600 miles, no resupply

On June 11, three Montana adventurers, Roman Dial, Ryan Jordan and Jason Geck started walking in quest of the longest unsupported trek of America’s most remote, roadless, uninhabited wilderness, a distance of 1,000 km (600 mi).

Right now they're walking through the Brooks Range in Alaska.

They hope to finish the trip in 20 days. No hunting or fishing to bolster their diets. What they eat, they carry.

To put this in perspective, the Colorado Trail is 483 miles. Most people take six weeks to finish and resupply at least a half-dozen times.

What these guys are up to is pushing the very edge of what's possible. To find out more, and follow their daily updates, click here.

Where you smell smoke...

There must be fire.
Colorado Springs was greeted by smokey air this moring, but according to the early online edition of The Gazette, it's just the Tyndall Fire 75 miles to the southwest.
Seriously though, the fire danger is extreme, and if we don't want the forest to be closed like it was in 2002, we all need to be very careful. Today's high winds and dry conditions are perfect for whipping up another Hayman fire.

Pike National Forest not closing

Photo courtesy the Forest Service

I've now heard several rumors that the Pike National Forest is going to close, or the Barr Trail is going to close because fire danger was is so high. I checked them out, and according to Frank Landis at the Forest Service, there are no plans to close the forest.

The forest was last closed in 2002 when the Hayman fire started. Before such a closure happens again, Landis said, the Forest Service will first ban campfires in its camping and picnic grounds. Right now there is no such ban.

Fire danger, though, is EXTREMELY high. We don't recommend anyone have a fire or barbecue anywhere near the forest. Another Hayman is not out of the question right now.

Memorial planned for climbers

Relatives of Sue Nott, 36, of Vail, who vanished on Alaska's Mount Foraker last month with climbing partner Karen McNeill, 37, of Canada, plan to celebrate her life during a memorial service at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail.

Family members said the public is welcome to attend.

The Vail Daily News, reporting the family's plans, said the family had nothing but praise for search crews, who had been looking for the women for more than a week.

“Their professionalism, thoroughness and compassion have been exemplary and the family is very grateful for all of their efforts on Sue and Karen’s behalf,” the Nott family said in a statement released Monday.

Search crews are looking for the women's bodies after determining the two likely ran out of the fuel they needed to melt snow into water many days ago, said Kris Fister, a spokeswoman for the Denali National Park and Preserve. They also would likely have been without food for more than a week.

Fibark starts tomorrow!!!

Salida, which is already in the running for "coolest town in Colorado," kicks off its even more cool FIBArk festival on Thursday.

FIBArk stands for "First in Boat down the Arkansas River."

It used to just be an annual river rat race. Whoever made it first, won. For the full history, click here.
Now it's turned into a four-day event that is the top party of the year for this mountain town. It's also probably one of the best fests for visitors. This isn't just a collection of vendors and a bad band. There is awesome stuff to see and it's all free. Thursday check out the Boater X, a mass-start race down Pine Creek, the hardest rapid on the river, that makes a demolition derby look as tame as a curling lesson.

Then there's the USA Wildwater Championship on Friday, followed by a cruiser bike parade and race.
Saturday brings the Hooligan race, where locals compete on homemade floats made of inner tubes and who knows what else. Sunday brings the big FIBArk races.

And of course, every night there is food, drink and live music. Plus, hey, you're in Salida, so if you're bored with the events, go mountain biking, or climb a peak, or hit the rapids. There's tons to do!

Salazar says go easy on Roan Plateau

The fight over what to do with western Colorado's Roan Plateau, which is rich in roadless wilderness and natural gas stores, is far from over. High-ranking politicos are urging compromise.
The AP reported this today:

"the public should have an opportunity to comment on the final plan for management of the Roan Plateau near Rifle.
In a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, (Sen. Ken) Salazar, D-Colo., said the public never had a chance to weigh in on a natural gas drilling proposal expected to be included in the plan.
The Bureau of Land Management, part of the federal Department of the Interior, is hoping to release the final Resource Management Plan Amendment by late August. "

Salazar suggests delaying the release by 60 days to allow for public input on the final plan before its adoption. He favors a compromise plan that would allow drilling, but limit the number of roads and drill pads.

The high plateau is a rarely visited realm of aspen glens and hidden waterfalls. For anyone who might want to get a look before various energy companies light the place up like a birthday candle, use the trail descriptions HERE from my visit last summer. Now is the perfect time to visit, as the waterfalls will all be going full force.

Park your impatience

Call it wishful thinking. You want to hike the trails at Cheyenne Mountain State Park even though it's not open to the public yet. And you heard that park staff actually wants you to hike there, unofficially welcoming you there to keep the trails from growing over.
It's not true. The park isn't ready. It's closed to everyone except those who have been granted permission to be there from the State Parks department.
It's still slated to open in the fall, with 18 miles of trails over 1,680 acres.
If you just can't wait to experience the park (that will be the first and only state park in El Paso County), head on down Highway 115 to Aiken Canyon. It's located in the same life zone, so it shares many characteristics with the new state park.

Turtles beat out jet skis

We know that there are a lot of jet-ski fans out there. There are also a lot of people who prefer their waters calm and quiet.
For that contingent, Bluewater Network, a division of the environmental group Friends of the Earth, has released a list of the 10 best places to avoid jet skis in 2006.
The group is campaigning against jet ski use on waterways that are used for fishing, canoeing, swimming and wildlife viewing.
The 10 best jet-ski-free places:
1. Padre Island National Seashore in Texas (pictured)
2. Delaware Gap National Recreation Area in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
3. San Juan Islands in Washington
4. Biscayne National Park in Florida
5. San Francisco Bay Area in California
6. Kachemak Bay in Alaska
7. Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument in Montana
8. Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina
9. Lake Willoughby in Vermont
10. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in Indiana

14er update, the latest on the Sangres

Over the weekend I hit the Sangre de Cristo mountains to climb Little Bear Peak. Normally, this time of year, there can still be a fair amount of snow in the high country, especially in shaded couloirs like the ones that lead up to the summit of Little Bear. But this is not a normal year. The Sangres had almost no snow this winter, and a warm spring has dried it all up.
When we headed up Little Bear Saturday, we only saw one patch of snow, about the size of a city bus, near the top. Not that it was smooth sailing. In the crux couloir near the top of the mountain, which many climbers call "the bowling alley" because its shape tends to funnel rock fall down into a narrow corridor where it has K.O.'d more than one climber, we found ice instead of snow.
Little trickles running down the rocks had frozen during the night and made the bowling alley as slick as a skating rink. My partner and I had to swing out onto some exposed V Class rock to avoid it. It was one of those climbs where at some point, just for a moment, you realize you could really hurt yourself, so you better not screw up. I was particularly thinking this because my buddy is about to get married and if I brought him back mangled, or worse, I'd probably get in trouble.
But of course everything was fine. We reached the top and had it all to ourselves. The view was sublime. On the way down, we scrambled down the ice using an old rope left in the couloir, which was a little scary, but better than any alternative we could think of.
All the the Sangres are now snow-free. We drove past the Collegiate Peaks on our way back, and they still have quite a bit of snow. The season is in full swing. Climb away. Bring your gaiters and watch for lightning.
I have five more fourteeners to climb and I hope to finish them all this summer.

Everest on TV

American Dan Mazur, whose team stopped to assist Australian Lincoln Hall on Mount Everest a few weeks ago, saving Hall's life, will be interviewed on "The Today Show" this morning. Mazur has said he and team members couldn't imagine leaving hall, who was sitting up and talking, but in obvious distress, even though it meant giving up their own summit bid.

"The Today Show" in on NBC (Adelphia channel 5)

A climber's climber

That's how Outside Magazine described Sue Nott of Vail in a profile about three years ago. Nott and climbing partner Karen McNeill are still missing today on Mount Foraker in Alaska. Friends and family members are said to be making their way to Denali National Park and Preserve to be near the area where the women disappeared and, they hope, soon will be found.

Although it is believed the women would have been out of food for at least a week, fellow alpinists say if anyone can survive the conditions on Mount Foraker without basic supplies, it is Nott and McNeill.

Read the latest comments from friends and fellow climbers who saw the women just before they set out on their attempt to be the first women's team to successfully summit on the Infinite Spur route at Canada New / Calgary Herald: www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=a05bc866-06de-4327-94a5-e1bfe7f07b68&k=84670&p=1

No Picassos

Far from it, it seems.

The Associated Press reports spray-painting vandals damaged ancient Indian rock art at McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area. Officials said saving the images could be difficult.

Blue, white and black graffiti was discovered last weekend and was done between May 30 and June 4, the Bureau of Land Management said. The BLM administers the area, about 10 miles west of Grand Junction on the Utah border.

Desert sandstone quickly absorbs paint, making it difficult to remove.

“I guess there are products that are recommended that should be able to remove most of the paint, but not all of it,” BLM spokesman Mel Lloyd said.

Acting McInnis Canyons manager Gene Arnesen said the vandalism was offensive and costly.

“Using rock art panels for senseless graffiti not only offends Native Americans and robs the American public of cultural treasures, but it also creates an unnecessary cost to taxpayers for removing the paint.”

(The BLM photo shows Pollock Bench/Rattlesnake Canyon in the conservation area)

Still no sign of hikers

The latest wire reports indicate clouds kept crews from hitting the skies another day in the search for two hikers, including a Vail woman, missing on Mount Foraker in Denali National Park and Preserve.

Kris Fister, a park spokeswoman, said the cloud ceiling was at 9,500 to 10,000. “It’s not looking real favorable today,” she said early in the day. There were no further reports conditions had changed.

Check out today's Happy Trails

We used Google Earth to get a bird's eye view of today's trail. And it's a good one. Finally, there is an official link between Red Rock Canyon and the Intemann Trail, which means hikers can now easily go from Manitou all the way to Cheyenne Canyon on the trail. And actually, if you're feeling frisky, you can go from Manitou all the way to Penrose on trail. Pack a lunch.

Clouds hamper search

From the AP in Alaska:

Mount Foraker remained shrouded by clouds today, casting doubt on plans for a high-altitude search for missing climbers Sue Nott of Vail and Canadian Karen McNeill.

“Right now it’s socked in at the base camp,” said Kris Fister, spokeswoman for Denali National Park and Preserve.

The search is in its eighth day Thursday.

Nott and McNeill left their base camp May 12, and began their climb of the ascent route, the Infinite Spur, on May 14. The climbers had told people at base camp that they expected to complete the route in 10 to 14 days.

An air taxi operator and others familiar with the women’s plans flew the climbing route early last week.

The women, at the urging of people at base camp, carried a radio. The radio, a ripped backpack believed to be Nott’s, and a sleeping bag were spotted Friday in an avalanche debris field. A helicopter crew on Sunday spotted a yellow bag, black fleece hat and pink nylon jacket in the same area.

With each passing day the chances that the two women are alive is diminished, Fister said. It is believed the two have been without food and fuel for a week to 10 days, she said.

Fister said the agency’s search efforts would continue until the areas of highest probability were searched as thoroughly as possible.

The Matt Carpenter plan: save $15, lose $1,000

Matt kickin Eminem on the iPod during the Leadville100

OK, sure, Matt Carpenter did it on principle.
When he entered the national 10K trail running championships, which were held in Vail last weekend, he refused to pay $15 for short-term membership with USA Track & Field.

"You win your awards. You don't buy them," the 41-year-old Manitou Springs runner told The Denver Post.
Of course he won the race, finishing in 44 minutes, 5 seconds, 1:39 ahead of the runner-up.

But without a membership, he was ineligible to claim the $1,000 purse.

Oh well, he said.

"A principle is not a principle unless you are tested," he said. "If it costs me $15 to win $1,000, then that's against my principle."

Carpenter is undeniably a purist. He's been fighting fees and dues and other things that seem to cling to organized running for years. Recently, he ducked the fees associated with Active.com (which is the Ticketmaster of the running world) and set up his own online sign-up for the Barr Trail Mountain Race that saved runners several dollars.

By the way... just to start the buzz... Carpenter is signed up to run Pikes Peak August. I've been running with him a bit, and he keeps breaking his own records on training runs that he hasn't broken since 1993 when he set the record for the Pikes Peak Ascent. Does this mean he'll be able to break his record in the race? Time will tell.

Everest from afar

Jake Norton wasn't on Everest this spring. But this seasoned climber from Colorado watched from afar. And when reports surfaced of 40 people walking past a dying climber on their bids for the summit, Norton felt he had to write about it.

Norton has been on the mountain five times and has summited twice. Here's what he wrote in his newsletter:
"On the evening of May 14 and the morning of the 15th, David Sharp, a 34-year-old British climber, lay dying just below the First Step on the Northeast Ridge route. Reports indicate that roughly 40 people walked past him en route to and from the summit. No one stopped to lend the man a hand. No one was willing to sacrifice their summit, their dream, to help a fellow human being.

Perhaps there was no possibility of rescue. Perhaps David would have died regardless of assistance from other climbers. Either way, the actions on the mountain this spring beg the question: How much is the summit of Everest worth? Do mountainous goals legitimize the sacrifice of our humanity and compassion?

Having had the good fortune to stand on top of the world twice, I can say with certainty to anyone caught in a similar situation in the future: The summit is not worth the sacrifice of one's humanity. Yes, reaching the top is a wonderful experience. But, in the end, the summit is merely a small patch of snow sitting upon a big hunk of rock...and thus is not material for sacrificing humanity.

On the morning of May 7, 2001, my teammates John Race, Tap Richards and I had just begun our summit bids on what was my second expedition to the mountain. En route to Advanced Basecamp, we encountered Tibetan yak herders carrying two injured Chinese glaciologists down the mountain. Both men were suffering from advanced pulmonary and cerebral edema; if left unaided, they would soon die. Our decision was simple: We aborted our summit bid and began the arduous task of carrying two men down the Rongbuk Glacier. I blew out my knee in the rescue, ending my expedition with a resonant POP...but both Mr. Gao and Mr. Li lived to see their families again.

Three weeks later, my teammates were going for the summit via the NE Ridge. During the course of their summit bid, they ended up abandoning their summit hopes to rescue 5 people - 3 Siberians, one American, and one Guatemalan. The final rescue took place a mere 45 minutes from the top. Did they hesitate? Not a bit. Again, the tiny patch of snow lying at 29,035 feet is just that...a patch of snow. It will be there next year, and the year after that. And, in the end, standing on it does not change one's life. Reaching out to change the lives of others - no matter how short those lives may last - does.

In his famous book "Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" Robert Pirsig writes: "To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here's where things grow." I would add to Pirsig's observations that it is on the sides of the mountain where we grow, not on the top. And, there are times when that growth comes from sacrificing our own goals, dreams, and ambitions to reach out and assist others.

We must have goals in our lives, and we must aim for those goals, go after them with everything that we have and everything that we are. But, the important part of our goals is not reaching the end mark, crossing the finish line, but rather the experiences on the sides of our mountains. And, again, sometimes we must let go of Machiavellian ambitions, sacrificing our ambition so that we don't sacrifice our humanity, echoing the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: "There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, not politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right."

Norton often writes about his climbing experiences and showcases his photographs on his Web site, www.mountainworldphoto.com
(In this photo, from the American Foundation for International Mountaineering, Exploration and Research, Jake climbs the north face of Everest).

Search for climbers continues

From the Associated Press, in Alaska:

A search for two climbers - Sue Nott, 36, of Vail and Karen McNeill, 37, of Canmore, Alberta - missing on Mount Foraker is focusing on the area near the 17,400-foot summit after rangers confirmed that tracks were spotted nearly 1,000 feet
from the top.

John Loomis, a mountaineering ranger, was aboard a search aircraft Monday and photographed footprints at the 16,400-foot level.

Searchers earlier spotted tracks at the 15,500-foot to 15,800-foot level, but they appeared to just end.

A high-altitude helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft made several flights near the summit Monday. Three helicopters were expected to join the search today.

Weather remained favorable, with broken clouds at 11,000 to 12,000 feet and winds relatively calm.

Climbers missing

Two of the most respected women climbers are missing on Mount Foraker in Alaska. Sue Nott, 36, of Vail, and Karen McNeill, 37, of Canmore, Alberta, Canada, left for a climb on the notoriously difficult mountain May 14 and told people they expected to finish in 10 days. When they didn't return by Thursday night, a rescue team began searching. Foraker is a 17,400-foot peak in Denali National Park. This season, 30 people signed up to climb Foraker, but of the 26 who have returned, none made it to the summit.

In 2004, Nott and McNeill were the first women to reach the summit of Denali after climbing the Cassin Ridge. That climb is chronicled in an article on mountainzone.com.

Ultra-challenge for ultra-rider

Rob Lucas has logged thousands of miles on his bike, riding as many as 35 hours a week. It's a training regimen few can tolerate, but Lucas believes it will all be worth it next week, when he takes on the most difficult bike race in the country.

The Race Across America is just that - a nonstop transcontinental bike road race. Lucas is one of nine entrants from Colorado, and one of only two Colorado riders who will ride it solo. He's off to California now to prepare for the Sunday start, but he's still looking for support, especially in dollars. The race isn't cheap -- riders are responsible for their support crew for the nearly two weeks they will be on the road.

For more about Lucas and his challenge, check the Out There section Friday in The Gazette. To read more about Rob, check his blog, www.ultrarob.blogspot.com or his Web site at www.ultrarob.com.