BOTTOMLESS PIT

The adventure of my lifetime. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

First off a big thanks to Kyle Clouston and his mom Kim (she of the pluck, vim, and vigor) for allowing Linda and I to accompany, the trip was a Mother’s Day gift from son to mother. When they mentioned Pike’s Peak I was immediately drawn to the challenge. When I found out Garden of the Gods 10 Mile was the very next day, it got even more interesting. What happened along the way has changed my life forever.

We began our ascent at 4:30 a.m., headlamps illuminating our first 30 minutes, the breaking dawn inspiring awe as Maintou and Colorado Springs were revealed below. Our status as Flatlanders making even the first couple of miles something of a labor, but soon settling into what they call “good pace.” Linda was the only one in the party with previous mountain experience, something that would ultimately save us all, and if possible, make me love her even more than I did the previous day. A strong, confident leader when we needed her the most.

The first 6 miles up to Barr Camp were difficult and exhilarating. I experienced vistas unimagined. Continued up through the ever thinning air, learning to process and utilize what was available, slow even pacing the key. A brief respite and snacks at Camp where we shared tales with others, both ascending and descending. Reports of waist deep snow above the treeline not dampening our spirits or our resolve. The ideal climbing month is August so the snow was not an anomoly, it would factor large a couple of hours later.

As we passed 11,000′ we came to the split that confounds us still. The sign clear in its function and intent. Why we chose the trail we did will never be known but makes for the meat and potatoes of the story. Instead of the 4.8 mile section to the summit I somehow led us to the right, the shorter 2.4 mile trail, that would lead us into the Bottomless Pit. We would find out over the next several hours why the moniker is so appropriate.

The Bottomless Pit is in a circ just above treeline. We pressed onward and upward, the ever diminshing trail and lack of other humans no indicator that we had taken the wrong path. The summit clearly visible, enticing, beckoning. The trail now non existent we used the stacked cairns as our only guideposts. Cairns that were set in the better weather last fall, now sporadic and questionable. We negotiated snow fields, did some slightly technical bouldering, and finally arrived less than a kilometer below the summit, a sheer face, daunting and taunting.

Linda warned us that at 13000+ feet the mind can play tricks. My own deliriums plunging me into a series of gullies searching for a recognizable cairn. Easy going down. Each one ever more difficult to climb out of. And equal in their futility.

It was Then and There. I for the first time in my life, confronted my Real Stuff. We were running out of time, the regular and dependable storms already showing infancy beyond the ridges, promising a hardship none of us embraced. After my third trip down, slowly crawling back up, one or two crawls and then pause for succor and strength, wondering if and how I would rejoin the “party.” Linda imploring my efforts, me confronting every Doubt and Fear.

The gravity of our situation was not my burden alone, we each confronted our own mortality, plausibility slowly edging into certainty.

The Greatest Victory was that none of us lost our cool, on the outside at least. We took solace and inspiration from each other’s determined countenance. The rarefied air playing tricks on our memories of how we achieved our position. “I remember this tree!” “We had to have gone under this rock!” “I remember that cave up there!” All leading to dead ends. Each time we would retrace our steps back to our LKC, Last Known Cairn. After many attempts we finally relocated the bare wisp of the trail, completely changed in appearance due to snow melt. We had been in the Bottomless Pit for well over 2 hours. Distant thunder now driving us down with a compelling urgency.

Familiar landmarks now more frequent and finally back to our Point of Departure from the main trail. Humans again, mostly flying down the trails as they train for next week’s Pike’s Peak Half Marathon. Denizens of the mountain, pound for pound better than 99% of the endurance athletes I’ve met in my life. You think you’re a goat? Go to the mountains! Twenty two miles in eleven and one half hours, I saw my legs take a hardened hew and stance, something I’ll be using to kick some ass the rest of this summer.

And an Absolute Assurance that I am able to Survive under the most dire of circumstances. Something Kyle and Kim and Linda and I will always celebrate and share.

What could possibly top this Epic Adventure? How about lining up the next morning for the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile. The most gorgeous race course I’ve seen in my life, 7000′ up in the sacred lands. We ran from the back of the pack, sharing laughs and tales and somehow looking at life with a brand new respect. And feeling like we just can’t wait for the next Grand Adventure.

This stock photo shows where I led our party astray. Most of the Search and Rescues on the mountain occur in the Bottomless Pit. We were damn lucky. And we are better people for it.

I have loved her much and now have a new found respect and admiration for Linda. Sealed with a kiss!

The mountain is unforgiving in its beauty and difficulty. Looking down on the cloud tops offering a perspective that changes you deeply.

Kyle & I at our upper terminus. Only a kilo of technical climbing kept us from reaching the summit the Hardest Way. Our NRGE President now like a son to me.