The "Race"

Matt 1, Myself 0

Today Matt and I decided to trek up Flat Top for his second and my first time of the summer. Not only that, but we were going to run up the fearsome mountain. I told him that I hiked Flat Top nearly every day last summer (true story) and I should be able to keep up with him, because I am in way better shape than I was last summer (also true story). He believed me, but oh boy, he should not have. It was a race, and it was on. Our goal was a sub 30 minute trip to the peak. I thought it would be a cake walk.

Now here are a few points of interest I should note about last summers repeated hikes of Flat Top. One, I was only going to the Saddle. The Saddle is the area below the peak that is the "easy" part to get to, and is immediately followed by the jagged rock and steep incline section. Two, there are two routes to the Saddle. One is to the right. That is the way I went last summer, and the way most people go. For the first time, we went to the left. Now the reason for that is that technically it is shorter, or so Matt reasoned to me before the journey began. Point in fact, it is shorter. But it is also far steeper. So I went in expecting a decently tough hike and it transformed into a pretty darn ridiculously tiring one. Third, I never ran the trail before. Last summer I was walk/jogging the trail, and I was getting to the Saddle in about 35 minutes. Oi. These miscalculations were easily forseeable, yet entirely missed by yours truly. Ignorance is bliss, and I live in felicity. We started the hike and for a minute or so, I thought, "man, we are going to kill this time." Then, I got tired. This is what I get for being lazy in the last month and only doing intermittent cardio. This wasn't going to be a race, this was going to be a massacre.

All in all, I didn't do poorly. Matt is a finely tuned climbing machine. He's obviously part Mountain Goat, part Kenyan, as you can see below. I should have known better than to think I could defeat such a freak of nature. He'd intermittently turn around to taunt me with yells of "DAVID!" and such things, but I carried forth. I finished far stronger than I started, once I began to pace myself and took off the windblocking pseudo-sweater I was wearing to keep myself warm. Note to self...next time I go physically exert myself when it is mid to high 50's out, I do not need to wear extra layers to "keep myself warm." All it did was make me pant like a dog when it is 120 out. Matt finished his ascent in a stellar 23 minutes and 30 seconds. Myself? 29 minutes and 53 seconds! Woo! Sub 30, I am a success! We took some time at the peak so I could compose myself (I was extremely sweaty. My sweat was sweating.) and Matt could take some pictures for friends and family back in Georgia, and then we began our trek down.

Now this was going to be fun. The best part about Flat Top is the run down, as you just bomb down the path at top speed desperately trying not to fall over like an idiot. Now see, given any situation where a person could do something ridiculous and look like an idiot, I will do whatever it takes to look ridiculous. So as Matt and I reached the highly populated and still very snowy Saddle, Matt continued his rapid descent and gracefully slid across the snow, still standing on his feet like a champ. I of course decided that I would also like to look impressive and tried to do the same thing. It was the same thing, minus the grace and the staying on my feet part. I went down hard, and I went down fast. So now, not only was I covered with mud all over the left side of my lower body, but I had a bunch of people staring at me in disbelief as I became "that guy who ate it at the Saddle" for later stories about their trip up Flat Top. I got up quickly and laughed it off, and continued on my way. We killed it going down, running quickly down the stairs and the rest of the mountain, passing everyone who we met going up to begin with. Only when we reached the bottom did I realize that my leg was cut up and bleeding. I took it like a champ though, and am eagerly anticipating the next run up. It was a great topper to the weekend, getting some killer exercise and having a great time while doing it. The moral of the story is, go out and enjoy the outdoors. If you want something fun to do that is free and is great exercise, go on a hike. I'd recommend Flat Top, but mind the snow and the falling clumsy people. And if someone that looks like my buddy Matt challenges you to a race, SAY NO!