Hello loyal JK friends and family,
I ran with Jeff yesterday from the junction of the Lamarck Col trail and the JMT to the Bishop Pass junction in LeConte Canyon (~14 miles). Jeff was clearly a little tired but was in good spirits and even put up with the goofy wig I made him wear and my orange leopard print clad ass ( I have a thing for costumes and heard that they can add some er...zest to a long day of running). We paced fairly conservatively up to Muir Pass where Jeff ate nearly a whole Big Sur bar (~600 calories) and we took a few minutes to rest up. The food seemed to do him good and we made up some time on the decent down to LeConte Canyon running whenever the trail was in good shape. Everyone we met along the trip was psyched to chat and some people took pictures and wrote down Jeffs name so that they could share in the history that could be made. Jeff was clearly psyched that his good friend Phil was going to be meeting us in LeConte and the last 3 or 4 miles went really fast as we raced to catch him before he (possibly) left. Phil met up with us with a couple of delicious breakfast sandwiches and the promise of more yummy food in his pack. Between the sandwich and Phils good vibes I saw Jeff instantly energized again. We said a quick good-bye at the junction and they went on their way. I was super psyched to have the opportunity to run with Jeff and be a part of the whole thing. Phil and Jeff had a lot of miles to cover but I think there is no one better to psyche Jeff up than Phil and I am glad he made it out. I suppose at this point someone already knows how it all went! Go Jeff!!!

KOZAK UPDATE

Howie called Sage to Summit at 12:30pm today from Lamarck Col.  He met Jeff at 8:30pm last night at Floyd's camp near Pauite Creek. They slept for a few hours and began to run at 2:10am.  Maintaining a 3 mile/hr pace, they spent the night hiking up through Evolution Valley and met up with Annie at 6:45am at Darwin Bench, four hours later.  Annie and Jeff continued on through Evolution Basin while Howie slept for a few hours before hiking out.  According to Howie, Jeff feels great and is only a little tired, feet and legs slightly sore - he's been running/hiking for over 48 hours!  Jeff found out that Phill Kiddoo is planning to meet him in Le Conte Cyn and will run with him to Kearsage Pass, a huge bonus!  Pictures to come when Annie gets out tonight!

Jeff Kozak JMT Speed Attempt Status

It's day two of Jeff's JMT speed attempt. Dan Meyers reports Jeff arrived at Red's Meadow a little after 9pm. They consumed pizza and went to bed a little after 10pm. Both were up at 3:15am (24 hours into it for Jeff) and hit the trail. According to Dan, Jeff should be around Purple Lake. Howie and Annie are heading in today to meet him. Howie will meet him at Floyd's camp near Paiute Creek and Annie will hook up at Darwin Bench. Way to go Jeff!

official time keeper

Jeff's wings

Jeff at Toulumne Store

Jeff and Brannon sucking down java

Jeff at 3:10am

The Inaugural Monthly Peak Bagger's Challenge

Late-summer greetings to all Eastsiders (and outsiders alike!). Here at Sage To Summit we've been bouncing around a low-key, friendly, gentleman's (and gentlewoman's) competition idea and it's high time we put it out there:
During the last week of each month we will post on this blog and on Sage To Summit's Facebook site an honor system, post-your-ascent-and-roundtrip-time peak bagging challenge. The idea is to choose peaks that have a variety of route options, ranging from longer trail and scrambling(maybe up to 3rd class) approaches for those of us who don't feel comfortable or have the experience to deal with "real climbing" and/or exposure, and more direct but also more technical or exposed routes for those who have more of a climbing but less of a trail running background. Those with both will have a distinct advantage! Instead of discussing the various route options here I will simply refer you to R.J. Secor's The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, Trails. A 3rd edition just came out this year.
We're proposing this as a fun way to bring folks from the various athletic outdoor pursuits together to challenge and inspire each other, and most of all, to have fun exploring your personal physical limits while also exploring the amazing landscape that surrounds us. Get out there solo or partner up and go for it at the same time. There are no rules (other than human-power only!). Post your times on this blog (after you've knocked back your post-baggin' beers, of course) and we'll compile a list for each month's peak. A one hour penalty will be assessed for sappy summit register attempts at Shakespearean sonnets...okay, not really.
So here we go...
The peak for September is..........Cloudripper, 13525'
Start and Finish: South Lake T/H

HAVE FUN!!!!!

South Lake to Big Pine Adventure!

As most of you probably know, Karen puts her heart, soul, and 7 day work week into her business. This combined with the fact that she only has one employee, and a crew of contractors to look after leads her to sometimes yells out via Facebook "Karen Schwartz needs mountain time!!"

I, on the other hand, have a blessed life where I work three days a week in the Sierra Mountain Guides office and spend the rest of my time either guiding in the mountains or playing in the mountains. So when I noticed that Karen and I both had a weekend without available husbands, I jumped on the opportunity to go running with a real runner!

We talked about doing Agassiz or some other mountain adventure but decided in the end on a run. Karen's husband Howie had once run from South Lake to Big Pine and at 14 miles mostly down hill it sounded just right for the day. Plus we could take the bhay-bhee (Wheeler).

After begging a ride and stashing a bike in the North Fork, we headed out. Karen had said we would be running along the "pipeline" and I imagined a trail where you could see the pipeline in the distance. But for the first 2 miles or so we were running ON the pipeline! Nothing will test you agility more than starting an early morning run on a slippery pipeline trying to keep up with Karen while a little dog jumps on and off the pipe around and between your legs!

The run is awesome to say the least. After the pipeline you enter a beautiful basin with lakes and trees where we stopped for a water fill up. A long uphill trail leads to this crazy open plateau which is a cross between Eastside desert and Alaskan tundra. From there the trail heads down hill where more beautiful lakes and groves of trees exist. Just when you are feeling like you are in the middle of nowhere though is about where people with ATV's and 4WD trucks start feeling in the middle of nowhere too. So we said 'Hi' as we jogged through their decked out camps and pointed them in the direction of deer (I have no problem with hunting for the record but is it deer season already?). Despite the regular camps, roads, and fences we saw very little trash and the area manages to remain very beautiful despite the apparent high level of use. I was happy to see that most people are caring for this place by keeping it clean.

At this point we got a little lost. I was glad we printed out a small map so we could keep track of the main drainages and other features since roads and trails and cow trails went everywhere. With our combined map reading/ route finding skills we did manage to make our way back to a trail which carried us up and over a couple of bumps and then down into the Big Pine drainage. The view of the Palisades is unreal at this point. It will be a fine day when Slide Peak errodes away allowing us to see the Palisade Crest as well as all the 14ers and temple crag.

When we got to the trailhead Karen rumaged around in the bushes and pulled out her beautiful and expensive red bike which was unlocked over night (the eastside really is a magical place- knock on wood) and headed down the road to her house to grab a car. I stripped down and gritted my teeth against the cold water in an effort to preserve my legs for guiding the next day.

Despite the backcountry roads, the brutal sideache I got on the way down Big Pine Creek, and well, those were really the only negatives. We had a great day and highly recommend this trip to anyone! Thanks for reading!

Annie Trujillo
Sierra Mountain Guides