Part VIII: Gov Basin to Virginius Pass

Paul and I leave Gov Basin at 2:50 AM. I check out before Kirk but he soon catches up.

More of the same here, just up an old jeep road for what seems like forever. We come to a fork in the road and Kirk heads right, so of course I follow him. We soon hit a fence marked "no trespassing" and Kirk says, "shit, this isn't the right way."

"Damn, Kirk," I say, "shouldn't you know this course by now, it's your 15th time out here!" I can tell he's hurting and think I may have a chance to finally beat him.

After a few miles we get off the road and the fun starts. The course so far had been snow free, making things a lot more pleasant than the year before. After we pass the Virginius Mine we hit snow, and since it's roughly 3:30 AM the snow if frozen solid. I struggle over this part, not because of fatigue but because I'm having trouble staying upright on the ice. It's taking a lot of time to find friction to move forward. Kirk, wiley veteran that he is, brought along yaktrax for this section and is once again quickly moving away from me.

Seems like it takes forever, but eventually I get to the fixed rope that leads up to Kroger's Canteen. Last year this section terrified me, and this year is no different. Should I slip off this rope I'd probably at least break some bones during the fall back down to the rocks below. I try not to think about that as I make my way up.

The climb is slow and uneventful. At 4:48 AM I've made it to Kroger's Canteen, 67.7 miles in. Paul looks at his watch and says it took 45 minutes to cover the past quarter mile, by far the slowest I'll move all race. The aid station guys give me the bad news that they're out of tequila, which breaks my heart. I rebound quickly, knowing Katie is waiting up ahead in Telluride with some PBR...