Well, my evil thoughts of doing Timp repeats went away after I took a closer look at the weather forecast. I probably could have got in three trips before the storms, but that would have shut me down. It is too brutal to try in bad weather.
I took a day vacation anyway. When I got up, the morning was so beautiful and cool that I couldn't resist doing at least one trip up Timp. I decided to push the pace harder then usual and see what I could do. I met several people on the trail who knew me. It is always fun to get a friendly greeting. The wind was pretty bad, more than usual. On the push up to the summit there were gusts of about 30 mph or more. Going up the chimney area, the gusts were blowing up the mountain and actually blew my shirt clear up to my shoulders, almost off me entirely. I had to tighten down my hat so it wouldn't blow away.
Everyone going up to the summit was bundled up nicely, looked like they were heading into the arctic snow. I was in shorts and a thin long-sleeved shirt. One little kid warned me that it was cold and windy up there. It wasn't a problem because I was moving so fast. The temperature seemed pleasant most of the time. However, I was glad that I was not attempting repeats today. The temperature would sap energy after awhile because of the wind.
Coming down, near the chimney area, a group of goats waited to let me go, so they could go up the trail. There were 7 of them, 3 adults and 4 cute kids. Boy can they run across steep slopes!
I ran down pretty hard. At one point, I passed two ladies going down. I shouted out and gave them a warning with plenty of time, but one of the ladies had a dog on a leash. Instead of moving to the same side of the trail with her dog, she moved to the other side and had the cord extending across the trail. I didn't see it until it was across my neck. Thankfully, it didn't take off my head. I just continued on with my head attached.
I was very pleased with my pace and was certain that I could set a PR for a round trip. I thought my PR was 3:42, so I pushed it hard enough to make sure I broke it with plenty of time to spare. I finished in 3:36:51. I was pleased. But, when I went home and checked my records, I discovered that my PR was 3:35:50. Dang, I missed it by a minute.
I reached the summit in 2:13, and my descent was 1:23. That descent is a PR! It didn't feel like I was pushing it very hard. It was my 4th Timp summit for the year and my 60th career summit.
Splits:
| 10-minute rock |
0:10:12 |
| Scout Falls |
0:21:48 |
| switchback corner |
0:43:51 |
| Emerald Lake Trail Jct |
1:23:29 |
| Saddle |
1:51:14 |
| Summit |
2:13:11 |
| Saddle |
2:26:55 |
| Emerald Lake Trail Jct |
2:42:28 |
| switchback corner |
3:07:36 |
| Scout Falls |
3:22:56 |
| 10-minute rock |
3:30:11 |
| trailhead |
3:36:51 |
| 