TRANS-UINTAH ADVENTURE RUN
HIGHLINE SPIRT 90 MILER (estimates on the distance varied from
75 to 90 miles)
23,24,25 JULY 1992
Spirit of the Uintah Mountains Strider Motto:
SET YOUR HEARTS ON THE JOURNEY AND NOT THE DESTINTION
The Uintah Mountains are not only the highest range in Utah,
but the most prominent east-west range in the United States. The
elevations range from 8,000 feet in the lower canyons to King Peak at 13,
528 feet. In 1931, the High Uintah Primitive Wilderness Area was
established. The Uintah Mountains takes its name from a branch of
the Ute Indian tribe, the "Uintats", mountain dwellers. The setting
for this wilderness is the center of the Uintah Mountain uplift, a stone
block 150 miles long, 35 miles wide, gradually thrust up, developing through
the eroding process, canyons, gorges, basins, and talus slopes of great
beauty. The backbone of this range forms a high rugged region with
many peaks and precipitous slopes. All the major canyons have been
glaciated. The mountains consist of multi-colored quartzite and shales.
Ridges bisecting the main crest divide the moraines and drifts. The
floor of these basins is in spectacular contrast with the abrupt ridges
rising several thousand feet above them .
------adapted from High Uintah Trail Book by Mel Davis
Well, well, there you were Irv trying to
sleep on a cool night at Hacking Lake north of Vernal on the eastern side
of the Uintah Mountains, elevation 11,000 feet. It was fun to drive
into this area and see Bob Pence, the "Horse", cooling his heels for a
few days prior to our arrival. Kathy McFarland and Joan Moellmer
were heading up the "Uintah Rescue Mission" project for their looney-toon
menfolk out on the big adventure. Laurie Jean Staton had been scheduled
to tip-toe through the Glacial Lillies with us but a Grand Canyon rafting
trip saved her just in the knick of time. This insane idea
was initiated when news of last years unbelievable journey by Prince
ManyDots (John Moellmer) and Mud & Guts (Dana Miller) sped through
the grapevine. For the story about their journey in 1991, see the following
link: Trans-Uintah
Highline Primitive Run - 1991 - John Moellmer
They ran 3 days and few hours from a spot far to east of us
through cut timber on an obscure portion of the Highline Trail. They
started our portion of the run very trashed and finished it a day quicker
than we planned to. After several months of reflection on this, all
the participants have concluded their feat was truly World Class.
Still trying to sleep, I began thinking how I had really stuck my
foot where it didn't belong. My nervousness pushed out some nasty
nightmares. In one particular dream, I saw myself and Paul Hart sliding
haphazardly down a nasty downhill talus slope and scrambling to stay on
our feet. I heard myself asking Paul, "Do you think anyone will find
our dead bodies out here?" "Nope!" Paul relied.
Sleep finally came with reluctance.
The group was larger than I had imagined. Prince
John and Mud & Guts just made their trip sound so wild, and wonderful.
We were hooked and chomping at the bits to create our own adventure.
Bob Pence came all the way from Indiana to participate. Gary Dow
was coming by way of Tooele. The Grizz (Richard Randall) and
Tom McFarland were joining the gang with Pancake Man Stan Crane ready to
roll along with Paul Hart and I.
After scheduling the run with Prince John, I spent many hours collecting
information on Fast Packing from Ultrarunning Magazine articles.
Jim Knight, Mr. Trailhound himself, had run the Muir trail and Wind
Rivers. His articles were helpful. See the following
link: Fastpacking Wyoming's Wind River
Range I
purchased an Ultimate Direction Escape Pack, a Blue Kazoo down sleeping
bag, and was taking the top rain cover of my Sierra Designs 2 man tent.
I carried my own butane stove and water filter.
Stan Crane had a field day creating his own economical version using
a smaller Ultimate Direction pack and an elaborate system to tie down his
bedroll and tarp. His cheese cloth hat was in a class by itself.
************************************ D
a y 1 ********************************************
After a short pause for a picture, the group headed west towards
the High Uintah Primitive zone. Special thanks to those making the
long drive in and out so the runners could have this opportunity (Kathy
McFarland & Joan Moelllmer). Unsung heroines. I watched ahead of me
as the group danced along the Highline Trail feeling fresh and eager to
put some miles behind them. We slipped around Leidy Peak, 12028 feet,
along the south side and soon lost the well-traveled trail.
I spent the opening 3 miles just trying to get my Ultimate Direction Escape
pack adjusted right. It took a couple of days to figure out
all the little tricks to making it ride comfortably. My first surprise
was spending much of the day wandering over the flowered meadows from cairn
to cairn (or an occassional tree slash) looking for the best trail and
consulting the map frequently. The second and biggest surprise of
the entire run (and my biggest mistake) was the *$@*$!! heavy pack
I was carrying. WARNING! Future Fast Packers: 10% of your body weight
is just about the upper limit, give a pound either way. I took at
least 5 pounds over that weight and paid dearly for it. I thought
the group was going to stay together more. But what did I expect
by lagging behind with too much weight?
Over Gabbro Pass, 11800 feet, just past Lake Wilde, the group separated
but briefly met again past Deadman Lake. Paul Hart and I spent 30
minutes trying to fish at Whiterocks Lake. Running and fishing just
wasn’t working, however, and we soon abandoned all attempts at this.
The anxiety of getting behind the group was too much of a burden.
Pushing onward to Chepeta Peak, 11450 feet, and Taylor Lake, we mounted
a huge effort getting over North Sea Pass, 12300 feet. This finally
placed us into the wilderness area officially (that place where all sorts
of creatures run about uneaten). The first part of our run felt just
as primitive as the "official" wilderness. Plenty of water was available
to filter but it took a fair amount of time and I always felt like I was
getting further behind. Some Fast Packers only sip at their
fluids. I have always been a "Big Gulp" kind of guy. My third
surprise was a real shock. The descent down to Fox Lake was
much harder than I expected. The rocks and difficult trail was sapping
my energy way too fast. By the time we marched into camp at Kidney Lakes,
all systems were shutting down in exhaustion. Then came surprise
number four and the ultimate betrayal: the food I brought tasted lousy.
Power Bars->blah, puke; Cliff Bars->blah; dehydrated meals –> awful.
The only food I really thought was a success was the Ramen Noodles and
the candy, of course. Some of this could be the altitude problem.
Does running at altitude for 13 hours decrease your appetite? The
high points for the day: let me praise the flowers and the blue, blue sky
and white clouds streaking over the mountains. The cold, clear gurgling
of the streams was very soothing. The evergreen forests, the low
growing brush, and the quiet serene lakes are still a treasured memory.
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a y 2 **************************************************
I awoke early and crawled out of the sleeping bag. Stan Crane
and I had buddied up under the 2 man rain cover with poles I was
using as a rain shelter. The day started off with shock. While
I was caught up in all my pathetic little problems, Bob Pence was dealing
with a whopper. Bob had altitude sickness, with nausea and
headache problems so bad, he reluctantly but assertively decides to leave
us and make the descent down south as fast as he can towards Duschene.
This puts us all on edge as we really hated to see Bob leave.
As a group, I think we understand his urgent need to get down out of the
high country as quickly as possible. Still, this makes it hard to
bear and I worried about him. I think Bob ends up having a
better day than I did, although I wasn’t troubled by altitude at any time.
After the temperatures started picking up, I realized that if it had been
really bad weather, most of us would have opted to head out on this day
with Bob. The many meadows of Painter Basin cheered me up somewhat.
The climb up to Anderson Pass, 12800 feet, was every bit as difficult as
I had imagined. We rested up at the pass and snacked on food while
John Moellmer and Tom McFarland provided the families at home with a progress
report of our run via Ham radio. We found out Bob had gotten
out and was feeling good while waiting for his sweet wife to drive out
and pick him up. This was a relief. The air is
incredibly thin up on the pass. It felt good to drop down from there
but on the way down I started getting a horrible pain in my left shin.
Kings Peak seemed to mock me with peals of thunderous laughter as clouds
roared over the pass behind me. Yellowstone Basin is not as friendly
as I had hoped with a sore leg to bother me. Paul and I take a break
for lunch when we find ourselves together suddenly around noon. We
heat up the pots of water and get some noodles and chicken broth down.
While lunch was being prepared, Chief Running Bear comes by dressed in
his back-country attire. Fur seems to be enough. Amazing!
Plodding onward after lunch, I wondered how John Moellmer was tolerating
his military meals. MRE'S? Later, I found out John liked them
very much. It took a long time to get up Tungsten Pass, 11500 feet.
Garfield Basin was wild, rocky, and I trampled so many different kinds
of flowers, I forgot what a real trail was like. Tungsten and North
Star Lake were a visual delight, out-of-this world. Porcupine Pass,
12250 feet, had a view that was astonishing. The country was BIG,
BIG, BIG! I worried myself into believing that I had
a stress fracture and may never be able to get run again with the pain
building up in my shin. Nothing my previous 100 milers gave me in
the way of pain was anything that severe. I labored much too
hard physically with the sore shin and the mental anxiety took its toll.
I started ibuprofen but it did not help. I finally made it to Lambert
Lake with a little help from Paul Hart who stayed behind to give me encouragement.
Explorer Peak was a welcome sight. But where was John and the group?
This unplanned shift of plans by the group to travel further on the second
day was not a welcome surprise and my anger welled up inside. It
drove me forward and by the time we finally met up with the group at the
end of the day, I was in so much pain laced with anger, I wouldn't even
speak to them with a civil tongue. I barked off some demented idea
of going to the finish that night. John looked at me like I
had gone mad. I would have agreed with that opinion (mad, mad,
I tell you!) As we stomped past the camp, I noticed Stan was setting up
his rain cover for the night and Tom McFarland was doing the 5 point
recovery position (knees, hands, and head all on the ground). I wondered
if Tom could make dinner from that position. Up the trail 15
minutes later, my useless and unwarranted anger receded and I pitched camp.
Paul had stayed with me and listened to my complaints for hours.
We ate another unpalatable meal and hit the sack. It rained
slightly that night and my tent system worked well but would be better
for ultra light Fast Packing if a partner shared the weight and the gear.
The elevation at 10500 feet where we slept seemed less stressful
than the night before. I drifted off to sleep with anxiety
about my leg and what was to come. I remembered a visit in my dreams from
someone that night who talked to me like an old friend, told me to be of
good cheer, that all would be well. I woke up once to
rain drops hitting the tent and slept again.
********************************** D
a y 3
*****************************************
Paul and I found ourselves up quickly and eating our oatmeal and
I drank a warm cup of Pero@ for breakfast in the early morning.
The pack was lighter today and I found myself very grateful as I plodded
along the trail towards Red Knob Pass, 12000 feet. I happily discover
the ibuprofen has finally kicked in and I had no pain from the tendonitis
to deal with. We charged up Otteson Basin, a place so large,
you could fit in 50 full size golf courses. We discover the sagebrush
seen earlier up ahead was actually sheep. Ugh! Mountain
maggots, grrrrr. Starting up the pass, we walked through a
heavy bit of fog and spotted the group right behind us as we journeyed
up to the pass. Just as we make our final ascent, the cloud cover
lifted and wow! What a view! This was an incredible bit of luck.
The scenery was awesome. Looking over towards Deadhorse Pass was
worth the whole trip. It was remarkable and left us stunned
for several minutes. Paul and I pranced over the next few miles
to the Deadhorse Pass after a scramble through loose rocks. We not
only carried lighter packs but lighter hearts as well. Oh baby, what
a thrill it was to finally spot Ledge Lake below us and the familiar Rock
Creek Basin. The moment was magical as I pulled out two packages
of M&M’s and gave one to Paul. Supercharged, we dashed
down the trail and off to Rocky Sea Pass. Even a wrong turn that
took us to Jack and Jill Lakes was just a temporary setback. Our
mood remained unmarred. Kathy McFarland and Joan Moellmer were waiting
at Rocky Sea Pass, 11700 feet, for their wayward husbands. Paul and
I pushed on at a very fast pace finally finishing our saga. We then
spent the next two hours getting hypothermic but it was glorious to rest
after our incredible trip. The rest of the trail dancing group soon
finished their journey and thanks to goodies provided by Kathy and Joan,
we were soon tanked to the gills with carbohydrates and drove off for home
more mellow and satisfied than a rabbit in Mr. McGregor's carrot patch.
SURVIVORS:
Stan Crane
Gary Dow
Paul Hart
Tom McFarland
John Moellmer
Irv Nielsen
Bob Pence* (see story below)
Grizz Randall
Time: 35 hours and 30 minutes actual running time. Elapsed
time: 57 hours and 29 minutes. Elevation range: 10,500 to 12,800 feet.
What I learned from this event: Good things -> A big challenge
requires a big effort. To fight and struggle to make it to the finish
was wonderfully satisfying. To be able to stop and rest at
the end was an exquisite joy. Bad things-> Nasty attitudes
can creep in when you are injured. Watching yourself become
a wimpering, sulky brat when things didn't go your way is disappointing.
Sigh!
Ode To The Horse
Seven ran west
One ran south
Silent prayers
Rugged steps
Thin air
Sober thoughts
Your spirit lingered
Drove us on
Comforted our hearts
Bravely done, Bob
We still hear your footsteps
-------------------------------------
Thanks from the seven.
Irv
***************************************
From Bob Pence:
"Trans-Uintah was not a race. Yet, as I stood
there at the start, the starting line if you will, I couldn't help feel
some of the anxiety that goes through a racer's mind as he waits
for the count down. Trans-Uintah seemed to have its own set of anxieties.
For me it was: Can a flat land Hoosier really run three marathons
back to back at an altitude of 10,000 feet?
Yes, Trans-Uintah wasn't a race and yet as I relaxed
at the trail head the day before, I couldn't help think about the pace.
After seventeen years of running, I learned if you get two or more runners
together, one will push the pace. All eight participants are veterans
of the Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run. Pace was going to be
important. Go out fast and you will never make it to day three.
Go out slow and be part of the mall walkers club and get left behind.
Trans-Uintah was not a race. At 8 am on July
23rd, 1992, eight dedicated ultra runners started their 3 day adventure
run with little fanfare. The traditional runners: 'On your mark'
was replaced with silence.
I was anxious to find out if my six months of running
up and down sand dunes in Indiana would be of any value in the rugged mountains
of Utah. I thought my conditioning of muscles and cardiovascular
system would be the deciding factor in how well I would do, but the thin
air was another problem. I spent the day before taking short hikes
near the trail head and experienced a slight headache, nausea, and rapid
pulse. However, the morning of the first day, I felt great.
It was great to be back in the mountains with a group of friends running
and enjoying one hundred percent wilderness.
Much of the first half of the first day was spent running
ridges, switch backs, flowery meadows, and taking in the spectacular views.
After lunch we started our ascent up to North Pole Pass at 12,300 feet.
I was really having a problem moving up that mountain, but so was everyone
else. I didn't give it much thought until I discovered I was having
just about as much trouble going down North Pole Pass as I had going up.
It was a strain making it to Kidney Lake by night fall.
By the time I settled into my sleeping bag for what
I hoped to be a good nights sleep, I realized I had a full blown case of
altitude sickness. I didn't eat much of a lunch that day, nor
much of a supper that night. I couldn't sleep, couldn't breath, and
when I couldn't eat breakfast the next morning I realized the mountain
had just conquered me. The only cure was to get down to a lower altitude.
The hardest part was saying good bye to my friends.
The map showed a dude ranch at the mouth of a long
canyon. Although it was 20 miles away, and nobody knew if it was
still in operation, it was my only option. My exit was not a disappointment.
The canyon was beautiful and the trail was excellent. I had fun and
tears of joy even in defeat. I made it to the dude ranch by 1:30
pm only to discover they didn't have a telephone and it was another 15
miles to the nearest phone. Another interesting thought:
my exit from the ranch was on an Indian Reservation. I was able to
hitch a ride to the little town of Neola where I found a telephone and
set up camp on the lawn of the local Mormon Church. The church and
convenience store made up the center of town. My wife had to drive
over 300 miles to pick me up so I had plenty of time to reflect on the
Tran-Uintah run and explain my presence to a few concerned citizens of
Neola.
Several years ago a leading national running magazine
sent out a letter to ten of the nations most successful distance runners
asking them to respond to the question: What do you credit most to
your success as a distant runner? Although the responses could have
been predicted, they were interesting. From diet to coaching to various
running theories made the list. What I remember most is the answer
of one of the greatest runners of all time when he said he owed his entire
success to the support given to him by his wife. Although I don't
consider myself one of the nations top ten distance runners as I approach
my twenty five thousandth mile in my seventeenth year of running, I can't
help but give credit and thanks to my wife for her love and support.
Trans-Uintah was not a race. Even so, it was
one of my most memorable victories in all my years of running."
Bob Pence (aka The Horse)
*********************************************************************************************
This is a list of the equipment I took:
-Escape Pack, Ultimate Direction, 2.5 lb
-Blue Kazoo sleeping bag, 2.4 lb
-REI closed cell foam pad - shortened, 0.5 lb
-Sierra Design Clip Flashlight Tent, I
took only the rain fly, poles, & stakes, 2 lb
- Poncho, 0.8 lb
-Whisper lite gas stove, 0.9 lb
- Fuel, white gas, 1.4 lb
- Aluminum pot & foil, 0.3 lb
- Rubber bowl, lexan spoon, light knife, 0.1 lb
- First Need water filter, 1 lb
- Ultimate Direction Water bottles with water, 2 lb
- Mini Mag lite, + 1 extra battery, ultralight, 0.1 lb
- Nike Air Max running shoes (weight not added to pack weight)
- Ultramax running sock, 0.2 lb (this is the extra pair)
- Lycra tights, mid thigh, 0.2 lb
- Lycra tights, long, 0.3 lbs
- Nylon long pants, 0.2 lb
- shirt, short sleeve, cotton, 0.3 lb
- Patagonia capilene tops, 2 pr, 1 lb
- light wool, longsleeve, top, 0.6 lb
- light wool, mittens, 0.2 lb
- head band, fleece, 0.1 lb
- bandana, cotton, 0.1 lb
- chums, sun glasses, 0.1 lb
- First aid and toiletry kit: matches, repellent, tin of lip balm
sunscreen, toothbrush, toothpaste, ibuprofen, Imodium, pseudoephedrine,
Bactroban Ointment, duct tape, moleskin, toilet paper (biodegradable),
map, compass, needle & thread, paper & pencil. All
items kept to a minimum, placed in smaller containers and/or packed
in small baggies & then a large zip lock baggy. About a half
pound in total weight.
- Food (for 3 days, 2 nights): 2 freeze dried dinners, 4 instant
oatmeal packets, 4 hot cocoa packets, 6 Cliff Bars, 2 Power Bars,
Pretzels repackaged into a zip lock baggy, 2 noodle soups (Ramen Noodle
packages), Cytomax Power drink (0.4 lb), and some M&M's and red
licorice. About 3.5 lbs.
Total of the amount on the list came out to be about 21 pounds.
**************************
Actually weight that I started by the scales told me I was carrying
23 pounds ( the fishing pole and gear which turned out to be a waste of
time for what we did added in the extra weight). If I had to
do it over and decided to do the same distance over the same amount of
time, I would get rid of a couple of pieces of clothing (cotton shirt and
just one of the long pants/tights), dump the fishing plans, and add back
just a little more food. For my size body, I would be trying to get
the weight down to 19 lbs (about 10% of my body weight). Thinking
back on it now, in the year 2000, I realize many pieces of equipment could
be updated that are lighter. The pack could be dropped from 2.5 to
less than 2 pounds. I would go with a bivy sack and poncho rather
than the heavy tent rain fly & poles. I would spend more time
finding foods that didn't upset my sensitive stomach. I also
would like to take back any of the nasty looks or words I gave John.
If it were not for him, I would have never made such a wonderful trip.
While I am forming a wish lists of sorts, I would also have liked
to record Dana Miller and his thoughts on his 91 Fastpack through
the Uintahs and get comments from all the 92 participants. My thanks
to John Moellmer for his write up of the 91 trip mentioned and to Bob Pence
for his nice story. I thank Jim Knight for his adventurous spirit
and pay homage to Bryce Thatcher for his early help in producing running
packs.