Gorge Waterfalls 50K

Beautiful, amazing, hot, green, misty, rocky, shady, fun, technical, windy, slippery, wet, dangerous, steep, touristy...  There are so many ways to describe Gorge Waterfalls 50k that I decided to list them all.

Three weeks ago I was tapering for Chuckanut 50k when I came down with the flu.  It lasted for two weeks as I stubbornly pushed through it and deservedly experienced some miserable running.  While friends from Missoula and beyond were opening up their seasons in Bellingham, I was forcing gels into my upset stomach while running through freezing rain around Missoula.  My spirits were lifted when my friend Justin talked to James Varner who was willing to let me race at Gorge Waterfalls 50k.  By this point I was in a three week (forced) taper for a 50k race?!?!  I was convinced my legs would be nothing but jello by the start on March 30th.

This race started like all races do with a long drive.  There is absolutely nothing in eastern Washington or eastern Oregon.  I almost ran out of gas betting on a gas station between Ritzville and Kennewick, WA.  Running on empty I tried filling up in a small town named Connell.  There were signs on the highway and in town that pointed to a gas station but all I found was an old barn with gas written on the side and I wasn't feeling good about my chances of coming out alive or with my Jeep.  I did manage to find gas by turning around and retracing 20+ miles which is exactly what you want to do on a long road trip before a race, right?  Once I hit the Columbia it was all worth it.  The drive past Hood River and into Portland was beautiful.  In Missoula we have a two week green period in the valley before the grass and shrubs blow out and turn yellow for the remaining 54 weeks; I was enjoying all this green foliage!

After seeing the weather forecast of upper 70s, I was surprised at how chilly it was for the race start.  The starting line had several familiar faces including a group of us that seem to signup for the exact same races as of late: James Bonnett, Yassine Diboun, Hal Koerner...  There were some new ones though too like Mario Mendoza, Ian Sharman, Zach Violett and Missoulian Jimmy Grant who was running his first ultra!

*Photo by Glenn Tachiyama

Well off we went, looping around Benson Lake and climbing upwards toward our first waterfall of the day - Wahkeena Falls.  Mario went straight to the front and I followed up the blacktop switchbacks and then up some dirt switchbacks and finally after 1500 ft+ of climbing we hit the first downhill.  Mario and I had a small gap and worked our way back down the rocky, wet trail.  Both of us wanted to burn this downhill but it was so rocky that opening up the stride was pointless and dangerous.  We switched the lead here a few times with me preferring the climbs and Mario leading on the descents.  Our split through the first aid station (mile 7ish) was 53 minutes.  At this point it seemed like we had a several minute lead on everyone.  Then out of nowhere on the swirly, heavily vegetated single track, before you spill out onto Frontage road, I heard vegetation crunching.  Zach had bombed the descent and caught us right as we hit the road.  So the three of us continued into a headwind at 6 min pace down the 2.5 mile road segment when....  out of nowhere a dog ran out and attacked Zach.  All I remember is hearing a vicious growl, barking, Zach yelling and then seeing Zach laying on the road and the dog running away.  Luckily he was fine - the dog bluff charged him as Zach tried a karate kick move... but he had to be shaken up.. I know I was!  We made sure he was ok, regrouped and headed into aid station #2 (mile 14).  This is where the race began.

*Photo by Glenn Tachiyama

As Zach and Mario filled up their water I went straight through and up the last bit of trail to Elowah Falls - the turnaround point.  On my way back, with poker chip in hand, I could see the small gap I had on a charging Mario and Zach.  I also got to see how the race was playing out behind with Yassine, Jimmy, Ian, James, Hal and say hello to everyone.  On the road section I dropped it down to 5:40-50 pace and maintained my lead up until the last 1/2 mile when Mario went by.  There was a lot of technical, wet, tourist filled climbing ahead so I kept cruising and let him open up a minute or two gap.  Once we hit the single track I was immediately back on him.  At this point we started hitting big groups of runners who were excited to see us and nice enough to let us slip by.  In the rollers right before the last aid station I made a small push to see if I could distance myself from Mario.  It worked.  I was feeling a little dehydrated and frustrated with tourist pinball but my legs felt great.  Unfortunately Mario bruised his foot shortly after and decided to stop before doing any further damage. There was one section before the final climb where my race almost ended as well.

There I was flying around a narrow bend in the trail and came upon a couple who were hiking.  I yelled out "behind" and  "passing on your right" but no matter what you say it always elicits the same response.  Some trail savy people step aside and let you pass.  Other less trail savy people freeze up and then at the last possible moment they panic and jump right into your path.  So after announcing my presence and intention, I attempted to pass on the right along the edge.  Well, the wife froze in the middle of the trail and then the husband panicked and went right - directing me right off the cliff. What resulted was a jump followed by an awkward embrace / hug that left me dangling over the cliff's edge while on this guys back!  The guy, who was as scared as I was, quickly turned and swung me back on to the trail.  Close call... but at least I didn't go over the edge and have to climb back up!  With a surge of adrenaline I flew up the final 1500ft of never-ending switchbacks and bombed down to the Wahkeena Falls parking lot.  At the bottom you can see the finish line BUT you have to circle around the lake to get there.  My watch read 3hrs and 10min.  All I needed was 9 min to sneak in under Max King's course record of 3hrs 19min.  Despite a late charge I ended up two minutes and 55 seconds shy in 3hrs 22min but with a win and a really nice Gorge Waterfalls 50k framed art piece by a local artist - awesome!  

James Bonnett moved very well over the last 1/2 of the race to finish second.  Zach stayed strong and held onto 3rd.  Here are the full results.  It was fun to catch up with everyone post race, share stories and lounge around in the warm spring sun.  All in all it was a great season opener on a beautiful and challenging course.  After the race, the RD James asked me how I liked the course.  I told him I was surprised at how rocky and technical the trails were.  He said that when he designed the original course he thought it was mostly smooth single track!!!  I don't remember any smooth single track...   Next up is Leona Divide 50m at the end of April.  Many miles to be run before then!

Crashing Snow Bowl & Booting Point Six

In our second winter here in Montana, Lisa and I finally made our way up to ski at Snow Bowl.  My coworkers Ric and Mark convinced Lisa and I to join them out on the slopes for Martin Luther King day.  I have been up to this area several times before to run but never during the winter.  There is something about paying for an easy ride up any mountain that just doesn't sit right with me.  I prefer to stomp it out myself for free and not be limited to chair lifts.

Neither Lisa nor myself had skied in over two years.  Adding to that, snow bowl is know for steep icy slopes.  This was going to be interesting.  Something that hasn't changed in the two years since we last went skiing - why is it so damn expensive?  For a moment I thought about snowshoeing up and skiing down but I would have ended up alone all day.  A hundred dollars later and we were ready to go...

Lisa was pretty nervous while riding up the Grizzly Lift for the first time.  As advertised, the bowls looked very icy and steep.  On the first run Lisa completely stopped halfway down and was unsure she could make it down to the Levelle Creek chair lift.  After a few runs, with some hard falls, she gained her confidence back and was flying down the slopes.  She was looking particularly good on one run until crashing into Ric and a six foot embankment next to the Levelle lift.  The look on Ric's face as she crashed into him was worth the lift ticket!

After a few hours of skiing the western bowls, we took the long eastern boundary paradise trail back to the lodge.  Lisa, Ric, Mark and me shook off the snow, ice and bruised muscles while enjoying an expensive cafeteria lunch.  After lunch I decided to head outside of the park, into the backcountry and up Point Six.  At 7,940 ft, Point Six rises high above the Missoula valley floor.  On most days Point SIx is buried deep in the clouds but today we had a beautiful cloudless day - minus the smog of course.    

Point Six is known for its weather station called the Death Star.  I've seen this dark ball from as far away as Lolo Peak.  It's huge and makes strange noises.  This summit is the windiest of all the Missoula area peaks. After hurdling downhill at break neck speeds all day it was nice to finally push myself slowly, upward.  

The snow drifts were incredible.  One second I was on the surface and the next I was chest deep in snow.  Oh and there were huge cornices that I was trying to avoid in my big ski boots.   Add the deafening, skin freezing winds gusting at 40mph and it made for a great mountain summit experience.   

In my opinion, Point Six has the best views in the Missoula area.  While on the summit you are right in middle of all the major peaks.  You have great views of the Missoula and Bitterroot valley floors, the Bitterroots and Sapphires off to the South, the Missions and Swans to the North and obviously you are nestled among the Rattlesnake peaks.  Ch paa qn peak and the town of Arlee sit just West of the Point Six.

Murphy Peak (8167 ft) is so close that it feels like you can reach out and touch it.  Behind Murphy are the Missions.  Serious Griz country and monster 10,000 ft peaks.  Missoulians like to pretend that Griz don't wander over to the Rattlesnake, right....

Close up of the Missions.  I really want to hike / run over there sometime soon.  

Looking northeast into the Rattlesnake Wilderness at Mosquito peak (8057 ft).  Way off in the distance you can just make out the snow covered peaks of the Swans.  Most of the flat areas between the major peaks are wet marsh areas in the summer.  In the winter they freeze and it is much easier to navigate and connect peaks.  

Straight east is the formidable Stuart Peak.  Twice this winter I have tried and failed to summit Stuart.  The Stuart Peak trail is currently waist deep and would require more than just me breaking trail.  Can't wait for the Spring thaw.

Oh how small Mount Jumbo and Sentinel are from the surrounding peaks.  The Sapphires are tiny but beautiful.  

While peak gazing I noticed movement far, far below on one of the alpine lakes.  If you look carefully there is a guy skiing in the middle of Jenny Lake.  Lisa and I miraculously crossed paths with this guy on our final run.  He snowshoed out from the lake and came out on the upper paradise trail.  He looked exhausted and was happy to downhill back to the lodge.  It took him a couple hours to snowshoe out from the lake.

Finally, the beautiful view of the Missoula and Bitterroot valleys.  Due to a stagnant high pressure system, we had plenty of smog trapped in the valley.  When sunlight hits the smog it turns into a blueish white haze.  I can't stand it.  Such a beautiful, remote place surrounded by wilderness should never have air quality issues.  All the city does is issue air quality alerts and recommend its citizens to stay indoors.  That is not acceptable.

Great day out on the slopes but I enjoyed the awkward ski boot hike to Point Six the most.    Can't wait for summer and running to the summit while snacking on wild huckleberries.  We finished the day off with a pizza and a few pitchers of beer at the lodge.  Not sure if I will come back here to ski again but the pizza and beer might be worth a long drive!

Running the Towers

Normally I know better than to run up Mount Sentinel and University Mountain this early in the year.  This second week of February I was pleasantly surprised.  Other Missoulians had already been up to the Towers.  The sun was out and it was a great day for a 2600ft climb up the Sapphires.   

The trail tread was very narrow - no wider than the width of my foot.  I tight roped all the way up and only had a handful of deep snow face plants.  Still can't believe I was able to run the entire way up in February!

The trees thin out near the top and provide great views north and east.  Stuart Peak and the Rattlesnake mountains were about to be swept into the clouds.  Still haven't been up to Stuart yet...  

The last hundred feet of climbing were really rough.  Windswept side slopes meant alternating between a couple inches and a couple feet.  Never knew what you would get with each foot strike.

Trees and towers alike were coated with ice on the north and west sides.  Very beautiful and quiet up there.  The sun was melting the ice on the towers and huge shards of ice came flying at me.  Didn't get to spend too much time admiring the view or searching for peaks to run later.  

I ran as far as I could over the ridge back towards Pattee Canyon.  After a half mile I was waist deep in snow.  Miller Peak (7000 ft) was towering in the distance under some crazy clouds.  I need to find a way back there.

Look how far my waterbottle fell into my footprint.  Wasn't running that section!

As always, the views on the way back down were incredible.  That is Mount Dean Stone sitting in front of the Bitterroot range.  Beautiful sunny day in the mountains and a solid 3 hour run.  Getting ready for Chuckanut in March!

Well after 2 1/2 years I finally broke my yaktraks.  One of the metal coils completely separated from yaktraks and was pointing out away from my foot.   Gonna need to replace these fast!

Failed Stuart

Coming off a Sheep mountain snowshoe high I was adamant on climbing Stuart Peak.  I have lived in Missoula for 18 months now and have never made my way up the most prominent peak South of Missoula.  This time Chris, Apple and I were joined by another coworker Mark Schleicher and his friend Nathan.  We hit the Ravine Trailhead just before 7 am hoping that the weather would get better as the day went on....

The first couple of miles were dark, rolling and frustrating.  Getting my gear to sit right took a while and then I realized that this trail climbs a lot and then drops back down before it starts the long climb up to Stuart.  Before we left I told Chris that dogs were not allowed in certain areas of the Rattlesnake but he refused to accept this.  When we saw this sign I was all smiles.  Notice how he refused to look at the camera while next to the No Dogs sign!

The two days before we were blasted by a snow storm that left no less than a foot of powdery snow.  As I predicted, no one had been on the trail since the storm.  That meant we were breaking trail the entire 11 miles up to the 7,950 ft summit of Stuart.  Route finding was also fun because none of us had been on the ravine trail before.  On top of that we were all very aware of the recent avalanche warnings.  The snow was so high that the white blazes (who's brilliant idea was that) were barely visible on the snow covered trees.  Without blazes there is no way to tell which direction the Stuart Peak trail went with all the snow.  Luckily Mark and Nathan had been on the Stuart Peak trail enough that they knew the general direction of the trail.

Once on the Stuart Peak trail we were breaking through a couple of feet of heavy, wet snow. It was obvious that we were moving very slow up the mountain.  A few miles from the wilderness boundary Mark mentioned that we wouldn't make the summit at this pace.  I was confused because I was willling to push for the summit if it took all day and all night.  Immediately I went to the front and started breaking trail.  Imagine doing high knees in a foot of fresh snow while going up 5,000 vertical feet.  For the next 2 miles I went as hard as I could with my big wooden snowshoes.

I spent the best part of an hour in my happy place. Finally we made it to the wilderness boundary. We took a minute to eat, drink and regroup. Meanwhile I was quietly wondering if my effort was enough for the group to continue onward to the summit. After a few minutes of silence we came to the decision to turn around. I thought about continuing on alone but the last few miles were taking their toll on me and the weather was still awful. Zero visibility with the occasional tease of blue sky hundreds of feet above us. I absolutely hate turning around on a summit unless the weather is really bad or there is an injury. Eventually I took the experience for what it was, enjoyed it and headed back down after 6 hrs of grueling trail breaking. Still it was a bitter pill to swallow.

On the way back the wheels completely fell off. My pants wouldn't stay up and my snowshoes straps had frozen solid to my pants. I couldn't adjust the snowshoes with my frozen gloves and they kept kicking out. What resulted was me face planting hard many times and falling way behind the group. Eventually I strapped the snowshoes to my pack and post holed my way back to the parking lot. It was like the mountain was having a laugh since I couldn't reach the summit!

Adding insult to injury, the sun started poking through the clouds as we were approaching the parking lot. Unreal.

Feeling beaten I tossed my snowshoes and pack in the trunk of the Jeep and headed home to salvage what was left of the day. Stuart peak followed me all the way home in my rearview mirror. I will be back!

Breaking Trail to Sheep Mountain

Last Saturday the clouds lifted for the first time in what seems like an eternity and the bright blue sky hovered above the snow covered evergreens.  My coworker Chris Dundon and I headed up Sheep Mountain with snowshoes and his two year old black lab Apple.  When we hit the Woods Gulch trail I knew we were in for a special winter day.

Immediately it was evident that no one had been on trail 513 in quite some time.  Apple and I took turns breaking trail even though her little paws didn't help much.  We were able to hike the first several miles before having to strap on the old snowshoes.  Once the snowshoes were on, Apple would put her paws on the back of my snowshoes to float above the surface.  Whenever I lifted my foot I would almost topple over.  This awkward dance continued all the way to the top - bad Apple!

A thick, wet snow covered the entire length of the trail.  The snow powdered trees were huge and beautiful.  One of my favorite things about the backcountry is how small it makes you feel.   You never  forget that you are just a visitor here.  

The young pine trees bend under the weight of the heavy snow.  It reminds me of dolphins surfacing for air or curled fingers.   

I love watching the fight of light vs shadows as the sun sneaks through the trees and their branches.  

Absence of trees leads way to sneak peeks of Stuart Peak towering above the Rattlesnake Wilderness.  I have got to climb that mountain soon!

As you near the top of Sheep Mountain the canopy thins out and meadows take over.  We were the first ones to break the perfectly set winter scene.   Hated to disturb that beautiful setting but we had a mountain to summit.

After 11 miles of slow, quad thrashing slogging we arrived at the 7,646 ft summit of Sheep Mountain.  Chris and I refueled on almonds, chocolate and fruit leathers while Apple kept trying to eat my wooden snowshoes!  What a beautiful day and even more beautiful place.   The summit provides great views of the Bitterroot, Rattlesnake, Swan and Mission mountain ranges.  A great place to have lunch if your not in a rush.  My brother Dave Face-timed me as we hit the summit and was rewarded, with a 4-hr effort on our part, all from the comfort of his bed back at home in Cleveland...

After 15 min on the summit the warmth provide by burning calories was gone and Apple was getting antsy so we began our descent.  The way back always provides great views while you hike.  That is Squak (Ch-paa-qn) peak off in the distance to the West.  What a beautiful 8000ft snow-capped peak.

Low lying clouds were sweeping across the valley floor below us.  For a while there was a nice inversion keeping us warm and blocking the city.  The Bitterroot mountains are so impressive towering over the valley.  Amazing day for a hike, saw a lot of elk activity but no wildlife other than Apple.  Apple met some friends back at the trailhead and was zipping along the snow and ice like she hadn't just hiked in the mountains for the last 7 hours.  Good girl.