HURON PEAK, THE LEADVILLE 100 & HUMAN POTENTIAL

Another 14er! Over the weekend I hiked Huron Peak (14,004 ft.) the lowest of all Colorado’s 14ers. My friend and I planned a semi last-minute trip to camp and summit Huron which neither of us had done. Huron Peak is not too far from Leadville where the Leadville 100 trail race was happening the same day we planned on hiking. I wanted to view part of the race and little did I know, the area we camped and started our hike was the 50 mile aid station and turn around point for the run.

Getting to Huron Peak

Huron Peak is located off a ten mile dirt road that is bumpy in areas making it a slow drive. The last two miles to the official trailhead are accessible by four wheel drive vehicles. We camped in a field just before the dirt road turned to the four wheel drive road. It was a cold night camping as I did not pack a blanket in addition to my sleeping bag. It was 95 degrees F in Denver when I left on Friday and I seemingly unconsciously protested bringing anything warm. After a fitful and chilly nights rest, I awoke at 4am slightly less than excited to emerge from my cocoon and hit the trail in the dark.

The Leadville 100 racers were set to start their race fifty miles away in Leadville at 4am. If they were starting a one hundred mile run, I could start my ten or so mile hike. After a slow start of convincing myself it was time to leave my sleeping bag, my friend and I started walking the two miles to the trailhead at 5:15am. About three quarters of a mile into our walk, a truck rolled by and offered us a ride in the truck bed. Feeling like lucky ladies, we hopped in and bumped our way, catching some air, to the trailhead.

Hiking Huron Peak

Huron Peak is a relatively tame 14er totaling 6.6 miles round trip (if your car can make it to the official trailhead to start) and 3,418 ft. elevation gain. The views on the way up are some of the best of any 14er I’ve climbed. We made quite a few trail friends on the way up and putting one foot in front of the other, chipped away until we reached the summit. There are no false summits as you can see exactly where you’re headed once you emerge from the trees. It looks a little daunting but I appreciated seeing where the end point was even though the majority of the elevation was gained in the last mile.

Towards the top of the mountain there are a few steeper sections with loose rock but nothing that caused concern. These sections are harder and slipperier on the way down, in my opinion. I must have been feeling snacky as I packed for this hike because I brought almost a full picnic to the top of the mountain. My pack was heavier than normal as I carried two liters of water, coffee (made with raw milk and beans from my recent trip to the Galapagos- yum!), overnight oats (my speciality), a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (extra peanut butter, extra jelly), a snickers bar, a Cliff bar, some other bars, and mango habanero beef jerky. Most of the food I brought ended up going for a joy ride up the mountain as I didn’t eat it until I got back to the car. I did have my coffee, overnight oats, and snickers bar. Food tastes better with a view.

According to my Garmin hiking watch, Huron Peak is less than 14,000 ft. According to National Geodetic Survey’s new research, completed with a high-tech GPS survey antenna, Huron Peak is 14,004 ft. Someone told me according to their Snapchat app, they were at 13,999 ft. I’m keen to trust the Geodetic Survey data but regardless, the view from the top is spectacular in every direction you look. After spending time at the peak, we headed back down to the car.

When we arrived back at the car around noon, the area we had parked had been transformed into the 50 mile aid station for the Leadville 100. My friend and I cheered on the runners as they came in for aid before they turned around to head the 50 miles back to Leadville to finish their race.

The Leadville 100 Trail Race

The Leadville 100 is a 100 mile trail race that gains over 18,000 ft. of elevation throughout the course. This is absolutely mind boggling for me and truly hard to comprehend how humans can accomplish this feat in under the 30 hour cutoff time. Each year, less than half of the racers finish within the 30 hour time limit. This year, for the first time since 2005, a new course record was set with the first place finisher, David Roche, completing the course in 15 hours 26 minutes and 34 seconds (15:26:34). If my math is correct, that means he averaged a 9 min 15 second mile pace. Over 100 miles. With 18,000 ft gain. The first female finisher, Mary Denholm was close to the women’s course record when she finished in 18:23:51 (record: Ann Trason, 1994, 18:06:24). This is real life superhero status.

As David and Mary (among many others) were crushing the trails, I was happy as a clam eating a snickers bar coming down from Huron. In the same amount of time it took me to travel 9 miles and 3,400 ft. elevation gain, they traveled over 5x the mileage and almost 3x the elevation to get to the races halfway point. I was very inspired watching runners come in to the 50 mile aid station, many with smiles and looks of determination on their face. The physical and mental strength that needs to be cultivated to train for and run a race like this is beyond my comprehension. I can only imagine how many times these runners had to overcome significant body pains and mental strain to continue to put one foot in front of the other.

Thoughts on Human Potential

The capability and capacity for humans to do seemingly impossible things fascinates me. I believe our limitations only exist in our minds and seeing others blow through their mental limits sends me a signal that what is possible is beyond what I can imagine.

I’ve been interested in the concept of a yearly Misogi which is an ancient Japanese ritual of doing one defining thing a year that is scary, hard and expands your sense of what is possible. I recently ran the Aspen marathon *without training*. It took all my willpower to run the first 20.5 miles without walking or stopping and I was very proud of that. I lost a couple of toenails which isn’t unusual when running longer distances and is a small price to pay compared to what I gained. I would call running the Leadville 100 a pretty badass Misogi (note: I can’t imagine how the toenails, bones, muscles of these runners are doing after this feat).

Watching a small part of this race, I am more inspired than ever to overcome my own mental limits to see what is possible on the other side. Watching humans continuously overcome adversity and themselves lights a fire in me. It seems our glass ceilings are imparted by our own minds. I recently read a thought provoking book called The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. In the midst of modern creature comforts, it seems embracing discomfort has become less common. From the beginning of time humans have been doing hard things to evolve and survive. The only way to know you can do hard things is by doing things you think are hard. My hike up Huron turned into an inspiring day witnessing human potential and a burning desire to incorporate doing more of what I think is hard into my every day life.

Until the next tale… Happy trails.

-Hannah