Walter's Cabin, Shrine Mountain Inn

Chris and I just got back from our first hut trip of the winter! We chose Walter's Cabin, one of the three at Shrine Mountain Inn on Vail Pass. As it turned out,  just a couple of weeks after booking for this past weekend, Dec 20th, we asked my family to do a hut trip with us for Christmas. If you've ever done a hut trip, you know that these types of trips can be very to extremely challenging. Since this hut is the easiest on the circuit (2.7 miles from the trailhead and very well marked with little elevation gain) we booked neighboring hut Jay's for Christmas. Needless to say, this trip turned into a bit of a recon mission.

Saturday, Dec 20th

We left Boulder at 9am and were at the Vail Pass trailhead by 11am. The snowmobilers were out with a force but luckily there is a road designated for them and a well marked trail for the backcountry skiers and showshoers. The temperature was near zero and the wind was ripping across the ridge. I later learned that is was negative 30 with windshield. With hand warmers and feet warmers I was fine until about an hour in when my circulation gave way and my hands froze. It seems that as I get older the colder I get and the more painful the experience becomes. I blame all the years of skiing and freezing on the side of East Coast mountains, like at north facing Wildcat Mountain in NH...perhaps the coldest place on earth. Luckily Chris came to the rescue, as he always seems to, and gave me his awesomely warm Himilayan gloves. About 30 seconds after that he decided to substitute out his already purchased gift with a women's pair of these same gloves for Christmas!

Perhaps the coolest part about our two and a half hour ski into the hut was seeing three ptarmigan birds. They look like fat white doves. We took a couple of pictures, then our camera froze. They scampered off and we faced the winds again. Even though this route is extremely straight forward, I will admit that I was glad to reach the hut when we did. With these low temps and wind, here's my gear recap:

Gear - from head to toe

Burlemaster (fully covered head and face mask)

Volcom winter hat with huge pom pom (good steez factor)

Pink googles

Capilene long sleeve

R1 fleece

Montbell micropuffy

Arcteryx shell (with hood on!)

Thin socks

R1 capilene pants

Second layer Isis pants

Mammut ski pants

Hand and feet warmers

Karhu Jils

Dynafit bindings

G3 skins

Ski poles

Osprey backpack with a few extra items inside including food, extra socks, bivy sac, LL Bean Wicked Good Slippers, and my new REI polartec stretch fleece to hang out in at the hut.

*Ok ok, I included some brand names in my description. It has taken me nearly 3 years to accumulate these items and I figure that I may as well be proud and loud! Secondly, I have learned the HARD way that not having gear that actually works is uncomfortable and pretty much sucks. This feeling becomes exagerated when you have a boyfriend who is not spitefully saying..."Wow babe, I'm so sorry that you're cold, wet, blue and shaking. I am perfectly dry because my gear is bomber." This statement, heard on multiple trips, has led to large REI dividends. 

(REI gives members 10% of what they spent over the last year as cash towards any purchase in March every year.)

Back to the trip recap. The wind was in our face and my burlemaster was completely frozen around my mouth. I must have had a gaper gap on my left cheek because I could feel the frost bite forming. It wasn't pleasant but soon enough we took at sharp left into the trees where we were protected once more. There are three huts at Shrine Mountain Inn called Jay's, Chuck's, and Walter's. Between Jay's and Chuck's there is a wood powered sauna. Just past Chuck's there is a year round hut attendant named Sheri who has lived there in her yurt for the past 7 years with her three dogs and previously with a boyfriend. She was changing the towels in our hut (changing the towels?!? more on that soon...) when we met her and her dogs on the trail. She was super friendly and not strange as you might imagine someone to be who lives full time on the top of a gnarly and wintery pass. 

We were told that these huts were 5 star compared to other huts, but wow, were these 5 star. This hut had running water that is drinkable, a gas burning stove with a thermometer, oriental rugs, full size beds with covers and pillows, a shower, electricity, and a hut attendant who changes out towels every three days. The hut, as they all are, was beautiful with 2 feet wide tree trunk rafters and huge windows, which at this point showed off the howling winds and white out conditions.

We were greeted by two ladies who also live in Boulder named Toni and Laura. Toni is a "recovering" commune living Hindu who spent the last 13 years meditating for 6 hours a day and hopping around like a frog attempting to achieve levitation. Laura is an MD who spent 10 years in the military in flight rescue. Their backgrounds alone gave us a night time worth of conversation, which we spent cheerfully over our naglenes of red wine. The wind blew all night and temperatures dropped to negative 11 outside, but we spent the night toasty inside our mountain retreat and intoxicated with good conversation.

Just before 7am Chris and I woke up to the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen. The weather had cleared and the view from the hut is of Copper Mountain and the 10 Mile Mountain range beyond it. The snow capped peaks glowed peach, pink, and orange. We were so thankful to have clear skies that the sunrise was that much more wonderful.

Well, that is pretty much it! We ate breakfast, cleaned up, packed our bags and headed out. The air was calm and we could actually see the mountains today. We got out in about an hour, talked to some snowmobilers and hit the road.

Take Aways - Bring warm gloves and extra hand and feet warmers. For the unexpected nice day when your goggles fog up on your noggin, bring sunglasses.

5430 Long Course Race Report

If you had asked any competitor how they felt about the upcoming 5430 Long Course, each would say - it's going to be hot. The res is notorious for providing no shelter from the sun. Barry, the race director, warns competitors that the course is "exposed" and to stay hydrated.

All month Boulder has been blistering hot. During workouts it has felt like every ray of the sun was aimed directly at us. Strangely, last Monday the clouds rolled in over the Flatirons and gave us a few rain showers. The effect cooled Boulder down 25 degrees, but the question still loomed, will this last for race day?




Sunday August 10th the Boulder Reservoir teamed with competitors. Hot air balloons filled the sky and the Flatirons branded the place as distinctly Boulder. With little time to waste I racked my bike, grabbed my wetsuit and headed to the water. I was in the third wave, which gave me a 20 minute lead over my boyfriend, brother, and other friends.





Swim - Looking out at the course, the sun was so low that it was impossible to see the buoys. Based on the aggressive stroke & stride competitions every Thursday night, I decided to line up to the right and in the back of the other girls. This turned out to be a bit stupid as I felt like I was climbing over the other swimmers and running into people the whole time. I must have stopped at least 8 times to paddle away from swimmers who cut sideways across my path or to avoid a heal in the face.

Overall the swim felt amazing. I kept thinking, all of my training all summer has led to this. It's here, race day is here!

I rounded the last yellow buoy and headed for shore. The crowd was awesome and the sand was lined deeply with fans. I saw my mom and our friend Sarah cheering me on. I was out in 44 minutes.



T1 took forever - nearly 5 minutes. I don't know what the heck I was doing but I took my time, clearly.

Bike - I've ridden the course many times and knew what to expect. My strategy was to ride Jay Road and 75th in my aero bars or in the drops and to ride 36 and St Vrain in the hoods. I had only put my aero bars on earlier in the week so I certainly wasn't ready to ride down the fast St Vrain in them, or up and down the hills on 36. Overall I stayed low for nearly the whole ride, which was awesome. Kaustub passed me coming out of the res, I saw Diana on Jay cheering us on, I saw Andy Chernaik & Alex Parillo somewhere on Jay Rd (passing me), Dary, my brother, at the turn around on 65th, and my boyfriend Chris George on the second loop. Towards the end of the loop at the Niwot intersection I saw my Mom. I was having a blast on the ride and it was super fun to see so many people I knew. After all the tapering over the past week, exercising never felt better. Plus, the cloud covered stayed for the whole ride! It was cool out! I finished the ride 25 minutes faster than expected in 3:27.



T2 - Again, this took forever, this time I used the bano before moving on, nearly 5 minutes.

Run - I was happy to be out of the saddle, but I knew this was the hard part. My goal was to run each mile and walk through the aid stations. The first couple of miles were hot and hilly. I found that dumping cold water on my head gave me great relief and a boost in focus. I saw Alex again and I gave him a high five and he said - leave it all out on the course! Shortly after I saw Brett - both of these guys were finishing their second loop. I still had 2 hours to go.

(Brett chasing down Alex...)


Dary


Chris


Abby


I saw my mom and our friend Sarah again, both sending me lots of encouragement. I knew I had a long way to go but I still felt strong. Mile 4-7 were pretty fast - plus I had run this part of the course before at Stroke & Stride.

Onto my second loop! Ok, these hills seem harder this time. I was turning into a weirdo hooting and hollering, clapping my hands, telling myself you go girl, and singing songs in my head like - you don't need no water let the mother f'er burn! Mostly these were grunts of pain and silliness. The people around me were bonding over the tough parts and once we got past mile 10 we were pushing each other to the finish. I popped my last gel and plugged to the finish. Waiting for me at the end was my mom, my bro Dary, my boyfriend Chris, and friends Brett and Sarah. They were all cheering for me with big smiles and arms waving. Fist pumping I had a huge grin on my face too! I crossed the line baby!

2:34 on the run (which included a bathroom stop), and 6:55 overall. YEA!! 70.3 miles completo!



This was such a fun summer getting into triathlon. I've moved over a lane in swim class and can see ways to improve through training. We've met lots of friends at the BTC (Boulder Triathlon Club) and at Flatirons Athletic Club. I'm looking forward to more of this! But for now, it's time to rest and enjoy the mountains of Colorado.

Thanks for reading.