Red River Gorge Marathon Hike II

“photo 2 in the gallery for the trip page... that is left flank wall in RRG... it's a bolted sport route called "to defy the laws of tradition" ... 5.10a

here is a good read on the ellingwood arete (for those not following, this route... the ellingwood arete... is NOT in RRG but in Colorado off of Crestone Needle):

http://www.summitpost.org/route/157166/ellingwood-ledges-arete.html

be sure to look at the photos at the bottom of the page esp the shot of the crux move. this looks tough but very plausable given preparation and dedication.
last edited: 5/13/08 9:34:49 AM”

“well, dork, youve got a picture of the needle in where you think youve got left flank”

“Lol. My bad. Pic 2 is the arete. I put rhe thing in the wrong album! Lol!”

“you should leave it up there so captain crack will see what he's missing”

“I'm in. I mentioned this trip to a few friends. Not sure if they will make it or not....
last edited: 5/18/08 4:52:36 PM”

“cool. so you got someone to watch the kidlet?”

“yep, I found a big refigerator box that should fit her.”

“nice!

this is going to be a classic!”

“man, im so excited i could pop”

“You all suck”

“You suck more!

I may not be hiking. I think I have partially torn both of my rectus femoris' sprinting. (Damnit 2008 is the year of no injuries!). I think my body doesn't agree w/ my mind's opinion of how fit I am.
Have a Dr.s appointment today and we will see. But, I'll still come and do easier hikes or lounge about all day and have the cold beers ready. Maybe if we park somewhere close to where we camp I'll bring a massage set-up so Crash Bang doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night howling like a cramped up hiker.

But, hopefully I'll be hiking.”

“I have no clue what a rectus femorus is (leg muscle?) But it doesn't sount like something good to pull. Windigrl is planning on doing a shorter hik sass so you may want to consider finding out what she has cooked up.”

“why were you sprinting? you aint carl lewis”

“CB pulls (things out of) his rectus femorus all the time......”

“Rectus femoris is the big muscle that goes down the middle of your thigh from hip to knee. It's the outer most layer of muscle. My right one is torn so bad in the belly (middle of the muscle), that Birch noticed a dent in my leg where it's separated.

But, all is not lost. I love my doctor. He said to keep walking, and not to worry about the hike. Then he said "nice muscles", and "hey, so how long does it take you to hike 17 miles? It would take me about 3 hours to run that far so what, about 6 hours?". =)
He said I should be healed by our hike. And no more sprinting.

Crash, not Carl Lewis and definitely not Babe Ruth. I don't hit so well (softball), so I have to run like crazy to get on base.
last edited: 5/21/08 5:53:23 AM”

“how is the rectus femoris positioned in relation to the quads?

i remember the pain of doing leg extensions in high school. i imagine pulling any of those muscles has to hurt

i pulled my hamstring in high school. that hurt like a motherfracker”

“Glad you will be able to do the hike. I look forward to you dragging be behind you like a tin can!”

“If I find the "tin can" along side the trail on Swift Creek, I will consider the location the "dead zone".....”

“Yogisan, this may be the first hike we've been on together where I'll finish behind you. ;)

Crash, the rectus femoris is one of your quad muscles. You've got vastus medialis, intermedius and lateralis all line up with rectus femoris on top in the middle.”

“i swear recovery from this pneumonia is going to crap me out for the rest of the season! this is terrible!”

“cool. maybe ill be able to keep up with you in colorado”

“I can't remember. Are there water sources on these trails? It was December last time but we will need more water for a June hike.

I know I cached some sodas at the road crossing but don't remember beyond that.”

“plenty of opportunity for water. the rough trail is an up and down trail, and every down has a good stream. the swift camp creek trail parallels the creek, and there are ample opportunities to get water from it, or tributaries”

“you will have a hard time keeping dry!

i am still betting on the cockapoooooo.”

“how long do you all anticipate this hike will take?

*edit

I have been to RRG numerous times but havent hiked more than 6 miles while there. 2-3 mph?
last edited: 5/24/08 5:34:11 AM”

“im thinking it took in the neighborhood of 7 hours the last time”

“Thanks CB, thats the ballbark I was figuring. What time is everyone thinking of starting on sat?”

“if its going to be really hot, i think we should get an early start”

“agreed, We will be arriving fairly late (we as in me sass and upluver, late as in 11p or so) but hitting the trail by 6a or so sounds very reasonable. Were you thinking earlier? It doesnt much matter to me when we go.”

“Were you thinking earlier?

oh good lord no”

“I had planned to stage the shuttle friday night so we could drive to martin's fork and head out early. 6am is pretty early but Martin's Fork is close. Camping illegally at Martin's Fork was such a convenience. I had thought of using that one legal spot I found there but it was too small and would have been hard for late arrivals to find.

We prolly should stage more than one vehicle at the end. My truck will haul 5 plus gear.”

“I'd volunteer our car but dont think it'd help due to our late arrival. It certainly can be used if needed though, it'll carry 4 comfortably or 5 if they like bromance.”

“Bromance! Lmao!”

“It took me 8.5 hours last time and I was GASSED. That was under ideal weather conditions.”

“i ran the mileage on a topo map. it's more like 15.5 miles.

chin (and others) : if you want to cache diet coke there are two good spots to do so. The first is 6.5 miles along the hike off of chimney top rd and the second is 8 miles in off ky-715. see the trip page for details.”

“was it 8 and a half hours? that doesnt sound off. i would agree with that”

“Crash - My GPS has the times on the data points, so I'm sure it was a bit over 8.5 hours. I had the GPS on my belt and lost the signal many times, so my distance data is near worthless. I'll wear the GPS on a chest strap this time.

For me personally, this was the most strenuous hike I had been on. I am looking forward to tackling it again.”

“it will be good to see you again chin. wasn't mammoth the last time we hiked together?”

“Yogi - I think Trap was the last one.”

“That is right! The blazed trail without blazes!”

“I am starting to get excited about this, esp the Sunday climbing and the food Saturday night. :)”

“Are we going to the lodge?! I still haven't ever been able to eat there.

I'm joining Birch on an eight mile ruck this Saturday. See how ready my little legs are for this. I took the stairs at the hospital yesterady w/ little to no pain so I'm thinking I may be good to go. =D”

“yeah! we should plan to feed at the lodge after a little climbing on sunday.”

“awesome lunch at the lodge”

“Sass, the leg pain is a remnant from the car incident? Keep log chuckers away from you on this one. I was rafting with longlosthiker on Sun. He was coming off a trip to Joyce Kilmer I had to miss due to a work emergency. On the trip, Jonathon was in attendance. While rafting, longlost was telling me about the trip. I asked, "Jonathon was there, huh. Did anyone get hurt?" I described what happened as Olympic style hammer throw seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Has anyone ever hiked the 50 mile loop on Chuck Keiper Trail?”

“we'll be bugging out early Sunday, so I guess I still won't be eating at the lodge. =(

Nope Dayhiker, softball incident. Nothing serious though, although it sure felt serious a week or so ago! Does Jonathon usually hurt people? He looks so innocent and safe, lol.”

“Softball, dang, you're gonna have to start wearing steel toe boots everywhere you go.

His girlfriend was on the trip and far as I know came out unscathed.

The steel toe reminded me....a friend got a job as the tour guide at the local Honda plant. They have to wear steel toe boots. She ALWAYS wears heels. In Sunday School she was complainging about the boots. Someone said, "Maybe you can find some steel toe heels in an equipment catalog." I replied, "Uhh, I think you find those in a different type of store." I think I was able to count to 5 before everyone in the room caught up.”

“hey if we are cooking first class style on Saturday night I'll make bacon wrapped poppers over the fire. TASTY! Maybe a sweet tater too.”

“ohhh yeah! i gotta put some thought into cooking on Saturday night. i'll prolly bring a grill and the things needed to rig it over a good bed of coals. plan to eat good on saturday night. if you are freezer-bag eatin' or eating mountain house you will be teased without mercy! lol!”