Today's Report - 7/3/17:
After a very long but successful 63 miles in the detour area, segments 26 and 25 were behind me.
I got done with my shower around 10:00 pm and set the alarm for 4:00. I actually felt fairly refreshed. I started the 5 mile climb out of Silverton and got on the trail at Molas Pass around 6:00 a.m. I ran the the first 11 miles fairly quickly (about 2 hours) up to the Wemuniche wilderness area. I stopped there and boiled my water and ate dehydrated bacon and eggs and Hammer "Fizz" endurance drink.
Once finished with breakfast, I started running the big climb of 4,300 vertical feet, now at a much slower but comfortable pace. About 18 miles in (and up) I started feeling queasy. I threw up multiple times and had dry heaves for the next 6 hours. At first, I thought it was last night's meal, but in retrospect, I now believe it was the overly salted bacon and eggs. Who in their right mind adds smoky BBQ flavoring to their dehydrated food products? I won't mention the brand.
I went through about 30 large and wet snowfields and changed socks six times. Luckily my Soloman trail shoes don't hold much moisture, so there were no blisters today. The snowfields really weren't that big of a problem - it was the bogs and marshes both above and below the snowfields that got my feet wet. At one point, I actually got my Crocs out and walked across with just those, slipping and sliding all the way! My ski adventure on slick bottomed worn out Crocs. Spent a lot of time trying to keep the feet dry.
After running for 34 miles, I knew at that point that I need to be smart. My saying is "It's better to be smart than brave."
It was about 5 p.m. when I crossed Stony Pass and began to make another 1,800' climb. I figured I could get over the pass and still stay on schedule with the next 11 miles. That would have given me 46 for the day, leaving me only 7 miles short for the day. Still almost on schedule.
But my stomach had other ideas. I purged a few more times and thought maybe I was dehydrated, even though I was drinking nearly a half gallon every hour. Water was plentiful and the Sawyer mini filter is awesome.
Those of you that were tracking me around 6:00 p.m. probably noticed a big loop in my trek. That's when I decided to go back down to 12,400' at Stony Pass road. I spent the night there in what was probably 30 degree conditions but I was warm in my bag and tent.
On a positive note, I hardly noticed the weight of my backpack today. Maybe I was just getting used to it, or maybe I had so many other issues, it became a non-issue. And the best news - after running nearly 120 miles in three days, my oft-injured left foot had absolutely no pain. It got better each day.
End of Day Three.