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Matt Mahoney's 2011 Vacation

The Three Apostles (North Apostle, Ice Mountain, West Apostle).

Aug. 8. I flew from Florida to Colorado Springs. I arrived at the Leadville Hostel at 12:30 AM and found an empty bed.

Aug. 9. I climbed Dyer Mountain (13,855 ft), Gemini Peak (13,951 ft) and Mt. Sherman (14,036 ft) starting from Iowa Gulch (11,520 ft) 6 miles east of Leadville. The 6 mile hike took almost 5 hours. I started at 9:07 AM, summitted Dyer by the south ridge at 10:18 AM, Gemini at 11:45 AM, Sherman at 12:25 PM, and returned at 1:58 PM. I had a little headache and not much appetite after the climb in spite of not carrying any food. I ate a big meal a couple hours later. photos.

Mt. Sherman.

Aug. 10. I climbed Mt. Elbert (14,433 ft) from the south Mt. Elbert trailhead at 9560 ft. near Twin Lakes. I started at 9:20 AM, reached the summit at 12:28 PM and returned at 2:52 PM. The distance is 11.2 miles round trip. photos map GPS track.

Mt. Elbert, highest point in Colorado.

Aug. 11. I climbed Mt. Massive (14,421 ft) from the east slopes from Halfmoon Road (10,050 ft). The hike is 13.6 miles round trip with 4450 ft of climb. I started at 9:32 AM, summitted at 12:29 PM, and returned at 3:32 PM. There were some snow flurries when returning from the summit. photos map GPS track.

Mt. Massive, Colorado's second highest mountain.

Aug. 12. Mt. Belford, 14,197 ft. I had planned to also climb Mt. Oxford and Missouri but my hiking partner Greg Lowe had other ideas once we reached Belford. We started from the Missouri Gulch trailhead at 9640 ft. at 9:42 AM, summitted at 12:06 PM, and returned at 2:25 PM via the longer but less steep Elkhead Pass. Distance was 8 miles. Our rate of ascent was 1887 ft/hr. photos map GPS track.

Climbing Mt. Belford.

Aug. 13. Leadville 100 Bike Race. I did not ride, just took pictures. photos

Sprint for ninth place out of 1500 riders after 100 miles.

Aug. 14. Leadville 10K. The race started at 10,150 ft. It runs the first and last 5K of the Leadville 100 course. It turns around at 9750 ft. I ran 52:14 with splits of about 24 and 28 minutes. I was second in 50-59. The race started at noon. It was 59 deg. F and cloudy with some light rain in the first half. results map.

Aug. 15. Mt. Elbert, 14,433 ft. I climbed again, but this time from the more popular Halfmoon trailhead at 10,050 ft with 9 miles round trip with Jason Friedman and Scott. We started at 9:09 AM, summited at 11:48 AM, and returned at 2:37 PM. Photos are combined with the first Elbert climb above. map GPS track.

Aug. 16. Ice Mountain, 13,951 ft. This was the hardest climb. I started from Winfield with Jason Friedman at 6:15 AM, summitted at 11:26 AM, and returned at 4:20 PM. It was 11.2 miles round trip. We had originally planned to climb all of the Three Apostles going north to west and return via the Lake Ann trail. We went up to the saddle between North Apostle on the left and Ice Mountain in the middle, but went up the wrong couloir, which was narrow and steep (class 3) to the right of the lowest point. From there we decided not to climb North Apostle because it looked like just a lot of loose, steep rocks. We climbed Ice Mt, the highest of the 3 Apostles, along the class 3 ridge. There was one class 4 chimney about 10 feet up that was probably off route. We traversed the summit, intending to descend over West Apostle, but got stuck at the notch above the Refrigerator Couloir between the main and west summits of Ice Mt. We returned the same way to the saddle (including the class 4 descent, which looked easier than the class 3 scree on the other side of the gendarme). Then we descended from the correct point on the saddle, which was easier, but still hard over large, steep boulders. After reaching Apostle Basin, we bushwacked through willows and marsh for about a mile before we found the trail. photos map GPS track (Not necessarily the route you want to take).

Ice Mountain.

Aug. 17-19. Rest days, hanging out in Leadville. Had my body fat measured at 7.1%. Weight is 154 lbs., unchanged since I left Florida. Usually I lose a few pounds, but I think my weight is as low as it needs to go.

Aug. 20.. I attempted to run the Leadville 100 but I was 20 minutes late at Winfield (50 miles). I was out of shape and too slow because a sore Achilles tendon did not let me train more than a few miles per week for the last month. photos map GPS track (first 40 miles until battery died). My splits were:

Mayqueen, 13.5 miles, 3:00 (cutoff 3:15)
Fish Hatchery, 23.5 miles, 5:41 (cutoff 6:00)
Half Pipe, 30.5 miles, 7:31 (cutoff 7:35)
Twin Lakes, 39.5 miles, 10:00:10 (cutoff 10:00)
Hope Pass, 44.5 miles, 12:15 (cutoff 12:30)
Winfield, 50 miles, 14:20 (cutoff 14:00).
They allowed me to continue at Twin Lakes because cutoffs are based on chip times, not gun times. I was sprinting across the timing mat. I felt OK when I was cut. I probably could have finished with another hour or two added onto the 30 hour cutoff.

26.2 miles into the Leadville 100 with a view of Mt. Massive.

Aug. 22. I rode the tourist train to nowhere. In the 1880's it took 12 hours to go to Denver. Now just 9 miles of track are left. It goes the same speed, about 10 MPH, to about 10,900 ft and returns. photos map GPS track.

Aug. 23. I flew back to Florida.