3-Peaks Challenge: San Gorgonio, San Jacinto, & Mount Baldy, July 8-10, 2022
I couldn’t have asked for a better way to catch 14.8k feet of ascent and 46.35 miles in three days than on the Three Saints: San Gorgonio, San Jacinto, and Mount Baldy, back-to-back-to-back, from July 8th to the 10th.
The journey gave me three of my favorite days of my life so far, and I’m humbled and grateful to all of my friends, family, and teammates who helped me make it happen.
Do-it-yourself projects like this are one of my favorite parts of the sport, and I appreciate the privileges and connections I have that enable me to do this kind of thing with my time.
Southern California is brimming over with beautiful trails and ideal weather for trail runners and hikers, and it’s all open to everyone.
But don’t take my word for it, try it!
A lot happened, but three of the best takeaways I’ll always hold close are as follows:
I made a point of running up to the flag of the last summit at Mount Baldy.
Once there I whooped, and was then promptly asked by one of the many happy hikers and runners at the top, “Excuse me, is your name Greg Lehman?”
This numbered among the most unexpected things I could hear at this time and place.
But I was happy to confirm that, yup, that’s me, and my new friend proceeded to tell me we had mutual friends, one of whom told him to look for me as I finished my three-day gauntlet of vert and mileage at Baldy.
He then introduced me to Nancy, another glowing presence at the peak, who was all sorts of sharp, hilarious, and inspiring.
She told me how she started hiking at 61 and that she was now 75, asked what was the big deal about doing the the summits I named, and said she missed climbing Mount Whitney like she had earlier in her hiking journey.
She told me this at 10,000 feet above sea level, no less.
Clearly I’m not at Nancy’s level yet, but after meeting the deliberately-stacked fatigue and demands that of each of the 3 saints asked of me, I feel like I’ve unlocked a lot of what I have to give.
I’ll also add that, going into this challenge, two people I look up to asked me if I was feeling up for completing it.
They were coming from a good place, we certainly need more genuine concern for others in this world, and both of them also knew what I was dealing with on the knee front.
I wouldn’t try if I didn’t think I could do it, but I also never know what I’m capable of doing.
I had my own doubts, as always, and hearing them in others lit a beautiful fuse to burn as brightly as I could, for myself and them. And their words did great things for me on the ride up.
I feel like a new type of animal now with the knowledge that I can push and perform like I did. I’m equally thrilled at how well my recovery is going as I write this, and to see what it means for what I can do in the near future at Jack and Jill downhill marathon on July 30th, then Pine to Palm 100 on September 10th.
I went into day one concerned about recent medial-side knee pain, but the Premium Knee brace by Pro-Tec proved its worth from beginning to end. This was my first time using it as well, I don’t have time to break anything in, and for me starting a new product on hard mode is the best way to see what it can do.
My Distance Z trekking poles by Black Diamond were also a critical piece of equipment as well when the vert grew and the air got thin.
Even though this was my third time at San Gorgonio, I lost the trail very early on, which was frustrating,. But experience reminds me that discouragement is only what I make of it, and as always I can’t thank AllTrails enough for doing what they do so well.
With what seemed to be an extra-large serving of loose rock and chunky, easily-breakable terrain, this was definitely the most technical experience I’ve had at Gorgonio.
I had shared a low-key goal of catching a new personal record on the trail, but threw that out pretty quick when the massive 3-day workload came into perspective on some of the most difficult uphill miles I can ask for.
I divvied out my effort accordingly, ran where I could and climbed where I needed to hang back, which would turn into my strategy for the entirety of the challenge.
I was happy to find that, this being my third go at the summit, different sections have become recognizable at Gorgonio.
When the home stretch opened in front of me, I found myself moved profoundly by the pure delight of returning to this incredible place, pushing into and through this rare opportunity to enjoy and sharpen who I am as a human, athlete, and artist.
I celebrated the summit by meeting and sharing stories with some new friends, taking a few photos, and wolfing down a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which I’d make into a habit over the next two days as well.
A pleasant, flute-like sound arrived up and down the summit, which turned out to be the wind playing over the opening in my trekking poles, which added a welcome “Lord of the Rings”-vibe to an epic day.
A storm of ladybugs welcomed me after the riverbed like I saw last year, which was adorable and only added to the elation that comes with running the fastest mile of the day on a mission this long and intense.
A couple of significant rises in temperature found me throughout the day, but they were temporary and intermixed with what I’d say was a day of 90% ideal weather conditions: sunny, cool, and breezy.
Though not a personal record, this was the fittest I’ve felt at Gorgonio, and I’m very glad to flex on the fact that I didn’t fall at all this time around, while the previous times saw me go all the way to the ground twice.
My friend Solomon was nice enough to not only join me on the San Jacinto adventure the following day, but also gave me a ride and regaled me with plenty of horrifying race- and runs-gone-wrong stories as we took on a glorious day this incredible spot.
The lateral-side support of the brace I’d worn at Gorgonio was pressing hard on my knee at the end of the run the day before, and did not feel good when I put it on Saturday morning.
So, while recognizing the gamble, I left it in the car, and am elated to say my knee not only felt fine, but stood strong on quite a bit of climb and mileage.
Nothing about this day was easy, though. Early on I felt like tagging out of the loop trail and cutting right to the peak with the amount of fatigue I was feeling.
But I’m happy to share that despite the way up being a bit of a slog, both Solomon and I had energy enough to run out the last 4 miles of the trail, which turned into one of my favorite segments of any run I’ve done.
Leaping from rock to rock, taking quick cuts around switchbacks, and letting gravity take us on a cruise back to the car was a pure joy, and I feel like I’m making a real breakthrough in my fitness when I can not only complete back-to-back efforts like this, but do them with enough energy to finish this strong.
But, of course, this is the point: pushing through the hardest parts that you’re not sure you can do, doing them anyway, and recognizing that, yet again, the first part of any worthwhile challenge is often the hardest.
To take on Baldy right after two days of going over 18 miles with just under 12,000 feet of ascent combined, well, I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but was still excited to see what I could do.
But, as everyone who does this sort of thing knows, keeping effort at a reasonable pace does wonders for the long game, and increasing leg workout regiments only benefits strength when and where you need it most.
Making new friends and lighting up when I saw people over 70 smiling their way to the summit knocked tiredness more than a few notches down the priority list, and made for great company as all the variables came together to give me a successful completion on Sunday.
I experienced no bad views along the way, got what I wanted and worlds more than that in the way of trials, personal connections, and growth, and run out of ways to describe how grateful I am for all of it.
On the gear side of things, the Tecton Xs only continued to impress on every front with the added volume, technical terrain, and vert I took them on at San Gorgonio, the longest mission I’ve commissioned them on so far.
Trading in the Mafate Speed 3s and Speedgoat 4s for San Jacinto and Mount Baldy, respectively, was also a worthy approach, since strong and sharp helped with the demands of the former, and soft and lighter with the latter.
In the way of safety, double bagging a solar-paneled battery, cord, and clip-on light gave me solid piece of mind on every step of this journey.
Up next I’m looking at Jack and Jill downhill marathon in Washington on July 30th and Pine to Palm 100-miler on September 10th with more optimism than ever.
I feel like I’ve found new and deeper wells of energy and resilience than I’ve ever had before, and I plan to put them to great use to meet the demands these events will bring.
I hope everyone is in a healthy and positive place at the moment, if you can I urge everyone to check out any one or all of these trails, they’re among my favorites and I will certainly be returning to them as soon as I can.
Stay safe and feisty, happy trails, everybody!