I once heard a wise man say that most people over-estimate what they can do in a year and under-estimated what they can do in a day. That sparked a mini obsessed with me and what can be accomplished in one day. I’m competitive as hell, love climbing mountains and it was inevitable that I would eventually see how many 14ers I could climb in one day. I put together a plan: 10 mountains. 45+ miles. 18,000’+ feet of elevation gain almost entirely over 11,000’. 3 ½ hours of driving between trailheads. One calendar day starting and ending at midnight. I’d use the “Colorado Rule” to gain and lose 3,000’ of elevation gain on each peak or group of peaks as well the 300’ prominence rule which means I don’t count Mt. Cameron. The current “FKT” owner Eric Lee (9 peaks in 24 hours) named his trip report blog “do or do not, there is no try” and I can’t think of any way to improve on that mindset, so lets roll.
Being a flatlander from Michigan, I made the obvious assumption I should probably acclimate for a few days. So, I took the week off work and Friday night I packed up the family including my 7-month old and 2 ½ year old in the dad-van and drove 1,300 miles to Colorado. If you’ve never driven an infant and toddler halfway across the country, I can assure you that while an adventure, it’s not the best way to start a restful week of acclimatizing. I also wanted to get a long run in before the trip as my last training run for the attempt. I usually run by time so I planned a 3 hour run. The only problem was that when I got to 3 hours I was at 23.5 miles and figured it wouldn’t be right to NOT get to 26.2 miles. So, slightly sore quads and children in tow, I rolled into Silverthorne at 10am and then basically took 3 days to feel like a normal human again.
I had done a 1 day cross country trip where I take the 7am flight from Detroit to Denver to climb Gray’s & Torrey’s real quick before heading back to the airport to take the 5pm flight back to Detroit and then drive home to Kalamazoo. So, I had scouted those 2 peaks a few days earlier and my sister who helped crew me had recently climbed DeCaLiBron. I only needed to scout the West Ridge up Evans and Sawtooth as well as the West Ridge approach on Missouri Mountain and Elkhart Pass to Oxford. I did the Bierstadt/Sawtooth/Evans scouting early on Sunday morning. I promised the family I’d be home by 10am, so I got there at dawn and tried to hustle. It took longer than I’d hoped to scout the Sawtooth and had to run as fast I could down Bierstadt to make it in time. Combined with a practice marathon Friday and the 18-hour car ride, I didn’t do the whole “taper” thing very well. I scouted the Rockdale Road river crossings and trail up Missouri on Wednesday and now it was go time.
The “rules” for an FKT are that you must do whatever the person before you did and if you do something to make it even harder, that becomes the new “rule”. So, currently the “rules” were:
- Colorado Rule – Must gain and lose 3,000’ of elevation for each peak or group of peaks
- Prominence Rule – Only peaks with at least 300’ of prominence count.
- No repeating peaks – 10 separate peaks
I decided to add an extra wrinkle by make it a calendar day and not just 24 hours. I think that’s cool because it really is “one day” and not just a 24-hour period. It also makes it a lot harder in my mind because you’re trying to get sleep in the afternoon and early evening and then get up 10-11pm to go run. I managed about 2-3 hours of sleep that evening and tossed and turned until 10:30pm.
We ordered a Domino’s pizza as it was the only place open at 11pm when we rolled out of Silverthorne. I ate most of the entire pizza as we drove up the Grays/Torreys trailhead. My dad crewed me the entire day which was awesome. We got to the trailhead around 11:30 and I did my active stretching, got the gear ready and at the stroke of midnight, started up the trail by the light of headlamp and a full moon.
Whenever I’m doing a race or attempt over 26.2 miles, I’m strict on keeping heart rate in the aerobic zone which for me is 149bmp or less. I managed to get up Gray’s in 1:28 while keeping heart rate zones steady. My plan was to take a CLIFshot gel about 10 minutes before each big climb and then eat as much as I could stomach the rest of the time. Not terribly scientific but I never eat enough and my best guess was this attempt was going to burn 10,000 calories or more. I took an energy shot at the summit and traversed over to Torrey’s. There was a guy in the saddle without a headlamp on and when I first saw him out of nowhere it was freaky. I’ve been less freaked out by startling bears on the Appalachian Trail than being surprised to see a human in the saddle out of nowhere alone in the dark at 1:30am. Anyways, I digress… I made it to Torrey’s at 1:54am and then jogged most of the way back down to the car. I made it to the trailhead at 2:53am to lose 3,000’ of elevation and make the first two official.
Dad drove me to 11,200’ on Guanella Pass and dropped me off on the road to walk the 1+ mile up to the trailhead to gain the full 3,000’ on my way up Evans. He drove to the trailhead and met up with me to hike through the muddy willows with me. I wear road running shoes when climbing in the mountains. The Adidas Energy Boost 3’s has crazy cushioning and more energy return than any shoe other than the new Nike Vaperfly 4%. I’ve never had an issue with this and I’m much lighter on my feet than those climbing in bulky trail shoes or heavy boots. I new the willows would get my shoes crazy wet, so Dad hiked with me so we could do a shoe change 1.75 miles ahead at the start of the gully up the west ridge. He took my wet shoes back to the TH to sleep for a few hours and I went up Evans.
I made the summit at 6:22 and was a little annoyed by how long it took. My other crew member/pacer was my sister Laura. She met me on top of Evans to take my trekking poles which I didn’t want to take over the Sawtooth nor run down Bierstadt with. I left in a hurry and quickly managed to take a rather nasty fall that left my right shin bruised and bloodied. I had to stop jogging and walk for a few minutes. More of limp, really. It looks like a crime scene right now. Whatever, I was behind my anticipated pace and knew I didn’t have the perfect route through the Sawtooth in reverse, so I shook it off and got going.
The Sawtooth is mostly fun if you’re not in a hurry. When Eric did 9 in one day he started with this group and went from Evan’s to Bierstadt in less than an hour. I have no idea how the frick he did that. I have no doubt he could smash my time and probably do 1-2 more than I did if he really wanted to take another crack at this. I was slowed a little by my embarrassing tumble/shin smashing, my route through the Sawtooth was probably less than perfect and I tried to keep my heart rate from getting into the 150’s as much as possible and it took me 1:40 to do the traverse. I think the only way I could do that traverse in under an hour is to scout it several more times and then “race” it.
Anyways, I popped up on Bierstadt at 8:03am, snapped a photo and started running down the trail. About a mile down the trail I managed to take another spill. This one was hilarious as I did a full barrel roll, you know, kind like a cartoon character. Luckily, it was right in front of a super attractive hiker girl, so I was more worried about my bruised ego than bruised hip. I ran back down to the trailhead and then down Guanella Pass road to 11,000’ where Dad picked me up and we were off to Kite Lake.
I made a chart of how long I anticipated each trailhead and peak would take. This allowed to me to come up with a “pace” for each to let me know if I was ahead or behind the pace to hit 10 in one day. When we reached 11,000’ on the Kite Lake road at 10:19am and I started hiking up I was around 25 minutes ahead of my pace. I made good time up the road and started up Democrat. My only goal on the DeCaLiBron loop was to go steady and strong while keeping the heart rate under 150. I knew that I would need some energy for the final 3 which would be the most elevation gain by far. My overall time of 4:35 was definitely not fast but I felt great, very strong with a ton of energy.
My goal was to get to the Missouri Mountain trailhead by 5pm so I’d have 7 full hours to climb that group of 3 and get back down to 11,000’. I summitted Democrat at 12:10pm, Lincoln at 1:25pm and Bross at 1:59pm. I passed over Cameron since it’s on the route but since it doesn’t have the prominence I didn’t worry about times or a photo. We took off for the Rockdale trailhead and final three mountains just before 3pm. There was a huge fire right off the 285 road and I was panicking they might close the road but luckily it worked out and we weren’t slowed down other than by gawkers.
The Rockdale road with it’s stream crossings and rough road was a ton of fun to drive up in our rented Jeep. It also takes longer than you think to drive up and we ended up starting at 5:15pm. I figured it would take at least 6 hours to do the 3 mountains in the current tired condition I was in. 35-ish miles with 2 ½ miles of elevation gain all above 11,000’ will definitely cause a little soreness in the ole’ hamstrings. Considering the circumstances, I did feel great, had no elevation issues, had energy and while a little sore here and there, felt better than expected.
If you haven’t taken the west ridge up Missouri Mountain, it’s kind of like 2 hours on the stair-master using only your toes to climb, it’s steep. But the valley you approach in is probably in the top 5 most spectacular I’ve ever seen. As the sun started getting lower over the valley it was hard not to stop for a few minutes and enjoy it. But alas, we were running tight up against time and I had to keep moving. The west ridge gains 2,500’ feet in less than two miles, so my slowest mile of the day was trekking up that ridge while trying to keep my heart rate out of anaerobic zones. This mountain group was the only one I had a pacer for. I have a bad habit in ultra-marathons of running to the point of passing out, so I figured someone should probably follow me up just in case. My sister and I made the summit of Missouri at 7:11pm. This was about 24 minutes ahead of “pace” to get 10 before the clock struck midnight but I knew the trail was steep down as well as rocky and slippery which would kill my time and going up Elkhart pass would be tough… not to mention the up and down on both Oxford and Belford.
We descended Missouri as quickly as we could and started up Elkhart Pass. It seemed to take forever and this was the first time the entire day that I started to feel a little tired of hiking. Apparently 20 hours is the point where it stops being my favorite thing to do (insert smiley face here). We made the base of Belford via the pass and my sister decided to stay there as she was fatigued from all the elevation gain. She’d re-join me on my way back over Belford.
The sun had set and darkness was falling on the traverse. The descent of Belford isn’t fun and we took too much time to get up the pass. I was doing mental math in my head and trying to figure out how fast I’d have to go to descend to 11’100 in time. It would be close. There is something about the darkness… It effects you. I was trying to go as fast as I could but for the first time I was having doubts. I ran down and started power hiking up what I thought was surely the summit of Oxford… but nope, once on top of a false summit I could make out Oxford’s profile in what seemed like a half mile away in the distance. Exhausted, I sat down on the dirt and fell apart. Surely, with Oxford still that far away, I’d never make it.
The darkness. It can bring you down… but it can also motivate you. I remember an amazing podcast on “Impact Theory” with James Lawrence (aka, the Iron Cowboy). He once did a full Ironman in all 50 states in 50 days, the most amazing physical achievement I’ve ever heard of. He talked about a moment on his 30th straight Ironman in 30 days where at mile 80 on the bike, a got off, put the kickstand down, and curled up into a ball and started to cry. He spoke about how the only way to get back up, ride another 20 miles, run a marathon and then do 20 more Ironman’s in 20 days, was to have the right reasons. And not one reason, you must have several reasons and they must be your “true north”. If you have those reasons, you will get up and you will finish. My internal drive is usually enough, but when I need that extra reason, it’s my sons. I want them to be strong men who make the world a better place. Who do the hard things and not just take the easy path. I have one other reason too, one that makes the darkness a motivator.
Ever since breaking the US highpointing record a few years ago, I don’t have many doubters anymore. But I do have a random “text troll” who uses a website to send anonymous disparaging text messages about how I’m not actually good at endurance sports and should quit (seriously). When I was driving between trails I got service for a moment and get a nice text from him calling me an amateur who would definitely fail at this attempt. I know it’s someone from a running group I’m apart of but when someone cowardly hides behind the internet to try and discourage people, you usually can’t know exactly who it is. Honestly, I love this guy. Having a “hater” is so motivating to me. During my moment of cell service, I also got dozens of encouraging messages from the 14ers Facebook group. Total strangers taking time out of their day to support someone they don't know. As I sat in the dirt, feeling hopelessly behind pace and starring at Oxford’s profile seemingly miles in the distance… I thought of my reasons. I thought about my sons and how I want them to be proud of me. How I want my boys to not be afraid to take on huge challenges. I thought of my text troll and how badly I want that coward to sit behind his screen and read about my success. And I thought about all the lovely people on the 14ers Facebook group that were watching and encouraging and how much I didn't want to let them down. The darkness is so powerful. I made it my motivator. I had 2 hours and 45 minutes left with 2 mountains and 3,000’ of descent left. I didn’t know how it would play out… but I knew I was going to lay down everything I am as a human on this mountain range and let the chips fall where they may.
I got up out of the dirt, turned towards Oxford and started to run. There was a headlamp mix-up and I ended up with a really weak headlamp of my sisters and I could barely make out trail. It didn’t matter, I just kept running, knowing I’d trip over rocks again and again. I got up to Oxford at 9:31pm, snapped a quick photo of my watch/GPS and started running towards Belford. Somehow, despite inadequate lighting, I never fell. I ran with everything I had between the saddle until I reached the tough 600’ incline up Belford. I went up that mountain with a rage. I was channeling the darkness now, I was the darkness and nothing was stopping me. I’ve planned this for 2 years, put in 6,000 miles of training and now I was here… just short of my 10th summit. The love of my family and the wonderful strangers on 14ers facebook group is what got me out of the dirt, the rage to prove myself is what got me to the top faster than I believed I could. I made the top of Belford at 10:21. I’m sure that a typical ultra runner just doing this loop would think a 50 minute traverse time was pedestrian but man did it feel like the greatest hour of effort I’ve ever thrown down.
I caught my breath on Belford, took my last Cliff Shot and a photo of the GPS/watch. I would have 90 minutes to downclimb just under 3 miles to get to 11,100’ and get the record. Not hard when you’re fresh but after 40+ miles up 18,000+ feet I was taking it quite seriously. It’s incredible how my mindset changed in that hour from hopeless to absolute confidence. The first two miles of the trail down Belford are very steep switch backs with enough loose pebbles, dirt and scree that it’s hard to go quickly. Even though I had enough time, I wanted to make sure we weren’t lollygagging. It felt like forever but we finally made the Missouri Trail junction and now had less than a mile left. I didn’t have much left physically, so we power hiked down instead of running.
At 11:33pm we arrived at 11,100’ where my dad greeted us and that was that. Ten 14ers in one day (11 if your one to count Cameron). The mile and half hike to the parking lot was the most miserable hike of my life and I kept trying to lay down on the trail and rest but dad and sister got me moving until we got to the car around 12:30am. We arrived back to our place in Silverthorne around 2am. I ate a bowl of Reece’s Puff cereal, took a 15-minute shower to get all the mountain dirt of my body and went to sleep. I do want to specifically thank everyone on the 14ers.com Facebook group for being so incredibly encouraging before, during and after this attempt. This is truly a wonderful community that I’m so grateful to be a small part of.
I hope my crazy day of 14ers does 3 things. First, I have no doubt that a few really good ultra mountain runners can not only destroy my time for 10 but add in Quandary and Sherman. I hope this becomes a thing and I have a small little part at the start before better runners than myself eventually get to 14 in one day (and yes, I believe it's possible). Second, I hope this encourages some people to take chances. I tried this attempt last year and quit after 5 peaks. It was that "failure" that had the most to do with this years success. Take a day trip across the country, go do something crazy. We always say things like "YOLO" but how often do we really make a day something extraordinary? Our day is only limited by our imagination. Third, it's a beautiful contrast between my "text troll" and the kind words on the 14ers Facebook group. I thought about this for hours as I run and climbed alone during the afternoon. I know some people reading this are hurting because of the actions and words of others. Take the darkness they spit and turn it into your power. Sometimes a little rage is the last ingredient need to achieve greatness. What you do in the dark is what puts you in the light. And in contrast to that, never forgot how much a small word of encouragement can mean to someone who desperately needs it at that moment. Special thanks to my family and the dozens of strangers of 14ers Facebook who supported me throughout this crazy adventure of a day.
TIMELINE:
12:00am – Start
1:28am – Gray’s summit
1:54am – Torrey’s summit
2:53am – 3,000’ descent
3:43am – Start
6:22am – Summit Evan’s
8:03am – Summit Bierstadt
9:10am – 3,000’ descent
10:19am – Start
12:10pm – Summit Democrat
1:25pm – Summit Lincoln
1:59pm – Summit Bross
2:58pm – 3,000’ descent
5:16pm – Start
7:11pm – Summit Missouri
9:31pm – Summit Oxford
10:21pm – Summit Belford
11:33pm – 3,000’ descent
45+ miles. 18,000+ elevation gain/loss. 23 hours, 33minutes
LINKS:
SPOT Satellite tracker:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0yDPSIkQ8L6xH2HvC1e2DQHevYUCg7LcM
Strava/GPS: https://www.strava.com/athletes/11509007
