Beautiful, clear morning on Loon Mtn, with the leaves just starting to change. Put in an extra 350' this morning by choosing the WRONG descent trail with about 1,300' left on the way back down the mountain. After heading down about 350' and nearly crapping my pants I decided to turn around, hike back up, and take the smart trail the rest of the way down. There's a really cool lake about 300'-400' down from the summit that's a little off the trail. This will make for a great spot to run to tomorrow morning, and call that my 150,000' mark. 1,890' remaining.
Starting with the sun - my favorite time of day.
Hmmm, maybe the mixed berry drink I was carrying wasn't a good idea. Do bears like beer?
The final 300' push to the summit.
Summit Sign.
View from the summit.
This is where I took the wrong turn. You'd think the 2 black diamonds would have been enough, or even the name RIPSAW, but I guess I had to see for myself.
This is where I chickened-out on the descent - it looks alot worse in real life! If I went any further I would have written a proper resume for Team Shart.
Starting with the sun - my favorite time of day.
Hmmm, maybe the mixed berry drink I was carrying wasn't a good idea. Do bears like beer?
The final 300' push to the summit.
Summit Sign.
View from the summit.
This is where I took the wrong turn. You'd think the 2 black diamonds would have been enough, or even the name RIPSAW, but I guess I had to see for myself.
Love the look of the graph. And yeah, Ripsaw looks like a broken ankle waiting to happen. I'd need gloves, and full body armor.
ReplyDeleteDude, you need to come out and rip the Jemez descents next year. That picture of the ski hill brings back some painful memories.
ReplyDeleteAlmost at the top of your very large mountain. Nice work!
Thanks guys! Yea, Nick I was actually thinking of you seperating yourself from the rest of the guys at Jamez (and taking a hard fall) when I first attempted to even walk down RIPSAW!
ReplyDeleteGZ - gloves and armor would be minimal on this. I turned around once, then called myself a few names, decided to do back down, 10 seconds later I turned back around for good, just cursing Nick on the way back to the easy trail.