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Sunday, October 09, 2005

Bear Peak Run


Bear Peak is the mountain that I see when I look out the front window of my house, so, if there's any mountain about which I daydream, or any mountain about which I think, "I've got to get up there", it's that mountain. I usually "get up there" at least once a summer. I have run many peaks this summer, but I had not made it up the bear until this morning. With a weather forecast calling for a nice snowstorm tonight and tomorrow, I figured that today was the day - now or never (or now or April, or now or icy). I did the Bear Canyon to Bear Peak West Ridge route, then back the same way. This trail map shows the trails in the area. It is not the most direct route - kind of the "long way" - but, until the final five hundred feet or so, it's all run-able. That final pitch is steep and very rocky, so it's more like power hiking. I had an amazing run. I only saw about a dozen people on the trail, and no one once on the west ridge and the peak. Low clouds and mist were spilling over the saddle between Bear and South Boulder Peaks - a very impressive sight. I did it just in time, as the rocks were wet and a bit treacherous on the way down. It probably was not the smartest thing to do (solo bagging a 8,461 foot peak only hours - minutes? - before a winter storm, in running shoes, shorts, and a thin long-sleeved top, with no water or food, and without telling anyone where I was going), but I never claimed to be smart - just somewhat tough. I was up-and-down in 1:55, including a few short breaks to stretch a bit, a couple of "urination stations", and five minutes of panoramic bliss on top. I'm glad I got it in, and I now proclaim that winter can officially commence.

so sez tox senrab @ 10/09/2005 10:39:00 AM


..... "Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'" - Peter Maher ..... "It hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse." - Ann Trason ….. "I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs." - Jesse Owens ..... "Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts." - Steve Prefontaine ..... "The gun goes off and everything changes... the world changes... and nothing else really matters." - Patti Sue Plummer ..... "Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible." - Doug Larson ..... "I have met my hero, and he is me." - George Sheehan ..... "Tough times don't last but tough people do." - A.C. Green ..... "Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired." - Jules Renard ..... "The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare." - Juma Ikangaa ..... "Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving." - Maurice Greene ..... "Good things come slow - especially in distance running." - Bill Dellinger ..... "Run hard, be strong, think big!" - Percy Cerutty ..... "Once you're beat mentally, you might as well not even go to the starting line." - Todd Williams ..... "The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed." - Jacqueline Gareau ..... "[Scientific testing] can't determine how the mind will tolerate pain in a race. Sometimes, I say, "Today I can die.'" - Gelindo Bordin ..... "Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool. Sport is about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking risks." - Sir Roger Bannister ..... “There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So, too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you are meant to be.” - George Sheehan ..... “Stadiums are for spectators. We runners have nature and that is much better.” - Juha Väätäinen …..