Hope Pass Prep

Big Tab Three, this is for you. I’m at 5 months post-op with 4 weeks to go until my next appointment to check bone growth. It’s a great day to do a check-in post and share some new progress and plans, namely the Hope Pass crossing my BFF and I have been planning for 2.5 years.

We have set a date…

Of course, it is completely contingent on both of us doing some test hikes to check for readiness – we both have booboos left to fix, an upcoming surgery for each of us. So, NO PRESSURE, girl. Just a huge nudge to consider nothing other than physical readiness, because my epic plan is completely feasible.

Hope Pass

Hope Pass is a saddle along the Leadville Trail, a difficult, steep climb with grades as high as 21%, and peaks at 12,600ft. It is a famous part of the Leadville 100, the final climb before the out and back – those lucky runners get to do it twice!

I have done it three times previously, but as a one way trip. It is part of TransRockies Run, Stage 2. David and I did it as a recon run and then as part of the race in 2012…

…and then I did it again in 2014 as a photographer, joining a friend for the final miles. The image at the top of this post was taken at the top of Hope Pass, looking across the valley to the south, same POV as the race image. The year we ran TransRockies there were a lot of fires so I was happy to go back in 2014 to get a clear shot of the view.

Why Hope Pass?

So, what is the significance for my BFF and me? Why this location of all the incredible 14ers and other epic options in Colorado?

1. The name says it all – Hope Pass. We have embraced hope every day, turning it into action at every step along the way. We also hope this all passes and we can get back to life, all the better for it!

2. When we first met and I was talking to her about the hip surgery journey (she hadn’t had her first surgeries yet) I described it as similar to the elevation profile of a 100-miler, citing Leadville in particular. The first part has ups and downs and that is the long wait for your surgery date. The Hope Pass climb represents the actual surgery and initial stages of recovery. Then you turn around and do it again on the other side. And, finally, you’re met with a lot more ups and downs as you work through recovery.

This is pretty much how it has gone. Except, I seem to have dropped my keys a few times and have had to go back, piling up 11 extra loops and mini-loops along the way. Her trip has been much smoother, but still not without a dropped item here and there.

This is how it goes!

And so we made the plan that one day, when we were both ready, we’d go hike that darn pass to celebrate together, hug and dance at the top, remember how hard it was in the early days after each surgery, and cheer for each other and the hope we carried with us every single day.

We can do hard things.

And because of that, I’m proposing that we do it up BIG and make it an out and back, true Leadville style. A double crossing in honor of the pair of us, two hips for both of us, and because of how extra the whole thing has been.

Trust me on it, bestie! If you feel physically ready, we can do it, making it the epic adventure it deserves to be.

Test Hike 1

A week and a half ago I went out for my first test hike, a nearly 6 mile hike up and down a local mountain. It has the gentlest slope around, a good starter hike. It felt ok on the way up but not so great on the way down. The muscles that attach where the metal is were irritated, the metal allergy rearing its ugly head. But, I had a starting point.

Test Hike 2

Yesterday I decided to up the ante and tackle Bergen Peak. It is steeper and a longer hike, 9.5 miles round trip, so I took my poles, just as I will for Hope Pass. The poles made all the difference! That little bit of deloading made this the easiest hike I have done in years, diminishing the effect of the metal allergy.

I am ready!

GAME ON!

Your turn, girl! Check for your own readiness and let me know. It is time for us to realize this dream and plan, put a stamp on the ending of these years, and forge new paths. Yes, we each have another surgery to go, but it is my HOPE that these are truly the last.

Edited to add the rest of the story…

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