Pierre's Hole 100

88.2 miles

12,439ft of vert

8:47:55

3^rd Place SS

Another fantastic race put together by Andy and the volunteers in the Teton Valley.  It was almost a déjà vu moment Friday night before the race, as a gnarly thunderstorm rolled in dumping rain and lightning throughout the night.  Like last year, this made for muddy conditions during the first lap and hero dirt for the last two.  Sadly missing from this year’s race was AJ, single speed legend, and frankly my inspiration to get into this crazy sport.  Despite this, many people paid tribute to AJ by racing in his jersey and utilizing his “HTFU” mantra. 

Riding rigid ain't too bad!

Just an awesome photo

The first mile or so of the first lap is a stout climb on a cat track that really split up the racers before hitting singletrack.  Corey and I were out front among the other single speeders just behind the lead group, and we would ride together for the entire first lap and the start of the second.  Muscular fatigue started to set in during the first few miles of the second lap (byproduct of the 34x19 gearing and a hot start), which forced me to slow down and let Corey go…singing T Swift or something as he passed.  I stayed in second place all the way until the top of the 38 Special descent, where Quin would pass me.  At first glance, I thought it was a geared rider because he was on a Scalpel, but as Quin passed I realized it was SS with a chain tensioner…awesome!  Now in third, I was determined to hold my position and catch back up to Quin.  Once I reached the Rick’s Basin area the motivation to finish under 9hrs was strong, and those last few miles were probably the strongest I’ve ever finished a race. 

SS Podium

Getting back to the déjà vu, I finished in third place like last year a few minutes behind Quin, and 20 minutes or so behind Corey.  It was also nice to see Brian and Andy supporting me at the finish! Not a bad way to celebrate a birthday, time to drink some Idaho double IPA and rest up for the Park City P2P.  

Now I just need a belt for it!

  

Introduction: BC Coast Range

We booked tickets to Seattle for an August trip to British Columbia around the beginning of the year. Originally, our plan was to do a sea kayaking adventure, but our recent packraft investment made us change our plans.

Dani looks out over the Squamish River on the Ashlu Bridge the morning after the rain.

Our former neighbors, Joe and Erika, not only let us borrow their awesome camper van, but provided airport pickup and drop off as well. We arrived @ SeaTac on Saturday morning and got breakfast in Edmonds - where we dropped Joe to ferry back to Port Angeles. Below is our road trip route:

Pictured below is the Squamish River valley - and one of the rivers that we would run in our packrafts. Our plan was to continue up the Squamish River to its confluence with the Elaho River - where we would turn NW and continue into the Coast Range on an old logging road. The upper stretches of the Elaho - Simms Creek and the Clendennig looked to be incredible packraft options. 

However, at the confluence we ran into a fire crew that let us know the entire area was on fire - and had been for some time. We audibled and chose to stick around the lower Squamish.

The Squamish River Valley is nestled between some incredible ranges. Almost all of the peaks are glaciated, and there are several large ice fields - such as the Pemberton Icefield that drain the basin. All the ice means that the river moves the most water in the summer when glacial melt is high.

It also means that the mountains are covered in cascading waterfalls in almost every direction.

Put in location - we were able to get a ride with one of the fire fighters after hiking the forest service road. I left my helmet in his car and had to speed hike the extra miles up to the fire camp to get it back before we could raft.

Camp

After exploring the Squamish - we headed up the Ashlu river. Pictured above and below the Ashlu has Class V+ sections that are popular with kayakers. We hoped that the upper basin would have a lower gradient and some better water for the packrafts.

Our trip up the Ashlu was short lived. The road became too narrow to travel by car long before we were able to reach the upper valley - so we set up camp in a nice remote spot and called it a day.

While up the Ashlu canyon we opted for a hike Tuesday morning to salvage the lack of runnable river. We started up the Sigurd Lake trail for about ~1500' to a small waterfall. The trail took us through some incredible old growth forest with some of the largest trees we've seen.

After the hike we spent about 3 hours floating down the Cheakamus River just outside of the town of Squamish. This urban trip was really great. We saw a lot of jumping salmon- and ran a good Class III rapid at our takeout by Fergie's Cafe.

We took the rafts out into the Howe Sound on our final morning for a nice relaxing paddle and saw a harbor seal. The plan was to then take the Sea to Sky Gondola up for a hike high in the mountains - but the $40/person prices and heavy smoke turned us towards Lighthouse Park - a historical park in an old growth forest just across the river from downtown Vancouver.

Long drive back to Seattle - should have stayed longer. Thanks again to Joe and Erika for letting us borrow the camper van and providing airport transportation. We owe you guys!

next time ..........

Garibaldi Lake > Upper Pitt River > Pitt River Hot Spring > Pinecone Lake > Mamquam FSR

Zion Canyoneering: Birch Hollow and Keyhole

Off to Zion NP with Dani and Brian Conley to explore some new canyons.

Dani on my favorite rap of the trip because of the ridiculously boulder wedged in the canyon.

Brian is Dani's former principal from Northwest Middle - where they learned that they share a passion for exploring So Utah canyons. Brian had explored canyons in Escalante, Zion, and Capitol Reef - but was new to rappelling.... So Dani asked him about coming on a summer trip to try it out.

Dani on 1st Rappel

We spent a good bit of time going over the basics - using the car as an anchor.

Brian mastered the fundamentals quickly, and we shortly it was game time - a 120 foot rap over the pour off pictured above. I still remember my first rappel from about 5 years ago - it was down the Narcolepsy Wall in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Despite being about 60' and not very exposed, Thad had to basically push me over the edge. 

Brian was calm and cool as he simply weighted the rope and walked off the edge.

 Saturday night we enjoyed one of the best desert car camping experiences of recent memory. Exhausted from a day of canyoning and long exit hike - we cooked incredible food - drank fine "wine" - and enjoyed great company.

"Hulk?" 

Brian in Birch Hollows fluted walls.

iPhone Pano

Keyhole was short and sweet - about 2 hours total time car door to car door. What it lacked in length it made up for in quality - the final 4 or 5 rappels are incredible and require some fun swimming.

"Swimming through slanted corridor"