Oh, wow! Now, THAT’S what I call a summer vacation. It took until the end of August to get out for it, but I’ve not been on an adventure like that since at least 2017 when I ran to and down the length of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah … if ever!
What did I do? I completed a roughly figure-eight loop from and to my home in Silverton, Colorado, and through the San Juan Mountains over the course of seven days, by running and fishing during the day and camping at night. As I meant to complete the Troutman run/fish challenge (see below) for each of the days I was out, I called the project the San Juan Seven Troutman InFINity Loop. Below is the general plan before heading out, while tracking and my actual route can be found on Trackleaders.
Lizard Head Pass after a brutal thunderstorm on Day 5. All photos: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
When this adventure was said and done, I’d covered 237.5 miles at high elevation through the San Juan Mountains in seven days all with a pack weighing between 13.5 and 18.5 pounds. It’s surely one of the most physically demanding adventures I’ve ever been on and also one of the most rewarding. As a bonus, it was one heck of a training outing for the Ultra Gobi 250 Mile that I’ll be running very soon — in early October!
I’m skipping the play-by-play on this one, as it was as fishy a trip as it was a running one, and it’s probably best told elsewhere — be it in a long-form story or on a long trail run — if at all. Still, I wanted to share some of the key aspects, including what I learned about my current running ability along the way.
The Stats
- 7 days
- 237.5 miles
- 82 hours and 22 minutes elapsed during activities (55 hours and 37 minutes moving time)
- 37,807 feet climbed
- 7 Troutman completed (with a total of 28 necessary fish … and lots more caught ;-) )
- 10 thunderstorms during activities, if I had to guess
- 3 moose
- 0 bears
The always photogenic Arrow and Vestal Peaks early on Day 1.
The Good
I Could Cover Miles. This was perhaps the key good point. I covered 237.5 miles in a week and could move well the whole time. I could climb. I could run. My legs felt strong. My energy was good. (Aside from a bonk on Day 2 and reasonable fatigue late on the final, seventh day.) Considering my rather modest training the past whole bunch of months, this was a really big win.
Mostly Pain-Free. I can’t say that I didn’t have any pain during those seven days, but it was generally minor and fleeting, and I’ll take that! I didn’t really have any medial lower left leg pain that I had in some pre-adventure heavy pack runs that had me worrying about long-dormant compartment syndrome. My worst pain was in both shoulders, particularly the left, from wearing a heavy pack for 12 to 15 hours each day.
Walking Well. One of my strengths in long ultras is being able to walk quickly. I’d not done as much nor focused as much on walking in my training this summer, so it was a pleasant surprise when I found myself able to walk 14- to 16-minute miles (around four miles per hour) up inclines with decent footing with my heavy pack and to be able to do so for many miles on end. For any really long climbs during Ultra Gobi 250 Mile, this gives me the confidence to just settle into a really brisk hike and keep at it.
Vermilion Peak over Hope Lake on Day 4.
Strong Core. While undoubtedly, I should do some core work, I don’t. However, that wasn’t a problem at all during this week. Neither my back nor my abs were ever noticeably tired or sore. If I needed to hunch in my tent for an hour or hunker down in a lightning storm everything still felt fine. As with after my 100 milers, I had what I’d call lingering fatigue in my deep core muscles for four or five days afterward, but that’s ok!
Good Stomach. One of the highlights and key lessons from running the 2015 Ultra Gobi 250 Mile was that at lower efforts my stomach could hold up forever, and such was the case with this outing. Most days, I ate all my rather meager allotted food without hesitation. In camp, I’d eagerly eat a double-portion camping meal and a packet of tuna, although I stopped carrying instant mashed potatoes after Day 3, as my stomach could only handle so much volume. I didn’t eat most of my allotted running food on Day 6, but I stopped for a big lunch in the village of Rico, which was on my route that day.
Confidence Gained. In all honesty, I had huge doubt that I could physically handle this adventure, in multiple respects. In fact, I’d intended to go out a week earlier, but got cold feet and, instead, went out for an inquisitory two-day, 61-mile San Juan adventure with a similarly heavy pack. It went well enough that I would at least set out on this San Juan InFINity Loop.
Completing the adventure with good health and good spirits added a ton of confidence for the Ultra Gobi 250 Mile, which sits just a month away as I type this. Yes, I’ll try to run the same distance a good bit faster, but over easier terrain with less vert at lower elevation and with a lighter pack. Advantage, Powell.
The main building at the Lewis Mine on Day 4.
The Bad
The Achilles. I’d give my chronically bad Achilles at least a 6.5 on this adventure. For the most part, they held up really well. Awesomely, they weren’t at all in pain in camp or when sleeping. During most running they were a-ok, aside from maybe half a dozen instances of a sharp pain for a couple of strides before resolving completely. The downside was late in days, so 25 to 40 miles in, there was some moderate discomfort when I would try to run inclines or hike steep grades.
I wasn’t in excruciating pain nor did I have to stop moving, but it was annoying, even if my Achilles are so much better than six months ago. Restated, my Achilles weren’t at all an impediment to this adventure, but it was a bummer to realize that they’ll be a painful issue at some point at the Ultra Gobi 250 Mile despite being greatly improved in recent months.
The village of Ophir far below Oscar’s Pass on Day 4.
The Ugly
The Weather. Oh goodness, the weather. Wow, there were some big thunderstorms on this week out. It’s hard to pick out the worst stretch of weather. Maybe it was the last six miles back into Silverton with torrential rains that caused debris flows that shut down the roads I was running into town on. This was the only time during the week when I got emotional.
Simultaneously, I was amazed at what I was doing and unsure that I could go back out in the weather again the next day. There was the thunderstorm in the last two miles between Lizard Head Pass and my camp on Day 5 when ridiculous cloud-to-ground lightning pinned me to the ground in a wide-open meadow.
Maybe it was the torrential downpour as I arrived to camp on Day 6 that left a lake in my tent and me breaking the tentpole. Or, perhaps, the three separate thunderstorms in the final 11 road miles back to Silverton on Day 7. Oh my goodness. I stockpiled some toughness and resiliency cards for Ultra Gobi 250 Mile that week!
A stormy crossing of the pass between the Rock Creek and Lake Creek drainages on Day 1.
Esoteric Fishing Stuff (i.e., the Troutman Stuff)
So, the inspiration for this adventure came sometime last year when I started dreaming about connecting up multiple Troutman routes in sequence. What’s a Troutman? Well, it’s:
- Running at least a marathon;
- Climbing at least 3,000 feet;
- Catching four species of fish (including three trout species);
- Drinking a 12% beer (although this is no longer a mandatory requirement); and
- All within 12 hours.
Through the course of last year and this, I pieced together this adventure with six theoretically possible Troutman routes in a figure eight with a seventh as a lollipop off it. Some days were a good bit longer than the required marathon, so, according to Troutman precedent, I would “start the clock” sometime into my day at which my fishing, running, and drinking would start to count. Likewise, a Troutman could end when I’d compiled all necessary components, even if I still had miles to cover that day.
One of the many cutthroat trout caught during the adventure.
Somehow, against all odds, I managed to complete a Troutman all seven days. I even did it with what I call a “pure Troutman,” meaning I caught the Colorado Grand Slam of Trout — brook, brown, cutthroat, and rainbow — each day.
If this outing happens to inspire you, please consider giving to Running Rivers in support of their work on native fish ecosystem restoration and conservation!
For those of you who are trail runners who might be interested in giving fly fishing a try, check out iFishFar: Fly Fishing for Trail Runners. While I’m itching to update the guide, it’s still a great place to start.
Key Gear
- Big Agnes Fly Creek HV2 Platinum tent – This ridiculously light and compact tent was a key to this adventure.
- Western Mountaineering HighLite sleeping bag – This 35-degree Fahrenheit sleeping bag weighs less than a pound.
- Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT Sleeping Pad – For an ultralight pad, it sure was comfortable!
- Osprey Talon Velocity 20L and 30L packs – I fell in love with the 20-liter version during run/fish adventures in New Zealand last winter and bought the 30-liter pack for this trip. Both worked great. I used the 30-liter pack the first three days before I pared my kit down enough to use the 20-liter the final four days.
- Tenkara USA Hane Rod – I carried two Hane Rods the entire way.
- Nitecore NU25 headlamp – I was only counting on a headlamp for the first few road miles, in camp, and in emergencies. It worked great in the first two situations, with no need for emergency use.
- Nitecore Carbon Battery 6k charger – Nitecore’s chargers are unbeatable for their energy/weight ratio. This worked great in my first field usage.
- Coros Vertix 2 GPS watch – I don’t go running without this!
Heading out to start the adventure pre-dawn on Day 1.
