29029- snow basin

I’ve just completed my first 29029 “everesting” event- it’s a monster hike where you complete a certain number of ascents with your total elevation gain = 29029 feet, or the height of Everest.

For me this event meant REDEMPTION 🔥 after being hit last summer and missing out on ALL of the events I’d paid for and planned on, this one (if it went well) was to be my personal signal that I am on my road to recovery and making my comeback 💪🏼

I chose this event back in December because with this new knee of mine I knew hike up- gondola-down could be a really great combo for me. Plus it seemed like a new audacious goal wayyyyy outside of the 📦 of my norm endeavors/conquests. Here there are no winners or podiums - you either finish and get your red hat, or you don’t.

52.42% of the 250 participants got the hat.

I hiked & prepped a lot but I’ll tell you after that 1st ascent I wondered if I’d done enough. …ascent after ascent I kept meeting the 🏔️ and giving it my best.

After 9 climbs on Friday I decided to stop at 830pm and get some sleep. (You’ve got 36 hours to get the 13 ascents in and you can stop whenever you want). After some amazing rest I went back out for four more today and finished at noon.

I’ll be honest, the uber competitive part of me wanted to see if I could “crush” all 13… and it was hard to go to bed walking away from being one of just a few people with nine accents. I knew I’d wake up to people way ahead of me. And you know what- I prioritized myself and my wellness and rest and I put myself to bed. Not ONE regret.

The boards don’t show finishing times… so I worked on dialing down my “crush it” and turned up my “bring maximum stoke.” Finished it off with a jog to the finish and collected my red hat.

I’ve been absolutely BLOWN away by this event and the caliber of the staff & volunteers & aid stations & accommodations.

I didn’t stay in the 🛖 since I’ve got the 🚐 and Ramsey 🐶 but the tents looked amazing. The food has been stellar and truly just feeling like a rockstar with all the cheers and all-round stoke has made this an event I’ll def recommend to others. *It’s not cheap but you get lodging and meals as well as a top notch event.

Don’t underestimate the challenge- the 🏔️ is humbling. People are going home without hats and I’ll tell you what— I never once took for granted that I would either. I’m dealing with new body parts & hardware that’s only a year old; it was all new to me seeing how my body handled this long event. I was super happy it went so well. 🙏🏼— #getbusyliving #29029everesting #29029 #onelifetolive❤️

photos:

The trip began with a stop at blue Mesa reservoir for a night; I’ve wanted to check this out and now that the water levels are topped off I wanted to see it in its full splendor !

Then it was on to Snow Basin, Utah … (a spot I’ve not been to before) … some pics of the venue and setup:

Day one: we started at 6am. Amazing to see everyone with their headlights on and to feel the nervous energy !!! I logged nine ascents and stopped at about 830 to sleep.

After some solid sleep Friday night, I started my final four ascents around 630am Saturday and finished by noon.

I showered and laid down for an hour to let my back recover and then rode the gondola up to the top with Ramsey to cheer on the finishers who were under the gun to get their final ascent in by 6pm. So inspiring 🙌 the volunteers at this event bring MAXIMUM enthusiasm— oh my gosh they all cheered so hard for all of us 🙏🏼

The event finished with an awards ceremony and recap video - so good.

We wrapped up the trip with a second stay at Blue Mesa res on the way home; this time on the west side (before we stayed towards the east end). It’s absolutely GORGEOUS!!!!!

A special SPECIAL thanks and shout-out to volunteer Pip, a dog-loving goddess, who volunteered to let Ramsey hang out with her near the ascent boards at the base so that Ramsey could be part of the action and not stuck in the van alone. Pip is truly an Angel 😇!!! 🙏🏼

Gore creek & turquoise lake

The idea of checking out gore creek- both the campground and the trail- came about in the winter of 2021 at mcdowell mtn park in Scottsdale az. Yes this is how my world works. I’d potted some little plants in old jam jars and felt called to give one to the super cute volunteer couple who often worked the gate there. I was leaving a van camping adventure, departing the park, and on my way out I stopped and gave them a little plant.

Somehow we got to talking about them being camp hosts at various campgrounds around the country and he said- hands down- his favorite place of all time where they’d been camp hosts- was the gore creek campground just outside of vail.

Well with that kind of endorsement I couldn’t NOT check it out ! So I added it to my adventure list for the summer and booked a campsite for a few days - June 2022 …

And then I got hit by a motorist in early June 2022 and 100% of my summer plans were immediately canceled. Including this one. I scrapped the camp reservation, ate the cancellation fee and kinda mentally moved on.

Until this summer … when I began adding adventures back on the books; I recalled this gore creek campground Recommendation and decided I still very much wanted to check it out.

Van camping for Ramsey and me in the peak summer months can be tricky as my van has a rooftop air fan but not an AC. Just the van itself has ac and I don’t like to run the van and have it idling just to keep us cool. Thankfully vail is at a higher elevation and as the trip approached I checked the weather to ensure we wouldn’t roast — the temps seemed doable esp with nice cool overnight lows so off we went :)

It’s such a lovely and small campground RIGHT at the base of the vail pass bike path/climb ! not sure how I never noticed this little gem in here before but what a hidden treasure. I could understand fully why it was so hard to find available sites here. (**Note: I booked this site MONTHS ago! No more days of winging it with campsites- too many people are also doing the #workfromanywhere thing these days to be spontaneous - plan ahead!). 🗺️

We settled in, set up camp, went for a couple walks, made a quick run to get some groceries and then I enjoyed an *evening of light yoga and meditation as well as reading one of the books I leave permanently in the van— The Fifth Agreement.

*With all the rain colorado has enjoyed this spring and summer, this is the first trip in the van EVER where we’ve had a really bad issue with biting flies. 😞 they made it impossible to focus during yoga and super easy to go to bed early.

Tuesday morning i woke up excited to finally check out the gore creek trail as well as one called deluge. We started on deluge as I assumed it would feature fewer humans given its “black” trail difficulty designation on trail forks - the trail was gorgeous but very overgrown, making me nervous about snakes/ poison ivy/ ticks etc.

We went about 1.5 miles up gaining almost 1000ft elev before I’d had enough foliage scraping my legs and we turned back. We only saw a couple humans— which was awesome — This trail made me 100% convicted about (finally) getting myself a pair of hiking pants asap.

We doubled back to the sign where the gore creek path started and went up that for awhile- it was not as overgrown and followed the creek, offering that lovely rushing water sound as well as several water crossings which give Ramsey a chance to get wet and cool down. Soooo pretty. I turned us back once I felt she was starting to run out of steam (ok and I was, too 😉) and we made our way back to the van.

At the end of both trails are lakes and while it would have been cool to see one of them by making it to the trail end, I was happy with our adventure. I don’t do efforting or muscling my way through things these days; when I feel complete, I shut it down. I let my intuition and what my body is craving guide me and while it leads to a fair number of “Incompletes” I also 100% do not give a damn ✌️

I try to soak up these adventures with Ramsey while I can before she isn’t able to or doesn’t want to anymore. She’s twelve and still hikes like A BOSS but I know it won’t always be like that 😞 🐶 ❤️

I’m in a major retraction phase (again) now after being really open, outgoing and energy-outputting for the last few weeks … a few folks overstepped some boundaries of mine, I felt over-asked and over-stretched really quickly, and I came right back into energy preservation mode… it’s really notable to me how quickly and desperately I needed to shut things down and go back within again.

It’s just showing me so clearly how deeply depleted and grief-filled I still am and how much healing there is to do yet. Grief works like that I think.One step forward and two steps back - for me that’s how it feels in this season anyways.

So I’m super thankful for this van outing where I don’t need to talk to anyone or summon courage or energy. I simply get to do whatever I feel called to do next. Moment by moment. 🙏🏼

On day two I (of course!) got the road bike out and rode vail pass - 3x. The first time I took super easy, the second I gave it some gas and then the third just took in the scenery. Not even close to my PRs from back in 2013 but 🤷‍♀️

I wanted to get four climbs in but started too late and needed to pack up the campsite for noon checkout (camp hosts take this very seriously I’ve learned in these years of camping!).

It was absolutely perfect out. A pristine bike path far away from any motorized vehicles and just a few other riders out. Slight cloud cover, ideal temps —- true slice of heaven out there. 🙏🏼

We left vail/gore creek (aka the land of pernicious flies) and with fingers and paws crossed (that the 🪰problem would not follow us) we made our way to our campsite at turquoise lake near Leadville…

Wow. In a word. At this even higher elevation (Approx 10k feet), Temps were nice and cool and with the lake right here the breeze felt heavenly - and it kept the flies at bay … thank GOODNESS. 🌲🪵 (although a few sneaky 🦟 found me and bit me up!).

The lake is breathtaking and the campsites are fantastic. I wasn’t choosy when i selected my spot here but once I got Ramsey put for a walk and did some recon I quickly learned the “beachfront property” spots are the ones to aim for next time.

Even better- no signal here. 🙏🏼 that’s always my goal when we’re out camping - to have my 📱rendered useless. I had just one bar of signal in vail which meant some annoyances found me there // that I was touching my phone more than I wanted to be.

Here- radio silence. Just the breeze and the absence of flies and quiet. 🐾 Ramsey and I are in heaven. (I use my iPhone notes app to draft my eventual blog post when I’m in places w/out signal).

We sat by the lake for a long time just… being.

It began to sprinkle so we returned to the van where I looked for another book and found “she- understanding feminine psychology.”  I read it cover to cover as I have before on van trips (hence the reason i leave it in here). Something about sitting in the midst of tall trees with nothing to do and nowhere to be really heightens my reading experience.

Each time something new jumps out from this book — this time:

“A woman has a profound capacity to be still, perhaps the most powerful act any human being can make. She is required to go back to a very still inner center every time something profound happens to her. This is a highly creative act but must be done correctly. She is to be receptive, not passive.”

This book blows me away every time.

I highly recommend it. It’s 80 pages and will probably take you an hour to cruise through.

I woke excited to ride the mtb trails along the lake— stunning!!!

I had an absolute blast and can’t wait to come back here!!

**I always post these blogs after the fact -never contemporaneously with my trip.

Snowmass, Twin Peaks, Twin Lakes

Back in September I had the amazing opportunity to head to snowmass for CO mtn league high school mountain bike race. I got to support the kids and help with hand ups and pre ride etc etc. it was SUCH a wonderful experience. The van camping was a huge plus on top of a great trip. Through the league we had the chance to camp in the snowmass rec center. (Proved really convenient since for $15 day pass there I got to workout, hit the outdoor pool and shower!).

The next day I got up and went on a ride there as I’ve not been to snowmass in years and never in the non-snow months. Right from the rec center lot I was able to grab the north and south rim trail. Spectacular. Truly. Wow. Despite that I’m coming back from injury and still super skittish on the bike I just took my time, stopped often and soaked in the changing leaves. 🍁

And THEN I wanted to eke out a bit more magic from an already magical van trip … so as I drove back down independence pass I looked for a cool campground and VIOLA! Twin peaks caught my eye. And wouldn’t you know it- it was the last night it was open for the season. And wow. The yellow aspens were… positively glorious.

Finally- having learned that Mondays are a really great day to be out on the trails when many folks have returned to their homes or workplaces, I decided to check out Twin Lakes. And the changing leaves could not have rewarded me MORE for this decision. I was in awe the entire time ! And having spent most of my summer unable to walk or hike, this felt like a double triple treat. Immense gratitude feels the entire time.

I cannot recommend the Twin Lakes trail (aka the CDT trail!) especially this time of year. 🙌

PMP & Piestewa Peak 🏔

I caught myself sitting on my couch mindlessly scrolling again. A Monday night. Just any old routine night.

I did a mental inventory of the day - I got a lot done, my place was clean and picked up, basically things were all in order. Hence, the scrolling. I was also aware of my nervous energy- further prompting my scrolling as an avoidance /numbing behavior … My dad just had a major surgery and I was supposed to ✈️ on Tuesday to visit he and my mom, to help them for a few days but given the absolutely rampant Covid numbers right now, they asked me to postpone. So I saw a wide open Tuesday that I’d held open for travel- now ripe with possibilities.

Around 7pm I got the itch to load up the 🚐 and go somewhere local for a sunrise hike/jog in the morning…. I simmered on it for a bit. Went out and checked on the van (aka Artemis- she’s usually stocked and mostly ready to roll, complete with dog food, snacks and water, which makes going wheels up so much easier) and then I felt the, “it’s Monday night you shouldn’t go out and do this” (insert sleep concerns and all the “responsible” adulting messages we tell ourselves)…. 🤦‍♀️
yet I found myself packing a small bag of run essentials and snacks, and mapping my way to the neighborhood near the trailhead …because 🚐 > scrolling on my 📱 any day (or night).

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” Mae West

Also… what’s the point of having a 🚐 if I am not using it as often as I’d set out to when I bought it; what’s the point of working for myself and having a flex schedule if I don’t go do spontaneous things on school nights; on that note- I don’t have kids and so there really aren’t school nights in my reality …! I’ve just come off some majorly huge HUGE life events and stressors, the saddest solo Christmas ever thanks to my Covid booster that rocked my world and set me back a week and also-finally and most importantly: I am a grown ass woman who can do what she wants and I don’t need to rationalize my desire to go vancamp and sunrise run/hike during the week to anyone, including myself! 🙌 (put that on a sticky note if you also need a daily reminder!).

This is why they say getting out the door is the hardest part - because yes, sitting on my 🛋 is loads easier. It takes effort to get out the door. And yes the adulting voices in my head wouldn’t have objected to staying home and I could’ve saved myself effort and prob slept better at home,

but. . .
I GOT OUT THE DOOR. ON A SCHOOL NIGHT.

I was rewarded with this :

I’d love to tell you I 🚐 camped up there but saldy, no … a group of young punk kids were all up there drinking and what not … so I got to be the weird lady in the giant van trying to turn her rig around in the midst of them trying not hit their cars or boulders or roll off the edge … sigh. 🤦‍♀️ Didn’t anyone tell them it’s a school night ?!

Not easily dissuaded from my plan I just parked a bit further down and got ready for an early bedtime. Rams loves vanlife because it’s the only time she gets to sleep on the bed next to me:

We got up and attem with the sunrise and struck out for the trail via some extended mileage as I wanted a full morning adventure. The views, colors, temp and desert bliss did NOT disappoint. THIS, I proclaimed to myself - this is why we LOVE the desert 🌵!

Imagine my surprise once we got to the base of PP and found signage prohibiting dogs. drat. No worries though, it was a great quiet morning to be out running/hiking and rams and I had a blast exploring PMP with the help of the Trailforks app (a game changer for me in outdoor spaces like this so I can avoid being lost).

**This is a good lesson for me - no dogs allowed is not usually an issue on Colorado trails …but given the types of trails and peaks here in Phx, it’s likely to be a regular thing …so I’ll need to do more research before the next one. Thankfully temps are nice and cool so rams can chill in the 🚐 no problem.

So we doubled back to the van after nabbing a nice 5ish mile hike/jog and then I relocated the van to the PP trailhead … made myself some coffee, warmed up a bit and then tackled the peak while rams held down the fort in the van.

PP aka Piestewa Peak, at 2,610 feet is the second highest point in the Phoenix Mountains, after Camelback Mountain, and the third highest in the city of Phoenix, Arizona.

The peak (previously called Squaw Peak) is named after Specialist Lori Ann Piestewa, a U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps soldier from the Hopi Tribe in northern Arizona, who was killed during an ambush near Nasiriyah, Iraq, in 2003.

More about the peak here: LINK

And let me just tell you — it’s fun/challenging on the way up and pretty dang sketchy coming down. Double black diamond, indeed.
Definitely leave the little kids home for this one.
and bring your grippy trail shoes.
**Wanna blow your mind ?! Check out the Strava segments and the times these maniacs are running up this beast. Like 15-17 minutes to the top. Wow.

Now that I’ve done it once and know what to expect I’m excited to do it again. I’ll def start earlier (park opens at 7) as by 930-10am on a Tuesday morning the trail was pretty busy.

My First 14er attempt… unsuccessful

This Van adventure was intended to cross off an item that has been on my bucket list since I first moved to Colorado back in 2006, namely hiking a Fourteener. 

For those not from Colorado or familiar, a 14er is a mountain hike that rises up to 14,000 feet above sea level and there are numerous 14ers. across the state. In fact it is a very popular endeavor to attempt to hike all of the 14 or‘s and many people have done so. I’ve ridden two 14ers on my bike, evans and pikes peak, but haven’t hiked one. 

For no specific reason this is one of those things that just simply has not happened for me, and it’s also not something I’ve wanted to attempt to do the first time on my own. 

So when I made a new friend who was willing to hike Yale, a 14er that she has done a couple times already, I jumped at the chance!

The night before Rams and I did a mini recon hike of the first half mile of the trail. Wow that sucker is steep.

Then, I drove the 🚐 up Cottonwood Pass and watched the sunset from the top of the pass which was absolutely incredible. This experience made this entire endeavor worthwhile in and of itself! 

I then drove a bit down the pass to VanCamp for the night, and if I could do this over again I think I would sleep at the lowest elevation possible, since I think the thin air caused me to get absolutely no rest. 🤦‍♀️ Dinner was a batch of hot Huel, some almonds and hot tea.

Micah and I met at the Denny trail head at 5:30 AM sharp and off we went to hike Mount Yale.

From the word go, I knew I was in trouble; my body felt like absolute garbage, my legs felt wobbly and I felt dizzy. I kept trying to keep the fluids and fuel on board, however the sense that my legs were just not reliable, persisted. 

As we approached tree line and then got above tree line I told Micah that I thought I needed to turn back -as disappointed as I was- because I felt like I was going to be a significant liability on the way back down if I went all the way to the top.

Thankfully she agreed to keep going so that she could get her acsent in, and I turned around and started back for the van. I am really sad that my first 14 or attempt was unsuccessful. 

I learned a few things in this process one of which is that I need to do a lot more glute strength work, as the butt cheeks were on fire 🔥 from the very start, whereas the quads never felt a hint of effort. I also think that getting up sooner than 40 minutes prior to go time is a good idea, as I don’t think I had time to sufficient to wake up (never got my coffee in!) and didn’t really get my mind in the game this morning. 

Lastly as I mentioned, I think I would sleep at a lower altitude and then drive up to the trail head the morning of. 

This is certainly not the last time that I will attempt to summit Yale, it is simply the first… while I am very sad that I didn’t get to stand at the top and hold the sign, I know that I will try this again soon!

Christmas 🚐…

Tonight marks the second night in the van. The photos show the Instagram version. Gorgeous right? A friend suggested we set up camp for sunset and the overnight up on a semi-close mountain, overlooking the valley from about a mile-up. Sounded ideal. We had the place virtually to ourselves, it being a holiday at all.

Seemed like an awesome plan in theory.

Reality was something else. ;)
LESSONS:

1) don’t pack and leave quick after a big bike ride without eating something first. Or I’ll be hungry when I get where I’m going. Like. Real hungry.

That’s important for this point: 2) don’t ONLY pack foods that require hot water to consume. After driving quite a ways -including over tough gravel roads replete with washboards and such- (this drive wasn’t for the faint of heart), I arrived, -unpacked, -and set up camp ONLY to realize I could not get the stove to work AND all foods that I packed require hot water to eat (oatmeal, dehydrated meals, coffee, hot chocolate). Add this to my aforementioned hungry stomach, and it does NOT = a happy Megan. 😠

We (and by we, I mean me) learned: Always pack extra snacks that don’t need hot water. AND-Always check things like the stove BEFORE unloading everything and setting up camp. And don’t start an adventure on an empty stomach.

Ok so I loaded back up. Mad myself, you can be sure. Battled that doggone bumpy road back into a nearby town. Found a grocery store still open at 7pm on Xmas eve and bought myself a set of California rolls & a bubbly water dinner. Then I drove to a trailhead that is far off the beaten path and settled in …. Anddddd realized user error was the problem with the stove before. 🤦‍♀️… that’s right. I got it to work. Geez Louise. 🔥

So— I rehung the Xmas lights inside the van. 🎄 Made myself some hot chocolate. Settled in for an amazingly quiet and different kind of Xmas eve.

Solitude…. It’s a way to reframe being alone. Loneliness inherently carries negative connotations… Solitude is empowering IMHO. I can honestly say I enjoyed my solitude out there and did not feel the least bit lonely. Ramsey and I had a wonderful time.
It was so quiet.

“Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self”

— May Sarton

And then- oh my gosh - Christmas morning …. what a view outside those 🚐bed windows …! We were gifted with an incredible sunrise. 🎁

I made coffee for the first time ever in the van … (could that be any more enjoyable ?! Life’s simplest pleasure and most divine!) … and then we got out on a nice early hike. A second coffee and some apple turnovers plus 9 miles of fresh air hiking & sunshine vibes made this one ideal Christmas morning. 🙏🏼 🌲 🌄 🌵 🐶 ☕️

Talk about a room with a view !

Thank you 🎅!

“I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”

— Henry David Thoreau

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Here are some photos from the very FIRST van overnight a few nights ago ….

I would love to say these beauties were taken at my campsite. But no. The truth is that the sunset that night was at 4:48pm and I wasn’t ready to stop driving. And so it came to be that I ended up parking in a Holiday Inn parking lot to sleep that night around 9pm. Not winning that’s for sure.

LESSON: That’s the night I learned to choose a spot that is NOT right off the main road.

yes—so many things to learn - that’s why I’m showing myself grace as I go. This is all a master class in life and I’m ready to soak it up.

Here’s the book I’m currently reading; it’s an ideal book to ponder while I’m out exploring and camping in the van. It’s a book I need to read slowly, not rush through, and really process. It’s been recommended to me so many times by so many people - and I’m really enjoying it so far.

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