Walking/Hiking12:34:31 [1] 26.49 mi (28:29 / mi) +7039ft22:45 / mi ahr:96 max:126
Death canyon trail head to string lake via cascade canyon. We were hoping to get to paintbrush canyon but the snow up to static peak divide all the way through Alaska basin and down from hurricane pass was more than expected. Some pretty technical high angle snow crossings were slow, and the nav through Alaska basin on the 1:94k map was less than spot on due to snow. But, the views were AMAZING and we just hit marathon mileage so definitely an awesome day!
Adventure Race (No Sleep 20 hour ) 17:15:49 69.32 mi (14:57 / mi) +6774ft13:41 / mi ahr:105 max:180
First race for Deviate since 2019 Nationals. Since then Greg broke his femur/hip in a bike accident and Heather has been dealing with perplexing and frustrating fatigue. I've been fortunate to race in Expedition Oregon and Two Rivers in the past month which was a blast but had me pretty worn out.
So, expectations were measured but in the end, we had a great race. We moved at a slower more deliberate pace overall which definitely made the nav easier.
We opened with a mile run to the boats followed by a combination of upstream paddling into a SWIFT current and downstream cruising at 10-12mph or better. From there it was a tricky bike nav section through some forest trails then out to country roads to the first small trek. We started that one right as the sun came up and knocked it out pretty well, slow and steady. Kuat left TA just ahead of us in first and we saw Rib on our way out so we knew the top 4 were neck and neck (and neck and neck?)
The next bike was toasty and I was really feeling the effects from all the racing I've been doing. Greg and Heather were drastically outpacing me on the roads but the last 2/3 of the ride were on technical fire roads which helped me keep up.
The last trek was the crux of the race and again, slow and steady was the plan and we just kept it up through endless carpets of poison ivy, what had to be millions of ticks, some really thick veg, and a fair number of hills and cliffs with gorgeous views. We came off the trek in 4th just behind 42 Down but with only a short ride to the finish, we knew the placings were pretty much set with us finishing fourth coed and overall.
For the first half of the race we were neck and neck with Kuat and 42 Down. (Rib Mtn decided to handicap themselves an hour or so by leaving most of their maps at the start and having to retrieve them after the opening paddle so we didn't see them until they cruised past us later.) Considering all we had to deal with we were super happy without racing and with the final result. Now it's time for some rest and relaxation!
Huge thanks to No Sleep for another top notch event!!