El Vaquero Loco: A Family Affair

When I first signed up for El Vaquero Loco, I did so for two reasons:
1.  The pictures of the course were stunning.
2.  I figured it would be good training for the Bear 100, which I plan to run in September

The fact that they offered hoodies instead of t-shirts and fed you burgers and huckleberry soda at the finish line were also selling points.  The website specifically said this was a "difficult wilderness race", but I didn't let that scare me away.

We originally planned to leave the kids with Grandma and Grandpa for the night.  As the race approached and we realized it wouldn't be an option, we made plans to take them with us and camp at the starting line at Cottonwood Lake.

The day before the race, we loaded up the plane and flew the quick hour to Afton, Wyoming, where we had a rental car waiting for us.  We unloaded the plane, loaded the car, and drove to the campground about 13 miles away.  After a quick lunch, we set up camp and decided to go for a drive to explore the area.  We drove back to Afton and up a different canyon, where we parked to do a short hike to Intermittent Springs.  The kids enjoyed throwing rocks in the water as we walked along.  It was a great afternoon.

When we finished the hike, we drove back into town and feasted on pizza and breadsticks at Pizza Hut.  Tyler drank two full glasses of pink lemonade, and I began to worry that his diaper would need to be changed before we got back to camp. (I forgot to grab one from the tent before we left.)  We finished dinner and headed to the county fair two blocks away so the kids could experience their first carnival.

Adam had big plans to ride the adult rides with Cory, but we wisely chose to start him off on a kiddie roller coaster with Sadie.  One lap around the circle, and the operator stopped the ride because Adam's eyes were as big as saucers, and he didn't appear to be enjoying himself.  Sadie finished the ride without him.  After that, the only thing he rode was the carousel.  Tyler, on the other hand, fell in love with the bumblebee ride and couldn't get enough of it.  

After spending all our ride tickets, we grabbed a sack of cotton candy and headed for the car with a storm approaching.  As we reached the car, Cory put his hand in his pocket to get the keys and discovered three more tickets.  As we stood there deciding what to do with them, I looked over at Tyler and could see his very full diaper dripping on the asphalt.  I pulled his shorts down, removed the diaper, and we headed to the restroom to wipe his legs off while Cory looked around to see what we could spend those last three tickets on.  Luckily Tyler's shorts were dry.  So, I cleaned his legs up and put the shorts back on without a diaper, and we went to find Cory.  He decided to let Tyler spend the last three tickets on the bumblebee ride.  So a very excited little boy climbed into a bee one last time. After a quick stop at the grocery store, we headed back to camp, where I strapped a diaper on my little boy, and everyone got ready for bed.

Bright and early the next morning, I quietly got ready and ate my breakfast before kissing Cory goodbye and walking to the starting line.  At 6:00 a.m. we were off.  It was light enough to see where we were going, but still dark enough to be a little chilly at the start.  When I came to the first stream crossing about a mile into the race, I carefully stepped on the rocks and I crossed in order to keep my feet out of the icy water.  As I stepped on the last rock, however, my foot slipped just enough to dip my foot partially into the water.  So much for keeping my feet dry....  Another mile or so into the race, I could hear sheep up on the hills to our left.  I looked up and could see a huge herd of sheep with their shepherds and dogs.  It was a pretty cool sight.  Another mile or two, and we hit our first summit around 10,000 feet.  I stopped to take my outer shirt off and enjoy the view.  Absolutely stunning.

As the race progressed, I chatted with other runners along the way and stopped occasionally to take pictures.  The wildflowers were the prettiest I had ever seen, and I was really enjoying myself.  Before I knew it, I was already approaching Corral Creek Lake at mile 7.5.  After a very nasty climb out of the basin the lake sits in back up to 10,000 feet, I began the 8 mile descent to the turn around point at mile 16 (elevation 6,800ish feet).  I couldn't help but think of what a difficult climb it would be on the return trip, but in the meantime, I enjoyed the spectacular views.

As I approached the turnaround point, a fellow runner told me to check out the waterfall on my left.  I turned the corner and looked across the canyon, I suddenly knew exactly where I was.  It was the same waterfall I had hiked to the previous day, only now I was seeing it from the opposite side of the canyon and much higher up.  I continued to follow the trail to the aid station, which then began to drop....right into the parking lot I had parked at the previous day.  Tables were set up with all kinds of goodies.  PB&J sandwiches, Nutella rollups, pumpkin pie, grapes, watermelon, chips, cookies, candy, etc.  I refilled my hydration vest, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed back out on the trail.

The return trip was not easy.  In fact, it was pretty dang tough.  I looked forward to each aid station, where I thanked the volunteers profusely for being there, as they had to backpack or horseback all the supplies in and spend the night in the rain.  I even began to look forward to the stream crossings, where I would wade across, soaking my feet and dipping my hat in the water before putting it back on.  Despite the tough climbs and the muddy spots, my legs held up pretty well until the final 3-4 mile descent, where they really began to feel fatigued.  At last, I could see the finish line, and I could hear my little family cheering for me.  What a good feeling.

Let me just say, the website was not kidding. This really was a difficult wilderness race.  I didn't complete it as fast as I would have liked, but I did finish. Out of 104 finishers, I placed 69th. (Yes, a handful of people dropped out.) And out of 27 female finishers, I placed 15th.