Badger Mountain Challenge, Finished!

What a beautiful day for the Badger Mountain Challenge. It was chilly as I had to wipe the frost off my motorcycle seat before I left, pre-sunrise to get going on the Challenge. I saw the pink of the sunrise and knew it would be a great day. I chose to ride my motorcycle because I figured parking would be tight, I was right. I parked at Trailhead Park, talked to a few vendors and then headed down the hill to the base of Queensgate. Just as I was walking down, the 50K race was getting started.

---

I figured the Badger Mountain Challenge web site would have plenty of pictures for participants so I’ll post several pictures but, I thought it might be somewhat entertaining to do a narration of the 15k. So, I hope you enjoy the following videos. Part 1 is from the start to the Dallas Road refreshment point. Part 2 is from the Dallas Road refreshment point to the finish.

---

 

---

 

---

It was a joy to get to the starting line to see friends and acquaintances.  Some from work, some from church, others are friends. 

 You’ll probably notice, from the pictures people were chilly as the morning was quite cool.  Organizers expected around 500 total participants between the 15k, 50k and 100 mile races.  The 15k was, by far, the largest group.  We started in several waves.  The first wave was the runners.  Those who’ve probably finished marathons before!  They were off and running!  I chose the second group.  Turns out they were also mostly runners, until they started feeling the tug of gravity going up Queensgate to the trailhead.  We got to Trailhead Park and started up the Canyon Trail steps.

I’m sure people who haven’t hiked Badger before weren’t expecting such a climb to get things started, but it quickly moderated as we headed up the draw and the incline wasn’t so steep.  It was neat to see all the colorful clothing dotting the trail.  As we progressed upward, there was a nice view of the low clouds crowning the top of Badger Mountain.

Colorful Train of Hikers Heading up the Draw

 As we topped out of the draw and got up to the bench in the front of the mountain, we could see hikers disappearing into the low clouds heading up the upper section of the Canyon Trail.  Many people were hiking, some were jogging.

As we headed up from the bench to the switchbacks on the upper part of the Canyon Trail, it was awesome to look back down the trail and see the steady flow of participants working their way up the mountain.

As we headed to the switchbacks on the upper part of the Canyon Trail , I felt some moisture in the air from the low clouds as a few, light raindrops fell.

Before I knew it, I was at the familiar yellow “Hikers Only” yellow sign that marks the top of the mountain.  A few people took this chance to take a breather, I kept on going and was slightly surprised that the markers and volunteers directed us down the service road.

It was a little steep going down so I just hiked briskly.  The steep downhills are hard on my knees.  Many people took advantage of the descent, jogging down the hill.  The service road connected to the old familiar Sagebrush Trail.  As we wound through the sagebrush, the trail leveled out a bit and I was also able to jog a bit.  This segment of the Challenge was especially enjoyable because I heard the sounds of several birds singing (see the video).  The Sagebrush Trail connected back to the Canyon Trail and we headed back down the stairs to Trailhead Park.

Just before Trailhead Park, the volunteers turned us left onto an old, unused road that is not an official trail but was part of the course.  I took the opportunity to grab a bottle of water.  The course ran along the base of the mountain to the water tanks at the top of the Country Ridge development.

As we walked the trail near the water tanks, I suddenly smelled the sweet aroma of the sagebrush.  I also saw some more of nature’s beauty in the form of several small, vibrant yellow flowers, a harbinger of the coming wildflower season.  At the water tower, we turned onto Thorobred Way and walked along the street through the neighborhood.
On the west end of the street, we went back to a dirt road that would take us to the west end of Badger Mountain and the Skyline trailhead.  The dirt path got fairly steep as it bordered Interstate 182.

At the Skyline trailhead, there was a nice refreshment station with rehydrate drink, water and gummy bears staffed by friendly volunteers!  Then it  was back to the climb.  The Skyline Trail ascends the west end of Badger Mountain.  It starts out zig zagging through sagebrush bordered by an apple orchard.  At the top of the sagebrush, we crossed the service road and were back into the desert grasses as the trail wound up the south side of the mountain.

As the trail climbed, I started huffing a puffing a little more as the incline increased.  As I hiked, I enjoyed exchanging pleasantries with people I passed and people who passed me.  We all seemed to be cheering each other on toward the finish.

As we got to the ridge and crossed over the service road, the trail started gently downward and most people jogged this section.  The new view at this point was Badger Canyon and back up the lower Yakima Valley towards Benton City.  The Skyline Trail followed the contour of the mountain in and out of draws.  Several people passed me along here as the trail is relatively level.  The Skyline Trail meets up with the Sagebrush Trail at the easternmost communication tower and we followed the Sagebrush Trail back down. 

 I noticed the calls of birds were particularly noticeable today, another nice example of the beauty that surrounds us.   By this time, the Challenge is almost over and participants are spread pretty thin.  As we headed down the stairs for the last time, we could see down the Trailhead Park and the many people already finished, enjoying their accomplishment.

As I got to this point, I realized a couple of things about my body; my right toes were a little sore.  I was hoping they weren’t getting black and blue as they did after a previous hike.  Number two was a cramp in my left thigh that bugged me for about 30 seconds.  I got over it all and my toes are fine.  I jogged for the finish.

I jogged through the finish line, the GPS said 9.2 miles in 2 hours, 20 minutes.  I had no preconceived finish time so I was happy with how I did.  I’m not feeling too sore right now so I think I should have pushed myself a bit more.  It was a wonderful feeling of accomplishment though and friends and supporters and even people I had never met before gained what seemed like an instant camaraderie as we were one in purpose.  I wonderful day on Badger Mountain!