Mt. Wrightson Ascent, Sept. 9, 2007

Hello Runners!
Welcome to the new season of runs here in the hot, stinking desert.
We started off, appropriately, with a run up a mountain.  Starting at a few minutes after 7:00 (thanks Ross for covering for the late RD) we had 16 runners blast slowly out of the starting gate and ascend Mt. Wrightson via the Old Baldy trail.  This is the shorter, steeper route for a 5.2 mile run up of about 4,000 feet.  The morning was perfect for living, but especially so for running.  There was water at the spring, although not in the trough as the pipe connection is not functional, but the temps were mild, so the need was not great. 
Again, the helicopter failed to show, so we had to run back down.  Some descended via Old Baldy, while others descended via Super Trail, as did this author.  The run down was perfect, with several of us pushing and pulling the group to an unprecedented pace.  This route is about 3.6 miles longer but is eminently more runnable.  The views on the south side, after the fire of two years ago, are spectacular.  Water was coursing down a small drainage, so I naturally stopped to drink.  It poured off of a rock at chest height, at the base of a dead juniper and as I drank the cool, clear water, Reed looked up at the burned slope and said “charcoal filtered”.  It was the absolute best water in the world and a memory I will keep on file and pull up every mid-June from now on.   A great run on a great day with a great group of people! gj

Wrightson Ascent, Sept. 9, 2007

Joel Woppert            49      1:18:53
Nate Polaske            25      1:20:01
Bruce Johnson          53      1:31
Raoul Erickson         39      1:36#
Joe Plassmann         42      1:42:04
G. Joseph                55      1:44#
Tonja Chagaris         34      1:53:20*
Johnny Lyons           33      1:53
Mahendra Jani          53      1:54
Pete Chagaris          34      1:55*
Ross Zimmerman    54      1:57:56
John Hall                 37      1:59
Kristi Kane               36      1:59*
Ann Vonkersberg      46      1:59*
Reed Harris              56      2:02
Brenda Koski            46      2:02

Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007
Joe Theobald                    –      —-

*= early start
#= late start

First Impressions–Vibram Fivefingers

Gene told me about these. I don’t know what to call them–fivefingers I guess. They are certainly not shoes. I picked up a red pair at Summit Hut. Here’s a picture of a blue one from the Vibram Fivefingers website–

I went to the east end of Broadway and ran about 3.6 miles. I stopped 3 times to dump sand out. I think I need to talk to Joe Dana about custom gaiters. My feet are definitely not used to fivefingers yet. Rocks hurt a lot. My feet are very tired and generally achy tonight. Tomorrow I’ll wear shoes if I run, then I’ll try the fivefingers for 3 miles on Friday. Getting toes lined up right is tricky. They actually felt good on pavement for the last few hundred yards. I think my toes were the happiest part of my feet–they liked being able to flex freely.

This morning I wore the fivefingers to take the trash down to Soldier Trail.  My feet were still pretty sore and tired.  By late morning I’m noticing they feel better.   I was concerned about stone bruises yesterday, but it doesn’t feel like any of the rocks that caused intense pain yesterday did lasting damage.

Molino to Sabino Basin Trail

On Sunday, Sept. 2, I ran from Molino Basin to Sabino Basin and back. The first ascent and descent into Sycamore creek was uneventful and the trail was minimally rutted. In Sycamore and along the creek, especially the first part, the trail is overgrown and somewhat difficult to follow. It helps to know where the trail is supposed to be. There was good water flowing at the creek crossing just before Head Splitter. This is a closed drainage and I don’t hesitate to drink there. I was not expecting the trail from Head Splitter down to have been worked on, but it was. There were several major washouts from last year’s flooding just below Head Splitter. These have been cleaned up and the trail built back up with rock bases so these areas are easily passable. There still are problems, however. The trail is badly rutted in places and this coupled with the fact that the vegetation has grown over the trail (one year of disuse) means slow going with your eyes on the ground. This will never be the trail that it was when it was paved. There are sections here where the trail is barely hanging on to the slope. The good news here is that fewer horses will travel here because of the conditions. I predict few Bear Canyon times under 3:30. As the season progresses the trail will be easier to see, but the ground in many places needs to be worked.