Well here I am back at home after this race. What can I say it was awesome. So much to talk about where do I start. Well here it goes. I will start from the beginning.
Myself and Mr. Boudreau left home at 0730am on Friday the 25th because according to our calculations it was going to take us 5 hours to get up to Bolton Mountain where our hotel was. Well we thought it would take us 5 hours but it took us 6hrs and 30min give or take to get up there. Here is why. The weather sucked. At home it was raining. Once we got up into Mass it was sleeting. Once we got into Vermont it was snowing and little did we know that the Vermont D.O.T. doesn't plow unless there is 5inches of snow on the ground, which makes sense for up there, but it didn't do us any wonders in the land speed record category. So anyway, on the way up we saw I would say at least 5 accidents including one flipped over car. Now Mr. D ( I will use that to protect identities), was driving and he owns a 1988 Toyota Landcruiser. For those of you who only know about the plastic cars of today, that thing is a beast it weights almost 1 million pounds unfortunately who ever designed the engine put and asthmatic squirrel inside it to run it so going up hills was, well i wouldn't say it was a problem, but if we came to a stop I would have had to jump out and lock the front wheels into 4 wheel drive. Going down a hill with snow on it was a different story, basically we weren't stopping no matte what, WATCH OUT CIVIC HYBRID WE ARE COMING!!!!!!!!
So we get to where we have to be and the man who runs the race said make sure we get there before the weather comes in because we probably won't make it up the hill leading to the hotel. We thought OK, he obviously doesn't know that we are coming up in a M1ABRAMS tank. We soon found out he wasn't lying. We get to the road leading to the hotel and it is literally 1 mile straight up a mountain that hasn't been plowed, but we definitely saw one as it came around a blind corner and almost killed us, which it didn't or else I wouldn't be writing this suspense filled rendition of the weekend. So finally we check into the hotel and realize it's cold as anything you want to relate cold to.
After we check in we decide we are hungry so it's time to eat and have a beer in celebration of surviving the ride up. We are sitting in the hotel bar/restaurant eating a burger and drinking an adult beverage. I look over at another table and notice this I will say 10 your kid sitting there with what looks to be his 10 year sister when I notice she is drinking a beer. I say to Mr.D," Hey is that 10 year old girl drinking a beer?" Mr. D," Man that looks like a Sam Stout." So at this point we are both like what the HELL goes on up here in Vermont when a waitress delivers a fresh pint of lager to her. Then we were both like holy poop this is nuts. In our confusion she turns around and her face is all of 45 years old, but the woman looks like a big 10 year old and come to realization that she is the kids mother, after that our world would never be the same for the rest of the weekend.
After this is gear check time so we make our way down to the Nordic Center and register and get our gear checked to make sure we have all the proper equipment according to the race organizers mandatory gear list, of course we had what we needed. Next was an orienteering seminar, but there is really no need to into detail about that.
We go back to the hotel room to chill out and get to sleep nice and early because we decided to get up at 0330am the next day because we had to be back to the Nordic Center for 0415am for the prerace briefing. Now lets not forget that we are staying the mountains ski resort so people are skiing during the day and parting at night, and that's exactly what they did, at least on our floor. So after an OK nights sleep we wake up at 0330am and now the story begins.
RACE DAY
We get up bright and early at 0330am. It was bright, but it was definitely early. We gear up and eat some sandwiches we bought the day before. We make our way out of the hotel and down to the Nordic Center for the pre race briefing. For some reason Mr. D decided that I should be the Captain so I go up and collect the necessary paper we will need for the race, a USGS map of the area, a map of all the trails of mountains, and a race outline. After this we are shown the check point markers we will be looking for. Finally, we can get together in our teams (just me and MR. D), and start plotting our route to CP 1. After this we go outside lace up our snowshoes, plant our skis in the snow because we will come back for them later and wait for the countdown to head off.
At 0505am we head off to CP 1. What did we do here you ask? Well we followed a bunch of other teams. This worked out well because we all helped each other out. We went down a main trail ( I don't remember all the trail names) and proceeded to go up into the woods. After heading into the woods the route Mr. D was heading off to looked pretty difficult because there was a shear rock face we would have to go up so said that looks pretty tough lets find another route. We then hooked up with these 3 other racers to see which way they thought would be good to go. We all made a decision and headed off just to the right of Mr. D's first choice. The only reason this was easier was because we didn't have to climb up any rocks. What we did have to do was go up an almost vertical climb in out snowshoes. It was tough. We crawled through the trees grabbing onto whatever we could that was sticking out of the snow, holding onto it hoping it wouldn't rip out the ground sending us falling backwards down the mountain. On the way up we say several people who told us that CP 1 was right up on top of ridge and that we were almost there. We make up to CP 1, I punch our card (we all had a card to punch at each CP, which would later be used to tally points, the more CPs punched the more points), then we hook up with 3 other racers and decide to work together to find the next 2 CPs. We head off from here in a Westerly direction and head down into a valley. We get down into the valley, cross a frozen stream then start heading up another mountain towards CP 2. Now the CP flags where square boxes that were half orange and half white, but believe me they weren't easy to find. So we decide to split up into a line formation and make our way up the hill so at least one of would see it. Finally one of does. I then go and punch my card for CP 2. We the plot our route to CP 3. We head back down the mountain back into the valley and follow the stream to a trail that leads us to CP 3. After this we need to head back up to Transition point 1 which is back up over another step grade to the beginning. So we follow a frozen river for about 1 mile and decide to make a right up this hill to TA 1. Now this hill wasn't just any hill it was literally almost at an 50 to 60 degree angle straight up. Again using tree branches to pull ourselves up and over the hill. Finally at TA 1. Time elapsed so far 2 hours or so. We get up to TA 1 and a race organizer tells us to skip CP 4 and go on to CP 5 because of time. This is where it gets interesting for me because I have forgotten to mention that I never skied before a day in my life until right now. The next 3 CPs we have to find while back country skiing. So we tie up our snowshoes to our packs and I clip into the skis. Little did any of us know that 90% of the ski trails we would be on are black diamond trails, (black diamond is the hardest). Well for me this lasted I would 30 minutes then I ditched my skis, strapped on my snowshoes and snowshoed the rest of the skiing part. O yea I forgot to tell you that my camelback (hydration system) froze before I even go to CP 1, so drinking water out of is was out of the question until I figured out a way to thaw it out. What did I do you ask? I put the whole thing, water bladder and drinking tube inside my jacket and that's where it stayed for the remainder of the race. So again we hook up with other teams and see which way they are going to find CPs 5, 6 and 7. These CPs weren't too hard to find because we used the trail map and followed trails to points we thought the CPs would most likely be located. Believe it or not we actually saw a lot of other teams during the race and we all helped each other out, like telling them that the CP is on the same heading they are going or they would tell us that it is only 10 minutes away, so that helped out a lot. Finally we make to TA 2. Here we ditch our skis, THANK GOD, and strap up our snowshoes to make out to TA 3. Between TA 2 and TA 3 we only had to find one CP, which we found. On the way to TA 3 we cross a road and then head down into a river gorge. Here is where things get fun. To get from TA 3 to TA 4 you have to traverse the gorge. In order to do this we have put on our climbing harnesses (mandatory gear) and hook into 2 climbing ropes strung across the gorge. How deep was the gorge? I don't know maybe 80 feet or so. At this point I was fried. Mr. D on the other hand is a beast. He just goes and goes. So we strap all our equipment to our packs, put on a helmet and pull ourselves across the gorge to the other side. Mr. D flies across, again he is a beast. Now it's my turn. I hook up and start heading across. I can honestly say that this fried me. By the time I got to the other side my hands were freezing, and o yea no one said hey when you get to the other side turn yourself around so you don't get stuck on the other bank, that would have been helpful. So we both make it across to TA 4, eat some food, drink some water and I exchange my gloves, which where starting to get wet for some of Mr. D's super mittens. I will tell you why there are super in a little bit.
At this point in the race it's about 1230pm. We have been up since 0330am and hiking/snowshoeing since 0500am. That's a total of 9 hours awake and 7 hours of hiking, needless to say my little legs are cooked, but once again Mr. D is a beast. After TA 4 we have to post hole to our next 3 CPs. For those of you who don't know what post holing is, it's when you hike in the snow with no snowshoes or skis on. You just walk in the snow, if you live where it snows you do it every time it snows and yes it sucks, but in a good way. Post holing is like trying to walk when you are really drunk, basically you have no balance. You just try not to fall over constantly. That's exactly what I did, try not to fall over constantly. The next 3 CPs 9,10 and 11 were pretty easy to find because now there was a trail to follow and that's what we did, but we definitely referred to the map constantly to make sure we where in the right area. What was nice about these CPs was that for the most part they were all located along a river bed so we just had to follow the river to each one, but again coming up out of the river gorge was tough because we had to climb up rocks covered in snow and you never knew when you put your foot down if you would break through the snow and fall up to your hip, which is no fun. So we make it out of the river gorge having found, lets count 10 check points, not to bad for the first time. Now was decision time because it was about 1300pm and we had to make it back to the finish by 1500pm or else all our work would have been for nothing. The rules said that even if you found all the CPs but didn't make it back to the finish by 1500pm (3:00pm) you wouldn't get any points for the CPs you found. So Mr. D and myself decided to get to TA 5 and then head straight back to where we stashed our skis which was TA 2, but now it was TA6 and then head right back to the finish in order to get there by the time cut off.
So we get to TA 5 suck down some water and eat a cliff bar, which are awesome, and head up the main road to find the trail that will take us to TA 6 the fastest. Again, everything we have done up to this point was extremely hard, but this was a kick in the nuts. This road was a never ending hill. I have no problem with the sharp vertical gains because I have discovered through my hiking adventures that most of them are relatively quick. I mean yes you work very hard to get up side of the mountain or the steep trail, but it doesn't last long, normally you will come a level area soon, not in this case. This road went up and up and up for what seemed like for ever. Not only was this hilly road never ending, but the snow on it caked in dirt from the plows so it weighted 1,000 pounds, and I felt every single pound of. Every step took all my energy and I really didn't have that much left at this point. It took us 1 hours to get up this road and find the trail head that would lead us to the finish. We find the trail head, take a breather, bullshit with another team who was on the same heading as us and the took off. All I can say is thank god it was a groomed trail and that it didn't turn back off traill and up into the woods because at this point neither myself or Mr. D would have made it back in time. So we start heading up (and my memory is alittle foggy here because I can't remember if the trail to TA 6 was groomed but the one from there to the finish was), and finally get to TA 6. We get a picture taken of us, strap our skis to our packs and head off for the finish. By this time I was utterly cooked. I was going as fast as I could and still it wasn't fast enough. The one thing that sticks out in my mind though is along the way back to the finish one team passed us and one of their teammates was fried, so his teammate took his pack and skis, strapped them both to his pack and skied off. That man is my hero and he is a beast, I hope when I his age I will be able to do that. Let me get back to those mittens I mentioned before. They were good. So good infact my hands go so hot inside of them it was actually uncomfortable. So between that and my legs not working so well at this point, I was really a pile of turd, but still putting one foot infront of the other.
The whole time we were on this trail to the end I could see the mountain where the people were skiing so I knew were close, but the thing was we weren't. It was a mind game. We basically did a big loop back around one of the mountains and came in to the back way to the Nordic Center. Finally after what seemed for ever Mr. D says to me,"There are the condos." That was great news because they were located right next the Nordic Center. Then finally we came out into the parking lot and I literally ran with my snowshoes on the to finish. FINALLY!!!!!!
Total time 10 hours. How long did we go I have no idea we couldn't take a gps with us, but myself and Mr. D agree probably between 15-20miles. Total elevation gained again no idea.
Man did it feel good to finish. Even though we didn't get all the check points we finished our version in the alotted time and that felt good, really good.
After this we then went back to the hotel took a nice shower and headed to a banquest hall for all you can eat and awards. That was fun, I had 1 beer ate some food, won a pair of neoprem things to put over my boots which I will use as slippers and then we called it a day. In bed by 2030pm.
We were sleeping nice and sound until we both woke up at 0130am starving, and o yea an epic domestic dispute taking place in the room next to us helped in waking us up. I won't get into the domestic because then morals will come into play and this blog isn't about that. So after that we both passed back out, woke up, got some breakfast at what we thought was the continental breakfast for the hotel, but it was actually private, got kicked out of there and then packed up and came home. Now really exciting happnened on the way home except for traffic for no reason. So that is the end of my story, our first adventure race and many more to come. Hope it was a fun read.
After thoughts: doing some thing like this teaches you alot about yourself. You learn what your limits are and that even when your body doesn't want to keep on moving your brain will keep you going. I know that sounds like something from an after school special, but it is true, very true. I have done some very hard things in my life but this was probably the hardest. The length of time and effect involved over that length of time is what makes it killer. I feel like a different person after this, like I accomplished something that alot of people haven't or won't even try to do and I have a buddy who accomplished and achieved this same feeling this past week CONGRATS NIGHTHAWK. I thinks it's all about pushing yourself to your extreme, maybe during the exercise or course you don't see it that way, but afterwards you will feel that way. It's very gratifying and nothing can replace that feeling of accomplishment, I compare it to the first time I went skydiving, not the same adrenaline rush but the same feeling of accomplishment of having done something that gives your life meaning.
Well that's enough of the heartfelt stuff till next time.
