part 2 - Alpine Gulch to Williams Creek

Didn't see the blow up doll they had at AG last year, so I didn't waste too much time there. Kept continuing up, up, up. The climb out of AG went another three miles and took me above 13000ft. Along the way we had to cross some sketchy snow/ice areas. A fall here would have meant some real bad news, with only some rocks several hundred feet below available to stop your slide. I didn't look down.

Kept moving at a pretty good clip. Rich M caught up to me here and we would spend the next few miles together. I had never beaten Rich before and thought today might be the day.

Finally at the top of the climb, I started gaining some feeling back in my feet and toes. I noticed that my shoes, a beaten up pair of La Sportiva Imogene, were literally falling apart. I had logged over 800 miles in them, probably more than 1000 miles if you include bumming around and hashing, and they weren't going to go much further. Not good when you're looking at a five mile technical descent that drops about 4000 feet.

Though the battered shoes slowed me down a bit, I still came into the Williams Creek aid station (15.7 miles) feeling strong. Katie was waiting here with a new pair of shoes, so I survived that possible disaster. In hindsight, one of my few mistakes was made at that aid station, as in my rush to get out ahead of Rich (and, unknown to us, a hard charging Gordo) I forgot to eat.