The Boots

After I got home last night, I was so drained it was like I was drugged. I put myself to bed early and slept 10 hours, just like last week after the Boulder100. For sure, I must still be recovering from Boulder, but the climb was tougher than it seemed at the time. There was so much stimulation with my senses so overwhelmed that I was primarily paying attention to how cold my fingers were, my hydration, stepping careful, dancing with the wind and staying upright, and the VIEWS!! I wasn't paying much attention to how tough the climb was.
My GPS claimed I had only gone 4.1 miles round-trip, but plotting it on Google Earth said it was over 4.4 miles - still not far. So why was it so hard? There was 2510 feet of climbing, slipping constantly the whole way. I started at 11060 feet and topped-out at 13570 feet. Fighting the wind also required more energy to maintain stability, especially on the ridges.

I'm so glad I could visit that spot! I could see SO MUCH of the course I want the race on. The sections that were in most doubt were right below me. Plus I might have found an alternate route - but the NFS would have to allow me to build a new section of trail. If they would let me do that, it would keep the ugly powerlines out of the view for many more miles, and allow the race to enter an extremely beautiful high basin that originally would not have been seen.

I've lost my ice-climbing boots. Those boots were PERFECT! I've searched everywhere. How can boots that big disappear? Maybe I threw them on the roof of my CR-V one night sleeping inside and drove off without retrieving them? I don't remember anything like that. I have such a tiny living area and so much stuff that my shelves, closets, etc. are overwhelmed. It's hard to go through it all, but I have, and they aren't anywhere. I guess I have to buy new ones.
I LOVED those boots! They were so comfortable and indestructible. Okay, so it's not the same thing as losing a pet, or something like that, but I really will miss those boots. I've worn them on every extreme outing I've been on - EVER! Even camping in -20 raging blizzards above treeline, solo climbing Mount Wilson when recovering from Guillaine-Barre and still only half-recovered from paralysis, cramponing up adjacent Wilson Peak (I call them the Wilson Sisters) the year before, those boots have been up so many peaks.
I picked them up from "the pound" - REI's return racks - and paid half-price, or something like that. They looked so sad sitting there, but when our eyes met (my eyes and its eyelets and lace-hooks), it was love at first site. We bonded immediately.

R.I.P. (melodramic music plays here - maybe the saddest Italian opera music you can imagine)