Summer cold blues

Not that there's ever a good time to catch a cold, but when the weather's beautiful, the trails are all clearing off, and you just want to be out there, getting a cold that turns to a cough and takes you off the trail for a couple weeks just bites.  Fortunately, the suck lifted last weekend and I managed to zip out a quick summit of Bergen Peak.  I was tight on time, so needed to keep it to a straight up, straight down affair.  I was definitely in the mood for speed and did the round trip of 1800' in 2:36:32, for 9.22 miles and an average pace of 16:59.  That meant a very near personal best ascent with some running on the decent.

Busy weekend with some other stuff

While Saturday started out pretty normal of late, driving up to Buffalo Creek and hammering out 14.3 miles with hiking up Sandy Wash to Miller Gulch to Gas House all the way around to 542 (1330' vertical, in 4:08:32 with an average pace of 17:19), Sunday was a different kind of animal.

Suz and I have been becoming more active with our local volunteer fire department and this weekend was our field day for wildland firefighting (S130/S190).  Thus, we got the chance to grub line and then run like our lives depended on it up a 45 degree slope with full packs on.  In the end, I beat the younger whippersnappers because all the running in the world isn't worth squat compared to running up steep climbs with a full pack on. ;)

Debriefing after deploying our shake and bakes.

Bergen Peak

Sunday I decided to put up some vertical feet and bag Bergen Peak.  After yesterday's speed with the trekking poles, I'm sold and guess I'll overlook my attitude I've developed about them over the years (they just seem so overkill for front range trails).  This time I needed them as much for stability in the snow and slush at the top as I needed them for speed and efficiency on the bottom.  The top mile or so was pretty solid slushy snow that made me wish I'd brought my Yak Traks.  Meh, in the end I didn't have any falls and managed to do the summit and loop in 3:13:54, 11.46 miles (started from Lewis Ridge TH), with an average pace of 16:55 min/mile covering just shy of 2,000' of climbing.

A little snowy...

More than a little snowy...

Mount Evans looks so much better than last year.  That's the best snowpack I've seen up there at this time of year in years.  Maybe the entire state won't burn down this year.

Buffalo Creek Mileage

I wanted to put up some good miles using my new trekking poles so headed back to Buffalo Creek and hit up my Nice Kitty, Buffalo Creek Trail, Colorado Trail, Shinglemill, Morrison Creek loop with a little diversion to do the Sandy Wash parallel.  A couple little squalls blew through causing me to don my rain gear once, but probably for only about 20 minutes or so.  Otherwise, the temperature was perfect for hiking in shorts and t-shirt and I put up 15.5 miles in 4:06 with 1,187' of climbing and an average pace of 15:51 min/mile.

Three days, four great hikes

The first real weekend of spring weather came and I was all too ready for it. Late April into early June has always been my favorite time of year in Colorado; while the high alpine trails aren't open just yet, the trails along the Front Range are shedding their snow and drying out and you don't have to time your hikes to avoid the hottest part of the day.  It doesn't hurt that my garden is starting to green up and I'm coming inside with the taste of fresh lovage in my mouth.  Damn, too many things not to be loving life right now.

Saturday Suz and I headed down to Salida to do a little hiking and exploring.  Sure, it is probably silly in most people's minds to spend four and a half hours in a car (round trip) for a three hour hike, but it's an area that I only just discovered last fall and at this point, I just can't get enough of it.  Combined with some great little shops in downtown (Suz loves the clothing consignment shop, I love Salida Mountain Sports) with Moonlight Pizza and what's not to love?

Oh, regarding the hike, it was a blast up Frontside to Lil Rattler to North Backbone to the northern trailhead, and then coming back via Backbone and Sand Dunes.  MapMyRun showed it as 10.98 miles, 968' of vertical, in 3:48:58, and an average pace of 20:18/mile.  Suz's Garmin showed it as 9.75, so it's just more evidence that phones aren't dedicated GPS units, but I guess I'm not that anal about my data (anymore).

Sunday my initial plan was to bang out some errands and maybe get in a quick hit of Sinitas, however, one of the shops I'd set as my destination was closed and the Boulder trails were packed, so I opted to head south.  On my way south from Boulder I came across the North Table Mountain trailhead and while it was busy, parking was available.  I've only been on NTM a couple times in my life, but really enjoyed it when I did.  Now that it's being developed as a major trail system after my first taste in over five years, I'm loving it.  The initial road climb up there is stupidly steep, but I was in the mood to make myself suffer, so I pegged it at the high end of what I could sustain.  The really cool part was on the eastern side where I dropped down the Cottonwood Canyon trail and went around to the south and East side to the Mesa Top trail, then climbed back up onto the mesa.  If I was doing this on an MTB, I'd definitely do the opposite, giving yourself the steepest drop off the mesa and smoothest ascent, but as a runner/hiker, I think I did it the best way.  Total mileage was 7.53, 981' of climbing, total time was 2:03:21, and my average pace was 16:23 (there was a little running going down Cottonwood Canyon, but otherwise, just hiking).

Just dropping off the mesa on the Cottonwood Canyon trail.

Monday Linda and I got together for a walk in Bear Lake Park.  The weather and trail conditions were perfect and we whipped out 4.41 miles with 154' of vert in 1:23:44, which meant an average pace of 18:58.

After lunch and getting the orthotics adjustment I wanted Sunday I wanted to try out my new orthotics and headed over to Chautauqua and absolutely hammered up to Royal Arch.  I've done very little hiking in Chautauqua before this and never this particular hike before.  Definitely worth it for the views, but it's also a fairly technical hike with some rocky little scrambles.  The trail was not built for speed.  Total mileage was 4.17 miles, 1,165' vertical(!), 1:40:09 for an average pace of 24:02 (which was hammering on the climb pretty hard, but not particularly fast on the descent).

Thawing out

I went into winter mode for a while.  That's not to say I wasn't getting out there at all, but it was mostly 2-3 mile dog walks with the occasional 1-2 hour hike, but nothing that really motivated me to post until this weekend.  After snow on Monday and Wednesday, the front range trails were still a mess, so I decided to venture the 120 miles south to Salida in search of some dry trails.  I started up Frontside with temperatures in the low 50s, some light wind, and a beautiful sunny day.  From Frontside I hooked into Lil Rattler, Backbone, and then went up Sand Dunes to CR173.  I dropped down the 4x4 road to Backbone and headed west this time until my phone advised me I'd hit 7 miles before turning around.  In the end, it was a 12.2 mile hike in 3:20 or an average pace of 16:18.

Salida Weekend with My Girls

Perhaps one of the highlights of the summer for me was rediscovering Salida.  So as our plans for a trip to go see Amy Schumer in Las Vegas went south (she cancelled her show), our plans to go to Salida for the weekend unfolded.  Rather than bringing in a house sitter for the girls or putting the girls up at a kennel, we opted to bring them with us for the weekend.

Of course the two and a half hour drive down to Salida was a bit tough on the dogs, so what better way to reward their patience than to get out of the car and bust it loose on the trail?

The light was fading by the end of the hike, but the girls were grateful for the leg stretching.

S-Mountain quick hit-3.4 miles, 1:17:31, 23:00 minute per mile pace, 213'.

Sunday got us out on the trail, despite some strong winds and cooler temperatures.  Still, the Rainbow Trail was a fun and rugged challenge.  Certainly not one for trail running due to the loose, rocky sections that can be quite steep.

Of course, if you're not the lead dog, the view never changes.

Ok, so that's not really true.

A great view of the Collegiate Peaks from the Rainbow Trail.

Eventually our limited time due to a previously scheduled couples massage put an end to our hike.  Given the challenging nature of the trail, our pups had probably had enough.  The rocks definitely took their toll on their pads.  Besides, not every day should be about epic long hikes.  Sometimes it should be a little challenge, a little relaxation and a little decadence.  4.87 miles, 1:53:38, 23:18 pace, 1269' of climbing.

Mmmmm, Moonlight Pizza.  Is there anything better on earth?  Maybe a glass of their homebrewed Hefferveisen beer...

So we wrapped up the weekend with a morning at the dog park.