Subject: A beautiful run through the Cascades From: Chuck Wilson Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 20:59:39 -0700 Subject: A beautiful run through the Cascades For those of you interested in what it is like to run the Cascade Crest Classic 100 mile endurance run, read on as I share my experience; otherwise forgive me and it is time to use the delete key. Everything went my way for the CCC 100 :-) I flew up to Seattle on Thursday, and drove to the Cascades, about 60-70 miles East of Seattle, where I had 1 1/2 days to check out the area, get a good mental image of the course, and get some much needed rest. I was able to cover much of the area I would have to traverse alone in the dark during that time, including running through the 2.3 mile old train tunnel, the area, before it, and the 15 miles of fire road over a mountain between the 2 largest lakes. I also checked out the historic coal mining town of Rosalyn, where the TV show Northern Exposure was filmed. The RD Director, Randy Gehrke, comes from Idaho and was staying in the Summit Inn at Snoqualmie Pass, where I and several other runners stayed. I met Randy and co-director Ron Behrman the night before in the restaurant after joining Elena Sherman and Scott Sullivan of Southern California, who I met at my first WS100 training camp in 1999. I also ran into Catra Corbett and her pacer, Mike Palmer, who stopped off for supplies at the store there before going on to Cle Elum about 20 miles further East and about the same distance from the start, in Easton, WA. Afterwards, I had fairly painful butt muscles as I drove around, but that problem cleared up before our rather late start at 10:00 am Saturday after a leisurely breakfast with the other runners and a race briefing by RD Randy Gehrke. The sun was up and it felt like it was going to be a hot day, up in the 80's. As we started running down the road, it seemed like I was carrying more than everyone else. There was one new ultra runner who didn't even carry water, as he thought drinking at aid station would be enough. To say the least, he learned differently and was one of the first to drop! Fortunately, after just a few miles of road, we hit the trail head and the shade of lush green trees, fast flowing creeks, and started our first 3,500 ft. climb to Cole Butte on the Goat Peak Trail. Once off the road, I immediately felt better and enjoyed the rest of the run. As you may have known, I have been unable to eat in previous 100s as I get to nauseated to keep anything down and eventually slow down to a crawl in the end :-(. The solution for me, which I only learned recently, has been to only drink water and no GU; Hammer Gel is OK! At the first big aid station at Blowout Mt.., at apx. 16 miles I was able to easily eat a large pizza bread pretzel. This type eating was a first for me in a run and started to give me the confidence that I was going to do fine. The course proceeded up and down ridges, giving us some spectacular views of distant peaks like Mt. Rainier as well as many local mountains. and lakes. The trees and brush were much greener than what we have on any of the California trails and the wildflowers were in full bloom everywhere. Dark pink fireweed was ubiquitous, as were small daisies and goldenrod. Between Cole Butte and Blowout Mt.. we had a very runnable long downhill on a well graded soft dirt fire road and uphill on another more typical rocky fire road. After Blowout Mt.., we had a tough rocky, steep, single-track trail, which eventually connected to the very runnable single-track Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The course followed the PCT North for apx .30 miles. There are some very nice sections that go through dark old growth forests. Randy and told us that this would be devoid of trail markings due to complaints of other PCT users last year. He wanted to keep a low profile this year for fear that there would be a protest and push for the elimination of any competitive events from using the PCT, as has happened in most of our National Parks. Despite what Randy said, I saw many course ribbons along the PCT, making it very difficult to get lost. I reached the 24 mile aid station right a 6 hours (25 hour pace if I could keep it up). The good thing was that I was banking a lot of time, eliminating my biggest fear of not being able to make the 32 hour cutoff. In the first 40 miles, I did a lot of leap frogging with other runners, including Kathy Welsh of Auburn, Fred Stafford and Leon Draxler of WA, and Jim and Louise Wholey of CA. At 35 miles, I reached the Stampede Pass aid station, which is the first drop bag stop, and the point from which all runners are required to leave with a flashlight. Scott Sullivan, who was crewing and pacing for Elena greeted me at each of the drop bag stops, with my drop bag in hand and ready to meet all my needs quickly and get me on my way. How lucky I was to have him jump in as a crew for me too -- Many Thanks Scott! I picked up my Tyvek jacket at this point, but left my long sleeve coolmax T-shirt there, as I could tell it wasn't going to be a cold night. As it turned out, I ran the entire course in my 2000 Miwok coolmax T-shirt, never needing a windbreaker, etc.. I mention the details here, as I found it amusing at the start to see that 4 of us had decided to run in a Miwok T-shirt and we all picked the same year! It got dark enough to need a light, especially in the forests, around 8:30 pm, when I was at apx 40 miles. One thing about starting the race at 10:30 is that everyone, even the leaders get to run through the entire night! The PCT was very overgrown in many sections after this, making it hard to see the footing even with a good light. At one point, with high weeds to my right, the trail completely collapsed as I pushed off with my right foot, resulting in me doing a deep kneebend with my left knee with my right leg full extended. Fortunately, I didn't fall and was able to power my way back up and continue. Shining my light over the edge, I saw that it was quite a long drop off! Around 50 miles (just under 14 hours for me), the course left the PCT and descended on a steep over grown road bed, which was a killer on my right big toe nail -- I will surely lose it! After following this for about a mile, the trail ducked into the brush, where I found my first rope, dropping almost vertically into a hole in the brush. I stepped into my 3-LED headband so that I could wear it as a belt. I had learned the day before, while doing my practice run through the tunnel, that it was useless to use it as a headlamp since every breath ended in a big cloud of blinding steam. By wearing the light as a belt, I had no vision problems and could see the obstacles on the ground much better. In any case, I proceeded down the ropes, having trouble finding something to step on in the first section, which went over logs, etc. The next 2 ropes were much easier as they were only steep trails, where the rope provided a safe descent. Shortly after the 3rd rope, I reached the bottom of the hill, crossed a drainage ditch and came out on the old railroad bed. I followed this apx.. 1/2 mile into the 2.3 mile long Snoqualmie Tunnel. This was the only truly flat section of the entire course and very good running surface. I ran through non- stop, passing a couple of glow sticks just before the far end, where I started to look for the bucket of poker chips. Randy told us to each take 1 poker chip at the tunnel and on top of Thorp Mt.. (highest point in the course) and carry them to the finish, where we would get a entry refund if the number on either of our chips matched the winning number. Unfortunately, I learned from a runner outside of the tunnel that I had run past the chips, which were by the glow sticks back in the tunnel. So, I ran back in and got my chip, hoping that the couple of minutes it took me wouldn't make much of a difference in the end. From the tunnel, I followed the railroad bed out to a parking lot and then followed several roads for about a mile, going under I90, which cuts right through the center of the course, to the Hyak aid station on the other side. Scott again met me here, helped me update flashlights and batteries, etc., while I ate a lot of soup. From Hyak, I followed a lonely road parallel to I 90 for apx. a mile before it turned into a dirt and gravel fire road, which then climbed apx. 2,000 ft. to the top of Keechelus Ridge, where John Morelock met me at the aid station. I was surprised to see John, as he had started the race with the rest of us. Unfortunately, he has been plagued with injuries the past several months and today was more of the same forcing him to drop early on. Instead of calling it a day, he asked Randy how he could help and Randy sent him up to Keechelus Ridge, where John had enjoyed camping under the stars the previous night. I had a short, but noisy bout with trying to keep some food down at that point, so John walked with me for a 100 yards out of the aid station to make sure I was all right. Sometimes I think the reason I run ultras is that I get to meet the nicest people! The moon was shining so bright, I never needed to use my light going up to Keechelus Ridge, or most of the way during the 2,700 ft. drop down the other side until the course reentered the forest. Near the bottom, I caught up with Catra Corbett and her pacer Mike along with Dan Bratches of Maine. Dan blitzed through the aid station at the bottom, after grabbing some grilled cheese sandwiches for which the station is known. A hundred yards up the road from the aid station, the ribbons beckoned me to climb the dirt hill on the side of the road and enter into the game of find the trail. There was no trail at the top of the hill! For the next 1/2 mile, I as I climbed through the brush to one ribbon or glow stick, I then need to shine my light through the surrounding trees and brush looking for the next, sort of like connect the dots! In this stretch there were many obstacles to negotiate. At one point, I had to get flat on my belly and crawl under a fallen tree. I almost had to take my Camelbak off to get through. I was able to pass over all of the other trees, of which there were many, not ti forget the rocks and roots! The end of this trail was to bring us out on the trail known as the "Trail from Hell"! What had we just been on? What I found was a very nicely groomed trail, graded for use by wheel chairs. We had been told that it took the leaders 2 almost 2 hours to cover 5 miles of this trail; others should expect to take 2 1/2 to 3 hours! Well, this nice trail didn't last long and the ribbons soon lead me up and down very steep slopes of nothing but rocks and roots. The trail follows along 5 miles of the Kachess Lake shore. On the map Kachess Lake looks about the same size as Keechelus Lake, which I had rounded earlier ay Hyak, but Kachess Lake is much deeper with steep slopes on each side and very scenic. The main reason this trail is so difficult, is that it is trying to traverse the steep bank of the lake. In many places, a slip would mean a slide down a long steep slope followed by a cold dip in the lake. Fortunately, for all of us this year the ground wasn't muddy and I never felt like I was in danger of slipping. This doesn't mean that following the trail was easy, it wasn't! At one point, I came to a very steep ravine with a water fall. The thought of climbing down apx. 15 to 20 ft. and up the other side wasn't appealing at all, so I took the riskier, but much faster route of walking across an old tree that had fallen across the ravine. I felt a bit like a high wire walker for a while. It was starting to get light at about half way through the Trail from Hell and I could see from the tracks that a lot of deer and large animals, either Elk or Moose, also use this route. Being early in the morning I thought I might see some, but had no such luck. After about 2 1/4 hours, I finally rounded the end of the lake where I came to Mineral Creek, which feeds into the North end of the lake. Here I had the choice of trying to cross on the slippery rocks or try walking a combination of two trees. Without much thought, I walked the trees -- very easy -- not too far to fall this time. Shortly after crossing Mineral Creek, I came out onto a road, which I followed a hundred yards or so to the aid station (apx 75 miles), where I was greeted by Geri and Darla, who had flown up all the way from Arizona, just to help out! Other than almost falling over as I tried to sit in a chair on uneven ground, my stop here went well. I chowed down, refilled with water, and exchanged good wishes with Catra and Mike who arrived shortly after me. There are 2 cutoffs at the CCC 100: 3 am at Hyak and 11:30 am at the top of the 3,500 ft. climb ahead of me. I had felt fairly confident about making the first one, but fear of not making the second one had motivated over most of the previous 25 miles, worrying about how long it would take me to do the Trail from Hell plus the long steep climb up to Noname Ridge. Well, I felt great at this point, and the math all was in my favor, so I left Mineral Creek in great spirits and power walked up the next 7 miles, with a little running, in just over 2 hours. This climb was on a well graded fire road. There was a water stop about half way up and an aid station at the top. From the aid station, the course moved back onto single-track trails which would last to the 97 mile aid station. I enjoyed fabulous vistas throughout the rest of the day as the course followed up and down the peaks along the ridge. Before reaching Thorp Mt. the highest point on the course, at just under 6,000 ft., the course goes straight up and down, without any switchbacks, 3 small peaks, known as the "Cardiac Needles", for causing runners to reach their max heart rate on these climbs! From the Thorp Mt. aid station, this year all runners are required to climb an additional 1/2 mile up and down to the summit of Thorp Mt. where not nly are they to pick up another poker chip, but they hopefully take the time to take in the fabulous 360 degree view of the Cascades, including the entire CCC 100 course. Similar to my experience in the tunnel, I walked right past the bag of chips and ended up spending extra time on the peak trying to find the chips. It was only after I had taken in the views and given up on finding the chips and started back down that I saw the chips! From Thorp Mt., there is a short drop followed by short climb and another drop to the French Cabin Mountain aid station. As I descended the hill to the aid station, I could hear the super volunteers cheering me on. It really inspired me to pick up my pace! From here, I only had another short dip and climb through the saddle of French Cabin Mt.. before starting a descent of about 3,500 ft. in 7 miles through what I think is the most beautiful section of the course -- areas with meadows of low-lying bright green shrubs, surrounded by dark green evergreens, reportedly frequented by magnificent white mountain goats. I gazed around in hopes of spotting some as I raced through them, but unfortunately, didn't see any. After this section, I entered into old growth forest and followed the seemingly never ending bottomless trail, down, down, down, etc. About the time, I had given up hope that the trail would ever end, I reached the 97 mile aid station. I tried to be polite as they offered me water, etc., but all I wanted to do at this point is reach the finish, so I ran right past and headed down the flat dirt road, followed by a snowmobile trail which lead me to the finish line, where I was greeted by Randy, Ron. and John Morelock again. They pulled out a chair for me and then Ron came over and awarded me with the beautiful CCC 100 buckle, in an equally beautiful purple wooden box, my Purple Heart! Unlike other races, there is no group awards ceremony at the CCC 100. It is supplanted by individual ones that happens for each runner as they cross the finish line -- no waiting around -- you deserve it now! I kind of like it that way. My finish time, by the way, was 29:46 (31 of 60 starters), my best time ever for a 100 miler! I'm very happy and better yet, only have hot feet and one bad toe nail to recover from. In summary, the Cascade Crest Classic 100 is a first class event. It has a challenging course with features found in few in any other similar events, such as the ropes, the tunnel, and the Trail from Hell. A lot of planning must go into it, as everything went smoothly, without any mishaps that I heard of. The aid station are well stocked and the volunteers are enthusiastic, helpful, and know there jobs. Many thanks to Randy, Ron, and all of the many volunteers that made it happen. Best Regards, Chuck