THE BEAR 100
A Cool, Autumn Loop Through the Pines, Golden Aspen

 and Red Maples of the Wasatch/Bear River Range 

100 Miles • 21,986' of climb • Maximum Elevation 9060'

Minimum Elevation 4860'• Average Elevation 7350'

HOME  MILEAGES  MAPS  DIRECTIONS  RESULTS and PHOTOS  FORMS

AID STATION Location Miles Elevation Drop Bags Crew
START 41.728219120 -111.799172415  WGS84        
Logan Peak 41.694741006 -111.702498314  WGS84 10.46 8538 N N
Leatham Hollow 41.643000672 -111.706719295  WGS84 19.51 5140 Y N
Richards Hollow 41.661857362 -111.663979025  WGS84 22.36 5430 Y Y
Cowley Canyon 41.726685428 -111.617048091  WGS84 29.82 6741 Y Y
Right Hand Fork 41.774911097 -111.609929968  WGS84 36.77 5551 Y Y
Temple Fork 41.835200380 -111.592798928  WGS84 45.02 5837 Y Y
Tony Grove 41.894910053 -111.642579773  WGS84 51.72 8075 Y Y
Franklin Trailhead 41.933473724 -111.570195687  WGS84 61.39 6717 Y Y
Logan River 41.960661945 -111.591602147  WGS84 69.46 7120 Y Y
Beaver Lodge 41.968073720 -111.541259246  WGS84 76.18 7237 Y Y
Gibson Basin 42.027192111 -111.555261943  WGS84 81.46 8304 N N
Beaver Creek CG 42.021804272 -111.529070720  WGS84 85.55 7804 Y Y
Ranger Dip 42.007279379 -111.488889388  WGS84 92.52 8431 Y Y
FINISH   99.78   Y  

 

Is it really 100 miles? As you can imagine,  measuring a 100-mile course is very difficult.  Phil Lowry has measured several courses with an accurate survey-grade GPS, and this course is no exception.  He also checked the course against 1-foot resolution photographs of the entire course.  These photos can be imported into software with very precise surveying and measuring tools. These include correction for ups and downs, which adds a bit of distance.  

If you are really bothered by being short 0.22 miles, remember that there is no accounting for distances travelled in aid stations.   Now, if at each aid station you take 25 extra steps off the plotted course, averaging two feet per step, you get an extra .12 miles.  We're sure you'll get the other .10 miles somewhere along the way ;-).  All kidding aside, when measuring a course like this, getting within a few tenths is within the margin of error, based on measurer and satellite variations.  We are as close to 100 miles as practicable (without just making it up).

If you have questions about trail mapping, distance measuring, or the methods and tools described here, email Phil at phil@phillowry.com.

Elevation Gain Calculations

Elevation gain and loss--the ups and downs of the race--can be measured two ways.  One way is to take an altimeter watch and use its measurements while running the course you want to measure.  But these watches usually will only detect gains of over 3 meters (ten feet), and are very much affected by humidity, weather, and temperature.  The other solution is to get a GPS track and then plot that over a computer elevation model of the Earth's surface.  This can be very accurate, but because it detects every little change it can be jarring when you see the results.  For example, an altimeter watch says that the total gain at the Wasatch 100 is 24,000 feet, but the computer says it has a gain of 32,000 feet!  Both are "correct"--they just use different methods to calculate gain and loss, and you have to remember that the watch will be increasingly inaccurate the as the temperature climbs above 40 degrees F.  The key is to compare apples to apples.  You can't compare a computer-generated profile of one race against a watch-generated profile of another.  Wasatch says that they have 27,000' feet of gain, which is close to a correct altimeter calculation.  That is about 83% of a computer-generated profile.  So, Phil did the same for the Bear.  The computer says it has 25,600' of gain, so the hard number is just under 22,000' of gain.