The big "D"

Tough Mudder

2011-09-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

Team ARCfit in the Squaw parking lot before the race.

I signed up to do a 'race' with my Crossfit box 'American River Crossfit.' We had something like 24 people sign up, but most were using our team code to get a discount. There were about 10 of us from the box.

I took a sleeping pill at 8:30, went to bed at 9 and woke up at 3AM - it worked! I drowsed for 45 minutes and then got up to get ready. I'm big on being prepared for events like this so I had everything lined up, had a check list, etc. I'd packed the night before and put my bag in my car, had direction printed out and put on my carseat - well, you get the picture. I was very fortunate that I was able to catch a ride with the rest of the team. I got to Mel's house (our team captain) at 5AM - a full 1/2 hour early. The van arrived at 5:30 sharp, we piled in and away we went. After a quiet and uneventful ride up we stopped at McDonalds near Squaw for a pee break and were shocked when we stepped outside and it was 39 degrees! I threw on all the clothing I had and was fine, but was worried about the race.

The race (I keep using that word because 'event' or 'thing' is clumsy, and there is no clock and no prize other than the T-shirt (and glorious orange 80's headband) and knowing that you completed it)) went off at 9:11AM (saw a starter timer) after a great version of the National Anthem.

The first part is just a run/hike up maybe 500 feet or so where you come to the first real obstacle - a barbed wire water crawl. The wire is set 8 inches above the water, so you have to lay down and push yourself ahead with hands and feet (too low for knees). Of course you get completely soaked in the very cold water - which was the point. It wasn't too bad - I found it exhilarating.

(From Wisconsin - ours was like this, just a pool of water instead of mud)

There were some break ups and delays (there had been a big line and long wait at the obstacle) but the team caught up and we continued up. And up, and up. The first half of the course is mostly hiking up the peaks of Squaw valley. Anyway, there was a steep section called 'The death march" (they live for hyperbole) which was a steep-ish climb. I was well matched with Mel, Jason and Terry as we naturally moved at the same brisk pace. They a tad brisker than me. At the top of the death march was ‘the Chernobyl jacuzzi’ – this turned out to be my favorite obstacle. As we approached we could see a front loader dumping a full load of snow into the pool. Basically, it’s a pool, 20 feet long, full of ice water. The surface was literally covered in ice cubes. There is a wall in the middle so you HAVE to go under to traverse it. Because my legs were worked from the climb getting in basically felt okay, but going under and swimming was a new world of ‘wow.’ Under, you think your breath will explode – when you come to the surface you are still hyperventilating and your limbs are slow – you just can’t get out of there fast enough! Once out, it’s whooping and hollering and smiles and the pure joy of being alive! Try it sometime – it’ll wake you up baby!

After a few minutes for everyone to catch up, shake the water out and catch their breath, we ran up the rest of the way to High Camp.

The next obstacle was a ½ pipe from the snow park that took real teamwork to surmount. There was a huge crowd and we were making no progress so after 10-15 minutes we opted (tough decision – I wanted to go the hard way but wanted to be with the team more) to use the route on the side that had a couple pieces of wood nailed in to speed you along (they added these after Saturday – apparently the lines grew too long). Meanwhile there were spectators eating burgers and watching us.

So, then we run up the mountain more to another favorite, the monkey bars. These were across a 25 foot pool (again of cold water – wherever I mention water remember it’s wicked cold (39 degrees when I arrived…yikes!)). The monkey bars go up to a peak and then descend – not like at grammar school. So too, the bars aren’t fixed and actually rotate under your hand. I was comfortable on them and made it across – my long arms and Crossfit pullups helped me along. Sadly, the rest of my team wasn't so lucky - they all fell in. Two of the gals got very close to making it before slipping.

Across from that was a 15 foot rope climb (very easy), and a set of 12 foot walls. The walls were fun because they required real team work. Here I was able to be handy because I had long arms I could reach down and haul people up. It was fun.

Then more hiking and running. First to the top of Emigrant peak. Up there, they had a net that was very low to the ground (snow). You had to squirm under on hands and knees as it pushed you to the ground. But it turned out that it wasn’t so bad because a few folks inside helped hold it up for everyone. That was the spirit of the day - help each other out.

Then a descent down to an obstacle with a field of logs that you go over (5 feet high) and under (8 inches) like a boot camp obstacle course.

Next was a big climb to the top of Squaw Peak (8200 feet). Astonishing views all around. Because I had climbed Castle two weeks prior and enjoy mountaineering this was in my wheel house and I felt really comfortable and happy. At the peak I felt terrific and so at the next obstacle I dug in. It was a log carry. Basically, pick up a log carry it down 125 yard route and back up. I found the biggest log they had – 200 pounds at least, and carried it with Jason – my running partner for the day. The terrain was slippery but for some reason I loved it, eventually taking on more and more of the weight. He was beat from the climb and we had to drop it a few times but he never complained at my craziness.

Next there was a long downhill run. Maybe 1.5 miles to the lake, my next favorite obstacle. This was just great. You jump off a high platform (20 feet) into the cold water below, come up, swim over to a series of barrels that you have to go under, and then swim to shore. One of my water bottles popped up under water but I was able to snap it back on and swim away. I swam freestyle, head up and was solid, but still, wanted to jam through it to get out. It was cold enough that you sort of start hyperventilating the second you come up for air - kind of a scary feeling. So, I went straight to the barrels, straight under them, and swam and got out. Most people were hanging on the barrels, waiting to go under, cold, getting stuck, etc. The guys in Kayaks were fishing a lot of people out. It was crazy!

Jason came out of the lake (He lost his glasses on this obstacle yet, like the champ he is, ran the rest of the course basically blind (20/200 vision)) and after some water at the aid station said he wanted to run to warm up so I agreed and we ran down to the most unpleasant obstacle – the sewer pipes. They are small, so a guy my size had to inch along like a caterpillar using my elbow and stomach to pull my legs along. The bottom was full of very sharp rocks that cut my arms up pretty good and the end of the first pipe and beginning of the second required me to go under water and pull myself through (the pictures must be from the day before because my pipe ends were only one inch from being completely submerged). The second pipe was a bit scary as I pulled myself in , under water, but had a long way to go till I could raise my head to breath. But it worked out fine and was just painful/ annoying.

Running Partner Jason at the Start.

There were other obstacles and another peak to climb, but they were minor and mostly from this point on it was about mountain running. 6 miles, mostly downhill. The running itself felt pretty easy and comfortable, but it was still a challenge because almost no one was running, they were walking and thus were moving obstacles to go around. However, it was kind of a fun game and I enjoyed running the full distance.

At the end there were three final obstacles. A crawl (in my case) across a cargo net, then a walk on a balance beam over water, then the run through the electrical wires. Jason and I waited after the cargo net for the rest of our team (we were the first down) because we wanted to cross together with our entire team. About 10 minutes later some more of our team arrived. After another 20 minutes we all decided to just go on ahead and finish. I made it about ½ way across the balance beam (30 feet long, 3inches wide) but it was shaking and a guy next to me fell and I got distracted and fell in and got soaked again. The electrical thing, which had been a big topic of concern, strategizing, etcetera turned out to be no big deal. I didn’t get shocked. The wires were far apart. I think I touched one but still nothing. I’m a bit disappointed to tell you the truth.

At the end they give you the ‘totally 80's' Tough Mudder orange headband, and you collect your tshirt, some food stuff and a freshly poured Dos Equis beer (which was good). It was fun to cross with my team and I felt very good.

Even though there were some big delays, lines, etcetera, Jason and I finished in 4:30 - ( 12+ miles, 3000+ vertical feet, 20 obstacles).

The rest of the folks came down over the next ½ hour or so.

At the finish: Refugees from ONJ's 'Let's get Physical' video!

I purchased a hydration belt (with extra bottles) for the event. I had some Gu gels that I ate as well. It was annoying in that the belt kept sliding (once it got wet the belt worked loose) but I was never hungry or thirsty and had great energy through the entire race. Overall I think the annoyance was worth it.

Our team generally agreed that it was fun and we’re glad we did it but we wouldn’t pay to do it again as is. There weren’t enough obstacles. Many that they promised (like the wall of fire, mountain of mud, run through the mud pool, vertical cargo nets) weren’t there . Overall it wasn’t remotely as ‘tough’ as it was billed - just a nice run/hike with some fun obstacles. All in all a great day.

A day to remember

2009-10-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

(Photo note: The end before the start)

So, I've been training very hard for months. At first, I was just trying to get stronger and improve my overall fitness. As time progressed, I realized that I was doing a substantial amount of work: My typical workouts were an hour of weights followed by an hour of cardio. I’d break the cardio up into 3 or 4 different exercises to avoid boredom etcetera. So, about 8 weeks ago I realized that if I tried I could likely complete a triathlon. I’d wanted to do one for a long time, but the bone spur in my heel made running to painful. Thanks to Nike’s Max Air shoes, I can run without pain.

In the course of working on my fitness I lost 30 pounds of fat and put on about 5 pounds of muscle. Running with less weight must make a difference as well.

I’m terrible about spending money on myself and was going to take a pass because of the cost of entry and Kira went ahead and signed me up anyway! At that point I was committed.

I took it seriously (surprise) – went on youtube to study transition strategies, how to put on a wetsuit to maximize shoulder mobility, etcetera.

It really helped.

(Photo note: Not my racing set up - just got there)

In the course of my training I got to the point where I was training at race distances. For example, I’d do a 15 mile bike ride followed by a 3 mile run – just like the race. This gave me a lot of confidence.
As mentioned, I did rent a wetsuit, and at the last minute a bike as well. The $40 I spent on the bike saved me about 15 minutes compared to my mountain bike.

On race day, I got there pretty early – no lines for body marking, and I got an aisle for the bike and to set up my transition area. Though I didn’t feel nervous, I clearly was as evidenced by the 3 trips to the porta poties.

I waited until 30 minutes before the start to put on my wetsuit. Kira did a great job helping me and when I got down to the river to swim across to the starting area I felt really good.

As I swam I was focusing on what it was like being in open water – I hadn’t trained for that. The novelty of seeing the weeds under the water, and trying to figure out how often to raise my head to sight where to go (I’d been advised and practiced every 6 strokes).

However, there was some chop, the water was very cold, and by the time I got across I felt woozy. I asked some of the others around me and one suggested that maybe I was seasick. I’d never been motion sick before and didn’t think that was it. Anyway, I had plenty of time to calm down as we waited 15 or so minutes. The first group went off at 9:00 and my wave went off at 9:10. I had aimed to be on the side but ended up kind of in the middle towards the back. They counted down and we were off. I went out at what I thought was a solid but relaxed pace. Problem was I was immediately swimming on top of the person in front of me. So too, I had to raise my head because there was so much commotion. After about 100 yards my chest started to tighten and I had a hard time breathing. I started to panic and swam over to the side, rolled on my back and let everyone pass while I hyperventilated. I was very afraid that my race was over before it had begun. I asked the kayak guy (there to save us) , ‘what is going on? I swim this in 16 minutes?’ He didn’t know, but suggested that I swim to the support structure under the bridge, take a hold and rest for a minute to calm myself. I did and was soon going again, but I couldn’t get myself to stop hyperventilating.

I swam primarily side stroke for the rest of the race. Often going onto my back for a breather. The current was strong against me, and it took some determination. But once I’d figured out how to make progress without increasing my hyperventilating I knew I’d get there eventually.

When I went past the pylon in the middle of the river and started downstream I realized how profound the current was. Basically I could have done nothing and just floated in the wetsuit, getting there eventually. As the end approached I tried again to swim freestyle with minor success. Still, my breathing was overly labored, I was pretty miserable, and couldn’t wait to touch ground. As I did, I immediately went through my transition routine (reach back, undo Velcro, pull cord, pull out arms leaving cap and goggles inside one arm) all while running. As I got to the top of the steps my son was there to cheer me on and after the hardship of the water I was inspired and deeply moved.

He ran next to me to transition. Here again watching the youtube videos and practicing really helped. Take off rest of wetsuit (stomp on opposite leg and use arms to pull it out), put on jersey, sock, shoes, shock shoe, tie shoes. Sunglasses, helmet, buckle and go. I did it in a minute or so and was very happy.

(Photo note: Transition from swim to bike)

I’d rented a trek, 2.1 (I think) for $40 for the day. To me, it seemed light as a feather. I’d practiced the shifting briefly the day before and had no trouble getting going. As I approached the first hill I pulled one of my water bottles because I was so thirsty from the swim. However, I was still shakey and confused and dropped it when I tried to recage it.

Once I was going up on a flat, straight part I had my first “Gu.” It’s fairly gross
Somewhat glue like substance. Mine, recommended by the triathlon guy at “Fleet Feet” was pineapple flavored ‘Rocktane.’ 100 calories that get digested almost instantly. Anyway, based on yet another tip I had taped a couple of these to my handle bars for easy access and so they didn’t get lost. I had also filled my water bottle with 160 calorie crisp apple cliff bar shot – or something like that. Anyway, the Rocktane was sort of like toothpaste but easy to swallow – and it really worked.

Through almost 2 straight hours of cardio I never got tired.

The bike went well, I was really pleased. Transition to run was easy, all I had to do was clip on a little belt with my number on it and take off. As I started, I felt very good. My legs were a little strange – this always happens when you are using running muscles while your biking muscles are pumped with blood. Anyway, I felt smooth. Usually, my hips get a little tight, but not that day. In fact, I can say I don’t remember ever feeling better running. The first aid station was at the mile mark and I did the whole ‘grap a cup of water and down it’ while running thing. It was kinda fun. Once I got to the turn around point, where I knew I only had 1.5 miles left I decided to pick up my pace. My intent being to increase speed till 1 mile left, increase again, and so on until I’m sprinting the last ¼ mile. Again, props to the rocktane (I had some just as I rounded the last turn around point on the bike, figuring 10 or so minutes later I’d be running). Though I went beyond lactate threshold, then into low anaerobic, and finally into seriously anaerobic I felt strong the whole way. I didn’t really know I was in pain.

Until I went under the finish line and stopped running. I went super hard on the final 100 yards and was surprised when I was finished. My momentum carried me forward as I stopped. When I stopped running my body was engulfed in a sea of pain. I was panting and pacing, with a wince and ‘uh, uh, uh’ of pain with every breath. I found myself pacing. My son was the first to find me – he ran up and threw his arms around me. His eyes were shining with a pride I’d never seen in my life. I was overwhelmed with wonder and gratitude. “Dad, you’re a Beast.’ He said.

(Photo note: My group launched 10 minutes after the start so my time is ten minutes less than shown)

Soon, my sister, daughter, wife and finally mother gathered around me to congratulate me and ask about the race. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of caring and connection – it was awesome.

After the wind down we went our separate ways. I headed back to transition to get my bike and things and head off to my car. Then it was a shower, and my mom took us to Mexican food at Ernestos.

What an immensely magical, insanely satisfying day.

(After the race, loading up the car)

Final note: Got my splits. Apparently my swim was faster than I thought. They don't separate out transitions from the bike - seem to lump it all in. Here's a link to the results:

http://tbfracing.com/results/results/2009/goldenstate/gstritroverall.html

Overall place: 220 Paul O'Donnell, 45. M, Clydesdale (this is my category, men over 205lbs.) swim: 0:22:13. place 250, bike 0:58:32, place 216, Run 0:28:03, place 225, overall time 1:48:48

The value of misery

2009-06-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

So, two weeks after my leg surgery, I finally got up the gumption to try to climb Pyramid Peak via the Rocky Creek Canyon route. I knew the math of it was daunting: 4250 vertical feat over 3.3 miles (that's just to the top) - the highest vertical climb in the Tahoe Sierras. I started putting it into frames: hmmm, that's 1.5 times as high as El Cap, that's like hiking the Yosemite falls trail 3 times in a row ... Ouch!

So, I get up at 8:30, finally get on the road by 9:30 after Gas, Starbucks, etcetera. When I arrive in the general area between Strawberry and Twin Bridges I start looking for the semi-hidden start to the route. Of course, I miss it on the first run but as I'm going back down hill see some cars parked in a small pull out and figure it must be around there somewhere - no other reason to park.

I had read that there was a hubcap attached to the rock near the start of the route, but there wasn't. Instead, I saw some spray paint and thought that might be it. Relentless steepness and small cairns proved the path. The entire trail took some route finding ability and faith, especially the top. However, the good climbers of the Sierra were kind enough to set and maintain a series of cairns, so I never got off route.

The lower valley, from the road to the rim, is across the highway from Lover's Leap. I knew the Leap was a few hundred feet high, and so tried to get a sense of my progress by measuring its comparative size. It quickly got smaller.

There are some beautiful falls in the spring and I stopped for a minute or two to look around. However, I couldn't allow myself to get into a frame of mind that wasn't about motion. I was using my old Sugar Bowl blue pole like an ice axe, and used my upper body to help me up in many sections. Interestingly, as I was climbing I never thought it was particularly steep, it was only on the decent that I kept saying, 'I came up this?!'

At that top of the canyon, there is of course a break in the trees, you see the sky and start thinking, "I wonder how much farther?" I had no sense of the mountain - you can't see the peak from the route until you are out of the canyon. So, I was tremendously excited when I could finally see the peak. In the altitude (more about that later) the distance was foreshortened and I thought, hmm, maybe an hour to the top.

Ha.

So, the snow begins. Patchy reminder to keep my feet as dry as possible. Gortex doesn't do much good when the snow comes in tops of your shoes. Anyway, route finding in the upper two thirds becomes more challenging, but the general idea of 'go up to the top' kind of straightens things out. About 1/2 way up the route, you finally cross the creek and from then on stay on the left side all the way up to the summit. (I think - there is a snow melt creek you cross but I don't think it's the same thing on the upper slope.)

I finally meet the first people of the day on the upper section of the route, before crossing over to the summit pyramid. Two ridiculously fit 20 year olds with a modicum of misery in their eyes. They wish me a good climb and depart downward. All in all, there are only 6 people (besides me) on the route that day. I don't know how many came up the Rocky Creek canyon route. As I get on the final, truly evil, talus slope leading the last 500 feet to the top I'm joined by someone. When we get to the top we exchange cameras for some photos and he tells me he is from San Jose and that he came up the Horsetail Falls route - a greater distance but much less steep.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

Crossing the upper section of the summit pyramid is very windy - maybe 40 miles per hour, and very cold. My hand are nearly numb. I find myself climbing up the ridge side of the talus slope - thinking I can avoid some of the wind - and the boulders are very big - maybe 3-4 feet high. This make the going very hard. By this point I am miserable exhausted. My lungs and general energy seem okay (gaspy and paralytic, but okay), but my legs and particularly my right gluteus are destroyed. They were killed off by the lower canyon climb. I keep thinking how stupid I am to imagine climbing 5.7 on the east face of Whitney, at 14,000 feet is going to be easy. Here I am at 10,000 and heaving for breath every 5 steps. I now realize that I was complete glycogen depleted at this point and If I'd eaten more it wouldn't have hurt so bad. However, I had no hunger. (I later learned that I burned something like 6,000 calories over the course of the day).

Hard to describe the feeling of the talus slope. Very cold, very windy. Incredible views - though I didn't look around much. I was too focused on just getting to the top, knowing I'd enjoy the view there. Moreover, the summit truly blocks all sense of a view of the other side, so when you get to the summit and see the view it is both arresting and breathtaking.

There is a USGS marker, and a little pyramid.

Like so many, I felt great triumph at having climbed to the top. When I looked down, I could see that 300 foot high Lovers Leap was a tiny mound on the horizon. Man,that's a long way down. Again, both astonishment and disbelief. I'm 44, weigh 250 pounds, and climbed it in about 3 hours and 30 minutes. If I take out breaks, call it 3 hours and 15 minutes of straight aerobic output.

I'm not sure how to think about it.

I figured 2 hours for the decent, and it turns out I was right. What I hadn't counted on was the misery.

When I train, it's the climbing muscle groups that get the work - inclined hiking, stairmaster, etcetera. There doesn't seem to be a way to train the quadriceps (and calves) for the punishment of deep downhill climbing on a gym machine.

The first part probably screwed me up the worst. Going down the talus slope mean jumping down on one, off balance leg, 2-4 feet per step. That's just too much impact for me to shake off I guess.

I felt wicked tired, but mostly made my way down fairly quickly. It was steep, and there was a lot of ankle challenging twists and turns, but I don't remember, at that point, feeling very bad.

When I finally crossed the river and started down that canyon proper the angle increased dramatically. Suddenly, I could feel that my legs were getting wobbly. I started to feel some anxiety because I knew I still had a long way to go and each step was getting to be hard. I soon found a walking stick and realized two would be even better. I used them with every step and now think I'd still be up there if I hadn't found them. I was able to transfer a lot of weight onto my arms and they provided much needed stability. At this point, I started to feel what marathoners call ' the bonk' - total glycogen depletion. My legs were getting to where they wouldn't obey my thoughts. That was very scary. It was too steep to really rest - at most I would stop, heave for breath (going downhill no less!) and then quickly move on. I had a real fear that if I actually sat down that the muscles in my legs would sieze. So it continued all the way down. I kept pushing on while simultaneously begging for it to end. I just wanted to get down.

I remember reading Joe Simpson's book, 'Touching the Void' where he said that while he was struggling for life on his decent, that he said the most insipid pop songs kept going through his mind. Here too, I had the cheezy Will Smith's 'Welcome to Miami - Bienvenido a Miami' running through my head.

Too weird.

Anyway, I finally got down to the road. I hobbled across and on down to my car. I was so tired that I collapsed on the hood. Just then my wife called. Great timing.

I took a picture of my exhausted face after I stretched (I feared siezing muscles on the car ride home).

Overall, 8500 vertical feet over 6.6 miles in 6 hours.

I seriously question whether I'll every do that again, but I'm glad I did it at least once.

First on Judah this year?

2009-05-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

I had a day to myself and decided to wander up to the Sierras to see if there was maybe something to hike. I brought a book (Diemberger's Omnibus) and figured I would hang out and read. I was thinking that the next day I would finally take a shot at doing Pyramid Peak in the Desolation wilderness the hard way - via the 4000 vertical feet in three mile Rocky Canyon route.

I got up around Donner and was looking at Castle - it looked too snowy and I'd been on there in winter. I was going to just go take a look at Judah since I've never actually done the liberty trail hike that everyone else uses to get to the top.

When I climbed it with my son before I found a broken plastic marker pole for Sugar Bowl. I pulled it out of my trunk figuring I would use it as a walking stick - much smarter move than I ever would have thought.

The steep initial section of the trail normally has switchbacks, but on this day it was just a wall of snow. The snow was soft and sticky and easy to kick steps in - steps which held. The stick worked like a much lighter version of my ice axe, allowing me to dig in for a good hold and feel comfortable on the exposed slopes.

When I got to the main trail there was the typical creek running down the middle of it. Also, large sections with lots of virgin snow (no one else was on the mt. as far as I could tell). It was only about noon and I was still in the 'I'm just going for a little walk' frame of mind. It was much more snowy than the previous year and the walking stick became more and more of a need to have item. When I reach the point in the trail(after some route finding) where it reaches the wide ski runs of sugar bowl before circling back I looked up to see if there was a way that wasn't snowed over. Sure enough there looked like a viable route up the Western headwall, via some weird, steep rocky areas.

I kept thinking I wouldn't do it, but then quite suddenly decided to.

It was steep enough that again i used the pole like an ice axe - both for distributing weight, and to use as a hold. On some very steep parts I'd transfer my weight over it to relieve my legs. I'd never done that before (a standard ice axe move) and enjoyed it. As expected, I was able to skirt much of the snow. However, there were the occasional mud rivers that almost sucked my shoes off.

The top was different than last year. There was a lot of snow on the top with a huge overhanging cornice all along the eastern exposure. I was very careful to climb the 1/2 mile or so to the true summit well back. It was windy as always (20 mph), but i was fine in shirt sleeves. My new mountain hardware shirt - supposed to wick the sweat away - acutally worked. It was great.

Saw the mountain marker on the ground and figured I must be first up this season. Replaced it and rebuilt the cairn.

Going down was easy, and I really felt how all my conditioning this year was paying off.

Till next time.

Back with my boy

2009-04-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

So, father son bonding can still happen in the age of 'Call of Duty, 5: World at War.' Yes, somehow I pried my son away from his beloved Xbox live to engage in a very easy hike up in the Sierras. He hasn't been terribly interested, but was willing to indulge me.

I was looking for the road to Phantom Spires but couldn't find it. First, I accidently turned into a Caltrans station. Then, I took a dirt road up to a plateau. The road was a little aggro for my Volvo, so I stopped. After lunch, my son and I figured we'd just hike up a bit to see where the road led. Turns out that it stopped about 100 feet further and became the Pony Express Trail! Yep, the real thing.

Anyhow, would took a leisurely stroll (or so it seemed to me) for about a mile or so until our path was stopped by fallen trees and foliage. Actually, that's not exactly true. Really, I was ready to bushwhack and my son wasn't. I continued up to a lovely 30 foot waterfall. Lots of leg scratches, but worth it. We were at about the same height as Sugarloaf and had a great view.
We were supposed to go skateboarding but instead he wanted to go straight home, where we ended up (you guessed it) playing CoD5 together.

He let me use his mod controller, so I won!

A great day.

Castle's winter spankage

2009-04-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

Back to Castle. I bought some used Koflach Viva Soft double boots of a craigslist ad for $25. Since they are $300 shoes I thought this was a great deal. Gotta love CL.

Anyway, wanted to try them out in the snow. I knew that the mountain would be in deep snow, but hoped the major paths would be stamped down and stable - which was mostly true. I figured the upper slope might be icy, and brought crampons and an ice axe. What a joke.

I got a late start and didn't arrive in the Boreal parking lot until about 10:30. Bad for two reasons: The first is that scads of weekend hiker, snowshoer, and grandma types were all over the trail. Far worse however was the temperature. It had risen to like 60 degrees. The snow was very soft. Even one step off the center of the trail was a thigh deep post hole. The snow itself was glucky and yielding.

As such, it was like climbing 2000 feet of sand. Can you say aerobic?

As you can see, getting to the saddle was a grunt - the snow was unkind and I was unprepared - no snowshoes. I went about 1/2 way up the ridge to the summit, but the trail was basically non-existent and i was post-holing to my knees and thighs. Essentially, I got spanked.

This is great because it motivated me to train like a psycho. I'm getting in 600 calorie workouts 4-5 days a week now. By June I'm looking to do Whitney in a day.

Next year is my time to winter climb for real. I'm hoping to climb in the Palisades if I can find a partner. Too hard for my boy.

Until next time.

Back at it

2008-09-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

It's been difficult to get the time and materials together to post over the summer. Generally, my son has become disinterested in climbing with me and more specifically I took at job in the Bay Area that keeps me away during that week. Thus, I spend my weekends doing household chores more often than anything else.

However, two weeks ago my son and I headed up to the mountains to climb Andesite peak. I'd read that it was a pretty straightforward deal - not too difficult. Well, it turned out to be basically too easy - we were on the summit in only 1.5 hours or so. My son grumpily agreed to head across the ridge and climb the much higher and much more fun Castle peak. We went along happily until it became steep and he decided he didn't want to continue. For August it was very cold - the wind blowing 30-40 mph and the temp maybe around 50. Even working hard and heaving for breath, as well as wearing a sweatshirt, I was cold.

Somehow, I managed to get him up the hill - at one point I had to rig a harness and short rope him. Absolutely amazing view - as always, completely worth the effort. On the way down we had to go back over Andesite to get to our car, so we ended up climbing 3 peaks with something like 2500 vertical feet over 8 or so miles. Truly a great day!

Goal number one completed - but far too quickly. So, we set our sites on Castle peak.

A view of Castle from Andesite - we follow the obvious trail across the saddle and up the ridge.

I had to rig a harness to pull him up the mountain because he was so unwilling to go himself.

Blustery on the Peak

Father's Day Fun

2008-06-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

So, my son and I decided to climb up to Shirley lake, in the Squaw Valley ski area this week. On the map it's about 5-6 miles and 1500 feet of elevation gain. However, most of the gain is in the last mile, with one section that's pretty steep and will definitely get your lungs working. The hike itself follow along Squaw creek and takes you from the valley floor to the lake which is actually at the foot of one of Squaw's chairlifts - it must freeze in winter.

If you are feeling rich and lazy you can take the tram up from the valley floor and then hike a mile to the lake. In fact, there is a sign warning hikers that it's $10 to ride the tram down posted on the trail. Not our kind of thing, but if you want to see the lake without much effort it's a definite possibility.

I wanted to climb Granite Chief (mountain in the background) but my son's not old enough yet.

Anyway, arriving we were hot and tired. There is a little peninsula that sticks out into the lake and though the water is snow melt, and maybe 40 Degrees, my son did a 'if you do it, I'll do it' dare to go for a Polar Bear and jump in. We did - and out again in a second. It was crazy cold, but exhilarating.

Though I've been climbing pretty consistently for the last couple of months, I've been bad about getting into the gym. This week it finally showed as the climb took a lot more out of me than it should have. So, it's back to the elliptical trainer for me.

Happy father's day all.

Life's good at the top

2008-06-01T19:43:00.001-07:00

This week we decided to climb Mt. Judah in the Donner Pass region of California. It is supposed to be a pretty easy 4.4 mile round trip with about 1300 foot elevation gain to the summit at 8500 feet.

Not for us.

The snows still haven't melted along the pacific coast trail. We met some people coming the other way who told us the way to the top was snowed in and very difficult/ impassible because it was too slippery. So, when we got to the top of a switchback and saw that we were in the middle of an intermediate run at Sugar Bowl ski resort, and could just power our way up to the summit via the relatively snowless runs (they are south facing) we decided to go for it.

We were the only ones.

It was relatively easy for the first 300 feet or so, up to the area where the chairlift ends. ( I'm pretty sure we were on private property and they wouldn't be real happy with us up there). Anyway, for those who don't know, snowmelt plus dirt equals mud bogs. They were pretty tough at points. We were still okay though when we got up to the snow. At first the going was easy through the trees and we felt very confident. At one point I asked my son to hand me a branch to use as a pole. Well, pretty soon it was clear that to get to the top we'd have to kick steps (three kicks per step) up a massively steep snow field. My son was pretty scared but I have more experience and felt good. I'm pretty sure my wife would have been horrified. Anyway, I'd kick the steps, advance and he'd follow behind me holding onto the other end of the branch for balance. It was a good 'teaching moment' so I told him how to self arrest should he fall and he felt better.

Near the top we were able to rest on a bent tree. It was super physical - I thought my heart would give. It was so steep I had to three point (one hand, two feet on the slope) most of the way and my left had was frozen. Right was holding the stick. Kicking steps in ice at 8500 feet and pulling an 80 pound kid behind you - whee!

Anyway, we finally got to the top. No one else there - it was amazing. Very windy (25-30 MPH), and a bit cold. We climbed along the ridge to the true summit, took some pictures. Layed down and rested for 20 minutes. My son had some snacks. It was amazing. Finding a way down that didn't involve the snow wasn't too hard (if only we'd known!).

A great day.

Desolation Wilderness/ Horsetail Falls

2008-05-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

So, this week my son and I climbed up to Horsetail Falls in the Desolation wilderness. Though the altitude is a bit high, at around 7000 feet on the rim of lake Tahoe, it was much easier than last week. In the spring the falls are gorged with snow-melt and the result is 300 feet of fierce whitewater. Though it was 98 degrees in the valley it seemed like a pleasant 78 near the falls. This hike is a must for anyone within striking distance. It is ridiculously beautiful. Along the way you have views of other seasonal falls while you watch Lover's Leap fall behind you.

The only complications are that much of the trail involved hopping boulder to boulder, so a strained or broken ankle is a real possibility, and the fact that a substantial amount of the 'trail' has to be intuited/ made up. At one point my son asked if we were lost and I answer that it was impossible since we had a mountain on our left, the river on our right, and were still going up hill. That's all the 'trail info' there is for a good portion.

Bring a change of socks and maybe shoes as there are many small creeks (actually seasonal runnels) that have to be crossed and it is nearly impossible to stay dry. It is well worth the climb and make sure to bring a lot of water. We went through 3 liters very quickly and drank a total of 5.

Blue and Green Music and me

2008-05-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

Blue and Green Music, Georgia O'Keefe

When I was as Berkeley I was lucky enough to get into a poetry writing class taught by Robert Hass. At that point, he was most famous as the translator for Czesław Miłosz, the Nobel Prize winner. Our class was turned over to Jane Hirschfield, because Hass had been named poet laureate of the United State. Since then, he's won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer. Anyway, I wrote the following in response to this O'Keefe painting - one of my top 5 of hers.

Blue and Green Music

Grooming with a clever hand
the landscaped sand, interior of man
pressed in grooves subordinate
to the bladed rise

a concourse, spread like rowed stones
cracked bone, the marrow thrown
against the pale plate and
cool viridian skies

Lines of light, drawn from pain
bulbous rain, the billowy plane
a musical skein of gauzy
endless space

Inchoate strokes, the figure born
concrete shorn, the white forlorn
as colors throw abstraction
into place

a quickening form that echoes life
translucent strife, the shuddering knife
creates a moment placed
beyond the screen

from misery to mystery
it gentles me, again I see
my birth and death as music
blue and green

------------

I got a pretty lousy reception as I recall. I was very please with myself for inventing a new rhyming scheme as well as articulating my reaction to such a stupendous, synesthetic abstraction. My fellow students were very into first person, emotive, confessional poetry. They (again, understandably) recoiled at phrases like "interior of man."

Years later I had an acquaintance who was a very gifted poet who wanted to see the picture along with the poem. Here you go Julia.

I quit writing poetry after that class - the last semester of college. By the time I graduated I had worked so hard that I was completely burnt out. Hass told us in one class that most poets have finished their best work in their early 30's (though he is disproving that point himself, isn't he). Given all the other things to do in life I don't know if I'll ever get back to it, but perhaps some day I might.

2008-05-14T17:18:00.001-07:00

Titan Talk

2008-05-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

A couple of people have asked me what the deal is the the link to the Titan Test in my 'cool links' section. It's really no big deal. The Titan test is the successor to the Mega test, proposed as a 'Super IQ Test' when it was first published in Omni magazine in the early 80's. At that time, my friend K and I took it, but didn't send it in or anything - it was just something to do for fun.

Flash forward 20 years, I was on the net looking for brain candy and there I find numerous successors. The page and various discussions can be fun and Darryl is a nice guy.

http://www.eskimo.com/~miyaguch/hoeflin.html

Anyway, my same friend, K and I downloaded the Titan as something fun to do with our downtime. What I didn't realize was how the possibilities and power of the web changes things and how much pressure it puts on my integrity. The questions can be very hard - some astonishingly so - and I'm pretty sure that if I used Google I'd find some answers very fast, but that's against the rules. So there's conflict, but with something like this, if you cheat you're only fooling yourself - no one cares.

I've had two sticking points so far, the first I got through but not the second. The first was Analogies number 24:

SWEETNESS: SUFFIX:: BOATSWAIN: ?

The Italics are on the original. Anyway, it was very difficult and took me hours to figure out but the answer was incredibly satisfying and I felt a joy that I haven't felt in months at accomplishing it.

The second sticking point is on the sequences with number 45.

0 6 21 40 5 -504

I'm sure that somewhere out on the web is the answer to this and it's been soooo tempting to look it up - especially when I've been very frustrated. I've spent maybe 5 hours on this problem attacking it from different directions, but no dice. I got all the other sequences pretty quickly, and the reports show this isn't a particularly difficult one, but it is for me.

I haven't looked at the Probabilities, Interpenetrations, or Slice and Dice sections yet. Frankly, words and sequences (Chrystallized G Problems) seem to come more easily. I'm sure there are some in the other sections that will take so long that I won't even try.

If you see Chris Langan or Rick Rosner on youtube you'll no doubt think they come off as deeply weird (I did). Chris, self described (and maybe rightly so) as the 'smartest man in america' got somewhere around 44-46/48 on the test, Rosner scored the only perfect score. As I look over the test and think of Rosner's feat I find it unimaginable. At this point I have answers for 35 and am dead certain only of 30. Then again, I'm not even in these guys ball park when it comes to liquid G, so what do I expect? :-)

My friend, K, is just the opposite - he's slaughtering all the liquid G sections and waiting on the chrystallized G. No doubt he'll kill those as well - he's that smart.

Anyway, something very fun to do on a long plane ride or when you simply want to use the old noggin - we don't get much chance to do so these days.

On the off chance you want to respond,

---------------------
PLEASE DO NOT POST ANY ANSWERS OR METHODS TO THE TEST
--------------------------

Sugarloaf

2008-05-11T12:49:00.001-07:00

My son and I went to another old climbing area in the Sierras. It's Sugarloaf, located near the town of Kyburtz. We didn't bring gear and instead opted to climb to the top of the mountain. It was hard work - very steep and at least 1000 or more vertical feet. The weather was perfect and we had a great time. The decent was a little dicey at points, but we got down safely. I forgot just how hard a steep decent loads your quadriceps and my legs were basically rubber by the time we got down. The rock is just beautiful California granite and there was almost no one around. I was so hungry to climb it. However, we still haven't figured out how my son can belay me safely, so we are pretty limited. Still, getting to the peak was great.

All in all, it was fantastic.

Consumnes video

2008-05-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

Meant to put this up the other day but it wouldn't go. Hopefully it will work using firefox this time. My son's voice isn't normally that high - not sure what it happening. We'd just climbed through 2 caves (that's what he means) and I used to climb there years ago.

Crude Anonymity

2008-05-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

I watch Martin Periard’s drumming on youtube once a day – it’s like my daily treat. Usually the comments are laudatory, but they can get vituperative. I can't help but think after seeing some of these comments that crudity is some sort of concomitant of anonymity. While there is clear value in loosening the inhibitions that accountability engenders the downside is substantial. As a culture, are we really this ridiculous?

Like all things of this sort, I tend to be curious about the 'why?' As a strategist I tend to think in terms of advantage, sort of the cui bono of a given thing. So, what is the advantage to the anonymous contributor? What is actually happening here? It seems like it is simply displaced expiation of an emotion: fear, anger, loneliness, inferiority. Is the sole contribution to allow someone to have their schadenfreude moment? Why do we tolerate this?

As much as anything, it may be a reaction to our culture’s emphasis on ‘political correctness’ in public speech and the self censoring effect that has on us all. Perhaps we are lashing out with a heightened version or our true feelings, like a scream in a closet, in the one arena we know we can get away with it. This gets weird because if political correctness has an original intent, it is to centralize those on the margins and decrease victimization. Yet, it may be having the opposite effect.

In our carpool the other day I was talking to one of the kids about how out of hand bullying is now because there is no accountability. You take a compromising picture of someone, post it, and voila! Since they can have no idea who did it there is no restraint on behavior. I suggested that in the pre-web days there were certainly rumors and bullying, but that they were constrained by the simple fact that with enough diligence, someone could always find out where they started. Even this small amount of accountability kept things somewhat in check.

So, too much liberty constrains liberty? That is, we are left in a world where you have to be very careful about what you say and do – someone is always watching. You can’t get too wild with your friends, someone has a camera phone. You can’t say something provocative – someone is always listening and recording. Information, particularly of a scandalous kind, is a valuable commodity. And there will always be those who are interested in trading on this to increase their status or simply to bring others down.

So, have we come full circle, through the tumult of the 60s and 70’s, and back to the Victorian era, where issues of ‘face’ and ‘proper behavior’ were necessary considerations for those who wish to succeed in society? Instead of ‘manners’ and ‘etiquette’ we use the term ‘politically correct’ which is just ‘etiquette’ pushed through the filter of post-modernism. People rebelled against Victorian constraints and seem to be doing so against PC ones as well.

Whatever the technology and time, people are feeling, opinionated beings. Though we would love to have a world of ‘happy shiny people holding hands’ it’s just not in our nature. Stuff happens and someone always has an axe to grind. If you think I’m wrong wait till you see the anonymous comments on this post! 

BTW, this is the event that started me thinking about some of this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/jan99/district27.htm .

Consumnes Canyoneering

2008-05-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

Great day at Consumnes River Gorge. Used to climb there 15 years or so ago and it hasn't changed much at all except there are a lot more bolts and anchors. Some new route development, which is great. My son and I spent the day canyoneering up the river, over huge bolders and freezing pools. Great fun.

fortysomething Skateboarding

2008-05-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

I finally got my board together. I had to special order the deck from a company called Old Man Army. It's the biggest pool board I could find, 33"x10" with a 17" wheelbase. I took it out last night for a quick ride with my son to the local school. I haven't been on a board in 25 years. It was a blast.