Swauger Lake: The Road Less Traveled

On Saturday the 17th Caden and I went to Swauger Lake, the lake is located on the backside of Mount McCaleb. We left my house at about nine in the morning with perfect day in front of us. After a few hours and one snow drift shoveled out we arrived a half a mile before the trailhead, do to the fact of a snow drift that I didn't see the need to plow through. When we started hiking we had the perfect temperature with a slight breeze. It probably only took us an hour and a half to hike two miles with the occasional snow drift peppered along the trail. When we reached the top of the ridge it was the moment of truth. The moment that decided if we were going to be able to fish today or not. When we got to the top and looked over we saw a big disappointment, the lake was frozen. But with a closer look some of the edges where a little thawed off, so that gave us hope. When we reached the lake the south side was completely frozen so I went ahead and walked over to the north side to see if I could see any fish along the edges. As I walked along the edges the grass that was in the lake was moving with tons of cutty's swimming out, from that moment on I knew we would be able to get into some fish. We ended up going to the biggest part of the lake that was thawed off the most and started throwing a few rocks in to break up the ice. After we let all the ice and fish settle while we set up our poles we were into the fish in the first thirty minutes. Throughout the day the lake continued to thaw off and we were presented with more places to fish. I eventually got tired of waiting for the fish to come to me so I walked around the bank until I saw a few swimming toward me. By the end of the day we both caught a number of fish all at different lengths ranging from 16 inches to 12 inches. It was definitely a good time to spend in the mountains catching up with a buddy.

Swauger from the Ridge

Swauger Lake

Wilson Creek Frozen 50K

Starting Line for the 50Kers

I eat 50K's for breakfast! Not really but they always seem to start when I usually do eat breakfast so that hast to count for something. I woke with a troubled night sleep, I can never sleep good before a race. I always think of the things that can go wrong or the big thing that I worry about is forgetting something. I always seem to be waking up about an hour after I fall asleep to see if I packed something. I car pooled to the race with Lindsey and her sister in law Jenny and I'm glad that I did because I had no idea where these race was at. To top it off we fought heavy fog the entire way so it was nice to have some people that knew where they were heading. We arrived about a half an hour early to were we could get are race number and get ready for the race. The race went pretty good for the most part. It was a great course up until to hit the frozen cow trail but no it was pretty good, I enjoyed the course and the different point of view running above and below the fog.

About to the top of Wilson Peak

To the first aid station at 2.5 miles it was easy going and I made sure I started slow and fueled at every aid station. I wasn't going to make the same mistakes that I did in Standhope. To the next aid station was at mile 13 between the aid station was the biggest climb of the race so I didn't push too hard and made sure I walked up all the hills and ran all the downhills. When I started going downhill after the big hill climb, I ran into Ben and he eventually caught up to me. We talked for a few miles about the Standhope race and how spectacular its going to be this year. He also let me in on some insights and changes to this years Standhope race. Right after aid station 13 there was another hill that when I started climbing I started cramping up, thank goodness for mustard packets I think I ate 6 packets throughout the race. Between mile 13 to 20 I was doubting if I could finish the whole race, I was just tired and beat, and was thinking I just wasn't prepared enough, I guess I was doubting my training. When I arrived at mile 20, where the race began, I went through my drop bag and filled up on mustard packets, water and gels (only 10 miles left). Soon after I left I started getting tired but I pushed through it, when I reached the last aid station I knew it was all downhill from there. At mile 27 with 4 miles left my stomach started turning for the worse. I don't know if it was the water that I drank or pain meds that I took a few miles back but I knew that it wasn't my abs. I also had this feeling toward the end of the Standhope race but the last few miles I was forced to a run/walk/run state but I pushed hard at the end to try and finish under 7 hours, I came just shy of that at 7 hours and 4 minutes. Over all the race went well, I hydrated and fueled at the right times no low blood sugar and no problems with my feet. I wanted to finish in 7.5 hours and I finished in 7 hours. I placed 59th out of 90. Can't wait for the next ultra in June (River of No Return) to see if I beat my time. It will be a tough course to beat 7 hours but anything is possible.

Lake X: One Week Late

The last couple of years my father and I always try to hit a mountain lake before they freeze up, probably one of the best times to go. Last year we went to Lake X and Swauger Lake and it did not disappoint we slayed cuttys at both lakes. This year we went into Lake X on the 5th of October just after about a week of snow and rain. We usually go toward the end of September but the trip got pushed back because of my race.

We left the house at about seven and it took about two hours to drive to the trail-head. We didn't encounter much snow until we started driving up the valley. When we got to the trail-head there was at least six inches of snow but it didn't stop us from pursuing some monster cutthroat. It took us a lot longer than expected, I think when I reached the lake it was pushing about three and a half hours. Once I saw that the lake was still thawed off I was relieved even though there was about a foot and a half of snow around the whole lake. After hitting all the usual spots that produce fish and seeing nothing but water with no fish in it and decided that we were just about a week or two late. After fishing for about four hours we called it quits and head home to ease into the hot tube with all the aches and pains that we received that day. Even though we didn't catch or see any fish that day it was still an enjoyable time to hike in one of the most beautiful places in Idaho and one of my favorite places to meditate.    

"If I'm in the mountains, I'm not worrying about anything else."--Ueli Steck

Standhope 60K: one of the worse but best things I could have did

Fall Creek

Heading Up Summit Creek

About to the top of Little Kane Creek

This was one of the worse but best things I could have did to myself. After coming off of the mountain from the White Clouds trip, we were driving through Sun Valley when my dad wanted to go and check out the Elephants Perch. I really didn’t want to because I was so tired and I just wanted to get home but we went anyways. After we went through the store I noticed a flyer on the way out, it said “Standhope 60K”. After looking it over and noticing all the facts and miles of the race I thought to myself “I wonder where they camp in the middle of the race”, I never imagined anybody being able to do this distance in one day including myself. I mowed over the thought of doing this race over that weekend while I headed back to school. My reasoning came down to “well I hike a lot of these trails in the summer so at least I could do was walk the whole race and drop out at the closest aid station if I needed to.” With that in mind I started running and doing the Stairmaster at the rec as well as tons of research before the race.

When it came down to the race, it started at 6:00am for the slow pokes. There was maybe around 15 of us, once Ben (RD) played the national anthem and wished everyone good luck the race took off. This is what surprised me the most, we jogged/walked up the road for about two miles and then once we got to the trail everyone started walking, which was great because I thought everyone was going to be running the whole time so that took a load off my shoulders. I’m a fast hiker so I moved ahead of the pack and when I reached the top I couldn’t figure out where the trail went. Then another two guys joined me in the search for this trail. After a good 10 to 15 minutes we eventually found the trail and started running down to Kane Creek Road which was fun since I have never really ran down a trail like that before. When we got to the road I started to walk and run intervals until the next aid station.

Once I got to the first aid station I was so glad to see my dad there because after he dropped me off at the starting line he went to Ketchum for some fresh pastries (what a crew member), I was afraid that he wouldn’t make it back with my clothes but luckily he did and I dropped off all of my warm gear and put on some cooler clothing to climb over Little Kane Creek into Boulder Creek. At this point of the race I was feeling pretty good, I didn’t run into any problems until I got to the top of Boulder. When I got there I was having problems with my stomach and being able to run downhill without it acting up. It got to the point where I would run for a bit, then stop and walk. But I pushed forward knowing that I could take a much needed break once I got to the aid station at Wildhorse Creek. I remember when I got to the aid station my dad asked how I was doing and my answer was “I’m done running, I can’t run anymore, I’ll walk the rest”. What he told me to do was to take a break and see how it goes from there but I looked at him like “you didn’t just get done running 20 miles.”

Little Kane Creek

Looking into Boulder

Boulder Creek

After I took a good break by changing my socks and popping the blisters in-between my toes, I took off. The next aid station was only a few miles away so I wanted to focus on hydrating before I went up the beast called Surprise Valley. Once I started hiking into Fall Creek I turned on my Ipod and just kind of zoned out until the climb up to Surprise Valley, which took everything out of me. I got to the bottom of Surprise Valley exhausted with no energy; this is where my schooling came in. I knew the body needed glycogen to produce ATP in the form of energy, so I sat on a rock and forced a cliff bar down me with some water and some ibuprofen. Once that was processed by the body I was a new man ready to conquer the alpine saddle standing at 11K feet. The saddle took me awhile but it helped that I was with other people. When I got to the top I snapped a few pictures and headed down to the Betty Lake aid station. The Betty aid station was so nice to have because they had so much food and a lot of options to choose from. The only thing that sounded good to me that might sit well with my stomach was some orange slices, heaven in your mouth after 30 some odd miles. After I left the aid station it was a little jaunt over to Goat Lake (highest lake in Idaho) and then Baptie Lake.

Fall Creek

Once I past the fork below Baptie Lake things were going good until I got close to the bottom of Broad Canyon where my stomach was acting up like it did before in Boulder Creek. It was back to the running tell I felt sick and then stop and walk technique. After running across the finish line, this wave of emotions overwhelmed me much like the feeling of climbing a 12’er, it’s very hard to describe. That sense of accomplishment of completing a race like that when I didn’t think I could finish it is one of the greatest feelings in the world. I finished in 11 hours and 30 minutes, placing 30^th out of 36 people, but I did finish and that is all I wanted accomplish.

Surprise Valley

Alpine Saddle 11K Feet

Hank Dart Photography