AuSable River Trail (Hartwick Pines State Park)

Hartwick Pines State Park is located just a few quick miles off I-75 just northeast of Grayling. It is a very accessible park with seemingly plenty of trail options. I was heading home from a conference in Boyne City and stopping in here for a quick hour long hike seemed perfect. The weather also cooperated wonderfully.

Sawatch Ascent 50K (Sawatch 50-50)

Will it work to run back to back 50Ks? Under most circumstances it would seem like a crazy question, especially if you've ever run a marathon or another kind of ultra. You know that wrecked and everything-is-sore feeling you get the day after one of these long races. It seems unthinkable to go out and do it again. Yet it is possible, and it is not as bad as you think.

When I signed up for the Sawatch 50-50 this was one of several goals I had for myself. To find out if this back to back was possible for me. I see this as my biggest challenge to date, greater than the 50-mile races I've attempted. I want to keep putting challenges before me even if I should ultimately fail. After all, you learn more in life from your failures than your successes. If I kept upping the ante and trying new challenges I hope to keep seeing where this adventure can take me.

West Line Winder 50K (Sawatch 50-50)

(Photo credit: Freestone Endurance)

My journey to the Sawatch 50-50 began with another failed attempt in the Leadville 100 lottery. This was my second year in a row attempting to gain entry to Leadville. As this attempt failed I began to look at the bigger picture and weigh my options and choices for the future. One of them became giving further consideration to the High Lonesome 100. Much like Leadville, it is a race run on many trails I'm familiar with and in an area that is very near and dear to me. I also have another odd connection to it. When my father and I were hiking Mount Antero up the Little Browns Creek drainage in 2019 we ran into two individuals who were helpful in the original setup of the course. (If my memory serves, I believe Betsy Kalmeyer was one of them) They were out scouting for the course when we talked to them that day. So I've been familiar with High Lonesome since the start. It too has a difficult lottery to gain entry with. I did learn that running the Sawatch 50-50 is a qualifier for that lottery so that made this choice all the more enticing.

CDT Cottonwood Pass North Out and Back

With some time to use productively I wanted to get some high altitude exposure and move the legs a little bit today. So I decided a simple drive up to Cottonwood Pass with a short hike on the Colorado Trail would fit the bill. It also would just be scenic. After getting my little camp set up at the Sawatch Ascent trailhead where many of the runners were camping I made the drive up to Cottonwood Pass. The drive itself was quite beautiful with many of the aspen's already turning golden. I had the window in the car open just to soak in all the wonderful air. Up at the pass it was down to 58°. The recent dusting of snow had melted off in today's sun. I didn't want to work out the legs too hard today and so I decided to head in the northerly direction which has just a little bit of gain and descent. It's also a direction I really hadn't gone very far on before. Not to mention it's heading in the direction of the hike I did with my boys in June. We had come up from Texas Creek and instead of heading to Cottonwood Pass we made our way over to Brown's Pass and then on down to Hartenstein Lake. This section of the Colorado Trail I could hike today would give me some views of the upper portion of that June route.

A Sermon for Holy Cross Day & Current Events

[Adapted from my sermon on September 14, 2025]

Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you, Amen.

What a world. Will the tragedies and heartbreak ever end?  Will mankind ever tire of the bloodlust we have in our hearts so full of hatred and violence?  It was 23 days ago that a Ukrainian refugee, a defenseless woman who was minding her own business in her seat on a train, was senselessly and inhumanely attacked and murdered.  We cannot even begin to imagine what kind of madness moves a human to do that to another.  It was 24 years ago just this past Thursday, September 11, that the equally inhumane attacks took place in New York and on our nation’s capital.  Planes flown into buildings.  Innocent people attacked and murdered.  This past Wednesday another attack on our kids in a school in Evergreen, Colorado.  More senseless, inexplicable violence.  What is the mental illness that moves these individuals to continue to copycat the hatred of others in attacking children in schools?