Back in the Hills

            Last time I talked to yall I was near Dallas, Texas and waiting out a crazy storm.  In 36 hours we received almost 5 inches of rain and some of the lakes in the area rose over 6 feet.  They really needed the rain though since the entire state has been in a pretty bad drought for the last year.  Lucky for me though I had some relatives in the area that I was able to stay with.  Eventually though I had to keep moving on.  I was headed up to Oklahoma and then into Arkansas for my next high point. 

            I was lucky to have another set of good weather after the storm and as I headed north I had a pretty strong tail wind every day but one.  The big difference I started to notice was that I was starting to get back into more populated areas and the hills were starting to return.  The terrain was still relatively mild and it was a good warm up before I got to Arkansas where some real climbs showed back up.  I could definitely tell that I had only been riding in flat areas for the last couple weeks.

            It felt could though to be suing my muscles a little differently though and it was also nice to have the change in going up hill and then a little coasting down hill.  This allowed me to stand up a little more often to stretch out and rest.  It was also nice to have a constant change in scenery.  While riding across Texas was pretty easy it could get rather boring seeing the same thing day after day. 

            After about a week I made it to the town of Subiaco in Arkansas, which was pretty much at the base of Magazine Mountain.  The next day I went for the summit and for my first real test of a big climb on the bike since being in Colorado almost 2 months ago.  It was slow going but I just kept puttering along all the way up and eventually made it to the Visitors Center.  It was a good climb except for the fact that it was almost 100% humidity and near the top I was actually in the clouds riding so I couldn’t see hardly anything. Lucky for me though there was hardly any traffic so I didn’t have to worry about getting hit by anyone too much.  By the time I reached the visitor center I still had not found a place to stay for the night but I met someone there who was on their way out and they offered to buy me a room at the lodge on top of the mountain.  I was thrilled by this and was even able to go check in and change clothes before hiking to the summit from the lodge.   The clouds even cleared up enough for me to see a little of the valley below.  Thanks to the University of South Carolina Study Abroad Office for sponsoring this summit.

            The next day saw an incredible amount of changes to both the weather and my mood.  I started the day on top of Magazine Mountain and in a very thick cloud.  It did not take to long though for my descent to take me below the cloud and where I could see.  The rest of the ride down was a ton of fun and at the perfect time of day.  It was a pretty ride and with the cloud up high there was water dripping off a lot of the rocks and tress.  With the sun being low and in the southern sky it shown off the droplets to make for some fascinating sights on my way down.  Sorry to say though that I was a little caught up in the ride itself and did not stop to take any pictures. 

            The next couple hours were pretty uneventful other than the fact that I noticed some bugs flying around and annoying.  That was one thing I have not missed over the last couple months.  Eventually I started to climb over a pretty good-sized set of mountains.  As I climbed I could see some dark ominous clouds rolling in behind me.  About halfway up I could here the thunder start to roll around in the mountains.  With no towns and no shelter in sight I just kept riding hoping it would pass another direction or just wouldn’t be to bad.  As I got to the top of the mountain the thunder had grown both in frequency and had become much louder.  At the top there was a guy sitting in a truck who told me there was also a hail warning in effect and that they were expecting quarter sized hail to fall in the storm.  He then mentioned that at the bottom of the mountain there were some bathrooms I could probably hide in till the storm passed.  So I hightailed it down the mountain looking for these bathrooms he mentioned.  I hit an intersection and stopped to check the map on my phone to see if I could tell where the campsite and bathrooms were.  I figured out they were just around the corner as the first drops of rain hit me.  I was able to get under a picnic shelter just as the storm let loose. 

I sat there for almost 45 minutes waiting for it to pass and saw some hail but luckily nothing the size of a quarter.  Eventually I hit the road again because I still had about 30 miles to go before reaching a town.  As I road the rain would come and go.  At least it was in the 60’s so I never got cold except for during a descent every now and then.  Finally I reached the town of Hot Springs Village where I given a room by the Village Inn.  A great place to stay with an awesome staff in your ever in the area.  As I got to my room and was getting organized I received a call from the owner of the hotels brother.  He actually ran an Italian restaurant next door called Italian House and Grill. He invited me to come over for a free dinner.  The restaurant was small and cozy with a great menu for very good prices.  It was probably one of the best dinners I have eaten this entire trip.

Now as I sit here writing this blog I am waiting out the weather once again.  Nothing like the last time in Texas, but still a very miserable day to be out riding.  When I start up again tomorrow I will be headed towards Louisiana for my 15^th summit of the trip.  Until then . . .

- Michael

Everything is Bigger in Texas

           This last segment of my trip has been a lot of fun.  Most days the weather has been great and I have had an opportunity to meet some awesome people on my ride through Texas.  Lets start where we left off though.  Upon leaving El Paso I went towards Guadalupe Peak with Mark Brooks who was also the sponsor of the summit.  We arrived at the parking lot around 3pm.  This only left a couple hours before sunset and the hike was going to be 8.5 miles round trip.  The rangers mentioned that there was a little snow and ice on the trail but we figured we would just give it a go. 

            The first 2 miles or so were very straightforward and the trail was clear.  But, that’s when we started to hit the patches.  At first they started as little patches that sometimes were a little icy.  But as we continued the snow got deeper and took up longer sections of the trail.  Some of the sections had also become pretty icy.  Lucky for us though there were a couple people that had gone to the summit before us and the trail was already broken. 

            Mark and I arrived at the summit just before sunset, which proved to be a nice view although it also meant that we were going to have quite the hike down in the dark.  We got about a mile behind us before the light really died out and we had to start using our headlamps.  Upon starting up the trail we thought we were going to have a full moon to help us down but not so much.  The sky had become pretty overcast so we had no extra light other than our headlamps to see by.  Thankfully the trail was very well defined so it was not hard to follow.  The icy sections in the dark were a little tricky but otherwise the hike went well.

            I took the next day off and went to check out Carlsbad Caverns, which was fairly close to Guadalupe.  The cave was very impressive to see.  There is a self-guided tour where you can hike down through the natural entrance.  It was a little over a mile long and took you down about 800 feet below the surface.  Once down there I was free to wonder around the Giant Room.  Just to walk around this one room was another mile and a half.  After going on these self-guided tours I went on another tour that was off the trail and was guided by a local geologist.  This one lasted 3 hours and took us to a deeper part of the cave that did not have any artificial lights.  We were able to get a much closer look at a lot of different formations in the cave.  The guide also had us experience what it felt like to be in complete darkness 900 feet underground.  It felt a little oppressive being down there with no sense of sight to comfort you and knowing there was hundreds of feet just sitting above your head. 

            After leaving Carlsbad and continuing my journey east across the state of Texas I was very lucky with the weather.  Every day has been over 60 if not 70 degrees.  One or two days actually got up into the 80’s.  It also seemed like I had a tailwind almost every day, which was awesome.  While the riding was comfortable and easy do to the flat landscape I do have to say that it got a little old because there is not much going on in west Texas other than oil fields.  All this meant for me though was that there were a lot of trucks and oversized trucks going back and forth on the roads all day.  Luckily though there was a really big shoulder on most of the roads I was on.             

            While the terrain was not overly entertaining I did get a chance to meet and stay with a lot of awesome people all across the state.  Well as I am writing this in Denton, Texas, which is just north of Dallas, we are getting pounded with a lot of rain.  Texas has been in a pretty severe drought this is rain is much needed although there are a lot of flood warning for much of the area now.  Well here is to hoping that the people in Oklahoma and Arkansas are just as nice as the people in Texas. 

            In case you have not heard I am trying to get 500 people to like the Cycle for the Summit facebook page by February 15.  IF we reach this goal a 65-liter Jansport backpack will be raffled off to one lucky person who has liked the page.  We still have 75 people to go by then so tell you friends and family to check it out.  It only takes 30 seconds to do.  Here is the link for those that may not have been there yet.  http://www.facebook.com/cycleforthesummit

- Michael

On the Road Again

             It’s been quite a while since my last blog but I actually have a respectable reason for it this time instead of just being lazy.  I actually took almost 2 weeks off around Christmas and New Years to go home and see my family and some friends.  But, I’ll get to that in a little. 

            When I last left off I had just gotten to New Mexico and made the decision not to go to Wheeler Peak because of all the storms that were about to come through the area.  Turns out this was a good idea because by the time I made it to Las Vegas, NM, a huge storm came through the area.  I ended up staying in a one of the nicest Super 8’s I had ever seen.  They had a great breakfast and they also had soup and salad every night for dinner that the manager made herself each day.  But I was there for 3 nights trying to wait for the storm to pass and then the roads to clear up.  This just wasn’t going to happen though.  I only had a 2-day window of decent weather before another storm came through the area. However, the roads were in no shape for riding.  I would have had to take a highway with all the snow piled up on the shoulders. 

So I decided to just take a bus to Santa Fe where I stayed with an awesome couple who had been very involved in the cycling community there for a long time.  The next day he was actually heading down to Albuquerque anyways so I was able to get a ride with him before the other storm blew threw.  When I got to Albuquerque I still had 2 days before my flight but luckily my old NOLS instructor lived in the area.  It was cool to see him again and to have those 2 days to just hang out and relax.  While I was there he was actually getting ready to leave for a month and go to Nepal.  He is travelling there to help teach the local porters mountaineering skills at the Kumbu Ice School.

Eventually the time came for me to fly home on Christmas Eve.  It was great being home for 10 days and not having to worry about where I will be sleeping the next night.  While I was home I also went down to Columbia, SC for New Years with some friends which was a ton of fun and I actually had the chance to go sailing for the first time.  It was a pretty windy day, which made it that much more exciting to learn on the fly.  All good things must come to an end though and on January 4^th I flew back to Albuquerque to restart my trip. 

My first 2 days back on the road were awesome.  It was sunny, no wind and the perfect temperature.  Not to mention some good roads to ride on. I kept them both between 40 and 50 miles in order to help get my legs used to the process again since it had been about 2 weeks since I last rode my bike.  The 3^rd day though was just brutal.  I had to go 75 miles just to reach the next town called Truth or Consequences and I had a stiff head wind the whole way.  I ended up being on the road for over 11 hours that day which meant that I rode for 2 hours in the dark.  Luckily though it was a clear night with an almost full moon and the wind died off completely.

That night the Desert View Inn put up.  I decided to take a rest day the next day because I was hurting from the previous ride.  That night the Charles Motel and Spa put me up which was awesome.  The area is actually known for their hot springs and at the Charles Motel you get a free mineral bath if you stay there.  So of course I took advantage of this and it felt great. 

After a very relaxing rest day I took off the next morning for another 75-mile day, which I had, an awesome tail wind the entire way.  With one more 72-mile day I was able to make it to El Paso, Texas.  This is where I am going to meet a friend and sponsor of Guadalupe Peak, which is the highest point in the state of Texas.  Together we are heading out for the Summit tomorrow morning.  So next time I write to yall there will be one more state checked off the list.

- Michael Hunter

2 More Down

The kind of roads I was riding on to reach Mount Sunflower

Sorry folks for the lag in between blogs.  I have been slacking off with writing them.  Since Brent’s last entry I have reached 2 more summits met a ton of cool people and had some very interesting days of riding.  When he left I was in Colorado Springs where I stayed for a couple days in order to hang out with some of my friends that I worked with this summer at Fort Carson.  I was also there in order to avoid some of the cold weather that was coming through.  There was one day where the high did not even reach double digits but thankfully I was able to just hang out inside all day.  Eventually I got myself roused and headed out for my next highpoint in Kansas.

While I was able to leave the coldest weather behind me I still had to deal with brutally cold temps along with some wind on my journey east.  My first day out I was not even able to make it to my chosen destination but thankfully a family in Simla, CO were more than welcoming to me as they invited me into their home.  The next day I made it to Limon where I was originally supposed to be and found yet another welcoming household who were on couchsurfing.org.  It was a little warmer for my ride the next day but not by much.  However, I was lucky enough to have a tail wind which made my 80 miles ride go by pretty fast and allowed me to stay a little warmer since I didn’t have to compete with the wind.  Upon reaching town a gentleman from warmshower.com offered to put me up in the local motel since he was not able to host me at his own house while I was passing through.

For those that may be wondering this was in Colorado not Kansas.

This is where it starts to get interesting.  Plan was to ride into Kansas, hit the high point, and then head back towards Colorado for the night.  I knew I was going to have to ride on some dirt roads in order to reach Mount Sunflower but did not realize that meant over 40 of my 80 miles were going to be on dirt roads.  Some of which were snowy or muddy.  Most of this went pretty well until I was riding down a decent sized hill and crossed over a snow patch.  This is when my front wheel lost traction and slid out from under me.  I was lucky enough to have been riding in running shoes so it was easy for me to bail.  The bike however had some damage done to it.  Bent handle bars which in turn screwed up the cable for shifting, mud in the gears and shifter, and one of the attachment points on a rear pannier broke off.  Nothing major, but still time consuming to get everything figured out and fixed to the best of my abilities.  After about an hour though it was off towards the summit again without any other issues.  That night I ended up staying at a local fire station in Cheyenne Wells, CO.

After reaching Mount Sunflower I continued my journey south in order to find warmer lands and to hit up the highpoint in Oklahoma, Black Mesa.  The next couple days all kind of blur together.  It was never that warm and it seemed like there was a lot of headwinds that I had to ride through.  Eventually though I would make it to Kenton, OK where I would stay at the Hitching Post B&B.  I stopped by their house on the way in to town to meet them and I was glad I did.  They were a very nice family that has lived on that ranch for over 60 years.  They also fed me a pretty good lunch while there.  They happily put me up in a cabin they had for the next two days.  On one of these days I headed out to Black Mesa, which was a 6-mile bike ride followed by 4 miles of hiking in order to reach the summit.  The hiking was very straightforward although one thing that made it a little tricky was that it was very muddy.  It seemed like my shoes weighed a couple pounds heavier thanks to all the mud that stuck to them.  This also made it pretty slippery at times.  Another issue I had was that I knew there was some rain coming in that afternoon so I was moving at a pretty good pace in hopes of getting back before it rained.  When I reached the summit I could see the storm clouds making their way towards me so I didn’t get to spend too much time up on top even though on a clear day the views would have been spectacular.  So I snapped a couple pictures, had a snack, and then headed out.  It threatened to let loose on me a couple times as I made my way back to the house but all I ever got were a couple light sprits.  As soon as I got in the cabin though it decided to finally let loose which was fine with me since I was warm and dry. 

That’s about it so far.  The one last piece of news to let yall know about is that instead of climbing Wheeler Peak which is the high point in New Mexico now, I’ve decided to put it off for a later period in the trip.  According to the ski patrol at Taos Ski Valley everything is really unstable up there right now and they are expecting even more snow on Sunday and Monday which would be about the time I’d be trying summit.  Another big reason for not just waiting it out is that my dad has bought me a plane ticket to go home for Christmas, which leaves out of Albuquerque on the 24^th.  So I’ve decided to just head that way in order to make sure I’m there for that.

Until next time though if you’re in the mountains go out and have some fun in all the new snow.  If you’re not in the mountains . . . . . well you should just be in the mountains.

- Michael Hunter

The top of Colorado!

Hello!!!! (This is Brent)  I am honored to have the opportunity to once again write for the Cycle for the Summit blog.  (My last post was to announce my retirement from riding with Michael in late October, due to achilles tendonitis)  But as I said, the fact that I’m not riding anymore isn’t going to keep me from helping Michael out and serving the ultimate purpose of fundraising for Big City Mountaineers (BCM)…which is exactly what I’ve been doing.  (while waiting to hear back from job applications ;-)  I work to find Michael to find places to stay every night as well as try to drum up some media coverage for him. (I am going to work at getting better at the media part)

Another way I hope to stay active with Cycle for the Summit is to join up with Michael for some of the larger climbs as often as I can.  (I fear this will be harder once I land a job)  So while I don’t currently have a job, it was the perfect time to drive out to Colorado and join Michael for Mount Elbert, the second highest point in the contiguous United States at 14,433 feet.  (to Mount Whitney, California 14,505 feet) 

Luckily within Colorado’s 14’er (Mountains over 14,000 feet, Colorado has 53 of the 88 fourteeners in the US) community, Elbert is considered one of if not the easiest. While it is considered to be one of the easiest, it still should not be taken lightly and I had a number of worries in the back of my mind leading up to the climb.  Was I physically conditioned to make it to the summit?  Due to my achilles injury I had done little to nothing in terms of physical activity for about two months, a bit of swimming, but that’s all…my quads and calves had only been used for daily walking.  Another worry was completely out of my control…altitude sickness.  I would be coming from St. Joseph, Missouri, 885 feet above sea level and climb to 14,433 two days later.  Everyone reacts to altitude differently and there is no way to prepare for it or project how you will react.  While climbing I had to make sure to listen to my body and pay attention to altitude sickness symptoms so as not to put Michael or myself in danger.

Mount Elbert is the furthest right.  

I drove in and met Michael at the home of Jim and Cathy McKeen, whom we had contacted via www.warmshowers.com.  Like so many other hosts, they were an absolute pleasure to stay with.  We camped out Monday evening at the entrance of the four-wheel drive road at the base of Mount Elbert, so we could rise with the sun to begin our ascent as we expected it to be a full day affair.  

I could hardly sleep, as I was extremely excited to climb the next day.  Michael is an experienced mountaineer, having participated in a month long mountaineering course with the National Outdoor Leadership School, and climbed such icons as Half Dome in Yosemite and Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa to name a few.  I on the other hand grew up in the rolling plains of Missouri and this was only the third time in my life I had been to Colorado.  The largest “climb of my life was when we rode to the top of Clingman’s Dome, Tennessee 6,643 feet.  The largest hike of my life was only 7 miles with 1,700 feet elevation gain, on Calloway Peak in North Carolina.  (It was beautiful!)  So I was about to shred a lot of personal bests as we climbed Elbert.

Everyone’s thoughts, prayers and good vibes were with us for the summit day as the weather was absolutely perfect!  Days before the highs were in the low 30’s and lows nearing zero degrees, days after our summit the temps were colder than that…but for the Monday we camped and the Tuesday we climbed, the highs were in the mid 40’s and lows near 20. 

We hit the trail Tuesday morning at 6:45am.  Starting at 9,500 feet we had two relatively easy miles to hike up the four-wheel drive trail before we reached the trailhead.  We were taking the East Ridge trail.  Which was going to be 12 miles round trip with 4,900 feet of elevation gain.  We were extremely grateful for The Trailhead in Buena Vista, CO for lending us snowshoes and poles for the climb.  The snowshoes helped us conserve a good deal of energy below the tree line.  We had to cross a couple small snowfields where the snow was a couple feet deep in some areas. 

Once we made it above tree line, we no longer needed the snowshoes but still had a lot of work ahead of us.  Overall I was feeling good, but would have to catch my breath every once in a while.  Which I would do as we stopped to snack and drink water, keeping hydrated is the best way to fend off altitude sickness.  Michael told me that every time he felt symptoms of altitude sickness on Kilimanjaro, he would take a drink and feel better.  Sure enough I would always feel really good every sip I took.  Not only was water a must for general survival, it was a great mental tool to keep morale high. 

I finally found my pace and just focused on small steps one after the other and was able to climb without getting too winded.  It was by no means an easy feat, I had to dig deep and think lots of positive thoughts to keep driving.  It was these thought of my girlfriend, family and friends that helped me push thought the fatigue.  About 300 feet or so from the summit we heard yells of elation and looked up to people celebration, who had come up a different trail.  Combining that with the adrenaline of being so close we pushed through and made it to the top at 12:45. 

Grilling on the Summit

We were welcomed by an unexpected sight…the group we heard celebrating were grilling burgers and brats on the summit!  It was awesome!  They were celebrating one of the girls 100^th climb over 13,000 feet.  We celebrated with them by taking some funny pictures on the summit. (They were taken by the other group, I tried to hold off posting this so I could use their pictures, but we'll post the funny ones at another time)Thanks to the amazing weather, we were lucky to be able to spend 30 minutes on the summit.   Combine the altitude with the hamburger and my stomach began to feel a bit funny, so we began our descent…and we were trucking it.  My legs were super shakey and worn out from the ascent, so I was extremely thankful to have the poles.  We trucked it on the way down and were back at camp as the sun was beginning to set at 4:30.  Up in 6 hours and down in 3; 10 hour round trip.  We were worn out, but excited to have reached the 10^th summit of Cycle for the Summit

The view North

This is the side we climbed up, the first picture on the blog is from the far side of that lake you see in the valley and we camped in between the large and small lake.  

To close out this post with more good news we were able to reach $1,000 before reaching the summit if Elbert, so we maximized the full $1,000 match from a private donor.  Thank you to everyone who helped to make the possible the Big City Mountaineers, the youth they serve and Michael and I are extremely grateful for you support.  Our total now sits at $2,215!  Only 40 more summits to go; up next it Mount Sunflower, Kansas.  It will be downhill all the way for Michael.  Until next time!

 All the best!

Brent