I flew to Salt Lake City August 3rd and drove straight to West Yellowstone. I had the intention of doing the 20 mile sky rim loop that backpacker magazine had labelled as one of the best loop hikes. Another one an equal drive from Salt Lake City was a 18 mile loop in Sawtooth National forest but that was still 6 hours away from Helena whereas this hike brought me within 2 hours of Helena. During the airplane ride I decided against doing the full loop and instead to do an out and back of Bighorn peak (9930 feet). The hike was about 13 miles and 3000 feet of gain. I only got to hike .04 of the sky rim trail (most of the hike was just to get to the trail) but from what I saw it was very beautiful! I'm definitely adding it to my bucket list. I also saw my very first grizzly bear who noticed me first and ran away. That encounter had me on edge for a while. I also saw a bird I never seen before but no idea on what it's name could be. Afterwards I drove to Helena, I stopped by Best Burger Bozeman. The huckleberry shake was really good. I found the burger alright. At night I ate at Melaque Mexican Restaurant in Helena. I found the food good and the servings huge. The chip dip was also surprising good. I stayed at Shilo Inns. I regret not looking for place sooner and taking advantage of the race discounts. It would have been nice to stay at a place where other runners were.
The next day I hiked Casey peak near Helena. I ended up meeting two people marking the trail for the race. They were leap frogging and using pink duct tape since elkhorn have eaten the ribbons in the past. Casey peak was 10.5 miles with 3500 elevation gain. Also had some great views. The race pasts by the peak but does not summit so this hike was a good chance to take in the scenery without worrying about time. I'm not sure about the wisdom of doing moderate hikes the days before a race but I felt that I needed an easy warm-up. After the hike and a good shower I filled out some post cards to sent back to NYC and went to the pre-race dinner. Arrived there at 6 pm and checked in. Got my bib and goody bag. There was also a pasta dinner. I got to talk with a few people there. There was a race briefing at about 6:45 pm, mostly for the 50 milers. I got about 6.5 hours of sleep which may be the most I ever gotten for an ultra.
Race day! Wake up 2:30 to get final preparations and a small breakfast in before driving to the start. I'm really glad that Willard Creek Trail-head showed up in my google map offline area. I can't imagine trying to find it with pdf directions. I was a bit surprised they didn't provide gps directions as that's my usual go to for hikes. Good job google! Checked in at start and race started on time at 5 am. The first 4 miles were in the dark and I thought I made pretty good time. I lost about three minutes from trying to go around a stream crossing which I regret but I sort of just followed the person in front of me. There could always be a unavoidable stream crossing later on so might as well get wet. At mile 4 aid station we could drop off gear. Most people would have dropped off a jacket and headlamp. I kept my headlamp just in case. This is where I also first met racer#5 who I learned was from North Carolina. At mile 6 I saw pink ribbons and followed them for a few minutes before deciding that the organizers would have probably have only used one kind of marking (pink duct-tape not equal to pink ribbons). Turns out I was right but I wasted 5 minutes. At mile 12 I realized that I wasn't able to run the gently uphills. I realized that at 7500 feet my breathing was being affected. The miles between 12 to 16 went pretty slow. I made it to mile 16 aid station at borderline time.
I had decided to switch to the 50k route being demoralized by the last few miles. Runner#5 came into the aid station and was determined to continue the 50 miler. A volunteer there also said he would do the 50 miler. I got encouraged to go as far as I could at that point. I got into 100% mode which is a state where I feel that my brain lets me digger deeper into more reserves. I sort of realized to get into this mode that I need motivation from others, my first 50 miler went similar (except that was at mile 34, not 16). I did a good another 6 miles till the next aid station. I met Martin who was an experience ultra marathoner. He started an hour and twenty minutes late, having difficulty finding the start. We had a few conversations. At the aid station I learned I probably won't make the hard cut off at 30 miles. The volunteer was very optimistic but I knew my abilities. Martin passed me on the uphill shortly after. Now at over 8000 feet the next 3 miles were pretty bad. Miles 27 to 30 were all downhill which is my best part but I couldn't make the time cutoff. I continued to move slowly and my feet started to hurt. At mile 29 runner#5 passed me and continued to push on pretty strongly. At this point we both missed the cutoff but her push motivated me to end strongly as well. Arrived at the mile 30 aid station 18 minutes after the cutoff.
My race was over but I didn't feel too bad. When I talked to people during the Ice Age 50 miler back in May, many said they didn't finish a few years and they were perfectly fine with it. Thinking of that, I tried to not take the setback hard. I tried my best and it sucks that it wasn't good enough. I really feel that the altitude slowed me down a lot. I got driven back to the start by a volunteer who gave a few museums and festivals to check out in Montana. After the race I talked to a few people about there experiences and got some tips about how to deal with the altitude. Overall it was a good experience and I will return next year to finish!
The next day and my final day of vacation I hiked up Mt Helena in Helena city park. Sort, easy hike. I wish central park had something like this though! I ate at Bullhead for lunch which had some excellent pizza and Big Dipper for ice cream. Then the 6.5 hours drive back to Salt Lake City.
9,930-foot
9,930-foot
9,930-foot
