1000 Miles in Arizona

2022 September Camped at the Rim Campground — Camped with Aaron before the start of the Mogollon Monster 100. First road trip in over a year! Charles Miles. 9/10/2022.

Sitting with Richard at the Black Mesa Crew Area on the Mogollon Rim Road during the Mogollon Monster 100 we hid from the rain, discussed the current ultimate road trip vehicle (Prius with a rooftop tent maybe?) and cheered the oncoming runners. The Black Mesa Crew Area turned out to be a rather gentle introduction to crewing the Mogollon Monster - easy to find, cell reception, plentiful parking, daylight...

2022 September Aaron Arriving at the Black Mesa Crew Area during the Mogollon Monster 100 — Aaron Arriving at the Black Mesa Crew Area during the Mogollon Monster 100. Charles Miles. 9/10/2022.

With Aaron thru the Black Canyon Crew Area in good style I took a break before heading away from the rim to the first of three nighttime meetups - Buck Springs, Pinchot Cabin and General Springs Cabin. During the evening and into the night I kept an eye on a monster, watched a car drive part of the course, stared in wonder at a racer on his way to a 6th finish, sat in the rain, filled water, tried to help when I could, made endless guesses about when Aaron might arrive and slowly started to recognize some of the crews and racers.

2022 September The Mogolllon Monster — The Mogolllon Monster. Charles Miles. 9/10/2022.

2022 September Aaron at Pinchot Cabin — A bit over 50 miles into the race! Charles Miles. 9/10/2022.

Sometime after midnight I drove to Dickerson Flats, slept and waited. With no cell reception Alison helped me - and a number of other crews - via my inReach Mini satellite messenger to watch for runners being recorded on the live tracker at the Donahue Aid Station, about 4-5 miles before Dickerson Flats. In those 4-5 miles the course makes one of its many (many!) steep trips down and up the rim - it took most of the runners an hour or two (or more) to cover the distance.

2022 September Trail Nap at Dickerson Flat — 15 minutes of rest and Aaron was up, running and passing other racers on the course. Charles Miles. 9/11/2022.

I made it to the finish line in time to watch Richard finish the 42k and with a little doubt about light and water I met Aaron at the Pine Trailhead for the trip to the finish line!

2022 September Near the end of the Mogollon Monster passing under AZ 87 — I hiked over to the Pine Trailhead to meet Aaron for the last 2 miles or so of the race - it was fun to be on the course with him! Charles Miles. 9/20/2022.

The end of a 100 miles race might seem like an obvious ending for the trip - but Aaron's goal is to do the Cocodona 250, so even after his 30+ hour 100 mile effort we kept moving! In Flagstaff we climbed up Elden, in the Grand Canyon we sat alone watching the rain under the ledge at Dripping Springs, saw a sunset from the South Rim, ate pizza at the Maswik Pizza Pub (open again!), and finally escaped a 2nd day of rain by driving south.