Little Bear At Cascade Crest

I volunteered at Cascade Crest last week, working the Little Bear Aid Station. This is at about mile 20. The aid station is operated by the San Diego 100 folks, who are terrific. BJ of Florida Gator fame is the chief operator. We went to school together in the '90s, and have an infamous history of misadventure. The stories pile up, but Saturday was just good times, no misdeeds.

The day was perfect running weather--a bit overcast, but not too cool. Most of the runners came in looking fresh. As one said, this is still early, as far as a 100 mile race goes. A lot of runners liked the sugar coated animal crackers. Little Debbies were also a hot commodity.

I hiked up to the top of Blowout Mountain, and looked around. I was hoping to see a bear or a cat, but not that day. We had lots of laughs, and were back at the fire station by 6 PM. It was great to see so many friends. The Cascade Crest brings everyone together, again.

Cascade Crest

This is a bit of a catch-up post, but I made it out to the Cascade Crest 100 a couple weeks ago. My intention was to volunteer with BJ, Erica, Mike, and Killer at Little Bear. Alas, due to fires, the course was re-routed into an out and back to Hyak, and Little Bear was vaporized. Rich and his team did an amazing job adjusting things. I had great fun hanging out with folks before the race, and then later out at Stampede Pass. Stampede was a happening place, with a pretty big crowd watching the comings and goings. I cheered on Seth, Shawn, and a bunch of other runners. Also, great job by everyone involved. Way to go peeps! 

I include here also a pick of the Chew and Butts sign from Cle Elum, just because. Also, August brought us the Great American Solar Eclipse. This deserves its own post, but basically at 10:20 in the morning, shadows grew long, the sun disappeared behind the moon, and society stood still for a few minutes. It was really cool.

Little Bear Aid Station - Cascade Crest 100

We had the great pleasure of volunteering at the Cascade Crest 100 miler this weekend. My good friends BJ and Erica did a bang up job of taking care of all the logistics, and so were just there to help as we can, and spend the afternoon with friends. Mike, Aly Deb, and I made up the rest of the crew. The aid station captain was Killer, BJ and Erica's fierce pooch.

This is a new aid station, sitting right on the Pacific Crest Trail, at Mile 19.7.  It's an interesting point in the race, as the runners have already made it up the Goat Peak climb, as well as a new pull up Blowout Mountain, the second highest point on the course, at 5750 feet. Most looked fresh; some were showing signs of fatigue. With 80 more miles to go, things are just getting interesting here.

Great to see Rich making the run. He did so awesome, finishing fast, in addition to leading the effort to put on such a great event! So many other long-time friends, both at the start and through the aid station.

The drive out to this aid station is more than an hour, over some rocky, dirt roads. Beautiful setting. The nice thing about this aid station is we were able to watch the start of the race, and then get to the aid station for the first runners, who came through sometime around noon-thirty, I think.

The best part of the day was hanging with good friends, and seeing so many peeps I haven't seen in so long. I felt very inspired. I've done this race a couple times, but it has been several years now. I'm still young enough to get out and toe the line again, so that's something to move forward towards. Finishing Cascade Crest is such an accomplishment, and its always great to see everyone's immense and justified pride in making this journey.

Weather-wise, it was a little cooler than expected on the ridge. I wish we brought warmer clothes. Weather conditions cannot be assumed when it comes to this course. The microclimates can vary significantly.

The course re-route takes you around Blowout Mountain. At the end of the day, I walked up to the top of Blowout Mountain, and along the way said hi to friend Glenn, who was taking his great photos, as usual. Unfortunately, my view was obscured by clouds, but it's clearly a 360 view with Mount Rainier figuring prominently.

One more bonus for the day was meeting a number of thru-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail. Most were headed northbound ("Nobos"), and were excited to find our "trail magic" of an aid station. "Yes, we'll take your garbage and lighten your load! Sure have a ho-ho!" Some delighted trekkers there! Another inspiring group. I studied their packs, and listened to their stories. Maybe someday, I'll be making this journey as well.

A Picture Tells A Hundred Miler

August Classics

This last weekend I ran the Cutthroat Classic on Saturday, and then bombed down to the Cascade Crest Classic 100 to volunteer/hang out on Saturday night and Sunday. I’m pretty exhausted, and it’s Tuesday. I won’t get much sympathy from those 100 milers, I know. Congrats to all who got out there.

While I did a lot this weekend, hanging with the family is always tops. Camping with Uncle Don and Paul is something I’ve been doing since I was 13, but not in recent years. Many great stories with these guys. We had one legendary trip to the Potholes in Eastern Washington, when Paul and I were teens, where we took no food, declaring to all that we were going to "live off the land."  We were 100% committed to the goal, for a whole week, and quite serious about it. I even remember stopping by Safeway on the way out, because we had to buy aluminum foil for all the fish we were going to bury in the coals of our fire to cook. And I think we picked up a lemon and an onion, for garnish. Things didn’t work out so well.

We met again, Friday night, at Pair-Again Lake outside Winthrop. Very tame, with kids and campfires, the sound of a movie playing on someone's computer. On Saturday morning, Paul’s wife Holley and I got up early, after I had one cooooold night, cowboy camped under the stars, and we caught the school bus to the race start. This was Holley’s third Cutthroat, I think, my fifth. We met my good friend Aaron M. at Rainy Pass, who announced that he’s expecting his next kid. Congrats!

Background:  Cutthroat is an 11.1 mile trail run.  The first five or so miles are on the Pacific Crest Trail, and amount to a beautiful climb up to Cutthroat Pass, first through subalpine forest, and then into the land of rock and ice, though the ice is gone this time of year. The race starts in four different waves, at Rainy Pass, on Highway 20. On the way up, there are gorgeous views looking back towards Maple Pass. Specatators cheer at the top--high point of 6800 feet--and it's a near screamer of a descent, with 6 miles or so of down, through dust and rock, to the finish. On the way down, there's one aid station where the gels and liquids are brought in by horses. It is an absolutely wonderful event, and it sells out every year. Thank you MVSTA and all your great volunteers!

Aaron crushed the course. I did not. I rolled my ankle once, and then again for good measure, and then, to top it off, in the last two miles I honored REM with an “I am superman, and I can do anything!” fall. Just bloods, no breaks. Look for it on failblog. As I said, it’s a dusty downhill—I love it. I was humming GnR’s Dust and Bones and Freefallin', in between falls.

My time was about 10 minutes slower than last time, but it could’ve been worse, and I took a lot of pictures. Clumsy feet, some decline in fitness, but not a complete disaster. The rolled ankle bothers me more than anything--the back was tolerable.

Afterwards, I had a freezing wash-me-up under the bridge (RHCP) in the Methow River, and then it was down south (Alabama) past Chelan to The Race. I dropped B’hamster Heather off at French Cabin, and in the process caught some great semi-Thorpe Mountain type views of Kachess and Rainier, fireweed in the foreground.

Later, I hung out at Hyak (53 m AS), and caught friends Mike and BJ coming through, both running strong. Lots of other great friends to hang out with through the evening, and I was constantly exercising my powers of observation. "So, you're working the aid station?"  "So, you're pacing?" "Hey, doing the race? Cool."

Sunday was Easton all the way, all the day. It never stops being amazing--watching people finish 100 miles, that is. It shouldn’t be. One hundred miles is a long long way, and anyone who can finish the distance is-- amazing. Mike came in way early. BJ finished strong. And I was particularly moved by Dave D.’s finish at the end of the day, with his whole family helping him limp in.

The pics here are of Cutthroat--I'll proably post of a few of Cascade, after a while.