Posts Tagged ‘Washington’

Deception Pass 50K Trail Ultramarathon

Sunday, December 15th, 2013

At Mile 29 of Deception Pass 50K
Picture Courtesy: Glen Tachiyama

On Sunday, I ran the Deception Pass 50K Trail Ultramarathon, held by Rainshadow Running. It was some of the most amazing trail running I have ever experienced. The course is designed with several lollipop loops, so as a middle of the pack runner, I frequently was cheered on by the lead pack as they passed me. The party at the end of the race was great; food and beer was amply supplied.

Deception Pass Route Map

The Pacific Northwest is known for it’s lush and verdant environment and this race did not disappoint. I ran through groves of ferns which were taller than me and under thick canopies of trees so dark that I wished I had a headlamp! The trails were soft underfoot and, in all but one section of the race, fairly free of mud swamps.

Deception Pass Elevation Profile, Speed, Gain

There were 185 racers and I came in 105th place. Out of the females, I came in 31 out of 87. I was happy with the race result, even though it took me about 45 minutes longer than expected.
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Mt. Rainier, Washington (Day 3) – White River TH to Inner Glacier

Friday, July 6th, 2012

On Friday, we started packing up the vehicles at ~6 am and had a nice breakfast. We piled into the mini-van and set off for Mt. Rainier. We stopped at the White River Wilderness Information Center to register and have a short discussion with a Ranger. Then, we drove to the trailhead, the White River Campground at 4,300 feet.

White River Parking Lot White River Parking Lot is Jam Packed! Getting Ready to Hike up Rainier

At the trailhead, everybody put their mountaineering boots on and strapped their ice axes, shovels, snow pickets, snow anchors, camp pads, etc to their packs. We applied sunblock, added batteries to things, and figured out how to use our helmet cams 8^)

Rainier, Here We Come! Clare On the Way to Glacier Basin

It took about an hour and finally, we were ready! We gathered at the signpost to discuss the days itinerary and talk about pace. (more…)

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Mt. Rainier, Washington (Day 2) – Pack & Prepare

Thursday, July 5th, 2012

On Thursday morning, we had a big meeting in the garage to go over the group gear and trip itinerary. Finally, I got to meet Laurie and Sue! I was so excited to be part of the group. Everybody was super nice and I chomped on the bit to be on the mountain.

Was the weather going to hold out? So far, it had been picture perfect!

My bag turned out to weight about 57 pounds once I had my portion (Snow pickets, stove, and fuel) of the group gear loaded up. So, I was happy I had been training for the past several weeks, carrying big loads.

Later that day, I had a minor emergency.
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Mt. Rainier, Washington (Day 1) – Travel to Tacoma

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

Mt Rainier
Mt. Rainier, as seen from a Boeing 737, on July 4th!

I must admit, when seen from an airplane, Mt. Rainier is even more amazing than from ground level. As we flew right by it, I thought, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m climbing that in a few days! Those five weeks of training will really come in handy!”

When I landed in Seattle, I tracked down my bag and waited for Anne, Kevin, and Josh to arrive. It was Anne who had invited me, and her father in law (Kevin’s dad, Bruce) was going to be leading our trip.

Anne, Kevin, and Josh are all CMCers from Denver, so I just knew we’d get along! I was also excited to meet Bruce since it was his 17th climb and he’s obviously a pretty bada$$ mountain man! Also joining the trip were Laurie and her 18 year old son, Wyatt. Laurie climbed Rainier when she was 7 years old and was (for the longest time) the youngest person to ever climb Rainier. To round out the trip, was Sue, an avid cyclist preparing for her first century.
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