Last weekend, on June 26th, I ran my first Warrior Dash. I’ve been wanting to do a run like this for a while. I signed up a little late, so I ended up having to run the 3:00 wave on Sunday, which is the last wave. I didn’t think this would make a big difference, but it turned out that there was a ton of parking traffic near the course, so I got there a little late. They had to make one extra wave at 3:30 for all of us stuck in traffic.
Quickly checked in and took a before picture, to document the race:
It turns out that running on the 2nd day means the course will be a lot muddier. The trails were in bad shape, and it was muddier than the mud run I had done earlier in the year. It was a tough run, and I broke my Vibrams right in the beginning of the race. I still finished the 3.02 miles of mud and obstacles with a time of 43 minutes, which I am happy with, for now.
The plan is to run the NY Warrior Dash and climb Mt. Marcy in one weekend in August, time to start training to improve my time, on the slightly longer course.
Warrior Dash New England 2011
High Points – Memorial Day Weekend 2011
Guess I haven’t been good at keeping this site up to date, but on Memorial Day weekend I got my 8th through 11th state high points. Drove down Thursday after work to snag Mount Davis in Pennsylvania and Backbone Mountain in Maryland on Friday.
Then did the long hike up Spruce Knob in West Virginia on Saturday. Also got the Delaware “high point” on the way back north, this really only involved crossing a street, which was a nice relief after how long WV is to actually hike. :-)
And the link to the full album:
Review: VFF KSO Treksports
It was some time in August that I decided I would try a drastic change in my footwear. My hiking shoes (LL Bean Trail Runners) were starting to fall apart through no fault of their own. I wasn’t completely sure what I wanted, but I knew I wanted something light and unobtrusive. After much research and deliberation I finally decided I would try some Vibram Five Fingers. I tried to convince myself otherwise, since they’re definitely odd-looking, but in the end they made the most sense. I went with the VFF KSO Treksports.
Mauna Kea, HI
This post has definitely taken longer to post, and is not as complete as I would like it to be, but on November 8th I summited my 7th U.S. high point.
It was definitely the most amazing one yet, I was in Hawaii visiting my sister so I took the opportunity to climb Mauna Kea. At 13,796 it was by far the highest, and it was also the first mountain I climbed alone. I woke up at about 4 AM so I could drive to the visitor’s information center to view the sunrise above the clouds.
The hike to the summit is about 5 miles, and also starts from the visitor’s center, which is where it’s recommended to spend at least a half hour before summiting to become acclimated to the oxygen at those elevations. It worked out well that I could watch the sunrise while acclimating, and then begin my hike by 6:45. The hike gets steep at times, but it is just a hike, not really any scrambling required.
I summited by 11:45; not a bad time considering how often I stopped to admire the views, catch my breath, and just relieve the pain in my knee that’s become standard for long hikes. The temperatures at the summit were in the low 40s, and the wind was at least 14 mph. I never could have imagined standing in Hawaii and being as bundled up as I was.
Since my knee was hurting I decided to walk down the road so I could hitch if my knee got too bad. I got about 3 miles down (the road is 8 miles) before someone stopped and volunteered a drive tot he visitor’s center, at that point I was more than happy to take it.
I can honestly say Mauna Kea is one of the most amazing places on earth, I drove back the next day to view the sunset from the summit and then to view the stars. At night they setup telescopes at the visitor’s center, and give a guided tour of the stars. It’s above the clouds and clear 340 days out of the year. Everything about the mountain is awe inspiring, second only possibly to hiking up to the lava flowing into the ocean.
Jerimoth Hill, RI
I was driving through Rhode Island to visit Connecticut, so it was the perfect opportunity to snag the Rhode Island “high point.” At a whopping 812 feet Jerimoth Hill is not much of a peak, but it’s the highest point in Rhode Island so it makes the list. It’s actually on private property, but the current owners are kind enough to open the property to high pointers every day from 8 to 4. There’s parking across the street from a short, but nicely maintained trail. It wasn’t much of a hike, but it was nice to knock number 6 off my list.
Hiking weekend pt 2 – Mt Mansfield
We drove straight from Katahdin to Stowe VT, stopping only briefly for food and gas. We made it to town barely before 11 and quickly looked for a hotel since most of the front desks seem to close at 11. We ended up staying at the very nice Town & Country Resort.
In standard fashion we chose the steepest trail for the ascent. We took the Hell Brook trail (which was 1.3 miles straight down according to the sign). It was an amazing trail, it was very steep and slick, but getting to hike up the mountain through the woods was a nice contrast to Katahdin from the day before.
My love of the trail definitely subsided as we neared the top. We were in the clouds so there was no visibility, and with the windchill it felt well below freezing. We chatted briefly with the other group that decided to brave the summit on that day and then made our way down the Long Trail. The total hike, including the road hike between the Long Trail and Hell Brook parking lots, was probably about 5 1/2 miles.
Once again it’s a mountain I’d love to go back to, but only if the views are further than 10 feet this time. :)
Yay! for climbing my 4th and 5th state high point in one weekend!
Mansfield and Katahdin photo album here!
