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Three Sisters Circumnavigation wtih CA

October 3, 2015 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: 30 -> 40s -> maybe 50? Nice -> light flakes -> blizzard -> windstorm -> fog & cold

Comments:
Rather than camp, we were up early, packed, and out the door by 5:45. This included a light breakfast of a few eggs, each. I didn't want to risk going into the woods on only a few TBSPs of nut butters.

Quick drive up. Weather was a teeny damn in the EUG but the forecast was good: 60s and dry. Same for Sisters, the nearest town (3500').

Got to the trailhead just a shade after sun-up. Not too many cars, and it was predicatably cold: mid 30s. After a deuce and a suit-up in our gear, which included:

- 50 oz Nathan packs
- one 16oz disposable bottle
- 2x nut butter packets each, x3 cookies (total) that CA baked, x2 gels, each
- 1 first aid kit with emergency blanket, compass, matches, etc
- long sleeves, jackets, hats, gloves

The plan was to nurse on the packs, but fill and drink from the many streams using the bottle.

At 7:42 AM, we were off, heading south and uphill on the PCT toward Scott Lake Trail. I felt good and the pace was easy. Both of us were well -hydrated and on a couple pee stops, were treated to excellent sunrise views of Mt Washington to the NW and then, around the corner and at the crest of the trail, North Sister! The skies were almost 100% clear - the first time I'd seen North in five years. We were looking forward to a nice day, if not slightly worried about it warming too much when the sun came out.

From the crest about Mathieu Lake, we bombed downhill, east toward Green Lakes trail. From there it was fifteen-plus miles to Green lakes. Over the ridge, the sun disappeared behind a wall of overcast.

About ten miles and two hours in, a couple foreboding things happened:

- CA's left "hamstring" began to hurt her. It'd started acting up earlier this week, including yesterday, accompanied by left neck and headache pain. I treated her neck, but it didn't help the leg.
- it started snowing...

From there, on, both things gradually worsened: CA leg got worse and worse, and the snow got heavier, temps dipped and winds picked up. And both things weighed heavily on me.

Callie began to get emotional - frustrated and worried about her hamstring. I told her that she *must* lift her feet to take stress off the hamstring, but that only made her more frustrated. I "recommended"/threatened that we turn around, but she wanted to continue, so on we went. But she slowed down quite a bit, so that our flat running pace was about 11-12 minute miles.

The pain worsened, so I had her lie down beside the trail and I worked on a myriad of things, including hips and pelvis. That seemed to help, but it was temporary.

By the time we got near Green Lakes, there was a half-inch of snow on the ground. And once at the lake, an inch...and WIND. It was surreal. The visibility was so poor it felt like the medium-sized lake was the North Sea, with near-white capped waves as we shuffled around it. Conditions were so bad that I didn't want to stop, for fear of becoming hypothermic, so we soldiered on.

We reached the end of the lakes and the trail descent. There we saw a handful of folks: some surprised campers, who were packing up to leave and a few hikers who likely were fooled by "OK" weather at the TH (2000' below). We began the run downhill, and I noticed CA's pace was still quite slow (maybe 9-10 minute miles downhill). About 2/3 of the way down, I noticed that she was crying. We stopped. Her hamstring was really bad.

We continued a bit longer 'til we got to Moraine Lake trail, nearly the half-way point of the loop. By then I was seriously considering a bail-out: we could descend to the trailhead, hitchhike into Bend (surely we'd see a lot of folks down there, including 2-3 groups we'd passed, descending), then call a friend to get a ride back out to our car, near Sisters. I figured I'd give it one last shot - to work on her and see if she improved - before we pulled the plug. So just off the new trail, I had her lie down again and I worked on her lumbar spine. It was quite sore, so I might've been on to something. She got up...started running...and off we went.

She felt better.

But we had a shitload of hardship ahead of us. The wind died down significantly along the low-end of Green Lakes and Moraine trails, but after climbing to the Lake, it was fierce as ever: at least 30-40miles an hour, sustained, with gusts of 50. Thank God it was behind us as we hiked away from the lake, toward the plateau beneath South Sister, but it was cold and miserable. We soldiered on, hoping to escape the wind.

Finally, we did: barreling into the woods and descending towards Wickiup Plain - a pumice field leading to the PCT. Both of us warmed up and began to feel better. And the pace picked up. Things were looking up.

The long, grinder up along the pumice field was a good opportunity for our second snack of nut butters. I was looking at my watch. We were nearing 6 hours. Not bad, actually.

Up and over one more wooded ridge and we were into the last pumice field and the PCT! And glory, the sun came out!

...but the wind kicked up, something fierce: 30-40mph winds...in the face! Once on the PCT, we trudged along the open field, blasted by wind and volcanic dust. At this point, I was simply thankful for a warm sun, which helped cushion the pain of the relentless wind.

Once into the trees, we got a reprieve. And then, thus began the long, lonely run through the meadows. Between Wickiup and Obsidian, there were twenty-five meadows. The pattern: meadow, wooded climb, then descent...then meadow. Repeat. And that's what we did.

I mentioned to CA some good news: in 2011, I'd hit that PCT junction in 6:20. We did it in 6:35. In 2011, it took me only 4 hours to do this final (~22 mile) section, so "maybe we only have 4 or 5 hours left!".

After that...we didn't talk very much. The combination of fatigue-pain cave and howling winds minimized chatter. I could tell CA was going into her pain cave pretty well. After a lot of hiking, we went a good 2-3 miles without breaking stride: shuffing up the moderate ups, running the downs (fairly slowly) and smooth across the meadows. Momentum was strong...

...but then we hit another major challenge. CA stopped abruptly. More crying. Her left hamstring (sciatica) was fine, but now her right knee hurt. Badly. We were in no place or position to rest: still 15 miles out, our sun had disappeared, replaced by a thick, cold fog. So showed her a stretch and encouraged her to continue.

This sucked. She was in a lot of pain, but we had to keep going, we had no choice. Even if we decided to stop, then what? Between the heavy winds and damp conditions, there's no way we'd be able to get a fire started. And her knee would only hurt worse with rest. We just had to finish this damn thing.

So on we went...meadow after meadow, we chipped away. We hit a couple key trail checkpoints: Foley Ridge, then Linton Meadows. Obsidian was close, but even then, the car would be ten miles away. Along that section, we actually ran past a couple hiking. CA was cheery to them, which was good.

For me, the run got more and more painful. The run pace was slowing: CA was now running close to 14-minute miles...flat pace. It was killing my knees, and my right ankle and calf were tight as hell. So I tried to hike as much as I could, which felt good. I was able to keep up with her run on ups and flats. I ran only on downs. Thankfully, she ran most of it.

Finally, finally! We hit obsidian. Things were still tenouous - daylight was beginning to wane, but our spirits were up. We stopped for a selfie by the falls, dipped our bottle in the spring, then got after it.

I did my best all day to be a clutch pacer, and I did so here by breaking this final section into landmarks. "It's not about the miles, don't think about that!", I told her, "We have five landmarks".

- Glacial Way trail 8.5 miles to go, at the north end of Obsidian
- Opie Dildock Pass: the insanely rocky pass, that's the high point and final major climb of the run (6.5 miles)
- "crossing the lava" (one more lava field, 5.5 miles to go)
- Yapoah Crater (THE final climb, 4 miles to go)
- Mathie Lake and the homestretch (3 to go - ALL downhill smooth singletrack in the tree cover)

One by one, we clipped them off. CA had another break-down moment before Opie, but I could offer very little comfort. "OK, do the stretch, and keep up a strong foot" (as she was collapsing at her right ankle on the painful side). She sucked it up, and we kept at it. Opie was fucking brutal: fog, heavy winds and trudging up the nasty lava switches. But we made it. And things gradually improved.

We began to chat more. "What's the three things you'd love to have back at the truck?", which brought fantasies of hot tubs, pizza, and beer. Up and over Yapoah, the descent was very painful. More crying. Painful for me to watch. But we had to keep moving.

The flats were solid and we made steady work through the lava, then up to Matheiu! Home stretch!

From there, it was 7PM. Headlamps out, but the fog had descended in, making head-level visibility compromised. And CA's knee was now nearly unrunnable. "Let's walk", I said.

So we did. We walked the last 3 miles downhill. It was OK. We were going to make it.

Strangely, the only excitement in those final miles was hiking past a lone bowhunter, who had a headlamp of his own. "I just wanna be done", he said when we greeted and passed him...echoing our sentiments, exactly.

Finally, FINALLY, we hit the TH in the pitch dark. Watch had 50.3 (but my watch is always short!). We'd made it.

Quick change and we were down the road.

We ate a couple snacks, and we were hardly off the scenic highway when CA fell asleep, and was out the whole drive home.

So...it was a "good run", but I'm not happy with it. I don't like having put her in danger: by not being prepared (e.g. only having run 30 miles and maybe 5-6 hours), coming into it, banged up, and having shitty weather. I couldn't control the latter, but the first two were on me.

In retrospect, she's "OK" (writing this two weeks later), but still has lingering knee pain and "dead butt". But I need to be more careful and mindful with her.