Hardrock 100 2009 KT to Putnam

Mile 88.9 to mile 94.5
Arrived 1:36 am
3:57 from KT, 0 minutes in the aid station (3:41 total in aid stations)

I left the Aid Station with Bob and we caught up with Don Platt, who was wondering where the turn off of the road was…we went a lot further up the road than I remembered before we made the left turn to go down and cross South Mineral Creek. Bob had to pull over and take care of business so he said ‘don’t wait up for me’ I said ‘are you sure?’ and he said ‘Yes’ so I went on ahead with Don close behind. I would get ahead and then arrive at an intersection where I wasn’t 100% sure where to go so waited for Don to catch up, then realized that there were markers there, just on edge (I couldn’t see them with my flashlight until I was right on top of them)

The big full moon illuminated the sky like a carbon copy of the daylight sun, showing more clouds building up. After the next-to-last climb, and a couple of traverses across snowfields (which I was sure I went back and forth across, but realized the footprints were different) I started seeing lights ascending the final climb.

It started to drizzle a little, no problem, I just put on my jacket and everything was just fine. The clouds began to really build up, but no flash so I started the last ascent. Then the flash...I counted and reached '6' before the boom echoed off of the surrounding ridge lines. Well, just a short climb and I'll be past it, right? I started climbing again...another flash. One, two, three, BOOM! Uh Oh! Great, another delay (see, I wasn't worried about the weather so much as how it might cost me a finish... Alright, decision time, hunker down or keep climbing. That question was soon answered for me - flash BOOM! Crap, now it was right on top of me and the rain started comind down in sheets. I was soaked instantly (great, in a lightning storm AND wet!) I decided the prudent thing would be to get down and fast. I retreated down the trail, probably 100 feet in like a minute and a half. I found the closest thing to shelter that I could short of running all the way back to KT; and then I started shivering, great! No problem, this was the mountains and I was prepared! I pulled my balaclava and smartwool gloves out of my pack and put them on (the balaclava over the headlamp) then took my jacket off and unwrapped my long sleeve from around my waist and put it as well, replacing the jacket and cinching up the hood nice and tight. Finally I grabbed the tights that were also wrapped around my waist and put them on. Since I wasn't sure if I would be there for a while, I popped the package of hand warmers I carry and placed one in each jacket pocket. I didn't want to have to wait too long, but if I did, at least I wasn't going to freeze to death (I had a hard lesson in this at the Barkley the first year I was there...)
Finally, the worst of the storm seemed to have moved up the valley and I saw a light behind me; it was Don and he decided that the worst was over and started heading up the climb. I followed, still alert to the weather. The lightning continued for at least the next hour or more, fortunately it was far enough away that there was no thunder, and no danger of getting struck. The sky was still cloudy but the moon was at least providing some background lighting again. I didn't want to fool with anything and waste time so I just stayed with Don until the top of the climb. I asked if he thought we would make the cutoff and he said that it was only 12:30, that we had over 5 hours for the final 6 or 7 miles. Don mentioned that his feet were hurting so he would go slowly, but he would definitely make it. I knew at this point that he would be O.K. so I took off (if you could call it that, it was more like one snail going slightly faster than another snail, at least that's how it felt. I remembered that once we crested the final climb in 2007, we came to bunches of willows on the descent, but it seemed like a long time to get there; it also seemed like a longer time to get to the aid station. I seem to remember that it was just below tree line. I saw tree line but didn't see any aid station. Then I think I smelled a fire, and before long, there was the Putnam Aid Station (manned by John and Marcie Beard, who I had the pleasure of working the trails with) I said ‘I want to check in and out if it’s alright’ They said ‘sure, are you alright?’ and I said ‘yes, I just want to get to Silverton as soon as I can. I don't even know if any other runners were there. They checked me through and I said ‘Thank You’ as I say to all the aid stations I leave.