Back in the Saddle

"In ultrarunning, there are no mistakes, only lessons."  Keith Pippin

run 8 miles (25 pullups at mile 4)

I was pretty damn sore from Sunday's run, so I took a couple of days off.  As a result, I ended up running only once in 5 days.  It was appropriate given the 7 1/2 hour run on Sunday, but that sort of training on an ongoing basis isn't going to get the job done.  Its time to start adding some faster training miles. 

A picture of Lake Aloha that didn't make it into the trail guide:

Tahoe Rim Trail - Barker Pass to Echo Lake Trail Guide

32.5 miles - 7 hours 35 minutes

Definitely one of the best trail runs of my life.  Similar to my Mt. Rose Trail Guide, I took a ton of photos, so I will do a photo essay version of a trail report.

Steve and I decided to run the longest section of the Tahoe Rim Trail in the Desolation Wilderness.  It is 32.5 miles and has probably around 2000-2500 feet of total elevation gain.

We started at 6:40 am.  Here is a picture of Lake Tahoe pre-sunset on the way to the trailhead.

The trailhead is above the Tahoe Pines subdivision.  The turnoff is about 4 miles outside Tahoe City, and then you have to drive 7.5 miles up the hill to get to the actual trailhead.  Our goal today was to get to Echo Lakes.

I ran this with my friend Steve.  He is the only person I know crazy enough to do this kind of stuff with me. 

Nice wildflowers on the trail (about 2 miles in).  The trail is actually through the middle of all of these flowers. 

This gives you a feel for the trail for the first few miles.  Sweet singletrack through the pines.  We made great time through here. 



Our first destination was Richardson Lake (7 miles in).  Nice lake, but I wouldn't drink from it and there were a ton of mosquitos.  For the first 15 miles of the trail, this is about the only notable landmark.  Otherwise, its just running through this pines.  The good news is the trail is fast, so you can keep ahead of the mosquitos. 

This tree looked like it had been here for awhile.  Saw a few of these on the trail. 

Another trail view.  If you stopped, even for 5 seconds, you had about 20 mosquitos attack you.  Definitely a motivator to push the hills hard. 

This is the second lake you hit about 15 miles in.  Middle Velma Lake.  A few campers here, as it can be accessed from Emerald Bay with about a 4 mile hike.  We had pre-planned this spot as an opportunity to cut the run short if something went wrong because you can drop out into Emerald Bay.  However, I was feeling strong (Steve is always feeling strong since he's so much faster than I am), so we forged ahead.   

Lake Fontanillis.  Probably my favorite lake on the run.  Beautiful alpine lake with granite shores.  Still a lot of snow in those mountains.   

Proof Steve and I were here. 

Nice stream coming out of Lake Fontanillis.  We were able to refill water bottles here. 

The trail is well marked.  We are headed to Dick's Pass next.  You can tell from the emblem on the bottom that we are actually on the Pacific Crest Trail as well.  This is one of the sections where the Pacific Crest Trail and the Tahoe Rim Trail overlap. 

Dick's Lake.  In the background in the saddle between those two peaks is Dick's Pass.  That's where we are headed next.  It was a bear of a climb.  Pretty steep, so it was basically a hikefest. 

This is a great view of Desolation Wilderness from Dick's Pass.  Dick's Lake is in the front, and Lake Fontanillis just behind it (they are actually connected).  That's where we came from.  There is a ton of beautiful country out there. 

Dick's Pass

This is where we are headed next.  In the foreground is Half Moon Lake (the trail doesn't get too near there).  In the middle is Susie Lake and up higher on the right is Lake Aloha.  From this point, it is about 6-7 miles to Lake Aloha.

One last look back at Dick's Lake.  This was taken from a spot a bit below the Pass where the trail splits to go up the Dick's Peak (I don't know who this Dick guy is, but he has a lot of stuff named after him).  The climb looks brutal, but I would be interested in climbing that peak someday. 

Wildflowers everywhere.  Nice shot with the mountains in the background.  I took over 100 pictures (Steve probably got tired of waiting for me to take them), and could have taken 100 more.  Lots to see out here. 

Susie Lake.  In the far background is Dick's Pass, where we came from. 

Heather Lake.  Just a small climb above Susie Lake.

A sign of things to come.  The bad news about this trail is pretty much that last 10 miles or so is primarily on various types of granite shale rock.  It got VERY old, and was pretty rough on the feet.  It really cut our time down as well, because this type of trail slows you down. 

Nice waterfall above Heather Lake.  Great place to refill bottles. 

Another cool waterfall.

Lake Aloha.  One of the more famous lakes in this area.  It is huge (I am guessing over a mile long) and a classic granite shore mountain lake.  Looks a lot like Yosemite. 

Lake Aloha again.  I have always thought these granite islands look cool.  Sort of feels like you are on the moon or something.  About 7.5 miles to go from here. 

To put it nicely, the trail from Lake Aloha to Echo Lakes sucks.  It is just a huge rockfest, and most of it is barely runnable.  Slow going and not a very pleasant experience.  This was the one low point of the day. 

Upper Echo Lake in front, Lower Echo Lake in the back.  About 3 miles left...

Made it!  This is the trail sign at the Echo Lake Marina. 

7 1/2 hours later.  

So there you have it.  A great day, and I felt really strong throughout, except for a weak spot about 5 miles from the finish where I had a slight bonk going for a bit.  For the record, I ate 8 GU's, 2 power bars, 2 bags of GU Chomps (all told about 1700 calories), about 8 salt tablets, 3 Advil and about 9 bottles of water.  About right for a 7 1/2 hour run.  If I had any advice for someone who didn't want to tackle all 32 miles of this trail, it would be to actually skip it entirely.  Lake Aloha is cool, but the hike from Echo Lake sucks.  I would actually recommend that you take the trail from Eagle Lake near Emerald Bay and hike up to Dick's Lake.  It is only 4.5 miles and you get a lot of quality site-seeing for your efforts.  If you are really fired up, add the 1.7 miles and 1000 feet of climbing and go to the top of Dick's Pass.  You get all of the best views with a 12 mile round trip. 

Managing Pain

"Your pain is not special."  Sam Krieg

run 10 miles (23 pullups at mile 9)

Read this and understand what it is really like to commit to managing pain in a race.  One of the best blog posts I have ever read. 

The Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc 100 miler race is being held this weekend in France.  They predict snow and rain throughout the entire race.  Crazy.  Here is a pic of Mont Blanc in nicer weather. 

Consistency

"Long term sustained consistency is much more important than short term consistency."  Geoff Roes

run 10 miles (last 8 Manzanita twice ~1:10)
22 pullups

This guy won the Western States 100 last year and is one of the top ultrarunners in the world.  This post is one of the best I've seen regarding the need to be consistent over months and years, not days and weeks.  Good lessons in here.  Geoff Roes Consistency

Here is another picture along the Mt. Rose trail that didn't make it into the trail guide:

Mt. Rose Summit Trail Guide

run Mt. Rose (with 10lb weight vest) 10.6 miles 1800 feet elevation gain - summit 1:29:37 round trip 2:42:20

I have run the Mt. Rose summit six times, but never brought a camera, partly because I don't like the extra weight, and partly because I usually run so early that it is too dark for pictures. Today Jen ran the mountain for the first time. We went a little later and I brought my camera so I could put together a photo essay/trail guide.

So here it is:

The sign at the trailhead. I have never actually read it before. So the trail is 10.6 miles and a little over 1800 feet of gain.

View of Lake Tahoe just a few hundred yards from the trailhead.

The trail is sandy with for the first 1/2 mile or so.

Your first glimpse of the goal (about 1/2 mile from trailhead)

You then move into some timber for a couple of miles

Tamarack Lake, view about 3/4 mile from the trailhead

More trail through the timber. About 1 1/2 miles in.

Getting closer.

Your first glimpse of Mt. Rose Meadow (about 2 miles from trailhead)

More view of the meadow. The trail runs under those pines across the valley.

This is where you are headed next. The trail cuts across this hill and starts to get steep. The part you can see is not quite 3 miles from the trailhead.

Waterfall. About 2 1/2 miles in.

Some wildflowers along the creek. Wildflower season is late this year due to all of the snow.

You can go west and hit Relay Peak and the Tahoe Rim Trail,
or forge ahead to the summit (2.6 miles from trailhead)

Halfway there.

Headed up to that steep traverse you saw across the canyon, with you goal in the background. It is usually pretty wet here, expect some wet socks.

Looking back across the valley.

The trail is getting rockier, and steeper.

Getting closer.

More rocks, and steeper. There is a section after the hill traverse that is pretty steep.
You are only 3.5 miles in at this point and beginning to question yourself. Don't worry, it gets a bit easier.

You are now officially in the Mt. Rose Wilderness. Don't pick flowers or ride your mountain bike.

See? It gets better.

It's not that bad, flowers grow here.

Someone wrote 1.4 miles to go on this post. Seems about right.

Your first glimpse of the Truckee/Donner Basin.

A few steep switchbacks in here. There are only 5 or 6, not too bad really.

More Truckee Basin. If you click on the picture and zoom in you can see Truckee, Donner Lake, Prosser Reservoir, Stampede Reservoir and Boca Reservoir and Interstate 80 through Truckee.

Another view towards Truckee.

We made it! Lake Tahoe is in the background. About half the time I am up here the wind is howling so bad you just want to hide behind a rock. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day today - no wind at all.

Lake Tahoe and the meadow that you passed through to get here.

Reno

Truckee/Donner

Nice picture of Jen

Me. The green thing is my weight vest. It is 10 pounds and very comfortable to wear. It reminds you how much harder it is to run when you weigh 10 pounds extra.

More wildflowers on the way down.

There you go. Some final thoughts on the trail. Get there early. The place is a zoo of people mid-day, and you have less chance of high winds in the morning. If you are going to take more than 2 hours round trip, you will probably want to bring water and something to eat. I usually don't take water for a 2 hour run up here, but if I get thirsty I will drink from the two creek crossings. However, most people have been convinced that every mountain stream will get you sick, so they don't like doing that. Maybe I am just acclimated, or maybe the fears are overblown - drink at your own risk. Also, keep a close eye on the weather, it can be a lot colder and windy on the summit (it is 2 miles above sea level and all), so dress appropriately.

I believe Mt. Rose is one of the best hikes available to people in the Lake Tahoe basin. It takes some effort, but isn't brutal, and has a great payoff on the summit. Have fun!