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My legs and arms are scratched to ribbons.

My left knee is stiff and sore and my quads aren't working well.

My feet are swollen like I'm 8 months pregnant.

My brain still isn't sure what day it is.

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When do we get to do this again??

I spent most of the day vacillating between giggling and tearing up. This was, indeed, one of the most amazing, grueling, insightful, and powerful 10 days of my life. Thanks to all of the participants, and to those who offered cheers and support as I strove for 10 for 10.

I hope to have a TR ready by the end of the week, maybe next. Stay tuned.

Great big Moose hugs and a giant WOOHOO from the heights,

L

Congrats Laura on getting all 10 challenge peaks + 2 extra just for the fun of it, WoHoo!
Did you count Mt Pancake in the stats
Cheers,
RickG
ps, don’t fight the post SC zombie affects, just rest & recover and you’ll be stronger than before.
pps, Sorry I was hoping to get up there for the last 2 days, but the work tractor beam was 'a tugging, ugh!

Thanks, grahamcracker. I was looking for you at the Portal Sunday, hoping you'd come out to play. Soon, I hope!

(And, actually, it was a lucky 13 peaks. I think Bob missed that I got Vagabond, too)

This is Bob Jones:



He's 57 but he runs around the hills like a young buck. Nice guy too (sorry ladies, already married). He used to hang out at Camp 4 back in the 70s. Did his share climbing, drugs too probably, cause he lives in Santa Cruz these days. Ok, he resides in Watsonville - close enough. Anyway, he had the coolest piece of gear.



Bamboo handle, forged steel. Nice craftsmanship.



Adam couldn't believe a guy more than twice his age could kick his ass so handily. "Who's this Bob Jones guy? Where did he come from? How come I've never seen him before?"

Like a ghost from the past. And still gettin' it done.

The tip of that axe is awfully close to the back of his head

Another SC in the books. Arrived back in Oregon last night. What a great time! Renewing old friendships and making some new ones too. The great thing about the Challenge is the diversity of ages, technical abilities, and conditioning regimes amongst participants. But somehow it all comes together and everyone gets along just fine. The only downer was the town of Independence lost its grocery store. I sure hope these small eastern Sierra towns survive and provide food and motel rooms in the future.

ocmousepad wrote:I sure hope these small eastern Sierra towns survive and provide food and motel rooms in the future.

In Lone Pine, they're charging enough for motel rooms to do more than fine all summer. Don't know about the winter, though.

One of the guys in our group in Peru had the same relic of an ice axe; it was awesome!

Day Hiker wrote:

ocmousepad wrote:I sure hope these small eastern Sierra towns survive and provide food and motel rooms in the future.

In Lone Pine, they're charging enough for motel rooms to do more than fine all summer. Don't know about the winter, though.

In winter, there's a lot of traffic from skiers coming through, so I'm sure they do fine then as well. I think the towns that are hurting are the small ones in between Lone Pine and Bishop.

Congratulations Bob Jones for winning the master's category! (and 2nd yellow, 9th polka dot - WHEW!)

The Stats Sheet shows 4 of the top ten were masters, and at least 8 (maybe more) of the top 20.

I'll have to step it up next year just to keep up. Great inspiration and motivation.

And... next year Bob Burd will be in the "Masters" category. (say it isn't so)

Congrats to everyone...Sean, Bob, and Bob, you must be some kind of genetic mutations to withstand such punishment and repeatedly ask for more. In fact, I think all of you must be to embark on such a sadistic journey...Sorry I could not join you for the last 2 days. Felt much better the morning after Skyhaven, but too much swelling in the shin and ankle kept my vertical ascents limited over the ensuing several days. Nevertheless, even if only for a day, spending it over 13000 feet with great people (thank you Jeff, Darija, et al for your help), and getting 4 summits in was priceless.

What a blast!

I saw more of the Sierra in the 10 days of the challenge than in the last handful of years I've been visiting the area. It was great to meet the Bobs, Laura (huge congrats, again!), Sean, Karl, Vitaliy, Darija, Dirk and the dozen or more others that I spent time on trail and on summits with. I hope to be back for Royce, Merriam, Abbot, Dade, Bear Creek Spire, Cloudripper, Goode and Agassiz (and maybe the Palisades traverse?) before summer ends now that I've gotten to scope them out and learned how easily I can bag a bunch of peaks in a day. My fingers are crossed that there will be a Sierra Challenge next year (and the years following )... I would never miss it (and I'll try a little harder to make the podium, next time, too). Cheers and congrats to all!

JD

What a great time I had. I had no idea what I was getting into. This being my first Challenge, when we met in the dark hours of 5am I was ready to run in the other direction. I lucked out and met Jeff and Paul who gently introduced me to the Sierra peak climbing Bob Burd style.
I am not of the fast variety but of the slow and steady type. Everyone was so encouraging. And fun when ever I got to talk to anyone.
Thanks for not limiting the type of participant. The diversity of folks was most of the fun.
And I too am hoping for #11.
Carol

Bob, you should think of putting together the best of Sierra Challenge for the next year. Are you up to the challenge of putting such a list together?
Congrats to all who took part this time! I hope to join you all next year for the best of challenge!

Doug! You probably know most of those peaks better than I, but it looks to me like you are trying to maximize the driving!