- Ryan passing a sheet of ice en-route to the South Teton
Mindy, Ryan, John and I decided to run El Vaquero Loco 50km this past Saturday and boy are we glad that we did. What a completely stellar course in an area that I would otherwise likely never have stepped foot in. I had heard great things about it, but it far exceeded my expectations. Ty Draney and his crew really put on a top notch event. This years race started off with cold conditions that quickly rendered snow on the first climb. The snow didn’t last long and once it stopped the views were amazing with wild flowers still in bloom. The beauty is enough to make you fall on your face as you wrap around and between beautiful lakes making several small climbes before a wicked-cool 8 mile descent to the turn around point. A 25km also takes place the same day and starts 2.5 hrs after the 50km. So, about 10 minutes prior to me reaching the turn around point they had all started out. It was really fun to see so many people on the return trip.
Everyone had a blast and this was the longest run that John had ever done… and I think he is hooked… I could see it in his eyes at the finish line. John is such a talented athlete and it was great to see him so excited at the end. Mindy had a stellar race with a smile on her face for the entire race. Ryan was in great form and pounded the last descent in a time fast enough to fire up a recent injury again….
Afterwards Ryan, Mindy and I headed north to Jackson. I had originally planned to spend nearly every weekend in August learning the Grand Traverse, in hopes of seeing how fast I could do it at the end of the month. The weather, however, has not cooperated thus far. Given the crazy rain Saturday Ryan and I decided to avoid technical terrain and just hike up to the S. Teton. Mindy was far wiser and took it easy in in town.
Ryan ran up to the meadows in his Vibram Five-Fingers and we made some fun footprints in the snow to freak people out. Bigfoot! He then switched to “real” shoes and we navigated the boulder and snow fields up to the saddle between the Middle and South Tetons. The view was incredible!
The winds started to howl and snow started to fly again, so we turned around and had a blast running back to the car. Another stellar weekend, despite not really meeting the original objectives.
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| From Tetons 8-16-2009 |
[…] Loco 50km and S. Teton with Ryan and Mindy – Story […]
By: 2009 Re-Cap « Jared Campbell's Blog on February 22, 2010
at 9:21 pm
I’m excited for you to post a Grand Traverse attempt! I love reading your blog. Good Luck!
By: steve flindsay on August 30, 2009
at 1:49 pm
[…] I’ve learned is that your choice of activity is dictated by the weather. As indicated in my recent blog posting the weather in the Tetons has been strange this August and especially on Saturday/Sunday, when most […]
By: Open-Avalanche Loop « Jared Campbell's Blog on August 24, 2009
at 11:47 pm
Luke, it would have been great to have you there in the Tetons on Sunday, it was damn fun.
Ryan did look tired from the digging didn’t he. The cave is getting deep this year. Maybe we should pave it and install a railing. 🙂
Fine work at Vaquero, you tore it up. Nice job with a very solid new CR.
By: runuphill on August 17, 2009
at 10:20 pm
“Perfect alpine granite …”
By: Buzz on August 17, 2009
at 10:15 pm
Man I wish I could have gone on the day after the race adventure with you guys it looked like a ton of fun. It was super good to see you guys at the Vaquero, especially being able to see Ryan digging in the cave at the end. Good times for sure!
By: Luke Nelson on August 17, 2009
at 10:14 pm
Glad you made it up for the loco. You have me jazzed for our summer adventure. See you at GT.
By: Ty on August 17, 2009
at 8:18 pm