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.

Buffalo Creek: 543, Baldy, Miller Gulch, Sandy Wash

Great weather brings out a whole lotta people on the weekends.  Buffalo Creek was busy.  While I have no problems sharing the trails with mountain bikers, today was a bit of a pain because of a group of horses.  The problem is that they kept passing me, which would require me to stop so all six of them (and another half-dozen or so dogs) could pass me, they'd ride for a while, then stop to water their horses, talk or have lunch, then resume just in time to pass me again, requiring me to stop.  By the fourth and final time it was almost comical, but I don't do well with interruptions on the trail and it did disturb my mojo for the hike.  I just wanted to belt out miles and it seemed like there were too many pace-breaking stops to get a good flow.  That combined with running out of water about three hours in, which made me cut the hike a bit short of what I was hoping for today and I can just say that I've had better days on the trail.

A beautiful sky, but man, was it dry.  I don't think I can recall a November this dry here on the front range.  One of the fire departments had it signed as Extreme fire danger (likely one above reality, but still, very high is ridiculous for November).

The view north toward Long Scraggy.

14.24 miles on the day, 4:27:18, average pace was 18:46, 1,305' vertical.

Mt. Sanitas

Needing a bit of a change of scenery and also wanting to check out my favorite used outdoor clothing shop, I decided to park at the Pearl Street trailhead and hike Mt. Sanitas.  Nice crisp air, beautiful clear skies; it was a good day to climb, which is a good thing, because anyone who's done Sanitas knows that is exactly what it does.

4.71 miles, 1:45:00, 1,201' vert, average pace 22:32.  From the Sanitas Trailhead to the summit, 1.4 miles, 951 vertical, I managed a respectable 28:50.

Bergen Peak

Deciding that there was no better way to spend Thanksgiving, I got out for a hike of Bergen Peak.  I was far from the only one.  Actually, I had to go to a different trailhead it was so crowded.  That said, the slight change of scenery wasn't bad for me.  I had a very solid climb up and ran down until I hit the intersection, then went back to walking.  Temps were cold enough that I chose to run off the summit just to get warmed back up.

10.56 miles (from the Lewis Ridge Road TH), 2:59:34, 17:11 pace. 1991' vertical.

Buffalo Creek: Gashouse, Baldy, Tramway, CT, GM Loop

I got out with my former boss, Colleen, for a nice hike in Buffalo Creek.  Perfect weather, about 60F, very few folks on the trail for a Saturday.  Started at the Gashouse trailhead, headed north to Baldy, down Baldy to 543 to Tramway, up tramway to the Colorado Trail and caught the Green Mountain loop at the end.  Rather than doing the trail back, we hit the road, both agreeing that we had enough miles under our feet for the day.

13.42 miles, 1,250' vert, 4:22:48 with an average pace of 19:34m/m.

A great conversation along the trail catching up on other adventures in our lives and trail recommendations for future hikes.