those 3900' and I managed to pop on my treadmill for 14.5 miles.  What?  Yep, I did.  Wasn't pretty at the end but I did it and the only reason I stopped there was that my heel let me know it had enough.

Progress....I'm slowly making some - and I couldn't be more excited.

I'm headed out to California this weekend - my son, Brendan, and I are going to climb Mt. Whitney - the highest mountain in the lower 48 (14,496').  I am a little worried about the foot behaving for the 22 mile long trek up and down but I talked with my physical therapist and he's on board for this little adventure so I'm going to give it a shot.  If the foot won't let me, I'll just wait for Brendan and other friends we're going with at camp, about half way up, but I think all is going to be good!  And then when I get off that mountain, I'm meeting up with some blog friends (yep, more blog friends, Chris K!!) and I can't wait.  So I may be a little MIA next week but I can't wait to let you all know how Whitney goes, all the great bloggers I meet up with, and read about your adventures upon my return.

Okay, so here we go....some answers to your awesome questions:

CautiouslyAudacious Asked: So how do you stay motivated while working through your heel problems?
Dear CA, I think I could write a novel on this.  Seriously.  I have not always been motivated and many days/weeks/even months I was angry and bitter - even depressed and had to seek help for my feeble state of mind.  Even today, as my foot hasn't been overly happy, I questioned why I continue to pursue something that just feels like it's never going to be totally pain-free.  But I remind myself - constantly - that I am a better me when I can run.  I may never run the times I once did nor feel that victory of placing in my AG or BQing with lots of time to spare, but running has been part of my life since I was in high school and I just know that I must keep going ... it's part of who I am.

Amanda@runninghood Asked: 1) How long does it take to adjust to altitude for say a high altitude race?
Obviously, living at 6000' helps (where I have a huge advantage, I feel, is living at 6000' and racing at sea level.  Every marathon I have ever done, other than Pikes Peak, has been much lower elevation than where I live) but when I have done the Pikes Peak or the Mt. Evans Ascent races, I take full advantage of the higher altitude in my backyard and spend time in the mountains - like I did Friday going up Barr Trail - and train as often as I can.  I'm not sure there's a magical number of amount of time, specifically, but more is always better.  I do have a good friend who lives in New York City and runs the Pikes Peak Ascent AND full marathon and he never has a problem with the altitude....and yet there was one time I raced Mt. Evans and had to get off the mountain as soon as possible, I was having some altitude issues (but I think that's cuz I was dehydrated).

2) What is your favorite place to go if you want an excuse to "dress up"?
I'm not a huge dresser-upper, but I do like girls' nights out sometimes!  :)

3) A guilty pleasure?
Chocolate ice cream.  Yum!

Jamoosh said... And you are associating with a self-professed "Manly Runner" because...
I sorta feel sorry for him.  Don't you?

Adrienne Asked: So, my question is kinda dumb, but do you ever get used to running in the mountains, or ever wish for different terrain?
Never get tired of the mountains - never - but I do love the ocean and the few races I've run near it (Big Sur Marathon, SF Marathon, Seattle Marathon) have always been incredible.

Patrick Mahoney Asked: If I had magical powers and could move Colorado to another location completely intact, where would you want it moved? To the coast? To a different time zone? Farther south? Another planet? Since this is a completely hypothetical question the answers "nowhere" or "I like it just the way it is" are not acceptable answers.
Let's plop Colorado next to you in California and I'm all set!


Petraruns Asked:  !)If you could force Patrick to race in a major race in any outfit which would you choose?
One of the 3 Musketeers!
2) When are you coming over to run with me in Europe?
I wish I had the funds to do so RIGHT NOW!  One day I will be, promise!
3) Can I really be on your relay team next year?
Definitely!  Wish you could come this year, we need another runner!

Julie Asked: 1)Which state do you want to ride across with me next year...Colorado, Iowa, Wyoming Nebraska...? 
Rhode Island. 
2) can you make me a faster a runner without too much pain?
The pain is so worth it, girl...it's half the fun! 

misszippy Asked: Here's mine: Since you are the blog meet-up queen, who haven't you met that you are dying to meet? (I'm sure tough to nail down, but give it a go!)
This is hard because there are so many great people I have gotten to "know" through this blog and meeting them in person has been an absolute high for me.  I guess there's some across the big blue pond like Petra I'd love to meet, and Johann and Stefano.  I'd also like to meet Julie from Minnesota because we've had some very similar paths in our lives lately.  Shelly from running stroller mom was probably one of my earliest followers so it'd be cool to meet her. 

Anonymous (Jessica) Asked: Do you miss me?!
YES!!! (Jessica was one of my past clients and I miss her a lot!  She is an amazing runner!)

Caroline Asked (many):
have you visited other countries?
Unfortunately, only Mexico and Canada.  But Canada is all that matters, right?  :)
where did you go on your honeymoon?
Kauai, Hawaii
Guilty pleasure? if it is Jersey Shore I am not sure I will get over it...
I've never seen Jersey Shore....is it bad? 
I love chocolate ice cream.  I love a cold beer...with a lime (sorry Jamoosh) and a great margarita.  I love Mexican food.....
most embarrassing moment as a mom?
Probably the time I left my son in his stroller at Disneyland ...and didn't realize it until about 5 minutes later after we were all standing in line and I looked down and holy crap, where's Ryan.  In his stroller.  Screaming his lungs out.  Opps.
how old were you when you ran your first marathon?
34
if you could have dinner with Lance or Dean who do you pick?
Lance.  Maybe he could tell me why my girl bits and my feet hurt all the time biking! 

Okay, that's all I got for today.  If I'm not able to post again before I leave for California, have a great week next week - and of course, run strong!