Hardrock 100 2009 Chapman to KT

Mile 81.9 to mile 88.9
Arrived 9:22 pm
4:02 from Chapman, 17 minutes in the aid station (3:41 total in aid stations)

I finally left the Aid Station about 10 min after Mike Bur, still being paced by his wife Laura; and roughly 5 minutes after Bob - so I was really pushing the uphill to try and catch any of them, hoping that my pace up to Wasatch saddle would hold... I finally did catch up to Bob, just after treeline. The course gets rockier as you leave the trees behind and ascend the head of the rocky canyon.

The sky was clear leaving Chapman, but gradually got darker as the next storm front rolled in - which seemed to have planted itself at the end of the canyon, right above Grant-Swamp pass - our next destination! We looked up toward the pass and noticed others who were waiting it out as well, we saw several folks hunkering down and even thought we could make out Mike Bur, but we weren't really sure. Bob found a nice big rock to hide under while we waited for the loud echoing thunder to cease (or at least for the storm to move off of the pass.) Bob said he would rather wait than get hit by lightning; I agreed with him wholeheartedly. The canyon rumbled and shook from the thunder, for what seemed like a half an hour at least. Eventually, the sky above the pass started to clear. We saw the folks above us ascending and then we decided to continue as well, even though the rumbling continued, further down the canyon from us as the storm moved away...it was at that time I noticed that I hadn't seen anyone behind me since I left Chapman...

Once we reached the base of the last climb (the 300 or so feet of scree to scramble up) we saw a few other runners toward the top of the pass, though I couldn’t be sure who each was – I thought I recognized Bur and his wife. I felt that we could catch them on the climb; we started to follow the traverse that was visible to try and avoid some of the scrambling; it was only partially successful as we kept having to find a better way (at least I did, Bob was below so I was also occupied with trying not to let any rocks fall on him.) I looked back and still didn’t see anybody behind us. I figured maybe they were still hiding below tree line waiting the storm out (the storm seems to have been blowing down Swamp Canyon, so anyone behind us would still be caught while the skies above us were clear.)

After what seemed like forever, Bob and I finally scrambled our way to the top of the pass, only to discover that all of those who we had seen ahead of us on the climb were now long gone on the descent. Fortunately, in spite of the wait for the storm we made it with about an hour, possibly more, of daylight left. We passed by Joel Zucker’s memorial plaque and placed a rock on the pile then got ready for some downhill sliding. I didn’t remember how steep it was to climb this last year until I went down it this year; treacherous footing indeed!

I got slightly ahead of Bob and realized why when I went back to look for him (he was just on the other side of some willows) and he was bent over and hacking. I asked if he was O.K. and he said ‘yeah, go ahead’ so I did, tentatively, to keep him in sight. I've had the hacking cough from the 'crud' before and know that it isn't very fun. I just wanted him to know I wasn't going to drop him.

Just before we arrived at the trail junction where the trail down to Ice Lake creek meets the trail down to the South Mineral campground, we saw a group of backpackers headed up the trail we were heading down (and it was starting to get dark, making me wonder where they were heading…) we asked if they saw any runners ahead of us. They looked at us like we were crazy (runners? who would be ‘running’ here) and then they asked if we knew about that Hardrock race…we said ‘yes, were in that race’ sheepishly, not looking much like we were actually running…we wished them well and continued the descent to ice lake creek.

The crossing at Ice Lake creek is not fun, and actually treacherous enough to turn people back (it happened to Joe Prusaitis two years ago as he had not seen how we put a few logs across during the course marking, that and it was dark…and the loss of his good friend Rick Gastelum was still at the front of his memory) This year, however, the course marking crew had brought some rope with them and lashed several logs together, making a fairly sturdy bridge! Of course, you still had to get your feet muddy to get to the bridge. We crossed, with the sky getting darker, but still with enough ambient light to find our way.

We trudged through the muddy sections, and I remembered the spot where Bill Losey was sitting last year, clearing out his shoes. I knew that eventually we would break out of the trees and onto the shelf that is the Kamm Traverse (KT.) Sure enough, we made it out, the waning light diminishing as we continued along the shelf. Bob and I kept moving down the trail, determined to get to KT aid station before turning our lights on (like I told him I had managed to do the night before heading down into Grouse Gulch aid station.)

It was along this stretch that we started talking about what Hardrock really is. Anybody who has finished knows the feelings that wash over you after you kiss the rock and then again when Dale calls your name and you go up to get your finishers print. I thought about it for a minute and told Bob that what we were doing right at that moment, as well as the 39+ hours before that point, is what it REALLY is all about. Since Bob had finished in the other direction in 2006, he was on his way to becoming a ‘real’ Hardrocker – one who has finished in both directions. He said that what most people think of Hardrock as is ‘camp Hardrock’ the two weeks or so leading up to the event with everyone hanging out, marking course, doing trail work, climbing 14ers, training on or scouting out the course, and generally hanging out with good friends. He said at that point that he probably wouldn’t put in for next years’ race but would be perfectly O.K. with being involved in 'camp Hardrock' once again, job and family committments permitting.

It finally got to the point, after 9th or 10th time we had to traverse mud we couldn't see, that we turned our headlamps on. Just a few minutes later, we were at the end of the traverse and at the junction of the road - and there was KT aid station!