Finally reaching the top of the pass, where the Joel Zucker memorial plaque is located, I stood in awe at what came next. As steep as the climb up was, the way down was even steeper. I could see the course flags but I still refused to believe they expected runners to head down such a wall. Here is where I was forced to learn the art of glissading. Glissading is a fancy mountain term for sliding down the snow on your ass. I’ve done it before, but usually just for shits and giggles while coming back down from bagging 14ers. Certainly nothing on this level, where the only thing to stop me were the big rocks once the snow ended, several hundred feet below. Had this been a solo hike or some trek with friends, I would not have risked my health and turned around here. But it was Hardrock, so down the snow I went. And as scared shitless as I was at first, it ended up being quite fun, until hitting those damn rocks.
After the glissade the route wasn’t so steep anymore, and I made my way down the rest of the pass. I was running here, but the route was super technical so my pace wasn’t great. Lots of snow crossings here, and the snow was starting to warm up so it kept my feet wet. Once again, the scenery here was something I can’t describe in enough detail. Lots of waterfalls. A big alpine lake. Mountains surrounding me no matter what direction I looked. Wildflowers galore.
A few more miles and the trail hit a jeep road and, after some more stream crossings, I hit the Chapman Gulch aid station. This was the first crew access aid station and it was good to see everyone. Changed socks, threw down a ton of calories, and I was off. Got to the aid station, 18.9 miles, at 11:36AM and left at 11:39AM. Cutoff time to Chapman Gulch was 4PM. Still feeling good, but that last section, with its steep-as-hell climb and suicidal descent, really let me know I was in for a fight.
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