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Great Sand Dunes NP Ultra, 5/1/21

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Nestled along the Western edge of the Sangre de Cristo Mt range is a wind-swept area of the San Luis Valley where the winds push the sand from Medano Creek into towering dunes.

Medano Creek in full flow in May at Great Sand Dunes NP.

Who knows what a pulse flow is? Unless you’ve been to Great Sand Dunes in the spring/early summer you’ve probably never heard of this term. A pulse flow is a phenomenon that happens when the river flowing through the dunes, dams itself up with sand, eventually breaking those dams, so you get pulses of increased flow (or mini floods) working their way down stream in a wave like pattern.

Great Sand Dunes National Park was established as a National Monument in 1932, and upgraded to a National Park in 2004 to protect the unique sand dunes forming at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mts as Medano Creek flowed down. This ecosystem brings in a variety of flora and fauna not typically seen together and creating 500ft tall sand dunes! Most people come to this National Park to play in the river, climb the dunes and some to sandboard down. Very few get to experience the heart of the dunes or the mountains surrounding them. When I hatches the plan to do a Great Sand Dunes crossing (7mi of sand), I got lots of “Hell No” from friends, but not my friend Ben. Ben loves anything novel, and this sure was going to be a novel experience.

Sunrise over Great Sand Dunes NP with the Sangre de Cristos in the background.

We set out just before sunrise, hopping across the sandy shallows of Medano Creek and on up Star Dune, the tallest in the park at 741ft. We quickly found if one stuck to the ridges and valleys the sand was actually not bad to walk on. As we crested the high dunes, the first rays of sun were lighting up the sky above the Sangres, leaving us far below in shadow. We cruised across the dune tops and through the massive valleys, slowly making our way North to the Sand Ramp trail. We made quick time across the dunes (3h for 7mi), reaching the ‘trail’, which was really more of a sandy path. We jogged/walked back to the Medano Pass 4×4 Rd, where Ben and I would part ways. After dumping a pound of sand out of our shoes, I continued up to Medano Pass, while Ben headed back to the visitor center.

Ben traversing the dune tops in the morning sunlight.
Sand dunes and snowy mountain tops.

The road was smooth and went by quickly until about 500ft from the pass, where I started to hit patchy snow. Small at first, but they slowly grew bigger and deeper as I neared the pass. I reached the top of Medano Pass without too much difficulty, marked only by a sign describing the early pioneer’s efforts to get over the pass. It was early enough in the year that no cars were allowed up to the pass, so I had a quiet run down back to the Sand Ramp trail. From there it was the final grind back around the East side of the dunes, with a quick stop at the overlook to take in the immensity of the dunes. Then on back to the visitor center for a dip in the creek and a soda.

Making our way across the Sand Ramp ‘trail’.
Medano Pass Rd, climbing high into the Sangre de Cristo Mts. The source of Medano Creek and all the sand that makes up the dunes.

29mi and 4300ft later I pushed through the reeds growing along Medano Creek, arriving back at the beach party, closing my loop. I found the rest of our gang hanging out in Medano Creek: building sandcastles, dams and splashing in the water. It’s truly the closest thing Colorado gets to a beach day, and it’s such a unique way to experience it. I wouldn’t classify the Sand Dunes as a great running destination, but it is a unique place, especially in the late spring/early summer when the water flows and the days are warm. If you’re feeling bold, wander beyond the first 1/2mi into the heart of the dunes where you’ll have the park almost entirely to yourself. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Reminder…sand dunes can move and cover the trail and bury signage.
View of the Sand Dunes from viewpoint near the end of the run.

Capitol Reef Ultra, 3/27/21

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Capitol Reef from near Torrey with the Henry Mts in the background.
Capitol Reef from near Torrey with the Henry Mts in the background.

Utah has 5 National Parks, each encompassing a unique and amazing landscape. Of those 5, Capitol Reef definitely gets the least attention, and so many people are missing out. Take the slot canyons and washes of Zion, throw in a few arches and the cherry on top is the amazing geology of the 100mi long Waterpocket fold and you’ve got a slickrock wonderland, full of hidden passages and deep and narrow canyons. Capitol Reef National Park may not have just one thing that wows people or that draws tourist from around the world, but spend a little time there and you’ll start to unravel the mystery and magic that makes this National Park so spectacular.

The heart of Capitol Reef in the middle of all the canyons.

I started my Capitol Reef NP run from the Visitor Center along Sulphur Creek, jogging South along the park road, across the Fremont River and starting up the Cohab Canyon trail. The trail quickly climbs along the cliffside, breaking a gap in the wall the trail enters a high canyon cutting into the heart of the reef. My first destination was Hickman Bridge, a well known natural bridge the trail passes right under. Looping back to Cohab Canyon, I quickly turned off onto Fryingpan Trail, climbing up to the top of the reef. The Fryingpan Trail undulates along the top of the reefs, rims of the slot canyons and across the top of the reef. Eventually dropping down to the iconic Cassidy Arch and into Grand Wash.

Hickman Bridge in Capitol Reef NP.
Views along the Frying Pan Trail in Capitol Reef.

Grand Wash’s massive walls rise hundreds of feet above the 20ft wash, terminating at the Fremont River. After a quick water and food resupply at the road crossing, I setup for the first technical obstacle, the ford of the Fremont River into Spring Canyon. The water was very chilly, about thigh deep and moving with some speed. Once across I bushwacked my way into Spring Canyon, and started the slow ascent up the 25mile long Spring Canyon. Trapped deep within the canyon, with no easy exit for 10mi, it’s a very quiet and isolated place in the heart of Capitol Reef, only a few miles from the park road. Soaring white and red sandstone walls, massive spires, narrow slot canyons and lots of hidden nooks. The canyon finally opens up after 10mi near Chimney Rock Canyon, and the trail splits up and over Chimney Rock, which offers fantastic views of the back side of Capitol Reef and towards the Aquarius Plateau.

Grand Wash far below, driveable to the Cassidy Arch TH, then foot traffic only beyond that.
Spring Canyon’s long twisting hallways are seldom visited, but easily accessed from several sides.
The view from Chimney Rock back down towards Spring Canyon.

At the Chimney Rock TH my route crossed the highway, and the next section of the Capitol Reef adventure loop began, descending into Sulphur Creek. Sulphur Creek is carved by a cold water natural spring, deep into the eroding mudstone. After passing through the wide portion of the upper canyon, the creek bottom begins to narrow and takes on a more slot like appearance. As the canyon slots up, the options for travel become fewer, and one finds themselves splashing alongside the creek and scrambling on the cliff edges. All of a sudden I rounded a corner and came face to face with the swim, a 8-10ft wide, 50ft long chest deep pool. I undressed, packed all my gear into my drybag and waded into the chilly water. I cruised through and back into the sunshine, redressed and continued down the narrow fluted heart of Sulphur Creek Canyon. After climbing down the final small waterfall the canyon widens back out and terminates back at the Visitor Center.

Entering the narrows of Sulphur Creek. The water starts out avoidable…for a bit.
The final obstacle in Sulphur Creek, a short 4ft downclimb around this waterfall.

30mi and 7h later, I’d completed my ultramarathon loop of the Central Capitol Reef region. A fantastic mix of trail running, adventure, solitude and stunning scenery. With short car shuttles one could easily break the run into three distinct pieces. The Visitor Center to Grand Wash, Grand Wash through Spring Creek to Chimney Rock TH, and Chimney Rock TH through Sulphur Creek. Each section offers a unique, yet stunning view of Capitol Reef’s beauty; the lonely canyons, massive arches/bridges, sculpted walls, and intricate uplift of the reef formation.

After going for a little swim through the narrows of Sulphur Creek. The water is chest deep and chilly.

2022 Hardrock 100; Acceptance

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The best crew and some of the best humans around.

Going into the 2022 Hardrock 100 I had grand aspirations and goals (which included a sub-30h finish). The quick answer is things went about as well as it could have, but not as well a I dreamed it would. I’ve always set big goals for myself, many of them born out of insufficiency and insecurities from past lives; You’re too slow, you’re not strong enough, you’re too short, too awkward, not smart enough…
Every person who steps foot on the line at Hardrock has dealt with their own challenges to get there and most likely still carries some of those challenges through the race and life in general. To claim we are all equal is a lie, we all are unique and none of us will ever have the same experience and that’s perfectly ok. Something I’ve struggled with for a long time is the idea that if I worked hard enough I could achieve some of the lofty aspirations, maybe not Killian level, but pretty high. 16 years after I started ultrarunning, I’m finally accepting that’s just not the case. To be clear, I’m not looking for a pity party, but rather through a recognition of my own weaknesses (and also my strengths), I can become the best version of that self and achieve whatever my personal limits may be.

Pre-race nervous shakeout and relaxation up at Hematite Lake with Jason.

Ok, back to Hardrock. Last year (2021) I went into the race determined to push hard and really find my potential, and a new level of success (time and place). What ended up happening was out running my capabilities early and suffering through the last 1/3 of the experience. 2022 brought a much different approach, listen to my body, be grateful for every experience (good and bad) and to enjoy a much as possible. In the past what’s done me in is running to others expectations, trying to keep up with others (not myself) and not fully listening to my body. The biggest challenge was admitting that my airways and lungs are my weak point and will always limit what I can do, especially at high altitude. This is not new (Nolans, past Hardrocks, 24h 14ers, Elks and others), but it’s been a hard thing to admit that it’s not something I can train past or “overcome”. I’ve found ways to cope and build other strengths; getting faster downhill, increasing overall fitness, running longer and slower, but none of these will ever remove this weak link of mine.

Cresting the Putnam Divide early in the race, mm10.
The infamous Island Lake near Grant Swamp Pass, always a worthwhile visit.

I slept terribly the week before the race (another temporary challenge) and work stresses had me a bit out of sorts, not the best way to start a super hard 100mi race. But I was promised to spend a long weekend running around some is the most beautiful mountains, with a crew of great friends, I was lucky indeed. The first climb went by smoothly, as I focused on just taking in as much of the experience as possible, soon finding myself in the familiar position of leap-frogging with Darcy. Maggie soon caught up to us not too much later and the three of us would spend the next 30miles leap frogging back and forth (them on the ups, me on the downs). Every time I rolled through an Aid Station the friendly faces would provide a boost, finally getting to see my crew in Telluride (mm28). The stoke was high, I was still feeling great and just doing my own thing. As we (Darcy, Maggie and I) left Telluride a big storm dropped in and pummeled us with rain and hail for 45min, but it was fine, we were below treeline and safe, just moist. The ominous skies still threatened as we approached Kroger’s Canteen. A couple of perogies, some coke and off down to Ouray I went. I was finding my own rhythm, playing to my strengths, listening to my body and just letting the miles roll by. Ouray was a wild circus full of energy. Tons of friends, spectators and confused tourist everywhere. For the first time at Hardrock I left an Aid Station without a pacer, focusing just on myself and the mountain experience I was seeking. Darkness fell as I led a group of us up and over Engineer Pass and down into Animas Forks. The aid station was a bit of a mess and I almost ran right by my crew without either of us realizing it. After a quick change into my nighttime gear, Jason and I were off to Handies, my white whale.

Nearing the summit of Virginius Pass, just after one thunderstorm had passed over, right before another one was about to hit.
Crew stop and refeul in Ouray before heading up to Engineer Pass.

As we headed up the Grouse saddle the work stress and lack of sleep were catching up with me and I’d spend the next 5h a walking zombie. My lungs strained in the cold air and I knew if I didn’t slow I was at risk of damaging the rest of my race, so upwards we crawled. After much bitching and moaning on my part (Jason was great) we made it to Burroughs AS where Jesus greeted us with open arms (no I want hallucinating yet). I kept trudging forward at what felt like a slow crawl, picked up Gwen at Sherman, then slowly staggered my sleepy way to sunrise at the pole creek divide. As the sun illuminated the surrounding mountains, my spirits began to lift. Gwen commented that she knew I was back when I made some very juvenile comment that only a 12yo would make, oops. So we ran (some) and walked (a bunch), enjoying what was a mostly lovely day. I probably groaned a bit when we hit the precipitous descent into Cunningham, but that meant only 1 AS left! I did my best to keep things fun at our last crew exchange, but I was just a wee bit tired, so who knows how well that came off. Bailee and I set off at a slow trudge up Dives/Little Giant, trying to keep my breathing in check (and not set off my asthma), but also wanting to get done. As we crested the top, I took one last look back at Green Mt and finally let myself believe I was going to get it done.

Full moon rising as Jason and I make our way over Handies Peak at 14000ft.
Down into Maggie we go, endless wildflowers all around and Day 2 sunshine.
Still kinda smiling and kinda having fun, final climb up and over Dives/Little Giant, almost done!

Whatever pain and fatigue I felt didn’t matter, all I had to do was will my way downhill to the finish. We ran as fast as I could down the technical descent, taking a few walk breaks to catch my breath. We stomped through the river and hit the final few miles into town, running into Jefferson along the way. I ran as hard as my lungs would allow, but with two miles to go I was sent into a coughing fit, diaphragm spasms and promptly threw up. This was the first time that’s ever happened during a race. Once I stopped coughing I felt fine, so we jogged it in. As we cruised through town we were greeted by many familiar faces, including my crew. It felt really good to kiss the rock for the 3rd time, but it felt even better to be in good spirits (despite puking) and to have enjoyed the experience (for the most part).

Finish line vibes.

The rest of the day was spent on a quick nap, cheering on the multitude of friends finishing that afternoon/evening and eating all the food I could find (burrito, 2x burgers, cookies, soup, etc). My training had succeeded, my legs held up (my legs are never my limiting factor at elevation), and other than my 5h sleepy stretch so had my energy levels. I’ve learned that no matter how hard I train, at Hardrock I can’t outrun my lungs, so sub-30h may never be in the cards for me, and I’m ok with that. I had a great run with my good friends, and that is really what I wanted most out of the experience. Sure it would be awesome to run faster, but after 34:38, 33:52 and 33:10 finishes I’ve accepted this is who I am. On to other new adventures, different races and to enjoy crewing my friends at Hardrock in future years, where I get to eat all the food, take a few naps and not run 100miles of that crazy course all at once.
Big thanks to Vfuel for supporting my training and my Hardrock adventure, all the Rocky Mountain Runners for the training miles shared and my friends and crew for dragging my sometimes grumpy ass around the San Juans yet again.

Canyonlands Island in the Sky Ultra, 1/2/21

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Sunrise from the Island in the Sky in Canyonlands, 1/2/21.

Better late than never? It’s been a whirlwind of a year and 8 months later I’m finally catching up on my early year projects. Winter motivation is often a hard thing to inspire, but the desert has definitely been my oasis in this department. Adler, Owen and I headed to Utah for New Years. After a couple of cold days in Central Utah exploring Capitol Reef (the next blog to come!) we made our way back to Moab for the next installment of the National Park Ultra series, Canyonlands Island in the Sky.

Canyonlands is divided into three distinct districts by the Colorado and Green Rivers; Island in the Sky to the North, Needles to the SE and The Maze to the SW. When I started my project to run an ultra in every National Park I decided that some parks just require more than one run, because one really can’t experience each unique landscape without dividing them up, and Canyonlands is a prime example. The Needles consists of a desertscape chopped up by giant rock fins and  slickrock canyons, The Maze is just that, a maze of narrow slots and deep chasms that carve up the landscape while The Island in the Sky consists of a high plateau guarded on all sides by imposing walls, dropping thousands of feet down to the rivers below. All three can seem impenetrable at first glance, but improbable breaks in the canyons allow one to move across the complex landscape.

Adler cruising around the White Rim Rd in Canyonlands, 1/2/21.

The most well known feature of the Island in the Sky district is the White Rim Road, this 71mile road follows the White Rim sandstone formation as it circles the Island in the Sky, 1500ft below the plateau and 1000ft above the Green and Colorado Rivers. I started my morning at the Murphy Hogback trailhead at sunrise jogging the paved road North as it traversed it’s way through the park. I passed the jam packed Mesa Arch TH and onward to the Lathrop TH where I met Adler and Owen (7mi in).

Descending down the Lathrop Trail into the depths of Canyonlands.

From there we began our descent down one of the improbable trails that switchbacked down the cliff bands into the depths of Canyonlands, 1500ft below. Across this ledge, down this seam, over this talus rock fall and finally down the rim of a small slot to the White Rim. The cool winter air was delightful to run in and we had this region of the park all to ourselves. We hit the White Rim Rd (mm13), bid Owen farewell (as he headed back up to the car), and took off CW on our journey. The White Rim is mostly very cruisy jeep road, trapped between the towering Chinle/Wingate/Navajo sandstone walls above and the Cedar Mesa sandstone below. When you run/ride/drive the road you truly get a sense of the immensity that is Canyonlands, and the isolation that one can find in it’s depths. We continued on the road past the Airport Tower, Washer Woman tower and several immense canyons to our left that dropped to the Colorado River, still miles away. At mm24 we intersected the Gooseberry trail, our only easy bail exit (ie trail) from the canyon. We were still feeling great so forged onward with the long looping traverse around Grand View Point at the head of the Island in the Sky.

A dusting of snow coats Canyonlands, Adler and Owen lead the way.
Monument Basin Canyonlands.

A few snack breaks, one floss break above Monument Basin and lots of photo-ops later we finally turned the corner and began to head back North towards Murphy Wash (mm35). The miles were starting to wear on both Adler and I, so we settled into a mixture of fast hiking and jogging, finally reaching our turn back up to the Rim. This run is what I describe as a ‘Pay Later’ run, as with only 5miles to go we had a long sandy wash and 1400ft to climb back to our finish line. The sand felt like cement to our tired legs, but when we finally reached the steep cliff-bands that marked our final ascent back to the rim the hiking actually felt really good after all the flat runnable miles. As we climbed our way up through the different layers of sandstone the views started to expand and the late afternoon light lit up the walls with a reddish/orange glow. We hit the top of the climb right as the sun started it’s descent below the horizon, what a way to end an amazing day in the canyons.

Looking down from the White Rim towards the Colorado River far far below.
25mi of White Rim Rd done, back up the Murphy Trail we go!

After a quick high five we booked it back to town to eat every single thing we could get our hands on (9h12min and 43.69mi of running makes one hungry!). On the surface the desert may not have the diversity or grandeur of the mountains, but look a little closer and she just might reveal her secrets to you. The Island in the Sky district is a wonderful example of the diversity of Canyonlands; juniper forest on the high plateau, massive sandstone cliffs, arid slicrkrock and two rivers that create an impassable oasis far below. So many sections of this park are nearly inaccessible to all but the most dedicated, and that’s what makes it so special, you earn what you get, and nothing is easily given up. Huge thanks to Adler and Owen for sharing this adventure with me, Vfuel for powering me through yet another 9h unsupported adventure and to being healthy enough to challenge the body in such spectacular ways. Strava Track.

Hiking the way up the Murphy Trail back to the top!
Sunset from Island in the Sky looking towards the Lasals. Winter in the desert is beautiful.

Life in the Vaccine World, 4/26/21

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Well, it’s now been over a year since the US went into it’s first set of shelter in place/stay at home orders at the beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic. And while there is hope moving forward, there is still a lot of unknown and I’ve received a lot of questions about what this new ‘reality’ means. Specifically about what it means to be vaccinated both now and in the future and what risk does the virus and vaccine pose to those who are still unvaccinated? Note that unlike some of my previous posts this one will contain a lot of opinion and speculation, as it’s dealing with unknown topics. I will try to be clear of when I’m giving my thoughts vs providing evidence from research and data as always, and if you disagree that’s perfectly fine (All I ask is you use evidence to support your claims).

First off, the discussion about the vaccines. Currently in the US there are three vaccines that have been given Emergency Use Authorization, meaning they have been approved for distribution in a regulated manner, pending constant review of safety and efficacy data. As with all medicines, if any issues or uncertainty arise the FDA has the authority to modify their status and reassess the situation. So far the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have had no major issues with vaccination (that have warranted a pause), just the usual side effects that recipients experience (sore arm, fatigue, headaches, fever, etc). For the Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca (not given EUA) adenovirus vaccines this is a different story. As of this writing on 4/23/21 both of these vaccines are being investigated for rare adverse event blood clots (US FDA, see link below). These rare blood clots have occurred both in the US and Europe and at the time of this writing one hypothesis is, in rare cases autoantibodies are created causing platelet aggregation and a medical issue known as Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine has been released from it’s temporary hold in the US (as of 4/23/21), after a thorough review of the cases and data by the FDA and CDC, and is again being distributed. This is sign of the system working, when ANY issue arose the vaccine was paused and investigated, the risk was found to be extremely low and medical providers have been notified how to identify and treat the rare cases of clotting (Yale Medicine 2021). Note that the rare cases of blood clots in the US have occurred in 8 out of nearly 6.8million J&J vaccinated people in the US (I received my J&J on 3/22), making them very very rare (0.00012% of those receiving the vaccine). In fact, the frequency of these cases of vaccine induced blood clots is approximately 10x lower than occurs with natural Covid-19 disease (Taquet et al 2021) and is also a rare adverse event for many other widely utilized medications (like contraceptives, Aleve, Ibuprofen and Viagra), meaning while it’s something to be aware of, it’s not unusual for medicines. So while the vaccine is far safer and less risky than natural Covid-19 disease, for women between the ages of 16-50yo (primary affected group) it’s something to consider and one may opt to receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccinations instead while these events are being further reviewed and understood. An additional note, that while the blood clots can be life threatening, if the signs/symptoms are identified they are treatable, so if you receive the J&J vaccine keep an eye out for severe headaches, severe abdominal pain, shortness of breath within 6-14days of your vaccination.


With that out of the way, I now wanted to dive into the topic of “I’m vaccinated, now what does that mean for our lives?” From an efficacy standpoint, once you are two weeks out from receiving your vaccination(s) you are much less likely to become infected, but this does not mean it’s impossible. The CDC recently released the first set of data discussing the breakthrough cases, these are cases of Covid-19 in previously vaccinated individuals. The case count as of 4/20/21 was 7,157 individuals over the 4months of vaccination (over 100million people vaccinated) with 498(7%) cases of hospitalization and 88(1%) deaths (CDC Stats). While this is unfortunate, it was NOT unexpected as the vaccines were shown to be 70-95% effective at REDUCING infection in the clinical trials, meaning sadly not everyone is fully immune from potential infections. This is due to insufficient immune building or receiving a viral inoculum that overwhelms the immune system (happy to answer direct PMs about this complicated topic). The good thing is, 7,157 breakthrough cases in the US is actually a fairly small number when you consider that in the month of April >1.2million new people have become infected already and >14,000 people died this month (CDC Covid Data Tracker), so again, the vaccinate have a GREATLY reduces the chance of becoming infected.

Now on to a much more complicated topic, what a vaccine means for our daily lives, interactions and opening up society. First off, a lot of this decision will be based on an individuals risk tolerance and personal decision making, as such I’m going to do my best to refrain from telling you what you should or shouldn’t do, and instead provide each individual things to consider while they go through their daily lives. I’ll first go into what it means to be vaccinated, then speculate on how some of the new mutations might affect the future.

As discussed above, once you are fully vaccinated your risk of becoming infected dramatically drops. Meaning, you are far less likely to both carry the virus and to become infected (CDC MMWR 4/2/21). The converse of this is there is a small possibility that a vaccinated individual becomes infected (especially from an unvaccinated person) and can spread the virus. Now this doesn’t mean you have to keep yourself shut inside forever, but it does mean there is still a low level of risk out there. Situations that would pose the highest risk are any that put you in contact with large numbers of people, indoors in close proximity (yes bars and restaurants), unmasked for extended durations. Thus there are plenty of things that create much less risk in your life but still allow you to connect with others and socialize. Just consider who and how long you’re interacting with people, hopefully from known social circles. So just remember, each person you interact with and are in close contact with, whether you know them or not, becomes part of your social circle, and connects to others in your social circle (think of a giant spiderweb). Based on my personal risk tolerance I won’t be going to any bars, clubs, indoor concerts and will be minimizing indoor restaurant dining for now.

As of this writing the strains discovered in Italy 2020 and UK 2020 are the predominant strains circulating in the US, but there are newer strains discovered in South Africa, Brazil and India containing mutations that reduce the vaccines effectiveness (note they DO NOT render vaccines ineffective). Even with that, the vaccines appear to reduce severity and symptoms of the new viral strains, thus offering some protection. No one can predict the exact future, but here are a few things to watch for as the pandemic moves forward. While the virus still spreads at an uncontrolled rate worldwide, mutations will continue to accumulate, many unproductive, though some will lead to changes that are beneficial for the virus. As such I expect there to be a new vaccine booster shot that becomes available in 2021/2022 to address some of these changes, scientist from Moderna are already testing one of these (NIH 2021). So while it is fantastic news that the US is nearing half the population having received at least 1 shot, until we can vaccinate a large proportion of the world this virus will continue to spread and mutate. Locally, vaccines will dramatically slow the spread, reduce the hospital burden and save tens of thousands (or maybe hundreds of thousands) of lives but vaccinating the US alone won’t bring things fully back to normal. Since SARS-CoV-2 has a proof-reading enzyme the virus doesn’t mutate as fast as others (thankfully), so once the viral spread no longer becomes globally uncontrolled the mutations will slow and eventually cease. Again, this is just a hypothesis, but is one of the long-term goals of the global pandemic response. Combined with the potential of discovering additional live saving therapeutics, these are the tools that will help us move into a healthier future. Again, this last paragraph is all speculation and there are innumerable factors that could easily swing us off this trajectory or dramatically change the course of the pandemic response. No one knows the future, all we can do as Scientists and society as a whole is be aware of the most likely future directions and plan as best we can to deal with those challenges.

References:
CDC Stats. COVID-19 Breakthrough Case Investigations and Reporting. 4/20/21. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-departments/breakthrough-cases.html
CDC Covid Data Tracker. 4/23/21. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailytrendscases
CDC MMWR 4/2/21. Interim Estimates of Vaccine Effectiveness of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 COVID-19 Vaccines in Preventing SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Health Care Personnel, First Responders, and Other Essential and Frontline Workers. CDC MMWR 4/2/21. 70(13):495-500.
FDA. FDA and CDC Lift Recommended Pause on Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 Vaccine Use Following Thorough Safety Review. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-and-cdc-lift-recommended-pause-johnson-johnson-janssen-covid-19-vaccine-use-following-thorough
NIH. NIH clinical trial evaluating Moderna COVID-19 variant vaccine begins. 3/31/21, https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-clinical-trial-evaluating-moderna-covid-19-variant-vaccine-begins’
Taquet M et al. Cerebral venous thrombosis: a retrospective cohort study of 513,284 confirmed COVID-19 cases and a comparison with 489,871 people receiving a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. Oxford University, 2021.
Yale Medicine. The Johnson & Johnson Vaccine and Blood Clots: What You Need to Know. 4/23/21. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/the-covid-vaccine-blood-clots

24hours of 14ers; Revisiting the Past

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Seven years ago a crazy idea was hatched out of an online discussion on 14ers.com, how many 14,000ft peaks was it possible to climb in 24hours, and what would be the optimal linkup? I love 14ers, and I love logistical challenges, so I set out working some variations and timing, scouted a few lines and put some wheels in motion. I made my first go at the linkup in July 2013 as a training run leading up to UTMB, ultimately bowing out after tagging Sherman in 18h37min, for a total of 9 summits. At the time it was a good first effort, but I felt that I had a left a lot more potential out there and that 12 was feasible on a good day. Since 2013 several others have improved upon my original 9 summits, pushing the number to 11 summits in 22h, though still no one had crossed the 12 peak threshold.

Smokey views from the Mt Evans Rd, 9/18/20.

After a summer of running around the mountains, I was searching for a little inspiration, something to cap the summer and add a little extra motivation to the weird race-less Covid year it’s been. The opportunity presented itself, so I worked the schedules, lined up a driver and was set to go. Friday morning at 430a my friend Misti picked me up and we headed out for the Mt Evans Rd, the starting point for the journey. At 6:11am on 9/18/20 I clicked the watch and started jogging up the Rd to Mt Evans. It was cool and breezy, smoke hanging in the air from all the wildfires, but on I ran. I hit summit lake at 1:10 and busted up the NE slope to the summit (1:43). For some reason I thought I was behind schedule so I cranked my way across the Sawtooth, gasping as I scampered around the snow on Bierstadt, hitting the summit in 2:38. Even though it was a Friday it was a bit of a cluster, so I wasted no time and hammered down the trail, passing dozens upon dozens of onlookers, not even registering their comments or questions, reaching the Guanella Pass Rd, and eventually 11000ft at 3:25 (10min ahead of schedule).

Headed across the Sawtooth to Mt Bierstadt.
Finally a bit of downhill after dodging the crowds atop Mt Bierstadt.

I jumped in the car, and Misti promptly took off for Stevens Gulch as I packed my water, food and gear for the next leg of the journey. The word of the day was ‘efficient’. We pulled up to the Stevens Gulch TH, I jumped out, poles in hand and headed straight onto the trail for Torreys Peak. I dug into the trail, and found a steady rhythm up and over Torreys (5:31) and over to Grays (5:55). Thankfully the trail wasn’t too busy and CFI has done some great work, allowing me to cruise at a quick pace back down to the car where Misti had a cup o’noodle waiting and off we bounced down the Stevens Gulch Rd, next stop Quandary!

Headed up Torreys and Grays Peak.

We had a good rhythm going, I’d stuff my pack with food, water and gear, eat something solid and do some recovery work on my legs while we drove. After a short nap we navigated our way onto the Blue Lakes Rd on the South side of Quandary Peak, where I again hopped out of the car at 11200ft, intent on making quick work out of the dirt road section. I soon crested the dam at Blue Lake, and struck off on the climbers trail headed for Cristo Couloir. My semi-secret shortcut and little known fact that it’s only 2mi from 11200ft to the summit of Quandary via Cristo (1mi gaining 2300ft!). I’ve always been good at digging my poles in and just grinding out slow vert, so that’s what I did. Reaching the summit of Quandary Peak at 9:06 (1:24 from the car) to cloudy cool skies with only one other person in site. I made quick work of the steep loose descent, getting back to the car in 37min (9:43)! Then began the frantic recovery and repacking effort before we hit the Kite Lake Rd, this would be the shortest turn around, and with a long loop of the DeCaLiBron to come.

Looking down Cristo Couloir on my way up Quandary.

Misti dropped me at 11100ft on the Kite Lake Rd at 10:07 (4:45pm) and I began the long slog up to Kite Lake and Mt Democrat. After 10hours I wasn’t feeling as spry but I just kept grinding away, for the first time starting to struggle a bit on the uphills, reaching the summit of Mt Democrat at 11:52 (1:45 from the car), slower than I’d hoped for, but still on pace overall. I made decent time over to Mt Lincoln (12:48), spurred on by a bitter cold wind that froze my fingertips. Soon after I crested Mt Bross as the evening light faded into blackness, I paused long enough to take in the fact that I’d had the entire DeCaLiBron to myself, a rare occurrence. The darkness made the rocky descent far tougher than I’d expected, and I rolled back to the car at 14:13. For the first time all day I was a bit beat up, and was looking forward to the long drive over to Missouri Gulch, a chance to rest and recharge before the long night ahead. I refueled and napped as Misti drove, and before I knew it we were bumping down the Winfield Rd, screeching to a halt because we’d flow right by the trailhead!

Cold and windy sunset run up Mt Lincoln, all by my lonesome.

After a quick double check of my gear and food stores I bid Misti farewell and set off into the darkness. I put on some music and just focused on strong and solid movement upwards. I was hitting my splits as I neared treeline, but I could feel the strain in my breathing. As I began to climb the endless switchbacks to Mt Belford I knew I was in for a challenging night. My lungs felt congested and I couldn’t seem to get a full breath, forcing me to take breaks far more often that I wanted just to catch my breath. The switchbacks seemed to drag on forever, made worse by the lingering snow and ice that further slowed progress. At this point I was feeling very demoralized, moving as fast as I could muster, reaching the summit of Belford in 2:31 from the trailhead (18:16). It was dark, cold and I was struggling mentally to stay motivated.

Final bit of light fading away on the Rocky Mountains.

I pushed on to Oxford, once again forced to dodge a bunch of awkward snow and ice blocking the trail, reaching Oxford in 0:47 (19:03), far slower than what I know I’m capable of. On the summit of Oxford I did some fuzzy math, realizing that at my current pace it was gonna be tough to break the current FKT of 11 summits in 22h. When I’d started up from the trailhead 11 summits seemed almost a certainty and 12 seemed very reasonable, but now I was struggling to fathom climbing 11 in the allotted time. As I descended back to Elkhead Pass I was able to talk myself out of the funk….you know these routes, there’s still time on the clock, so keep pushing forward until you run out of time, nothing is certain.

The grind up Missouri felt like death, but I pushed on as hard as I could. 13000ft…..13200ft….13500ft….. dodging a few more snow patches, and not happy to see that my scree shortcuts down the SW face of Missouri was blocked by drifted snow from the prior week’s storm, so I’d have to go around the long way. At last I crested the summit of Missouri Mt, summit #11 at 21:00, giving me an hour to traverse the ridge and drop 3000ft to Clohesy Lake, a task that felt nearly impossible at the moment, but still off I went.

The glory of sleep deprivation and the excitement of endurance events…nap time.

I pushed across Missouri’s NW ridge as fast as I could move in the dark, the whole things is a blur in my memory. I finally turned West and began to drop, astonished to find that the popularity of Nolans had hacked a real trail into the ridge (when I began scouting 13 years ago, no trail existed). This gave me a fighting chance, because descending 2800ft on a steep rough trail in 40min was definitely within the realm of possibility! I charged downhill as fast as my legs and lungs would allow, sliding out now and again, but losing elevation in a hurry. At last I dropped out of the upper basin and began descending to Clohesy Lake. The final mile of trail seemed to take forever, but as I neared 11200ft I turned my path straight down the tundra to the lake, collapsing on the edge of Clohesy Lake at 10991ft at 4:01am on 9/19/20, 21hours and 50min after starting my journey on the Mt Evans Rd the previous day. There had been so much doubt and uncertainty the previous 4hours that I’d actually make it to this point that I was relieved, excited, exhausted and beat to shit. The only thing left to do was trudge my way out of the mountains and back down to the Winfield Rd.

Since I don’t own a jeep this meant walking/yogging a slow 3mi back down the jeep road in the coldest part of the night. After wading through the river (twice) I walked up to Lana (my Rav4) and woke Misti to give her the good news… I’d done it, though barely. I’d set out the ultimate goal to climb 12 14ers in 24hours, and while I’d fallen short of that goal, I’d still managed to climb 11 summits and just squeeze in under the previous FKT by 10min, covering 22,300ft of gain and 48.7mi. It may not have been a perfect day; with all the physical struggles and the additional challenges added by the smoke and snow, but it had been one hell of a journey through the mountains. I’d over come the persevered despite the mental struggles and uncertainty, trusting in the process rather than giving in to the doubts. Though that 12th summit still lingers….Mt Huron, I’m coming for you.

Chaos and COVID-19

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Society is in some state of chaos at the moment, and there’s so much misinformation and misunderstanding floating around. So in this blog I’m hoping to provide some of the scientific knowledge based on the research and observations. First, here are my credentials; Masters of Science in Immunology and Infectious Diseases, I’ve spent 14 years in the laboratory doing research (HIV, Tuberculosis, West Nile, Autoimmune diseases, cancer) and worked in a BSL3 laboratory. So with that out of the way, I’m going to try and stay away from giving too many opinions, talking about the politics or debating the models because there’s just too much speculation there. So if you’re interested just in the scientific research about the virus, the immune system and the current case study numbers hang on, this is going to be a long one (all references cited will be at the end).

Background

In early December 2019 a cluster of pneumonia cases appeared in Wuhan, China with clinical characteristics similar to SARS-CoV-1. Of the initial patients studied the mortality rate was extremely high (10-15%, now estimated closer to 2-3.5%), which gave rise to great concern that this virus would be a serious health issue. Sampling from the initial patients and sequencing identified the causative agent as a novel (new) coronavirus that was originally named 2019-nCoV (Huang C et al). Subsequent sequencing and analysis of the virus from those original cases showed that the founding virus has similar characteristics to coronaviruses found in bats, but is also related to those found in pangolins. There are currently two sub-strains of the virus circulating in the population; S-type and L-type. The S-type is thought to be the founding strain, while the L-type is a slightly altered variant that is now the predominant virus circulating in the population (70% of cases), though the consensus sequence for both strains only differ by a few base pairs (Tang et al). As of now (3/18/20) there is no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can sustain infection and spread through any other animals other than humans. As of 3/18/20 China has experienced 80,894 confirmed cases on COVID-19 (disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 formerly 2019-nCoV) and 3,237 deaths from the virus (worldometers.info). While daily number of new cases in China has significantly waned in recent weeks, it has spread to the rest of the world and is currently spreading rapidly throughout Europe, the Middle East and the United States.

How the Virus Spreads

Viruses can spread by either direct (touching, kissing, sex) and indirect (coughing, sneezing, aerosols) methods. Early on during the epidemic of SARS-CoV-2 it was realized that the virus was capable of spreading by indirect contact and possibly survived in aerosols. Though the primary route of transmission is still thought to be direct or close contact with an infected individual. Studies showed that aerosolized liquids containing SARS-CoV-2 could survive on surfaces (specifically plastic and steel) as long as 72 hours in a controlled laboratory setting (Doremalen et al). Though the half-life of the virus on all surfaces was 16 hours or less. Meaning that while the virus can be detected up to 3 days after deposition most of it dies much earlier, though we don’t know exactly what the survival time in a natural environment is. The main take home from this should be, the virus can be transferred from one host to another fairly easily and surface contamination can be an issue if an infected person sneezes/coughs, so cover your mouth and clean common areas! One thing that has made the virus especially difficult to track and control is the presence of what are known as asymptomatic carriers. These are individuals who become infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and are contagious without showing any symptoms (Bai et al). Thus, while they appear fully healthy, they are in fact vectors for the disease without even knowing it. Additionally there can be long incubation times between becoming infected and showing symptoms, thus allowing people to spread the viruses unknowingly.

Preventative Measures (WHO.int)

Standard hygiene rules apply for SARS-CoV-19;
Wash your hands frequently.
Clean common surfaces in shared areas.
Cover coughs and sneezes with an elbow or arm.
Do not touch your nose, eyes and mouth (this is how the virus gains access to the body).
Social distancing (the practice of staying 2m away from potential contacts).
Stay home if you’re sick and self-quarantine. This one is very important and something Americans do not do well.

The question of using masks and gloves has come up numerous times, so I’m going to try and dispel some of the rumors and misinformation. These items are known as PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to those in healthcare and the medical sciences. They are used to protect one’s self from infectious and hazardous materials when used properly. Both N95 masks (fitted and tested, designed to filter out 95% of microparticles) and surgical masks (loose fitting masks that cover your mouth, no seal) are designed to create a barrier between the user and the surrounding environment. N95 masks when worn properly will filter out most particulate and infectious matter, protecting the wearer, when USED PROPERLY. Proper use does not include wearing it around your chin, pulling it off your nose to breath or touching the mask with unwashed hands, in short most of the public is not trained well enough to properly use these and thus negates a lot of the benefits they can provide. Surgical masks on the other hand are designed to protect those surrounding the user by blocking some of the aerosolization of material, they ARE NOT designed to protect the user from inhaling microparticles (same goes for cloth masks) (Balazy et al). The reason the government does not want the public using and hoarding these disposable masks is that there is a HUGE shortage for our healthcare workers, the people who have to take care of the sick and injured on a daily basis (which may be you). They come into contact with the infectious and at risk at levels exponentially higher than the average person and if they don’t have these protective equipment then it’s almost a certainty they’ll get infected, and then either be forced to take time off (leaving our hospitals understaffed) or infect those around them such as patients who are at risk. If you’ve been hoarding masks or bought a bunch think of donating them to your nearby hospital, every nurse or doctor I’ve spoken with says they are rationing and running very low on these supplies. If you need to wear a mask buy a cloth reusable mask (and wash it regularly) in order to protect those around you from anything you might be carrying. As with the N95s above, disposable latex and nitrile gloves are not very practical or helpful for most people. Every time you touch your body, your cell phone, your hair, your mask on your face, you contaminate the gloves and spread that contamination around. Save yourself the waste and trouble and just regularly wash your hands.

Symptoms and Testing

The main symptoms as outlined by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) are; fever, cough and shortness of breath along with a host of other minor symptoms (CDC.gov). What sets SARS-CoV-2 apart from influenza or the common cold is the lower respiratory involvement. Symptoms usually appear in 2-7days, but there have been cases where symptoms are very delayed (beyond a week). The state of Colorado recommends that if you have these symptoms or are concerned due to exposure to a positive case to call your primary care doctor first, do not go to an ER unless it’s an Emergency.

Once the virus enters the body it binds to ACE2 (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2) receptors on vascular endothelial cells and uses these cells as a host to replicate. ACE2 receptors are also found in the lungs, kidney and GI tract, all locations known to harbor coronaviruses (Jia et al). In addition to the more general symptoms, in moderate to severe cases pulmonary inflammation and damage are seen and these are considered the more critical issues when looking at long term prognosis. CT scans of the lungs were found helpful in diagnosing patients with more advanced disease (Zhu et al). Patients over the age of 65 and those having a host of other chronic disorders (hypertension, diabetes, auto-immune diseases, immunocompromised) are more likely to progress to severe COVID-19 disease than those without (Zhou et al). Though recently it has been seen that even younger patients can have lasting pulmonary damage beyond disease resolution.

Which brings us to the next issue, testing…oh testing….. When the epidemic first began in China researchers isolated and sequenced the viral genome (this is an RNA virus). Allowing them to identify unique sequences in the virus that they could use as a genetic finger print. In January of 2020 a group at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin released information on an assay that would guide the creation of the first large scale PCR testing to be adopted by the WHO (Corman et al). Since then several other countries have released different versions of the test. Since January over 1million tests have been run around the world, with China (320,000), South Korea (286,000) and Italy (148,000) leading the way (ourworldindata.org). Sadly the estimates in the United States are that only 41,000 people have been tested. I say ‘estimates’ because right now we have no National testing strategy or centralized facility monitoring our testing. Tests are being run by government labs, hospitals, private diagnostic labs and even some private biotech companies have created their own tests, but the short of it is there’s no central coordinated effort as of 3/18/20. If you’re interested in reading more about what went wrong with our testing, check this article from the New Yorker.

Which brings us to how can you get tested? Well, the short answer is most people can’t. Because of testing shortages the guidelines on who can get tested vary wildly from state to state and county to county. The standard criteria in Colorado as of 3/18/20 is that you must have an order from your healthcare provider, stating known contact with another infected patient and/or presenting with symptoms. Even if you do meet that criteria there’s no guarantee you can or will get tested right now, I personally know several people who fit the criteria but have been turned away to self-quarantine and monitor. So how do you know if you are infected with the virus? Well, in the United States right now you really don’t, and in lieu of broader testing to identify the spread of the virus social distancing and limitations on group gatherings (including concerts, bars, restaurants) have been put in place.

Treatment Options

Right now there’s no fully validated and approved treatments for COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). For those with more mild forms of the disease the CDC recommends; quarantine, rest, monitor your symptoms and continue with the preventative measures listed above. For those with more severe symptoms go to the hospital for care.

As of 3/18/20 there are numerous companies in the early stage of testing vaccines against COVID-19, one has even begun Phase I human trials, which simply looks at whether or not the vaccine is safe in humans, it’s a long way from mass production though. There are also several approved medications that are being tested in Phase II and III clinical trials in patients suffering from COVID-19; Remdesivir, Chloroquine and Favipiravir appear to be the most promising. All three were originally developed for other diseases (Ebola, malaria, influenza) but are being repurposed to fight COVID-19 and have shown promise in early patient testing. It’s quite common for drugs to be tested and used for numerous different indications, because this expedites testing as the safety has already been proven in previous studies. EDIT:
Because Trump and the FDA made specific announcements about Hydroxychloroquine today (3/19/20) I’ll add an extra note here. Hydroxychloroquine has been been used as an anti-malarial (parasite) for almost 70 years, and is also used to treat Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, so you might ask, how does this drug help us fight a virus??? The drug alters the pH inside special compartments inside our cells (for the scientist; lysosomes, endosomes and the Golgi) having an affect on several pathways. One such pathway is the process of breaking down antigens and presenting them to immune cells (Fox et al). For autoimmune diseases this means the drug helps slow the immune response to your own body, but this is counter productive to fighting a virus that we want to kill, so what gives? Ah, but there’s an alternate pathway that the drug affects, modification of proteins in the Golgi. These modifications are essential for viruses to replicate and produce more functional virion! So the drug does function to slow down some parts of the immune system (not all) BUT it also serves to reduce viral replication (in experiments with HIV showed modest reduction, SARS-CoV-2 specifically has not been tested yet) (Romanelli et al).

Immunity?

With most infections, your body has two stages of response. First is the non-specific innate immune response where our body recognizes that there’s a foreign invader (bacteria, virus, parasite, etc) and attempts to kill it. Sometimes the number of the microbe is too great and they infect and spread in the body causing disease. All infectious organisms have a minimum infectious dose that’s required to get a person sick, though this exact amount varies from person to person, for route of entry and is different for each microbe. Once the initial non-specific response fails our body goes into overdrive to try and kill off the rapidly replicating organism. This includes running a fever to burn the pathogen out and creating a pathogen specific memory response via T-cells and B-cells selection. These specific memory responses are the backbone of what is known as pathogen specific immunity, or our ability to fight off a disease. As of now (3/18/20) it appears as though people who survive and recover from COVID-19 are immune to the virus. Recently there have been news articles about how several recovered COVID-19 patients have retested positive for the virus, these cases most likely fall into one of two categories; first that the patients were released prematurely from the hospital and thus still had low levels of virus remaining in their system, second the recovered patient came into contact with another infectious patient who transferred the virus to them allowing them to retest positive. Being immune does not mean that another person who is infected can not transfer the virus to us, it simply means our body is able to destroy the invading pathogen before it causes disease, this is how a vaccine works. Note that in both cases the affected individuals did not get sick a second time (as far as we know) and for those who become immune it is not believed they can further spread the virus once fully recovered.

Current Statistics (3/18/20)

As of 10pm on 3/18/20 there have been 219,243 people who have tested positive for COVID-19, 124,530 cases are still active (6,814 are in serious/critical condition), 85,745 have recovered (mostly in China) and 8,968 have died (worldometers.info). The current world wide mortality rate stands at 4.09% but as many have and will point out that is a flawed number because of the lack of testing and the lack of understanding what the actual case load is. COVID-19 is different than other viral infections we have because it does seem to be killing patients at a higher rate than other viruses currently in circulation. On Wednesday March 18th alone 976 people worldwide died from COVID-19, that’s a pretty astounding number, especially considering the pandemic is still spreading in many countries. In the United States we had 2,848 NEW cases on March 18th, and that’s with our testing infrastructure greatly lagging and many people not being tested. What makes the potential for this virus so scary is that it has a disproportionately negative effect on those who are elderly, immunocompromised and those who have a number of specific risk factors that depress the body’s normal immune responses. The pandemic is far from over and while none of us know exactly what will happen, it’s not looking good in the short term.

Cited Literature and Sources
Bai et al, Presumed Asymptomatic Carrier Transmission of COVID-19. JAMA Network, Feb 2020.
Balazy et al, Do N95 respirators provide 95% protection level against airborne viruses, and how adequate are surgical masks? American Journal of Infectious Control, March 2006.
cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html
Chiang et al. Inhibition of HIV-1 replication by hydroxychloroquine: mechanism of action and comparison with zidovudine. Clinical Therapeutics, November 1996.
Corman et al, Detection of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) by real-time RT-PCR. Eurosurveillance, Jan 2020.
Doremalen et al, Aerosol and surface stability of HCoV-19 (SARS-CoV-2) compared to SARS-CoV-1. New England Journal of Medicine, March 2020.
Fox et al, Mechanism of action of hydroxychloroquine as an antirheumatic drug. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, Oct 1993.
Huang et al, Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Lancet, Jan 2020.
Jia et al, ACE2 Receptor expression and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection depends on differentiation of human airway epithelia. Journal of Virology, Dec 2005.
Newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-went-wrong-with-coronavirus-testing-in-the-us
Ourworldindata.org/covid-testing
Romanelli et al. Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine as Inhibitors of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) Activity. Clinical Pharmaceutical Design, 2004.
Smith et al, Effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks in protecting healthcare workers from acute respiratory infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Canadian Medical Association Journal, Dec 2015.
Tang et al, On the origin and continuing evolution of SARS-CoV-2. National Science Review, March 2020.
Wang et al, Establishment of a reference sequences of SARS-CoV-2 and variation analysis. Journal of Medical Virology, March 2020.
Who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
Worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Zhou et al, A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature, Feb 2020.
Zhou et al. Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet, March 2020.
Zhu et al, Initial clinical features of a suspected Coronavirus disease 2019 in two emergency departments outside Hubei, China. Journal of Medical Virology, March 2020.

Rocky Mountain National Park Skyline Traverse

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We threw up our hoods, put our heads down and leaned into the wind as we left the Alpine Visitor Center. The wind ripped across the Continental Divide and we ran, partly to make good time, partly to stay warm. An already challenging route promised to be extra challenging on this day.

11hours in and I’d made it to the Narrows on Longs Peak!

Twelve years after running my first National Park ultramarathon in the Grand Canyon I still hadn’t completed my Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) ultra, despite it being my home park. I’d spent a lot of time debating the best route, settling on a ridge traverse through the park’s interior. The difficulty of the route was that almost the entire route was above treeline, holding snow late into the summer and being exposed to thunderstorms for most of the summer. My friend Ben and I picked a nice clear crisp September day (9/22/19), the one factor we didn’t count on was the wind. As we traversed the Ute trail along the Continental Divide a bone chilling wind howled from the NW.

Sunrise from the Alpine Visitor Center with the Continental Divide stretched out in front of us.
Following a section of the Ute trail early in the run. Most of the ridgeline was trailless.

We soon bailed off the trail and onto the ridge proper, where we’d stay for most of the day. As we made our way to Mt Ida, the first summit of the day, we had to duck onto the East side of the ridge to warm our hands and put on all our layers. The wind chill was brutal, and we could barely feel our hands and face. We trudged our way up and over Mt Ida to Chief Cheley (2:11, 7.3mi). Lake Azura and Highest lake were still crusted in ice and the views of the park were phenomenal. This section of the park is one of the most remote and seldom visited, miles from any trailhead and the nearest trail. We put our heads down and continued our trudge into the wind.

Proper Rocky Mountain ridge running near Mt Ida.
Highest Lake near the base of Chief Cheley, with Forest Canyon far below.
Tundra running near Sprague Mountain. Longs Peak still looks really far away (square top)

I tagged Sprague Mountain, Gabletop and Knobtop before finally reconnecting with the Flattop mountain trail (5:35, 15.6mi). Ben opted to bail off Flattop back to the car, as the wind was getting worse and there was uncertainty whether the route would go under the conditions. Solo, I crawled my way up Hallett and Otis, barely able to stand without being blown over. As I huddled in the wind block atop Otis peak, I debated my options….. Push on to the technical part of the route (the Class 5 McHenrys Notch), bail down the long East ridge of Otis Peak or return back the way I’d come to the Flattop mountain trail. Being over halfway across the traverse I opted to push on and try my luck.

Flattop Mountain with Hallet and Oatis in the background.
View from Taylor Peak towards Powell with Longs looming behind.

On the long slog up Taylor Peak (the first 13er of the day) my legs were starting to feel heavy, but the wind was actually lessening. From atop Taylor Peak (7:21, 19.1mi) I peered down on Skypond far below, and for the first time all day it looked as though the traverse would actually go! The traverse over to Powell Peak went slowly, but soon I found myself on the summit staring down the SE couloir, ready for the fun to begin. I descended a little over 200ft and located the grassy ledge system to skier’s left that would allow easy passage to McHenrys Notch. From McHenrys Notch the route is obvious, but far from easy. Directly across the Notch are two vertical Class 5 gulleys that lead to the NW ridge of McHenrys Peak.

Looking into McHenry’s Notch. The two gulleys in the middle are your class 5 options to reach the ridgeline above.

I scrambled my way up the lefthand ledge system to the broad ledge on the South side of the peak, and finished the easy traverse over to the summit of McHenrys Peak (8:39, 21.3mi). It felt great to have surmounted the crux, until I looked across Glacier Gorge at Longs Peak, oy vey, I still had a long way to go. I picked my way down through the talus field to Stoneman Pass (not the low point, but the first notch) and descended into Glacier Gorge. This would be the only time I descended into the valley. Glacier Gorge (especially the upper section) is an absolutely magical gem and one of the most iconic hiking destinations in all of Rocky Mountain National Park. Sheer granite faces surround one on all sides, Arrowhead and Spearhead jut abruptly out of the middle of the valley and numerous alpine lakes have carved out depressions amongst the barren white landscape.

Looking across Glacier Gorge from Stoneman Pass. The Trough is the obvious gulley that ascends just right of the Longs Peak summit block.
Frozen Lake tucked in the shadows of Chief’s Head Peak.

I refilled my water in one of the side streams, crossed over the head of Frozen Lake and made my way to the base of the Trough, a 2500ft gulley that swoops its way from Glacier Gorge up to the West face of Longs Peak. I felt like death as I crawled my way up through the talus and slabs just climbers right of the gulley. Time seemed to be passing in slow motion, 100 vertical feet at a time. At last I pulled myself through the windy notch at the top of the Trough and out onto the Narrows. For as many times as I’ve climbed Longs (30?), this was the first time I’d been on the Keyhole route in non-winter conditions alone. I pulled myself up the Homestretch and onto the summit block (11:16, 24.4mi), collapsing with exhaustion, but also with a smile on my face. It was 6:15pm, I was the only person on the summit, the wind had stopped, and long shadows draped themselves across the park.

Feeling like death as I slog my way up the Trough towards Longs.
The shadows of Longs Peak stretching East into the foothills.

After taking a few long breaths in, I knew I had to get moving, sunset was only an hour away, and I wanted to be below the Loft before it got dark, so back down I went, dropping down Keplinger’s couloir, ascending up past Clark’s Arrow and into the Loft between Longs Peak and Mt Meeker. I summitted Mt Meeker just as the final rays of warm sunlight disappeared over the shoulder of Pagoda Peak (12:04, 25.6mi), bathing the talus in a soft orange glow. I took off at a fairly rapid pace down through the talus, in search of the climbers ledge that would lead below the cliffs. As the light began to fade, I started to panic a little bit as I hadn’t reached the climbers trail yet, but luckily, as the last bit of daylight turned to darkness I spotted the trail just below me. Once on the ledge I knew I would be able to navigate myself back down to trail, and in the end the Longs Peak Trailhead.

The Pallisades guarding easy entry to the Loft, down and around I go.
Sun flare over the shoulder of Pagoda Peak with the Longs Peak summit block on the right. What a day.

Progress was slow as I picked my way down the Class 3 slabs and into the talus below. Once I reached the trail in Chasm meadow I was finally able to jog again….it had been over 13miles since I’d last been on trail, so being able to slowly jog felt wonderful. Tired, beat down and totally satisfied I took my time jogging down the Longs Peak trail back to the trailhead. At 8:45pm, 13:46 after leaving the Alpine Visitor center early that morning I stumbled my way onto the pavement, sat on the bench and hung my head in exhaustion. I had only covered 30.6mi and 12000ft of vertical gain, but it had taken 13h46min and I was worked.

At first glance Rocky Mountain National Park may look just like the rest of the Colorado Rockies, but for those with the time and energy to delve a little deeper into it’s depths, the rewards are some of the most stunning scenery anywhere. From the 2000ft high Diamond of Longs Peak to the glacial carved valleys of Glacier Gorge, Sky Pond and Dream Lake to the deep forests teaming with wildlife of the North Boundary; RMNP has it all. I chose my route because it showcased some of the most remote sections of the park, the high alpine terrain, the crystal blue lakes, the glacial carved valleys and of course Longs Peak in all her majesty. There are countless number of adventures within the park, but for me this route offered a taste of all the best. For those looking for something less committing I highly recommend the hike to Glacier Gorge and Mills Lake, Dream Lake and Emerald Lake and for those with summit fever and some scrambling skills Longs Peak.

This route, being a point to point was not possible without the help of a couple of good friends. So a special thanks to Michael Hodges from McGregor Mtn Lodge for helping with the car shuttle and to my friend Ben for the company on the first half of the loop and for waiting patiently at the end for me to slog my way home. And as always a special thanks to Vfuel for keeping me trudging along through such crazy adventures. My RMNP traverse was National Park Ultra #20, and I completed #21 only 3 weeks later in the Great Smokey Mountains. Even after all the time, suffering and misery I can say I’m super excited to see where this project continues to take me.

Great Smokies Challenge Adventure Run (SCAR)

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Well here goes nothing…. At 5am I set off into the darkness, slowly climbing my way up from Davenport Gap into the silence of the hardwood forest. It was Oct 14th, just over a month after my disappointing race at Ultra Trail Monte Rosa, a very unfulfilling would be end to a big year of training, so I immediately went searching for the next big challenge. Naturally my National Parks project came to the forefront, and at the very top of that list was the “Smokies Challenge Adventure Run” (SCAR). If you’re not from the East Coast I totally get your confusion at the name of the route, I was equally surprised when I first came across it in blogs in early 2019.

Pre-scouting Davenport Gap the day before the big dance. Oh boy, oh boy!

In short, the SCAR is a 72mile traverse of Great Smokies National Park from Davenport Gap to Fontana Dam (or the other way) along the Appalachian Trail, it was a logical, aesthetic and seriously challenging line (72mi, approx. 18000ft, current FKT 14h28min). My goal was to simply survive it, experience it, and take a lot of photos (it would be my first time in the Smokies). So as I power hiked and jogged up the hill from Davenport Gap, my head was swirling with doubts… was I trained enough, did I pack enough food/supplies, would the natural springs be flowing, would the weather hold? The only thing I was certain of was that I was in for one hell of an adventure.

First light hitting hitting the Appalachian Mountains in Great Smoky National Park.
A little splash of fall colors along the AT.

The initial climb went by fairly quickly, and as I crested the ridgeline near Mt Cammerer the first glow of sunrise was showing in the East (5.2mm, 2:45). Now atop the ridgeline I settled into my goal pace for the day, hike up each knob/peak, then jog the descents and flats. The trail was a mix of deep hardwood forest with fleeting views from the various lookouts and knobs along the trail. Finally, I crested Mt Guyot and jogged my way down to the Tricorner Knob shelter (15.7mm, 4:10), my first reliable water source. 2019 was a dry year in the Smokies, as such many of the springs had dried up, and even the ever reliable Tricorner Knob was reduced to a piped trickle, though just enough to treat a bottle before moving on.

Early morning light filtering through the deep forest.
Tricorner Knob shelter, the trickle of water is on the right.

The route stuck pretty close to the ridge for the next section, with several beautiful narrow sections of ridgeline where one could look down both the North and South sides of the ridge. Over Mt Sequoyah, Eagle Rock, Laurel Top, Porter’s Gap and The Sawteeth. The foliage was several weeks behind, but the hillsides were dotted with yellows, oranges and reds, just enough to break up the endless sea of green. As I passed Charlie’s Bunion I began to encounter a steady stream of hikers. By the time I reached Ice Water Spring and Mt Kephart there was an almost endless line of hikers strung out along the trail. Thankfully most people were aware enough to allow me to cruise on by, and I soon popped out of the woods into the madness that was Newfound Gap (30.3mm, 7:15).

Splashes of yellow adorn the Great Smoky Mountains.
A little fun rocky single track along the AT.

I knew Great Smoky NP was the most visited National Park in the US, but I was definitely not ready for crowds. Cars were backed up for a mile on either side of the pass as many more endlessly circled the parking lot. By a stroke of luck I was actually able to find my mom, who had offered to meet me at the trailhead for a food and water resupply. I reloaded my S-lab 12 and jogged out of the parking lot, quickly leaving the masses behind. I hike/jogged along the rolling forested AT up towards Clingmans Dome, the high point of Tennessee and the day. As I neared Clingmans Dome I had my first low point of the day, I bonked hard, slowly slogging my way up the Clingman Dome fire tower (39.6mm, 10:05).

Selfie atop the lookout at Clingmans Dome, back from the dead….for now.
View from Clingmans Dome into Tennessee.
The soft afternoon light makes the forest glow.

The views were 360 degree panoramic and the air was unusually clear, allowing one to see a long way into both Tennessee and North Carolina. After taking in the views I again disappeared back into the dense hardwood forest, losing all the crowds instantly. It was all downhill from here, literally and figuratively. The trail slowly became rockier, and my legs were definitely not getting any spunkier. Down, then up, then down again, then up…. I didn’t seem to be losing any elevation, even though I’d passed the high point? I finally reached the Derrick Knob shelter (49.3mm, 12:45) for a water resupply, the pipe was again trickling, just enough.

Derrick Knob shelter, water refill station and new friends.
A little solo silent single track running soothes the soul.

I paused for a moment to chat with the group staying at Derrick Knob, and the inevitable question came up…”So where are you coming from”….”Davenport”….”How many days did it take you”……”I started this morning”……”WHAT?!?!?”. I don’t know why I bother trying to explain, but they were nice enough to point me in the right direction, so off I went. The light was slowly fading away, and the end didn’t seem to be getting any closer. The short steep climbs up Thunder Mountain and Mt Squires were soul crushing, the last just as the sunset faded away in the West, it was going to be a long dark road (54.4mm, 15:15).

Sunset from Mt Squire on a long day, with many miles to go.

The miles seemed to drag on, over Mollies Ridge and down to Ekaneetlee Pass. I had been dreading the climb to Doe Knob, though knew it was my last significant uphill before what I hoped would be a cruiser downhill to the Fontana Dam. The power in my legs had disappeared on Thunder Mountain and it took all my concentration just to stay upright and on my feet. The dense forest seemed to wrap the darkness tight around me, and it felt as though there was nothing but me and the trail. Finally, I reached the turn where the AT leaves the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mts and heads due South (64mm, 17:18). I started to jog down the overgrown track, only to find my legs were jello, and I was struggling to not stumble off the trail with every single step. I finally gave up and settled into a soul crushing 16min/mile stumble down the trail, frustrated I couldn’t run, usually my strength.

Just after midnight at the Fontana Dam, happy to be done, and completely worked.
Spending the day after the SCAR quietly recovering along one of the many gentle rivers in Great Smoky National Park.

The miles seemed to pass be excruciatingly slow in the darkness, but at last I popped out of the dense woods at the trailhead, only 0.5mi of road left to the dam! Now back on smooth ground I was able to slow jog down to Fontana Dam and the sign marking the boundary of Great Smoky Mts National Park. 72miles (+/-), 18000ft (+/-) and 19h and 25min after leaving Davenport Gap I’d completed the SCAR. I had received a thorough ass whooping on some beautiful but challenging East Coast trail and my first introduction to the Great Smoky Mts had been one hell of a ride. I definitely underestimated the run, but was grateful to have had the opportunity to experience such a classic AT route. Special thanks to my Mom for helping me out with logistics and making the run possible, and to Vfuel for keeping my energy up throughout most of the run. 21 National Park ultramarathons down….only 35 more to go!

Mt Rainier NP; Great Northern Loop Ultra Run

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Wow…I just….wtf???? The scene in front of us was beyond words and comprehension, the glaciated massif of Mt Rainier glowed in the early morning light, fields of wildflowers surrounded us on all sides, and not a soul was in sight, this is what we had come for.

Running across the Sourdough Ridge Trail at sunrise, what a start to an epic run.

Mt Rainier National Park was created in 1899, America’s 5th National Park, to protect the glaciers, alpine meadows, roaring waterways and lush forests of the mountain known to the natives at Tahoma (or Tacoma). The last time I had visited Mt Rainier National Park had been in 2004, and on that trip I’d barely scratched the surface of what the park has to offer. This trip was to be a bit different, a whirlwind tour of the North side of the peak, somewhere in the range of 50miles on already tired legs, game on. I’d convinced my friend Ely Gerbin to join me for this epic adventure of stupidity, and what a day we were in for.

Mt Rainier as seen from the aptly named Sunrise parking lot.

We left the Sunrise parking lot at the crack of dawn, just as the pink alpenglow lit up the hulking massive in front of us. As we jogged our way across the Sourdough Ridge trail the views were nothing short of spectacular, and we were only a mile in! Our route consisted of combining two loops; the Northern Loop with the Spray Park Loop. We opted to start by traversing the Southern portion of the loop first along the Wonderland trail, finishing with the Northern section along the Northern trail. As we rolled along the Wonderland trail through fields filled with wildflowers, the mountain loomed above in the sunlight. The trails were buttery smooth, the morning air was cool and the views were ever changing and stunning. Past the toe of the Winthrop Glacier, the clear reflection of Mystic Lake and on to the bridge over the Carbon River and the looming Carbon Glacier (mm13.4, 3:05). As we started the long climb up from the Carbon River the sun began to bake and the flowers were again popping. The creeks in Spray Park were our own private oasis, and we filled our bottles, drank our fill and dunked out heads (mm17.3, 4:37). Even during our brief stop the mosquitoes swarmed, so we couldn’t stop to smell the flowers for too long.

Reflection in Mystic Lake along the Wonderland Trail.
Ely running through fields of flowers with Mt Rainier looming behind us.
Ely cruising up the single track above the Carbon River.

The views were spectacular as we rolled through the high alpine meadows, then began the slow descent back into the forest and Mowich Lake. Ely and I rolled past the masses at Mowich Lake (mm22, 5:50) and onward to Ipsut Pass (mm23.2, 6:06), the halfway point of our big loop. From the top of Ipsut Pass we stared straight down 2500ft to the Carbon River far below, time to get those quads working. We cruised down down down, through lush green forest, along cascading creeks and past towering evergreens, finally crossing the raging glacial grey Carbon River (mm28.7, 7:21). We took a few minutes to refill our water and to cool off in a small tributary before the long climb up to Windy Gap.

Trudging our way up into Spray Park, the flowers were poppin.
More fields of alpine flowers, all is good.
The alpine gardens of Mt Rainier NP, totally worth it.
Looking down from Ipsut Pass toward the Carbon River.
Ely taking pausing for a moment of serene splendor.

We plodded on up through the trees on what seemed like endless switchbacks, finally breaking out into alpine terrain near the Yellowstone Cliffs into a massive field of bear grass. It was a spectacular site, cruising through the green meadow dotted with white puff balls as far as the eye could see. We continued our trudge up to Windy Gap (mm33, 9:11) and down the other side on some beautiful single track to Lake James. After a little off trail wandering we hit the long and steep switchback descent back to the West Fork of the White River (mm36.7, 10:17). After another water refill we started our final climb of the day up the Northern Loop Trail. The long miles of the weekend hit me like a sledgehammer, and the death march was on. Ely was very patient with me as I slowly trudged up the trail, deep in the pain cave, but the scenery was too spectacular to be too grumpy (but maybe a little).

Ely crossing the Carbon River on the inbound part of our journey.
Ahhhhh, fields of Bear Grass!!!!
View of Mt Rainier from the final climb up above the West Fork of the White River. My grumpiness faded away pretty quickly.

After what seemed like an eternity, we crested the climb to a spectacular view point of Mt Rainier looming high above the White River (mm39.8, 11:32), glowing in the afternoon light….a perfect moment to remind me of why I was enduring all the fatigue, all the suffering, all the soreness in my legs. I finally gained a little of my strength back as we rolled through the flat open plateau and down to Lodi creek. One last final little climb would take us back to Sunrise, and while it seemed to drag on, ambling along the creek through fields of wildflowers was a pretty spectacular way to end the day. As we neared Frozen Lake I was very ready to be done, and just at that moment Ely and I rounded a corner to a herd of mountain goats lazily grazing with the looming mass of Mt Rainier as the backdrop. The day wasn’t over, and the constant reminders of how spectacular the mountain and it’s surrounding environment was kept slapping us in the face. The final traverse back across the Sourdough Ridge trail was a fitting finish to an unbelievable day. Spectacular views and amazing trails start to finish, we’d been thoroughly brutalized (me more so than Ely) and had come out the other side, beaten but with our souls fully filled with an amazing appreciation for all that Mt Rainier National Park has to offer.

The amazing just didn’t stop, running our way up Lodi Creek to the finish of the loop.
Yeah that happened. A herd of mountain goats casually grazing along the Wonderland Trail in the shadow of Mt Rainier.

In the end our route totaled 46.5mi and 13,500ft, taking us a little over 13:30 (because of my slow death march finish). Without a doubt, my first real adventure in Mt Rainier National Park was a resounding success, and the route had been more than I’d ever have hoped for. For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of experiencing Mt Rainier National Park either half of our super loop would be spectacular, or any portion of the Wonderland Trail well worth the effort. I’m incredibly grateful for experiences like this, and for the fact that places like this have been protected for me to enjoy, hopefully for many years to come. Run fast, run healthy, but most importantly run happy.