ALTAR X

The 10th ALTAR went down on the shortest Saturday of the year.  I made it up to Camp Daniel Boone after picking up Charlie around 9pm the night before.  We caught up with old friends, chowed down, and clunked out early in anticipation of yet another snowy and icy Art Loeb.  The next morning we were out the door by 5:30am and decided to take the interstate rather than cross the parkway, fearing we might hit ice.  It was still dark, but we were off by 7am.  Snow and ice covered the trail from the very beginning.

(photos: Matt Kirk)

I started slow, recovering from a nasty cold and a 6 month slow down.  Since Tahoe Rim this summer, things have not been the same.  I felt that would change on this day.  I made my way up and down snow covered trails, but thankfully nothing as bad as last year.  My lowest point of the run was the climb up Pilot mountain, as is always the most difficult part every year. After crossing over the parkway and getting up in the balds I felt as if the worst was behind me.  The balds were surprisingly calm, and I drew energy from the sunshine that broke out for the first time all day.


I noticed Stan, Scott, and Liz behind me as I summited Tenant Mountain.  I pushed on ahead knowing that Scott had mentioned earlier he would be taking a shortcut to bypass the narrows.  I clearly could feel the effects of the lack of training and running over the past 6 months, but I was determined to finish the full trail again this year.  The narrowes section was tricky with all the ice, but I managed to push thru and make that sharp left for another 3 miles down hill as the sun was setting.  It was dark when I rolled into the cabin finishing in just under 11 hours.