I met Matt V at the Wire trailhead at 5:30 this morning. Our plan was to climb Mt. Wire and then either run the ridge over to Red Butte Peak or run the BST for some extra miles. It was cold, but not windy and we started off with a fast hike, and then ran to the steeper section of the trail, where we started hiking again. There was more snow on the trail than I was expecting, and it did slow us up some.
We had a great time making our way up the ridge laughing and joking. Our pace was good, but not fast. The higher we went the more snow there was and eventually there were only a few tracks to follow. We were sinking to our shins, and it slowed us down a lot. The few tracks that were there petered out and I was breaking the trail most of the way to the top. At times we were post-holing to our shins, and sometimes the snow would be more firm and allowed us to walk on top.
At the towers Matt got a burst of energy and took off running to the summit. I was about 20 yards back, and I just tried to keep up. The wind really picked up on the summit ridge and it was very cold. This was the coldest summit of Wire this year. We reached the top in 1:06 and did not stay long at all.
The run down was tough because the snow had a hard crust on top, but I was sinking to my shins with every step, so it was tough to get any sort of rhythm. Just below the towers I stopped to put on my ipod and I set my handheld water bottle down. After descending almost all the way back to the saddle I realized I didn't have it and quickly debated whether of not I should go back to get it. I had some things in the pocket, so I had to go back. This meant at least a half of a mile back up on the steepest section with the bad snow conditions. I wasn't happy. Matt took a break and then was going to follow me, but he didn't realize how high I had left the bottle. I was hoping it was at the saddle where I had stopped to make an ipod adjustment, but unfortunately it was almost back up to the towers.
Going back for the bottle did give me an extra mile and about 1000 ft more elevation, but it also took the extra time we had planned on for running the BST. After Matt realized how far I had to go he turned around and ran back to the cars. After retrieving the bottle I ran back down as quick as I could given the conditions. At the bottom of the ridge I ran into my friend Judy who had done the Wire X5 with us a few months ago. We chatted for a few minutes and then I ran back to the trailhead. Total time: 2:13. Even with the water bottle issue it was still a fun morning. I'm happy I got in a good summit run before the storm. | 