At about 5:00 am this morning Matt Hart headed up into the San Juan section of the Colorado Trail. With a little over 100 miles to go he is both fatigued and sleep deprived, and this section up above 13,000 feet promises to really tax his strength.
Yet he continues to run. He is hoping to finish the day at Molas Pass, between Silverton and Durango, for a total of 55 miles. I had to take his two wheel drive van from Spring Creek Pass on the Continental Divide all the way around to Durango today, and so I won’t see him until tonight. With him in my stead are Ben Reeves and Linda Barton, who have undertaken the giant task of what I like to call high altitude crewing. This isn’t something that can be done off the couch and even the toughest and most experienced crews have been known to falter in their tasks. Yet I am confident these two can continue to provide Matt with his essentials even at Carson Saddle and Stony Pass.
In fact, the only factor that worries us today is the weather. Even Durango is getting rained on today, and that usually means the Silverton area, and especially the high peaks and ridges above Silverton, are REALLY getting rained on. This could spell trouble both for the vehicle which has to drive steep dirt roads up to the Trail, and for Matt too since the majority of the section he is on is above timberline. I’m not exactly a scientist, but I do know that people are great conductors of electricity, and carrying two metal poles certainly won’t help matters. However, in spite of this difficulty I am confident in Matt’s ability to make safe decisions and avoid obvious danger, like a thunderstorm. Similarly, our communications are such that any problems Matt encounters will be apparent to the crew and all backup plans have been discussed. Worry not, for Matt shall endure.
As for the record, our campsite last night was about thirty miles off of Jonathan Basham’s splits. Is a record time still possible? Yes. Is it likely? Well, it’s possible. Matt is an amazing athlete who has undergone similar mental and physical strain in the past, and the camp has heard talk of a possible all night run at some point. So we’ll see. If he makes the record that will be fantastic for everyone concerned. But that was only a secondary goal even from the beginning. I may have pushed the idea of a “record attempt” on this blog to the extent that it may have seemed the only goal, but the truth is that Matt has spent a lot of time in Colorado this summer and decided after some research that a fast run on the Colorado Trail would be AWESOME, record time or not. so he’s out there, tired and hurting, but the way he feels now is inherently a part of why we love to run long distances. You might say that Matt is in his element right now. He’s also in the elements right now, traversing through the hardest and possibly coolest section on the Trail. So wish him luck!
Also – Sean Meissner should know that I am much more adept at sleeping upstairs in the Eurovan than he is, as well as living out of the van in general, as stated by Matt himself. So take that!
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Strong work Matt! Enjoy the journey. You’ll be stronger on the other side.