I am not a badass.
That word is sometimes used to describe me, but I don’t think I am one. Yes, I will call others bad-asses if I
believe that they are, but I am not one of them. I don’t even know what qualifies others as
badass to me. It is an obscure word that
has a different meaning for each person.
Below describes why people have been using that word to describe
me. I don’t believe it because all I am
doing is following my passions. I do
what makes me happy and those journeys are for myself, not to prove something
to anyone else. I do not share my
accomplishments to prove that I am better than anyone else or that I’m
tougher. It is not a competition. My hope in sharing these experiences is that
I can inspire you to follow your passions and push yourself in ways you never
thought possible. My past self would
have never thought these accomplishments possible and now I am pushing myself
further both physically and mentally and enjoying every minute of it.
The summer started with some climbing and getting excited
about running again, which I have been doing, but not progressing in since
2010. When I had spare time this summer,
I would run. I then started doing longer
runs back to back. I was able to do
4-mile trail to Panorama (15 miles with a little less than 4000ft elevation
gain) one day then Upper Yosemite Falls to Snow Creek (20 miles with the same
elevation gain) the next day. This told
me that I was in better shape than I thought I was. I had come up with a goal to summit Mt. Clark
(one of the most stunning peaks in Yosemite National Park) in a day from the
valley. I figured this was possible with
my newfound fitness. The day would prove
to be harder than I could have expected.
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| Mt. Clark from the decent |
I started out at 5:30am to begin what I thought would be a
36-mile day with over 7,200ft in elevation gain. I was able to make it to Merced Lake (14
miles) in about 3.5 hours and took a snack break there. I debated on filling my water there, but
didn’t drink much thus far so I decided not to.
I have a pack that carries 1.5 liters of water and I knew Clark was
about 6 miles round trip from Merced Lake with mostly cross country travel and a
lot of elevation gain ahead of me. I had
been to surrounding peaks and lakes, but not to Mt. Clark. I started up the correct creek drainage and
knew I should follow the next creek I come to on the right hand side. When I got to that creek it seemed too soon
and I didn’t see a peak that was worthy of the name “Quartzite Peak” where it should
have been relative to the creek (I was using a topo map). I continued through a dense pine forest
around what I thought should be named Quartzite Peak, up a creek drainage and
up a mountain that was the highest in front of me. As I summited this peak I realized two
things, 1) I just ran out of water and 2) that peak over there is Mt.
Clark.
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| Not Quartzite Peak |
I had to head toward Mt. Clark to
get to a reliable water source and I was starting to feel dehydrated so I
decided to traverse across the ridge toward the correct summit and when I got
closer I would decide whether to go down and get water or try to summit the
peak. I was starting to get a little
woozy and decided I may need to abandon the summit for water when I found a
chute with a little snow in it. I dug
past the first layer to get some clean snow to eat and fill my hydration pack
with. I started to feel better so I
decided to go for the summit. I was on
top 8 hours after I left home and was finally able to stand on a mountain that
has taunted me for years. I ate lunch up
there and laid the snow filled hydration pack in the sun to melt. Getting some water from that snow was the
only way I was able to summit. Now I had
the challenge of finding the correct way down and getting more water ASAP. I made it down to some beautiful alpine
lakes, filled my water and was on my way.
The way back down was definitely faster and I was still feeling pretty
good. I filled up more water at Merced
Lake on the way down (not making the same mistake twice in a day) and continued
running. I made it home 15 hours after I
started. The 37-38 miles was the
furthest distance I’ve covered thus far and it was definitely challenging, but
I knew I could still push myself further so a week and a half later it was on
to complete another goal I had set fourth last year and wasn’t sure if I’d be
able to accomplish it, running the High Sierra Loop in a day.
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| Looking East from the summit of Mt. Clark. There's my water down there! |
I set out on another early morning, 5:30am, from the
Tuolumne Meadows store heading for Vogalsang first, then the rest of the loop. The High Sierra Loop is
gorgeous trail that goes by 5 High Sierra Camps. These camps are in beautiful locations in
Yosemite’s high country. I have done the
loop in sections for work and pleasure, but I wanted to see what I could do in
a day. The loop is about 48 miles long with
7,200 feet of elevation gain. I knew
there was a chance of thunderstorms that afternoon, but being on a trail, they
would not pose too much of a threat. I
made it through Vogalsang and Merced Lake with ease refueling about every 8
miles and filled up water and sat down at Merced Lake. I thought the hardest hill of the day would
be from Merced Lake to Sunrise, but the hill proved not to be that bad. I was starting to see backpackers on this
section of trail and they were thinking I was a little crazy, which I admit is
probably true. A mile before sunrise I
hit my halfway point and I felt great! I
did a little celebratory holler with fist-pump and continued on. Thirty miles in I got to the Sunrise
Trailhead along the 120 where I had stashed some food, electrolytes and
Mountain Dew (I discovered the pick-me-up it provides during my first 50K in
2010). I sat and ate some food, drank
some fluids and saw the thunderheads getting closer. I had also put my iPod here so I could have
some music help in the last 18 miles of my day.
As I ran toward May Lake the clouds were rolling in pretty quickly
behind me and the thunder was echoing all around me. I started gaining elevation toward May Lake
with a granite slab to my right and Mt. Hoffman towering over me to the
left. The storm came in quick and was directly
overhead before I knew it. It was one of
the loudest and most intense thunderstorms I’ve ever been in. The only extra layer I had was a thin wind
jacket (not the best for rain). I
decided to put that on, had put my music away and got in lightning position for
about 10 minutes. I was scared to go up
higher because I was seeing lightning striking on the ridge below me. I knew the camp was close, but felt safe
where I was so I didn’t want to risk moving.
After the storm passed by a little I decided it was then or never to
continue on my run. I knew there was an
exposed section in a couple of miles and needed to get through it between the
different storm cells. I started running
again as it was dumping rain. Again,
backpackers thought I was crazy. The
trails were turning into streams and the granite slabs were sheets of
water. It was really beautiful and I
could feel the thunder every time it would echo through the area. I made it through the exposed part and it
started to clear up a little. I was
eventually able to put my music back on, which was a great tool in keeping
forward progress. I was definitely
starting to get tired, but still felt decently well. Each uphill in the last 6 miles felt so much
bigger than they do hiking or backpacking, but at that point I knew I was going
to complete my goal. If anyone has
finished a marathon or other long distance run, you know the emotions that take
over your body. With 1 mile to go I had
my moment of tears, with disbelief that I actually going to complete this
thing, something that I would have thought was impossible a couple years
ago. I finished 11 hours and 50 minutes
after I started. It was such a great
feeling to have pushed myself to complete the loop and I couldn’t help but
think that I can push myself further. My
recovery from this run was great too. I
was able to go on a 20-mile run two days after completing the loop. Again, I don’t tell you about this to brag or
prove anything to anyone. I love long
distance running and seeing what the human body is capable of being trained to
do. I want you to read this and be
inspired to work toward your goals and follow your passions.
After accomplishing the loop I decided to rest a little and
gear up to train for a road marathon to see what I could do with some speed
training on top of the endurance that has built up through my summer. I am still training for that race and working
hard 3 days a week with that. Recently I
haven’t been motivated to do much else in the park because I have checked off
so many things on my tick list thus far, but then a conversation with a friend sparked
some motivation. If you are not
constantly progressing then you will just get into a routine and become
stagnant. Because of this realization I
decided to accomplish one of my climbing goals, a 15-pitch route up Cloud’s
Rest. We had a 6-mile, mostly cross-country
approach to the climb. The climb, My
Favorite Things, consists of fifteen 50-60 meter long pitches gaining 2,700
feet in elevation. Most pitches are in
the 5.7-5.9 range with one 5.5 pitch and one 5.10a pitch. The ratings were a little soft, but still
good climbing. Once on top of the
technical climbing we had 1,200 feet more 3rd class terrain. After this was a 7-mile hike out. The day took us 14 hours car-to-car and was a
great adventure and a beautiful multi-sport day. I am so happy I was
re-inspired to continue ticking off my goals.
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| Climbing Cloud's Rest |
So what is the moral of all of this adventure talk? Follow
your passions. If reading this inspires
you to go run a mile or go climbing for the first time or do any other activity
you are passionate about then it is worth sharing. I do not want to be put on a pedestal because
I do things most people think is crazy or impossible for them. You are only limited by your mind. If you train your body and your mind
appropriately you can accomplish anything.
Find something, or multiple things, that you love and do it/them. Live the story you want of your life here on
beautiful planet earth. It is not about
being a badass or being better than anyone else, it’s about being the best
version of you, whatever that may be.
Again, you are only limited by your mind. So enough from me, go out and live your
life.
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| Summit of Cloud's Rest |
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