R*****s
发帖数: 41236 | 1 东邪上周末一个人爬山的经历，经过他允许转贴过来，
对mountain running/hiking有兴趣的可以借鉴一下..
While I'm still recovering from the 50 unreplied emails over last weekend, I
thought I should write a summary of my trip before the memory gets fuzzy.
My journey started at Maroon Lake 9:30 am Saturday July 7. My backpack
weighed 30 lbs. It included a sleeping bag, thermal reflective blanket, tarp
, three waterbottles, a camelbak, a bike helmet (in case of loose rocks), a
bunch of long sleeve shirts and a couple thin jackets (unfortunately, none
of them waterproof), 3 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of gloves, a poncho, headlamp
, batteries, a knife, pepper spray (for bears), deet, sunscreen, 4 clif bars
, 4 chocolate bars, 2 peanut butter cups, a bag of almonds (hard to believe
I was taking so little food for two days - what was I thinking? oh yeah, I
was trying to lose weight for the upcoming Ragnar relay!), water treatment
drops, a thin rope, maps, climbing guidebook. It's hard to believe that 5
years ago I was 30 lb heavier, and that back then I could run with all the
extra weight on my legs.
Saturday's weather was about as bad as it gets in the Elk Mountains. It
started to rain just as I left Maroon Lake. My poncho was good initially but
when I got above the tree line later it would have become completely
useless. Maroon Lake is 9560 ft in altitude. From there I would reach
Buckskin Pass at 12,462 ft after 2.5 hours. It took another couple hours
before I reached Snowmass Lake, at just under 11,000 ft. My plan was to
climb Snowmass Mountain from there, which proved way too ambitious since I
had no idea what kind of beast it would be. I followed a trail south of
Snowmass Lake and started gaining in elevation again, not realizing that I
wasn't heading to Snowmass Mountain, but Trail Rider Pass on its south side.
Thunderstorm came down hard. I waited under the tree line for 1.5 hours
before my patience ran out. It was still raining hard but the thunder mostly
stopped. I went above the tree line and started to climb towards Snowmass
Mountain. I didn't know that I was in fact climbing Hagerman peak instead.
The trail soon disappeared and I found myself struggling with what's turning
into a class 4 route. At this point I had five layers of clothes on me, all
completely drenched with water, and it was freezing and windy. I couldn't
care though because all I wanted is for my poncho to get the F out of my way
so that I could see what the hell I was stepping on. By the time I realized
that I wasn't gonna make it, it had already become impossible for me to
climb down with my 30 lb backpack. I had to let my backpack roll down the
rocks first and then climbed down. Then I brought out my guidebook and
realized I wasn't even close to Snowmass Mountain. I thought I would return
to Snowmass Lake and try to find the trailhead again. But I failed once
again. Even though the rain had mostly stopped, I had to go through thick
bushes along the tiny trails by Snowmass Lake, and my clothes and shoes just
got wetter and wetter, colder and colder. I returned to the campsite by
Snowmass Lake after 7pm, feeling crushed and dejected, while greeted by a
few campers. One guy asked me where I'm heading. I said I might try to reach
Capitol Lake. The reality was that I couldn't afford to stop. If I stand
around I will get hypothermia. But with the temperature quickly dropping, it
was unclear whether I could even last till Capitol Lake. And what would I
do after I get there? Surely I won't be able to climb Capitol peak feeling
like this. I didn't know where to go.
This is the point when I realized that I wasn't running a race. There is no
aid station, nobody to bring me hot soup, nobody to cheer me on. If I push
myself beyond exhaustion I may not be able to make it out of here. In the
mountains, you don't get to make the plans, the mountain does. Instead of
trying to cover as much distance as I could, I had to think about what to do
so that I'd still be alive the next morning.
I decided to camp out by Snowmass Lake. I brought out my tarp, took off all
my wet clothes and put on all the remaining semi-dry clothes, and snugged
into my sleepingbag, wrapped in the waterproof thermal blanket. The rain
came down again. I could only wrap myself up as tightly as possible, trying
to stay warm and let my body regenerate the heat. I fell asleep and woke up
at midnight. It was cold just to take a peek outside my sleepingbag. I saw
stars, and knew that the rain had stopped. I fell asleep again. At some
point I felt that two animals quickly approached me, one of them rubbed my
legs with its teeth. I grabbed the bear spray which I took with me inside
the sleepingbag and tried to use it. When I woke up in the morning, the bear
spray was still sealed in the plastic bag. So it was all a dream. Or was it?
Amazingly, I felt warm waking up in the morning, at 5:40am. I was lucky that
the campsite is to the east of Snowmass Mountain, where the temperature
rises quickly with the morning sun. There was no way I could carry all my
wet clothes up the mountains. I hang my wet clothes on my rope, left my
sleepingbag and tarp, and took the rest of my goods in my hiking pack. I
figured that I would give Snowmass Mountain one more try. This time, the
bushes alongside the tiny trail south of Snowmass Lake had dried, and I was
able to finally find the trailhead up Snowmass Mountain.
Unlike my previous 14ers, there was nobody else climbing Snowmass Mountain
on this day. Except one guy, who came down in the morning, saying that he
didn't make it to the top because he got chills when he got to the ridge.
The campers by the lake seemed to have no intention of climbing the mountain.
There was an enormous rock field on the east face of Snowmass Mountain. It
was a strenuous hike but technically simple (class 2). I lost sight on trail
marks and had to make an unexpected traverse on the snow field at one point
. I reach the ridge southeast of Snowmass Mountain around 10am. I had made
friends with boulders, patting some, calling others my buddies. It had took
a lot longer than I expected, but the real climb was only about to start.
Along the ridge was about a quarter mile of class 3 scrambling, and my
backpack which probably weighed 15 lb was already going to throw me off
balance. I had to leave my hiking bag behind, taking only my camelback with
me, without food or water, for the remaining climb to the peak.
I moved very slowly along the ridge, constantly having to worry about loose
rocks. This is when I tell myself that I won't ever bring my family here.
Sometimes I could jam my hands into a crack to secure my move, and it was a
great feeling. At 11:20am I made it to the peak. The view was spectacular.
But at this point I mostly just wanted to make it back alive. I was
delighted to find that I have cell phone signal at the top, made a quick
call to Heather, uploaded a couple pictures to Facebook letting my friends
know that I was still alive, and went back down. When I recovered my hiking
bag on the ridge it was like finding a lost friend. My limited trail running
skills came handy on the downhills. Even when the extra weight on my back,
I felt at ease hopping between large boulders. At some point I lost the
trail completely and skied on a field of loose rocks for a while. By the
time I returned to my campsite, the round trip from the base to Snowmass
Mountain top had taken 9.5 hours. It was by far the roughest 14er I've been
to.
I refilled my waterbottles and waited for my water treatment drops to take
effect. It was a struggle to put all my wet clothes back in my bag, which
probably weighed over 35 lb now. It is now time to travel back to Maroon
Lake, through Buckskin Pass again, in thunderstorm and hail again. I felt
like a lone traveler from the ancient ages. My legs were all that I could
depend on. I was surprised that they were holding up pretty well except for
a few bruises, and my feet were still in relative good condition despite
being soaking wet for the entire day. Once I got to Buckskin Pass, I hiked
down the trail as fast I could. It was 8:30pm when I reached Maroon Lake. I
had been on my foot for 14.5 hours. I had the option of either walking 10
more miles back to Aspen, or sleeping by Maroon Lake and wait for the bus
next morning. I felt like my shoulders were gonna give out, and decided to
sleep. This time it was easier since it was dry and I could sleep like a
hobo in the cave-like bus stop by Maroon Lake. The air was still cold and my
upper chest and throat felt tight. I only found out later that it was most
likely exercise induced asthma, something I had never experienced. Though my
legs weren't exactly as beat up as in some of my ultramarathon races, I had
probably pushed my body farther than ever before in this journey.
An adventure would not be an adventure if you always knew you were gonna
make it. Though I did not cover nearly as much distance or climbed as many
peaks as I naively thought I would, I did get more than what I asked for. I
always loved the mountains more than beaches or tropical islands. I would
rather struggle in the snow than bathe lazily in the sun. The mountains make
you strong, alert, make you miss your warm bed and family, make you
appreciate the trivial things of life. That, is worth living for. | s**********e
发帖数: 264 | 2 真是佩服的五体投地!!!版上的牛牛们都不是一般人啊！！！励志！ | r******r
发帖数: 116 | 3 写的真好。文笔很优美，宛如身临其境。
【在 s**********e 的大作中提到】
: 真是佩服的五体投地!!!版上的牛牛们都不是一般人啊！！！励志！
| m***g
发帖数: 1633 | 4 一字一句读完了。。。体力精力，探险精神，文风笔触，无一不赞! |
|
