Our journey began at 5:40 a.m. at the Boulder City Limit sign on Highway 36, where we met our bike pacers: Anna Shveshkeyev, Martina Watson, Grant Giesbrecht, and Joel Helbling. The morning was pleasantly cool, and our ride to Lyons was smooth and filled with lively conversation. However, as the sun rose and we hit the first major climb out of Lyons, the chatter quieted as the effort increased.
At the end of the climb, we, along with the rest of the crew, did a brief detour and stopped at a coffee shop near Allenspark, where a 5k race happened to be underway. We refilled our water bottles with the help of race volunteers and Anna, Martina, and Joel got coffee. However, we were eager to move on while they were finishing their coffee, so we left with Grant for the trailhead knowing the coffee-drinkers were fast and would catch us at the trailhead soon after we got there. The remainder of ride was uneventful aside from a few supportive cheers from friendly faces in cars as they drove past—our running pacers, who we later met at the trailhead. The final climb to the trailhead was tough but we were in good spirits from being so close to finishing the first bike of the day.
Parking at the trailhead was challenging, but our running crew—Joe Kennedy, Emily Bourgeois, Isaac Ozer-Bearson, Skyler Williams, Levi Lorenzo, and Martina Watson—managed to find spots. We then transitioned into running gear, locked our bikes, then took a group photo and said our farewells to Anna, Grant, and Joel.
Before starting the hike up to Chasm Lake, we unexpectedly ran into John Alcorn and Max Kilcoyne. Max was there to climb Kiener’s Route, and John was taking an active taper day before his Casual Route FKT attempt (spoiler alert: he got the FKT!). Their presence was a pleasant surprise as we hiked up to Chasm Lake.
Dan carried his own bag the entire hike up to Chasm Lake and Tati carried her own bag 99% of the way (due to a privy stop), despite offers to carry them for us. Not sure why we were so stubborn about carrying our own bags given it was already a very supported effort but so it goes.
At Chasm Lake, we quickly changed into wetsuits and enjoyed the stunning views with our friends as well as some strangers curious as to what we were doing that day. Martina then headed back to her bike, and Max and John went their separate ways. After changing, we quickly hopped in the lake and completed our swim quickly in the surprisingly tolerable but still cold water. We were even comfortable enough to float around the middle of the lake for a few minutes and appreciate the view of the Diamond. Joe, Isaac, Sky, Levi, and Emily brought our gear, and we set our wetsuits out to dry and changed back into our running gear.
We then navigated up Camel Gulley, enjoyed a snack break, and said goodbye to Levi, who was tapering for a 100-mile race. We then continued to the start of the Cables Route, with Tati somehow dropping her sunglasses in a rock crevice. Thankfully, Sky rescued them quickly.
The Cables Route was icy but manageable. We reached the summit along with the rest of the crew, basked in the perfect weather, and spent about 15 minutes refueling before descending back down the Cables Route and back to the top of Camel Gulley.
With the ability to see Camel Gulley from above, we were able to find a better line down. As the sun set below the Diamond, we braced for a colder swim back across a shaded Chasm Lake. The water was frigid. Dan still managed to backflip off a rock into the lake while Tati swam quickly to avoid getting too cold (backflips are not yet in her skillset).
The run back to the trailhead was slow initially as we warmed up, but we felt better once we could feel our feet fully again. We reached the trailhead with everyone unhurt and in good spirits. John was there too, offering plenty of stoke and quesadillas. Joe then reparked Emily’s car closer to the trailhead so we could pack everything out quickly, Sky figured out why Tati’s bike lock was stuck, and Emily and Isaac helped pack everything up while we changed into our bike gear and refueled.
As we were the only ones biking back to Boulder, we said our goodbyes to our run crew at the trailhead then started the ride home. Dan describes this part as a “victory lap” with minimal climbing and lots of descending. It did feel like a victory lap. Levi surprised us near Lyons with veggie straws and carrot cake, which was much appreciated.
Once in Lyons, it was completely dark with the exception of our bike lights and car headlights. Once we got on 36, the final stretch, we heard encouraging yells from Anna and Martina’s purple pickup truck. This majorly boosted our morale. We finished with high spirits and were greeted at the Boulder City Limit sign finish by Levi, Martina, and Anna, who kindly offered to drive Tati home since she had biked to the start from her house.
Overall, it was a day filled with fantastic people, activities, and alpine beauty. We are deeply grateful for our friends, the weather, and our beautiful home.