Tom Grundy's Sierra Challenge 2023 Page

August 2023 and time for the Sierra Challenge - the annual 10 day obscure peak dayhike event. Bob has mostly handed the reins over to Sean Casserly, but he still came for a number of days. This year some of the challenge peaks were a long distance from the trailheads and there were no really short days (with the possible exception of day 6 - Cheba Spire which might have required rope work (we didn't know) and the last day which was not very far, but was far from easy. According to Strava I went 184 miles and gained some 71,000 feet. There was some threatening weather for the second half of the challenge too. You can read the details and see maps and get the final stats sheet from Bob's page here: Bob's 2023 Sierra Challenge Page.
This was my 12th Sierra Challenge, although some years I didn't do all the days. Previous Challenge pages can be seen here (some less complete than others): 2011, 2012, 2013 (just one big day), 2014, 2015 (7 days), 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, 2021, 2022. Some of those years have more complete trip reporting than others. Maybe some day I'll catch up on all of them. You can see a summary of my Sierra Challenges here.

This year Iris and I traveled separately, there were enough different trailheads and we were often starting and ending at different times. I was in my truck and Iris lived out of the Element. We also slept a little in Bishop, but not much this year. It was nice to have the additional space, especially when I got back exhausted and dirty and could just crawl into the back of my truck and didn't have to worry about disturbing Iris - the same was true for some stupid early starts.

Iris scrambles up Cheba Spire on day 6

Dylan models the yellow jersey on day 10

links to individual day pages

This year I came in first for the Green Jersey (over 50) with no real competition, third for the Yellow many hours behind Dylan and Clement and a little ahead of Chris - we were the only 4 to do all 10 Challenge Peaks (although there were a few others that could have had they been able to be there all 10 days), and 4th for the Polka Dot - King of the Mountain Jersey with 18 peaks far behind Clement with 29. I'm not sure where I came in for the Aqua Jersey with 4 or so swims (we didn't keep such good records of that, maybe tied with Chris and Iris or maybe Iris won). My only real goal going in this year was to do all 10 Challenge peaks and to do a few good bonus peaks, which I did manage to do. The long days and tired legs helped me avoid doing a lot of bonus peaks even when they were "just right there" - and the fact that I had already done some of the obvious bonus peaks helped too. I spent just over half the time of the 10 days out on the trail.

For gear I used a 25L Ultimate Directions running pack for most days and a larger Camp pack for the Cheba spire day with more gear. I also didn't take my dslr or Cotton chest harness for it because I lost the camera a few weeks earlier. I appreciated the lower weight and easier scrambling but definitely missed the better and quicker photo taking ability. Maybe these trip reports will come more quickly without as many photos to process (in processing the photos it is quite clear how much superior the images from the dslr are - probably not so noticeable at the tiny size I post pics here, but very obvious at full resolution or if you want to crop). I had a sandwich or 2 each day as well as some bars and summit cookies and things to make my water taste better and add electrolytes and sometimes calories and protein to it. As usual by the end of the Challenge I was in a bit of a sleep deficit, nothing like an adventure race, but it was noticeable, especially getting up in the early mornings. I did manage to go to sleep by 8 pm one night which really helped. I used a mix of shoes - mostly Altra and Topo, picking the shoe based on the trail distance and the guessed need for scrambling. Most days I wore Darn Tough sox with a few others such as Farm to Feet in the mix. I put at least a little bag balm on my feet and hands most nights before going to sleep. I wore either sun gloves or leather gloves on my hands most of the time. I used trekking poles - a mix of dynafit ski ones which were good in the snow and lightweight, but didn't pack down well, some leki ones which were good, but are getting old and had some issues, and some new Black Diamond distance Z poles which worked well, but the baskets were too small for soft snow. I used 2 pairs of sunglasses (one prescription) for hiking on the snow, and a Tilley hat. I also wore hooded sun shirts most days and REI sahara pants every day but day 9 which I quite like except they don't stay pulled up very well for stream crossings. On Day 9 I wore CWX compression tights in the hope of keeping my legs a little fresher - I don't know if that worked, but I did make it back to the trailhead. With the high snow year I brought crampons and ice axe most days, and used them a number of times. I also brought mock crocs for a few stream crossings or because Mason said I would need them.

Once again I didn't feel that I was in as good of shape as I would like - I think this might be impossible if you are not French. I had quite a bit of good training early with some big day trips and the trip to Utah, but then in late June and Early July the fear of high water, mosquitoes, and sloppy snow kept us from doing much in the mountains. I did a little catch up with the trip to McDuffie and also some training on the stair stepper, but a few more big days in the mountains and maybe a bit of running would have helped I think. My training was good enough to meet my modest goals without too much suffering.

As usual the Sierra Challenge relies on the Sierra for the challenge, but the other participants make it all worthwhile. Thanks to everyone who came along for the fun, especially those going for all 10 days and that hiked along with me either for a few hundred feet or for miles and miles. I'm sorry I didn't have enough summit cookies for all. I reserve a special thanks for Iris who helped me in numerous ways - from training and gear and food planning and prep before and during the event to food and other support during the Challenge as well as support in my effort to do every day.

It is a good thing that we managed to squeeze the 2023 Sierra Challenge in between a whole lot of snow and high water and the remnants of Hurricane Hillary which hit around the night of the 19th and closed a number of the roads to the trailheads and even 395 from Bishop South for a few days. There was a little bit of haze in the air on day one possibly from a fire to the north, but otherwise so far this summer has been joyously smoke free (maybe not so surprising with 300% of normal snowpack plus drenching rains from the tail end of a hurricane). Still, I'll take it.

Chris on a lower summit of Piscator Peak, day 3

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