Hardrock 100 Ouray to Grouse Gulch

(Up Ouray Bear Creek and over Engineer Pass)

-night time section of the course, no photos :-(

Engineer 51.5mi 02:47-02:55 8 minutes (:50)
Grouse Gulch 58.4mi 05:48-06:49 1:01 in the aid station (1:51)

After stuffing my face for a while I checked out and left the Ouray aid station, thanking all of the volunteers and other peoples' crew for helping me. We cruised through town in the dark; and I didn't recognize any of the streets I had seen in the daytime. In fact, it looked different from last year, though arriving in the opposite direction, was also in the dark. I was really just focused on keeping myself going through the night now and not worried too much about it as long as I could still see the course markings. I managed to catch up to Rick Hodges and his wife Liz, who was pacing him (Liz was nice enough at Ouray last year to help with some knee pain I was having by giving me an Ibuprofin - one of only two times I have taken any NSAIDs during a race.) I was with Richard Szekeresh as we passed Rick and Liz on the trails as we left town. Eventually we started that horrible climb/descent/climb/descent, find the mattresses, etc. section along the river – until the 550 tunnel. I somehow got ahead of Richard along here (I thought he was right behind me) and started climbing the trail over the road. I caught Chris Twiggs again, along with a pacer this time –how did he get in front of me again? We trudged up the many switchbacks, treading over what sounds like stomping on tons of broken dinner plates. I could see more lights ahead of me and decided to keep climbing slightly faster, hoping to catch up. I finally caught up with Craig Slagel and his pacer. I hiked along with them for a while and then pulled ahead, trying to generate a little more body heat that I knew I would need for the numerous stream crossings that I would encounter toward the head of the canyon. I caught up to Steve Pero briefly then he just pulled away. I was trying to tell him 'good luck' or some other encouragement, but the wind and the sound of rushing water drowned out both of our voices - and that was the last I saw of him. After stream crossing after stream crossing, I started wondering where the Yellow Jacket mine was, not seeing it when I expected to…then I crossed a stream running the ‘wrong’ direction (?!) and I thought I was going the wrong way on the course. I knew the trail crossed the stream like that AFTER Yellow Jacket mine and almost thought I was going the wrong way until I saw a light up ahead and figured either I was still on course or was at least going in the wrong direction with another person. When I finally got to the light, it turned out to be Kristina Irvin. (Kristina is one of the toughest women I have met; she has multiple Hardrock finishes and this year, Hardrock was in the middle of her Last Great Race attempt!) I asked her where the *%$#! Yellow Jacket mine was and she said we had already passed it. I said 'Huh?' Sure enough, not 50 yards ahead of us the trail turned uphill into the dirt and away from the stream. It was at that same moment I could smell smoke from the campfire – SCORE! Engineer Aid Station!

Kristina was in and out of the aid station before I knew it - I stayed at the aid station for a short while, not wanting to get too close to the campfire (for fear of getting comfortable and not wanting to leave) and had a cup of soup. I needed to get out of there quickly so I could keep generating my own body heat (which the upcoming climb would provide, no problem)
I started through the tundra with the view of lights ahead of me, as well as the blinking red light that Charlie Thorn puts at the pass when the course is run in this direction.

I remembered from last year that the course follows some trails, but meanders a bit through the tundra, across a few streams. If you get too far to one side going down, then you will be way far off course the further you go. That was true this year, but since I was going slower uphill, it was easier to see where those points were before going the wrong way when reaching them. Of course, the course markers were adequate along here, provided you have good lighting. My Brunton L3 LED headlamp and Fenix L2P handheld do very well here, provided the batteries are fresh (and they were.) I also use Energizer Lithium batteries; though more expensive, they are lighter weight and provide longer lasting usable power than standard AA batteries. I also carry backup lighting with AAA batteries, but my main lights all use AA batteries for simplicity.

After realizing I was a bit off track on the final climb to the pass, I backtracked to the last marker I had seen. Now I could look back down the hill and see that I was now where I had seen the lights in the distance about an hour or so ago. Eventually, I arrived at the top of Engineer pass and stopped only long enough to put on the rest of my clothes - the cold was setting in and being on a mountain pass is a lot cooler with the wind. It was also about this point in the night that normal brain shutdown would occur if I weren't in the wilderness pushing my body past it's normal 'day' -so for a really runnable downhill, I couldn't capitalize on the opportunity. Of course, the road is really rutted and there were many puddles and drainages to cross (from the snowmelt) and I was mentally about shot at this point, not able to focus sufficiently to keep my feet moving well and also keep them under me. I remember at the course briefing that John Cappis mentioned a runner one year who took the wrong road descending from Engineer Pass toward Grouse Gulch and ended up on 550 between Silverton and Ouray; I guess I dwelled on this point a bit too much, and it made me paranoid that I would miss the correct direction when I came to that turn. I knew that the sun would be coming up soon, and I had hoped to be at Grouse before sunrise, though the further I went (at a seemingly slower and slower pace) the less of a possibility this seemed to be. Once the sky started to lighten, I saw another thing that John Cappis had shown on his slide show at the course briefing - a grouse! Wow! First the mountain goat at Grant-Swamp Pass and now a Grouse just before Grouse Gulch.

I finally arrived at Grouse, ready to get my drop bag, shift some contents (drop extra gear and reload calories) and eat a LOT of food from the aid station. I must have had three plates of various food in front of me as well as a cup or two of soup and I think pasta...so it was good that I ate a lot for the energy I would need on the upcoming (and longest) stretch of the race - over Handies and toward Sherman.