Greenway Trail

There's still some ice and snow out there but the Greenway Trail was mostly clear on Saturday. Several adventurous souls went out for a run from 355 to Riley's, some with the lake, some without the lake. It turned out to be a mostly sunny day and the ground is nice and frozen so none of the infamous Greenway mud to contend with. Another beautiful day to be out on the trails!

Freezin' at Massanutten!

So we make the turn onto Crisman Hollow Road and pretty quickly get stopped behind a line of 5 or 6 cars stopped uphill on the icy road behind a car stuck in the ditch and partially blocking the road. To pass the car one would have to squeeze by on the right, on the icy road, at a hairpin turn to the left with a steep drop to the right. We were at the back of the line of cars, we went with the consensus to back track to the 211 parking lot and run from there. It did occur to me to wonder if others had gotten around the car and were at the start, but we had no way to know that, didn't have Bur or Quatro's numbers. I wondered if Caren and Mark Z. made it. Groupthink, we all went to 211.

Our crew of Megan, Sharlene, Amanda, Mark and I quickly decided to run the planned course counter-clockwise from 211 and hope for the best (i.e., north on MT, Scothorn Gap, Gap Creek, Jawbone, MT south on Kerns, down Waterfall Trail, back to 211 parking lot). We made the assumption we would be out there for 16 miles with no aid, then we could come back to 211 and meet Bill with aid. For one thing, I knew going clockwise would mean we'd have to run up Waterfall Trail, yuck, and it meant hitting aid 3 miles in from our start, which would do us no good. I figured no matter which way we went, no one would be at the start/finish area anymore by the time we went through, so we might as well run the course in the originally planned direction. There were probably 15 other people at the parking lot too, some ran toward where the runners would be coming from the start so they could run into them, tell them what happened to us, and then get in synch with those that started from the real start. Many of the rest of us went counter clockwise. We ended discussion quickly before we all froze to death in the parking lot!

It was beautiful and hard. Turns out I'm not completely recovered from a cold. I struggled on the climbs and didn't feel that much better on the flats or downhills. But it was absolutely gorgeous slogging up the Scothorn Gap Trail through the snow. As we gained in elevation, we met the sun coming over the mountains to the east, that somehow seemed to warm us for a few degrees. Amanda and I stopped for a few minutes to help Challen try to unfreeze her camelbak tube. I took off my jacket and gloves to get my pocket knife so she could cut off the insulating cover off her tube, she felt it was keeping the tube frozen and not allowing her body heat to melt the ice. In those few minutes my hands went numb, I quickly put my jacket on and then couldn't zip it. Amanda had to zip my jacket, Challen finished cutting, handed me my knife, and said we'd better all keep moving. Boy was she right, I didn't realize how fast you could get cold. Amanda and I were so cold our hands hurt. She told me about when she got frostbite as a kid. We ran hard to try to warm up.

Sharlene and Megan had passed us when we were helping Challen. We eventually caught them on the Gap Creek Trail shortly before we entered the official start/finish area on Crisman Hollow Road. And what a sight to see! There was Mike Bur with a big, warm, FIRE and a tent with food and fluids. Challen arrived right after us, she had just gotten her tube unfrozen, she'd been without water for the first 2 hours of the run. We didn't linger long. Megan found out from Mike that he had earlier met some of our clockwise runners and found out what happened to all of us. They had like 20 no-shows at the start and wondered what the heck happened to everyone. Turns out that the car had been abandoned since the day before and many had just driven around it or come in from the north on Crisman Hollow. So in theory we could have made it to the start. Oh well. Driving around the car looked pretty scary to me and our run turned out just fine!

Megan slightly shortened the run by going up Crisman Hollow to Waterfall. Sharlene, Amanda and I sucked it up and climbed Jawbone. It was worth it, the views from Kerns were amazing. We survived the descent of Waterfall and then started running into the Crisman Hollow starters heading toward the finish. Chatted briefly with Michele Harmon and others. And then we arrived at the 211 parking lot to find Mark, Megan and Bill in really warm cars. Boy were we happy. We had all decided the heck with Bird Knob, 16 miles was enough. I can say that for me those 16 miles felt like 26 so I'll take it. It took us 5 hours and 37 minutes, tough day. Here are a few pics from the day.

Running in WV

On Friday we headed out for WV, wishing for snow. Seems as if all the snow they got, about 15 inches the week before, had melted, bummer. But that sure made the drive a lot easier. We stopped in Thomas on the way out to buy a growler of beer from Mountain State Brewing, yummm! Then we arrived at Dan and Jody's and got to start eating/drinking with our WV Mountain Trail Runner friends. The purpose of our trip was for the WVMTR Annual meeting, and this being a running club, there always has to be a RUN and FOOD/DRINK involved.

After a fitful night of sleep, all the masses gathered at the house and then more at the trail head at Kumbrabow State Forest. Megan and I took off about 30 minutes ahead of the others, we're a little slow and needed the head start. There were many options for trails, Dan had a really nice map with options and mileage. We ran the first 8.3 together and then split up with Megan doing another 5.5 and me doing another 7.5. I think there were about 30 people in the whole group out running around the park, we didn't see anyone else out there, unless you count the flock of 10 wild turkeys we saw on the way in. As you might expect, this being WV, there were hills, but it wasn't rocky like HS and it was a beautiful day!

After everyone got their running in, we reconvened at the house for a lot of food, one of the highlights was some Grizzly meat that Brad brought. I admit, I declined to try it. And of course there was more of Willie's beer! There was a meeting in there somewhere, we discussed important topics like Adam and Brad's plans to run the Allegheny Trail Labor Day weekend and Adam's new 50 mile run in August called the Cheat Mountain Moonshine 50 miler (or something like that). I'm ready to sign up now! There'll be a 100 person limit so get ready to sign up soon, details should be posted soon. After discussing all the important club business, you guessed it, more socializing, eating, etc. Sadly, we had to come home on Sunday. I think it probably started snowing as soon as we left. Apparently, I'll have to make my vacation plans in Colorado like Mical and Paul if I want to see snow! And here are more pictures of our WV adventure.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

We decided to make another attempt at getting to one of Colorado's backcountry huts...we tried last year but were turned back by deep snow. This year, we had reserved bunks in Janet's Cabin, near Copper Mountain, for the Friday after our week of skiing. After 6 days of skiing, we were to haul our tired bodies up a mountain without the benefit of a ski lift.

The day started with a harrowing drive in a snowstorm on I-70, where the car unexpectedly shut off on us as we pulled off the exit! Thankfully it restarted and we made our way to the parking lot at Copper Mountain Resort. In the parking lot, we met 2 skiers, Luke and Andy from Denver, who were heading up...we were happy to know there would be people ahead of us breaking trail this time. We got our packs together, then were off to rent our snowshoes and get to the trailhead. While at the rental store, they scared us about our lack of avalanche beacons, but we went ahead anyway, confident in what we'd read about this trail having very low avalanche danger.

The trailhead was the base of a beginners' ski slope. We had to dodge beginning skiers and boarders as they looked at us like we were nuts, heading uphill instead of down. It was during this part of the hike that we could feel every bit of the previous days of skiing. We (finally!) reached the backcountry gate and turned onto the trail, nicely broken by our skier friends. The trail went downhill for a bit, before starting the steady climb for the rest of the hike. Despite the broken trail, the snow was soft, and it was still a strenuous hike. If you stepped off trail, you would sink to mid-thigh! We had fun checking our progress on the GPS and the altimeter watch, and taking lots of pictures. The trail climbed from 9,900' at the base of the ski lifts, to 11,600' at the hut.

We caught up to 2 women skiers who had about an hour headstart on us...when we tried to pass them, they didn't seem very happy about it saying we would mess up the tracks they were following. We weren't sure of the etiquette here, so decided to slow down since the weather was holding and we knew we'd have plenty of time to get there before sunset.

Eventually, we reached the last half mile which was a steep pitch leading to the cabin. I could only take about 10 steps at time without stopping to catch my breath. Finally, we were there! We took off our snowshoes and could go in and get warm. The cabin has 3 levels- hutmaster quarters on the bottom, kitchen and common areas on the middle level, and bedrooms upstairs. Snow is melted on a woodburning stove (which also heats the cabin) for water, solar power provides the electricity to run some lights, and there are propane-fueled burners in the kitchen for cooking. The cabin was full for the night, with 20 people staying there (most cabins are fully booked at this time of year). There is also a wood fueled sauna that we didn't use (maybe next time!).

We played some cards with our new friends Luke and Andy, and some crazy vegans offered us some leftover burritos (cooking, as well as boozing, is a big deal in the huts) so we didn't have to eat dehydrated food. We split our bottle of wine, and Luke gave us peppermint schnapps for our hot chocolate- yum!

We slept very, very well! We woke to a few fresh inches of snow, plus some sunshine. We hiked around a bit near the cabin before packing up and heading out. The hike was about 11 miles round trip with 1,800' of elevation gain. We'd love to do something like this again with a group of friends!

Maryland Challenge Report

As we passed the crumpled police cruiser and large trucks fishtailed around us, the Appalachian Trail seemed the safest place to be, if we would ever get there! An early morning rain had turned to ice on the roads and traffic quickly ground to a halt.
Our caravan of Mical (the organizer) Cathy, Amanda, Mark, Lorrin, Jim and crew of Joe, Paul, and Bill were on our way up to Penn Mar Park on the Pennsylvania line. Our goal was to once again run the "Maryland Challenge" -- the 40+ miles of the Appalachian Trail that stretches across maryland from Pennsylvania to Harper's Ferry, WV.

Finally at our destination, we got our gear together and took off. We would not see our crew again until Wolfsville Road, almost 10 miles away. The temperature was not too freezing and there was snow, rather than ice, on the ground. But there was ice coating all the tree branches and leaves, so as the sun rose, it made everything around us sparkle and gleam. As we climbed some of the steep slopes south of Penn Mar, we marvelled at the the beauty of the ice. We had a couple of ice-cold stream crossings where we could not help but put our feet in, but steep uphills soon warmed us back up. At one road crossing we deliriously thought we spotted our aid station, but it turned out to be a gentleman out clearing some of the many blowdowns - we thanked him and continued on.

Wolfsville Rd.
About a mile or so out from Wolfsville, we spotted Paul and Joe, who ran up to meet us. we were glad to see them! Our crew van was well-stocked thanks to Bill and Amanda, who provided Pringles, Wheat-Thins, pretzels, M&Ms, grapes, PB&J sandwiches, water and sodas. There was more food than at some of the races! No time to dally, we had to make it to the I-70 parking lot in time to meet up with Megan and Michelle. The day was warming up, without a cloud in the sky, but as the ice in the trees began to melt, we wondered if we should have brought rain gear. And some of the falling chunks of ice hurt! Soon we encountered Megan, who had run up to meet us and we trotted downhill to our next aid stop.

I-70
Joe and Paul finished an epic bike ride just as we pulled into the I-70 parking lot. Again, we chatted with our crew and fueld up. Megan and Michelle had the welcome addition of homemade chocolate chip cookies and potatoes! Cathy was beginning to wear out so took the option to drop here while we picked up Michelle and Megan for the next 5-mile stretch to Turner's Gap.

Each section was relatively uneventful as we climbed the uphills and trotted the downhills. We felt like we were making good time as we rehashed races we'd completed in 2007 and ones we were looking forward to in 2008, discussed our holidays and vacations, and commiserated with family and health concerns. We were missing Katie, who'd been able to complete the Challenge last year, but glad to have the additions of Jim and Mark.

Turner's Gap
Once we got to Turner's gap we were pleased to find our crew at the South Mountain Inn parking lot, and this year not being threatened by an angry chef with a whisk. (They were afraid we'd take up spaces they needed for their New Years event.) Again, we hit the smorgasboard, refilled our bottles, and this time picked up our lights. We estimated it would be after sunset by the time we got to Gathland. Mark decided to take a break and give his ankles a rest, leaving Jim alone with the women!

Much of the trail on this section is familiar to those running JFK and we were lucky to get to the top of Lamb's knoll, right at the overlook, just as the sun was setting. With very few clouds, the sky was awash in purples and red around the blazing orange sun. As we descended, however, it was time to turn on the lights, and watch out for the rocks! Shortly thereafter, we came across Paul and Sharlene, who had run up to meet us from Gathland. Here we separated out a little, as different runners had varying degrees of comfort with the rocks, but we made sure to keep each other's lights in sight. Coming down the hill into the Gathland parking lot, we were very pleased to see our hard-working crew heating up soup! It was definitely getting colder and the soup was a welcome change to our PB&J standard.

Gathland
As we reluctantly switched on headlamps and flashlights and jogged out of the parking lot, we knew the hardest part was ahead: Close to 7 miles of rocky terrain, mostly uphill, in the dark, followed by the tricky steep descent down Weaverton Cliffs. If we didn't get lost! Luckily, white blazes are pretty easy to pick up at night, and the trail is well marked. Although challenging, it can be fun to run in the dark. The stars are much brighter further from the city and we could hear the lonely sounds of a far-off train through the crisp winter air. Aside from a few mysterious animal noises, with the large group we had it wasn't scary ... except when Paul decides it's time to talk about his favorite scary monsters! After he paused for a nature break, I was afraid to turn around and look at him just in case he'd turned into a werewolf!

Weaverton Cliffs to the Finish!
Most of the group seemed to float down Weaverton cliffs -- it was neat to see the chain of lights below me as I took up the rear. Until they disappeared and Jim & I got a little sidetracked. Joe ended up coming up from the aidstation to see where we were and helped us stay on the path. No soup for us here at the bottom of the Cliffs! The crew hustled us out of there so we could finish up!

We grabbed a little food and crossed the tracks down onto the C&O canel, where we smelled a trash fire. A natural fear of hobos grabbing our last remaining gel shots made us pick up our speed a little and we ran/walked the final 3-ish miles. After 40+ miles, the lit-up chapel on the top of the hill at Harper's Ferry was a welcome sight! A few crossed the bridge over to Harper's Ferry and back while the rest of us took more of a "cool-down" walk.

We all drove back to Mical & Paul's house for some delicious chili, cornbread, and beer! Katie met us there and got the first-hand account of the day's events. Once again, we could barely make it to count down the New Year - but once again, we all agreed it was a great way to wrap up the year!

View Mical's pictures and Michelle's pictures.

Happy New Year!

Maryland Challenge 2007
Runners and crew at Turner's Gap:

Report to follow, after a good nights' sleep....