WOW… can you believe it? Patagonia-sponsored athlete Luke Nelson, along with buddies Ty Draney and Steven Gnam, completed a 75-mile trail run through the rugged Boulder-White Cloud Mountains in just two days!
Along the way, these guys climbed 22,000 vertical feet, saw more than 100 lakes, traveled on several cool ridgelines
and summited numerous stunning peaks. What an amazing journey!
Nelson approached ICL with the idea of running 90 miles through the Boulder-White Clouds because he wanted to tell a story about their stunning beauty, clear water and rich wildlife habitat. While completing 45 miles and 11,000 vertical feet on the first day the runners saw a bear, moose, antelope, hundreds of elk, geodes, wildflowers and several elk antlers. All three of the athletes are from different parts of the West but all agreed how amazing the Boulder-White Clouds’ high alpine ecosystem truly is.
The dramatic second day of the journey involved traveling along several beautiful ridgelines, reaching amazing saddles and divides including Chamberlain and Castle, and crossing over into the Boulder-Chain Lakes and Big Boulder Lakes region. The runners completed their intense and challenging journey around 9 pm with a total of 30 miles and 11,000 vertical feet-making for a extraordinary two-day total of 75 miles and 22,000 vertical feet. WOW!
We owe Luke Nelson, Ty Draney and Steven Gnam a huge thank you for having a passion for special places like the Boulder-White Clouds, running 75 miles and climbing 22,000 vertical feet in two days, helping generate petition signatures, and telling the story of their journey to inspire others to care about special places.