The New Adventures of a not so old Free Spirit

Back to the Texas heat and notes on the race weekend...

2009-07-16T15:37:00.002-05:00

I'm sitting in my girlfriend Sue's living room in Dallas,
it's very nice and cool in here.. good thing CAUSE IT'S
104 outside. But of course you guys know that since the
majority of you are in Texas also. But there is a very
nice pool out back that I can't wait to get into. Tonight
we will go out for drinks and dinner with my friend Janis
and her husband. At least I have very good friends in Dallas!

Texas is truly it's own country, I really notice the
difference driving from state to state. I love Texas
but I do hope someday to have at least a second residence
in Colorado. Anyone want to invest in a place with me and
we'll co-op????

I want to finally write about the weekend at Putnam Basin
tending to the aid station at mile 94. The good : by the
time the people get to this point they really need our help
and truly appreciate us being there... The bad : you are
at the end so you are the LAST ones to be able to go home
and the hours are very long. I could say that it was remote
and we had to hike in but that is a GOOD thing. I loved the
challenge and the beauty of the site.
I was up at 5:30am race morning to go to the start
and see everyone off. There were many excited people and
all my new friends were saying "see you at mile 94 !!",
such an optimistic group...I knew that we would not see
about 30% of them. 140 people started the race!!

We met our horsepacker at 2pm that day to load all our
gear and start into Putnam Basin where our aid station would
be. It rained a bit but all in all a beautiful day. Once
at our site we set up tarps to shelter our tables, set up
our tents, hung the Texas flag, gathered firewood and filled
giant water bottles with water from the beautiful stream that
flowed down from the peak, past us and down down down the mountain
to Bear Creek that flows past Silverton. We treated the water with
a product called Pristine and it works very well. After we
were all set up and all supplies were organized we ate our
own dinners, built a nice fire and went to sleep around 10pm.
We listened to the radio most of the evening to hear the
status and progress of the lead runners. We needed to be sure
we were up and ready for the first person through. Our radio
guy was a man from Boulder and his 2 sons, 14 and 16. All 3
are licensed radio operators and took their job seriously.

At 3 am Mark radioed in to see where the leader was. He was
already on his way to us so we set the alarms for 4:30am so
we wouldn't miss him. I never went back to sleep unfortunatley..
Kirk Melzer came through our aid station around 5:30am, the
guy was KILLING it and broke the course record. I think he
finished the whole darn thing in just over 24 hrs... We sent
a scout up the trail with a radio to get the guys order so
we would be ready when he came in. He wanted bouillon... but
he didn't say chicken or vegetable. So the big debate became
"is he a vegetarian or isn't he?". I predicted he would want
chicken and if you are expecting chicken and get veggie you
will not be happy. Marcy bet he was a vegetarian (personally
I think all really good endurance athletes eat meat)..
So to solve the issue we made cups of BOTH. As he ran in
we said "chicken or veggie?" He chose Chicken !! That was
probably the biggest issue we faced the entire weekend.
Everything went really smoothly and we all worked very well
together.

The rest of the day was spent waiting for runners. After Kirk
the next person didn't come for at least 2 hrs. This gave us
time to explore and I hiked up and over the ridge where the
runners would be coming from, maybe 2.5 miles. It was very
beautiful and I'd go back any time. As a matter of fact a
family was camping right across the creek with llamas! The
mom was writing an article for the NY Times on camping with
kids and llamas, look for it this week or next.

As the day wore on more and more runners started coming in
and we saw it all. Happy people, tired people, scared people,
but all in all VERY FRIENDLY AND APPRECIATIVE PEOPLE. I
cannot believe how polite and concerned for us they were,
even after they were caught in a terrible lightening and
hail storm on the exposed ridge about 3am on Sunday morning.
The lightening actually struck close by to one guy and
knocked him off his feet !! The oldest guy was about 72
and the oldest woman in her 60's. Many famous endurance
athletes came through, wish I knew who they all were.

Finally we were listening for the last few people, 10 more,
8 more, etc... counting them as they ran through. Where
were some of our friends? A couple had dropped unfortunately.
Where was my buddy Joe? Turns out he was the very last one,
he didn't make it to us until 4:30am and it was at least a
2 hr. run from us to the finish. He didn't make it by the
6am race cutoff time Sunday morning, but was only 40 min.
late. Poor Joe, he spent so much time training knuckleheads
like me and organizing races that he totally neglected his
own training.

We all went to sleep after Joe left and I slept like a
rock till 7am when the radio told us we were released to
pack up (you have to wait until the last runner is in
before you can go). We packed it up, left most of it for
the horse guy to come take out and the rest we hiked out
with. Straight to the awards breakfast we went and got
there by 9:30am. It was inspirational to see all these
people who just ran/hiked 100 miles to still be smiling
and walking up to get their finishers poster. And
listening to the male and female winners was amazing.
They are all such nice people and I wish I could be them
when I grow up!!

105 People officially finished the race.

Sunday night I drank beers at the Silverton Brewery
and had dinner with Joe, Joyce and many runners. It
was fun to hear their stories. Next year I think I'd
actually like to pace someone for 20 or more miles...
we'll see !!

My goal now.. To do 30 miles at Palo Duro Canyon in October.
In the meantime I'm committed to the Colorado Relay in
Frisco, Colorado in September... 112 miles run in segments
by a team of 8 to 10 people. My mom is going up for that
one with me since my Godmother lives in Denver; and No, she
won't be running. I will start training with Joe again once
I get back to Austin this week... his new business is
TejasTrails.com if you want to join me !!

I will continue to blog since Will and I leave for Lake
Tahoe and then Yosemite on July 29th. I'm taking full
advantage of this unemployment. It's been fun and I will
be home in Austin Friday night. Will comes home from camp
on Saturday!! YEAH!!

Austin Bound...

2009-07-15T22:54:00.003-05:00

Sadly I am headed for Austin and I am not looking forward
to the scorching heat. I am currently at the 5 star
resort of "La Quinta" in Amarillo. Dinner was a fabulous
top notch salad from Dennys.. I thought I was in the
Star Wars bar with the strange clientelle and employees.
Yep, I'm livin' the high life.

This morning I ran 8.5 miles on the Colorado Trail
where it begins in Durango. What a beautiful morning
and such a nice trail. It gradually climbed up to a
lookout point called Gudy's Rest which looked out over
the valley with Durango in the distance. Yesterday I
rode my bike on the river trail that runs all along
the Animas River right through town. It's a perfect
river, clear, cool and the rapids are just the right
size, not too big, not too small. Kathy says that soon
it will be really low. This time of year is perfect
in Colorado. There were so many people out rafting,
kayaking, tubing, fishing, riding their bikes, roller
blading, skateboarding, running, you name it !! And
everyone is so friendly, fit and young. I love love
love Durango and would seriously consider moving
there. I'm trying to convince my nephew Kyle to
move there so I can visit him! And Purgatory ski area
is right up the road.

Mesa Verde was really nice, lots of Indian ruins
but very very hot. One girl passed out in our group
and they had to call the ambulance.

Kathy is a good cook and she made dinner both nights
I was there. So nice to have a home cooked meal. I did
what I do best, sit decoratively on a stool talking
to the cook while they chop and stir. I did open and
pour the wine. Kathy, Mark and I drank 3 bottles of
wine Monday night and sat outside looking at their
great view and the stars. Tuesday night Kathy, her
daughter Bentley and I went for a swim at a pond
near their house, they live in the country. It was
really fun!

The Silverton Adventure has ended, on to the next one...

2009-07-13T17:48:00.003-05:00

Well, the race is now over... I miss all those people
now. We spent 2 full days together in the back reaches
of the San Juans and you tend to bond over those kinds
of experiences. I am blown away by the abilities of
those runners, all ages and all VERY STRONG !! Hardrockers..
I have much to say but I'm tired. I maybe had 3 hrs sleep
from Friday to Sunday, slept good last night but eating
all the crap instead of real food at the aid station did
a number on my stomach. I'm in Durango currently
and it is HOT here. It's almost 3,000 feet lower than
Silverton so that's to be expected.

I am spending the next couple of days here with my
friends Kathy and Mark. Tomorrow I will go to Mesa Verde
National Park (I plan to visit all the parks before my
time is over on this planet). I had to get a new battery
today since my other one died and John Beard had to keep
jumpstarting me all over Silverton. He is the nicest guy
alive I think. Thanks goodness it wasn't something more
serious.

I will post more later on the weekend with pictures.
Right now I think I will wander the streets and do some
shopping! They have very good shops on this street.

Cheers!

Today's the Day !!

2009-07-10T13:17:00.002-05:00

So the race started this morning at 6am and I was there to
see them off and wish all my new friends luck. Then Marcy,
John and I went to the first aid station at mile 9,
Cunningham Gulch. The first runners were through there in
under 2 hrs which is truly amazing. Mind you this is up
and over a 13,000 ft pass... I did it the first day and
probably took us well over 3 hrs. To follow the runners you
can go to this website : http://www.hardrock100.com/index.asp

We are heading up to our aid station in about 2 hrs. The
horse packer is meeting us and we will all hike the 4 miles
in, set up camp, build a fire, sing some songs, maybe get
some sleep before the first people come in... We aren't
expecting them till 6am but at the rate they are going it
could be earlier. Then we will be there until the last
racer comes in, hopefully no later than 4am on Sunday
morning. The cutoff time to finish the race is 6am and we
are 6 miles from the finish. Then we will pack it up, hike
out and hopefully be at the awards ceremony by 10am or so.
I will spend the night here in Silverton at the Bent Elbow
hotel (a former bordello, ooh la la) and then go to Durango
to spend 2 days with my friends Mark and Kathy Uroda.
I plan to go to Mesa Verde National Park !

Maybe we'll see a bear tonight or some elk!
I will update on Sunday.

Peace and Tranquility

2009-07-09T08:16:00.002-05:00

Hi All... I have spent alot of time "hangin'"
on my little deck at my adorable house so I
have not felt like hitting the computer, sorry!

This house would be exactly what I would order
up for myself in Austin if I could, but for
the fantasy life I am pretending that it is
mine. The lady who owns it lives here full time
and rents it out to people to make extra cash.
I talked to her last night and she just goes
out and travels in her travel trailer when it's
rented. She's really a cool old lady!

I've done a bit more hiking and went up to a
place called Island Lake at the top of Grant's
Swamp Pass. It was beautiful, marmots everywhere
and the weather changed faster than it does in
Texas and before I knew it, 40 mph winds and SNOW!
But 10 minutes later it was beautiful again...
crazy.

I've taken some time to cruise the area and
act a tourist as well, visiting the Big Foot
museum, watching the steam train come in and
visting the little ghost towns of Eureka and
Animas Forks which are just up valley from my
house. I've also drank alot of wine and watched
the stars, watched trash tv and done some
reading, lots of walking. It's good for the soul.
AND.. I actually miss home and good ole Austin
and all of you back in Texas, I will be home
soon.

Yesterday Marcy and I met the horse packers,
Ed and Mike, and hiked out with some gear to
our aid station at mile 94 of the 100 mile
race. The people we will see at that point
will be beat down and hallucinating most
likely by that point, I'll be sure to take
their pictures so you can see what insanity
looks like...
The hike in is about 4 miles (took us 1 hr
45 min) and most is on the Colorado Trail
out of the Little Molas Lake camp ground
and the last mile is cross country on a
sheep/deer trail. It is very beautiful,
Putnam Basin. We will go out Friday and
camp till Sunday morning. Today I'm going
to Durango to do our shopping and tonight
we meet with our radio/communication guy
and his family.

After the race is over I plan to spend
2 days with Kathy Uroda in Durango and
visit Mesa Verde Natl park before heading
back to Austin. The hard stuff is over
but I'm glad cause I am BEAT !!!

Till next time....

Fourth of July and Butt Skiing

2009-07-06T08:21:00.006-05:00

First I want to apologize for not being a very consistent blogger...
There has been just too much going on here every day and I
have had very little to no time to myself. I think I will take
today off from activity and explore the area on my own.

The 4th of July here is quite an event. The town fills up
with visitors and locals out of Durango. The day started
with a very cute little 10K run that a few of us non 100
mile runners did. The course wound through town, dirt
roads... there is only 1 paved street in town, and then
out on some brief trail that went up hill of course. I
thought I would bust a lung for the first 5 minutes but
then I settled into a nice pace and did about the same
time that I would do in Austin. So I guess I'm acclimated
to the altitude, Silverton is at around 9,300 ft.

Afterwards was the parade and rhubarb festival. The
highlight of the parade was several firetrucks filled
with cute fireman having a water fight all the way
down the street. Everyone was getting wet which in
105 degree Austin would be great but in 65 degree
Silverton, not so much. The rest of the day was spent
wandering the streets, shopping with Joyce and Marcy,
watching the steam train come in from Durango and
the subsequent gunfight performance. Joyce and I
have become good friends as we both like to drink
wine, gossip and shop for cute clothes. That evening
we cooked a big meal, had lots of people over and
then watched the outrageous fireworks show right
from our patio. It was one of the biggest I've
ever seen and went on for at least 20 to 30
minutes. I remember Jackson Hole, Wy. doing the
same thing one time.

Yesterday was another day of hiking but a short
one. We met up the trail in Ouray where I actually
ran the Imogene Pass race. It was good to see
it again but this time not in such a hurry. We
had a large group because this apparently ia a
favorite section of the course for everyone. Now
that I'm safely off the mountain I guess I can
see why...

We hiked up a nice jeep road and past
the waterfall that is on the Coors can (it's not
in Golden, Co afterall). When the road ends
there is no way to go but straight up and of
course with no trail.. CAUSE NO IDIOT IN THEIR
RIGHT MIND WOULD HIKE UP THIS THING!! It's
a scree slope (loose rock and shale) which is
very hard to climb up cause you keep sliding
down. So everyone was hootin' and hollerin'
cause it was covered in SNOW. Much much easier
they claim to get up. BUT, if you slip you
just slide all the way down at a high rate
of speed, right? So up we went. I followed
Joyce's feet very closely so I wouldn't look
down. The people ahead of us had kicked in
little footsteps in the side of the very very
steep slope and I just told myself not to
think about it, just do it. Finally a guy
came up behind me and gave me some tips, one
of which was to stand up more straight and
not lean so much into the hill. It actually
helped. We reached a basin, crossed up and
proceeded up the next slope. I didn't allow
myself to consider how we were getting down,
Joyce had told me to bring pants along.

The top was a narrow notch in the rock. The
race actually proceeds over the edge and
down the other side, I peered over and can't
imagine proceeding that way. Not much time
was spent on top before Joe and Joyce said
"let's go", some folks were still hiking up
as one by one the rest of us sat on our
butts on the edge and swoosh, down we went
on our Asses, out of control, trying not
to flip over or hit rock outcroppings. I
could not believe in a million years I was
about to do this, I would never ever consider
it had I been with "normal" people. But down
I went and it actually wasn't too bad. You
definetely got a face and pants full of
snow but I made it. But the bad part is
that we had another slope to do. That one
was even harder and one guy did hit the
rocks, he survived though. This one very
nice guy from Maine has a fear of heights,
as I do, and he and I gave each other big
high fives and hugs, very proud of ourselves
for having accomplished what we had just done.
As we headed back to the cars it started to rain
then hail so of course we took off running, we
are trail runners after all... ha! True
to Colorado weather it cleared up once
again, time for the hot springs and dinner.

I have now moved into my own little house and it
is picture perfect and peaceful, no more sleeping
on the couch... but more on that later !!
Wish you were here !

Telluride for the Day !!

2009-07-02T11:27:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting at an outdoor cafe in one of my favorite spots on the planet... Telluride, CO !!
I am taking the day "off" from serious mountaineering to rest up
for tomorrow... Yesterday was KICK ASS!! I have never hiked
anything that difficult in my life. These people are nuts!
I'm staying in Silverton with my friends Joe and Joyce Prusaitis.
Joe coaches me and others in trail running back in Austin and he
runs the Hard Rock 100 every year(ok that alone is insane).
When I got into Silverton Tuesday evening, after a fabulous day
on the road more on that later), they told me we'd have a tough
day on Wednesday but made it sound like just a lovely day hike
in the mountains... Uh...
they forgot to mention that we would be summiting 3 over
13,000 ft peaks back to back, yes, all in one day.. and
with NO rest. These people do not stop, they do not rest
and they do not TRAVERSE!! We hiked straight up mountains
with no trail, just cross country (we are out marking trail
for the race after all). I kept screaming, "don't you people
ever zig-zag?"
My quads were screaming, my achilles cussing and my lungs bursting.

We started out at 7am at the race house in downtown Silverton.
Anyone can show up and go out for the marking/hiking for the day.
On this day we drove up to a mine outside of town, parked and
started walking up a 4 wheel drive road, the Animas river roaring
by our side. Finally we started off roading up a mountain goat trail..
I thought I was literally going to die. We were at about 10,000 feet
at that point and the altitude was getting to me, I was light headed,
a bit dizzy and couldn't breath. Flashbacks of doing Imogene Pass
last year.. take 5 steps,stop, breath, repeat!!
We had to cross several snow fields that were steep, one misstep
and you are shooshing down the mountain and without skis !!
I just kept my fear under my hat and trudged on. At one point is was
so steep that a very brave guy stood a bit below, bracing himself
against the mountain to help us along. If I had fallen we'd just
both be goners... We sumitted the first 13'er, around 13,200 feet
(picture to the right). What a great feeling and it was amazingly
beautiful. Well, then we just went down down down. That hurts
almost worse on the quads and the knees. We went down to
Cunningham Gulch where one of the aid stations will be for a
tiny tiny rest. Many crazies ran down, I chose to take a leisurly
stroll. This gulch is so very gorgeous with waterfalls all around
(we have crossed several raging streams by this point and I'm
sporting very wet shoes).

As we sat there I couldn't help but wonder, "Where do we
go from here?" I couldn't see a trail anywhere and all around
were mountains straight up from the road. Well we're going up
that mountain there, around that peak, through a high mountain
meadow with snow fields all around, then down the backside and
then we have got to be done for the day, right ! WRONG!!
That was so flippin hard, straight up we went. A storm rolled in,
we put our rain jackets on and it got cold. We waited a bit to see
if there was lightening (ah, a rest.. lightening can strike me as
long as I'm sitting). Nothing, so on we went. Finally we reach a
high mountain meadow and the trail ran out. So, let's make our
own!! So up up up they went, no zig zag, no traverse, I was DYING!!
Then we went down down down and as I was making my way
along the loose scree I could see a truck that the others were
gathering around on the road and I was so happy, we are done !!!
Man was I happy... but wait, what do I see, no stop, why are they
walking to the edge of the road and just going straight up yet
another mountain? No way, I am not doing this, I am so done, I am
taking that truck back to wherever it is going. There is no way in
hell I am going up again.

But who was waiting for me at the truck but Joe. He says with a
big grin on his face, "Are you ready for more fun,
isn't this great!!" I ask what the hell does he mean, aren't we
done for the day, after all we have climbed over 2 mountains and
it's getting to be nap time. He says, "You are fine, let's go."
Well I can't let my coach down so I cowboyed up and trudged on.
STRAIGHT UP ANOTHER FREAKIN' MOUNTAIN, no trail and no
traversing. But it was worth it, the last summit was the most
beautiful, 13,500 ft and we actually stuck around for a few
minutes before heading down just cross country. We crossed
several streams in freezing water and finally, finally met
our pickup guy. I have never been so happy to see a truck
in all my life. Joe and Joyce decided to run down the mountain
road to where the other cars were parked (5 miles down...) while
the other 10 of us piled into a truck that only fits 4 in the cab.
So that means 4 big guys and 2 little girls, me being one and
Marcy the other, into the back of this pickup with a cover on
it. That was hilarious. We were all so tired and now we
bounced along the 4wd road with a sheer cliff on one side getting
bumps and bruises on all parts of our bodies. But we were done,
10 hrs later and over 12 miles of trail. 80% of those with us
today are doing the race so here is the freaky part, they are
going to do what we did today in about 1/2 of the time. I am no
where near these people in mental toughness.

A cold Guiness and a hot shower later I was bowing
out of marking today in preference of cafe sitting in
Telluride, resting up for another tough day out of Ouray tomorrow..
the reward will be a hot springs soak and Mexican food!!!

So to sum it up.. I am having the time of my life and
I've only been in Colorado 2 days. The drive up here from
Santa Rosa, NM was incredible. I spent around 2 hours in
Santa Fe, had lunch at The Shed, stopped at Georgia O'Keefe's
home and studio at Ghost Ranch, NM outside of Abique and then
headed up to Chama and into Colorado thru Chromo and Pagosa
Springs. The drive between Chama and Chromo across the
Continental Divide is one of the most beautiful I have ever
seen. Of course Georgia O'Keefe's backyard is spectacular as
well. You just cannot beat this part of the country.

It's almost impossible to get internet access in Silverton
but I will try to update again on Saturday. But they tell me
the Fourth of July there is over the top nuts so it will be
one big party all day !! Can't Wait !!
Wish you were here !!

Colorado Bound !!!

2009-06-30T00:00:00.002-05:00

I am on my way to Colorado as part of my post career sabbatical.. It shouldn't take this long to do something like spend 3 weeks living like a 20 year old and doing what you want but unfortunately life got in the way and I'm now finally following a dream. Thank you Bastards at IBM for laying me off !!!! (for those of you who know me, my son Will is at a 3 week summer camp).

So - now that I've gotten that out of the way... I am headed to Silverton, Co to volunteer for the Hard Rock 100 trail race... probably the hardest race in the USA, it's 100 miles of grueling mountain running/hiking that only the best of trail runners attempt. http://www.hardrock100.com/
Since I am no where near that level I will volunteer for the next 2 weeks marking trail, drinking beer and having a blast combing the San Juan mountains with the most experienced adventurers in the area.. and for FREE since I'm volunteering. I'm not sure who really is getting the better deal.

So today was so very cool. I love driving by myself and arrived at my destination in time to drink wine and watch The Bachelorette! I drove for 10 hours today and actually feel great. I ate healthy all day with raw carrots, okra and ham and cheese... no chips, no fries from McDonalds, but I did have some M&M's to perk me up !!

When I got north of Lubbock a HUGE rain storm came in and I thought it was literally a tornado. So I pulled over to wait it out as crazy Texans flew by at 70mph. Finally out of Clovis, NM it turned beautiful and the drive between Clovis and Santa Rosa via 84W/N thru Ft Sumner (home of Billy the Kid's gravesite, which I have visited in a previous trip) has got to be one of my favorites. Clouds to the left of me, Storms to the right, here I am.. stuck in the middle with... A Cop??? I was speeding my ass off and got pulled over literally 1 mile out of my designated stopping point... She was intrigued by the gear loaded in the back, young and maybe gay, thought it was cool I was headed to Colorado and gave me a warning. Enjoy the photos documenting this momentous occassion. Maybe I have good Karma today.

I plan to update this as often as possible so I can keep track of my adventure. I hope you
enjoy it. Thanks for reading and PLEASE COMMENT :)