Change of plans...

We had intended to drive to Frisco, Colorado today to try out the race course for the Salomon Equinox trail race in September. We want to try the 12 mile, and there are also 6 mi, 6 hour and 12 hour events. However, we live in Colorado and the weather man can be inaccurate 97% of the time and be considered good! We woke to a "beautiful" gray blanket of cloud cover, with Frisco at 42 degrees and threatening rain. 42 is a welcome temperature in the dead of winter but this is July and we are not up for that yet - we get 6 months of cold as is!!!
So we headed to one of our favorites - Red Rock Canyon Open Space. Red Rock is a reclaimed quarry, as you can see from this area where granite was harvested in blocks years ago. That hard, quality rock base is what attracts climbers to this park and makes it one of the "must climb" areas in Southern Colorado.
We waited a bit too long for the cloud cover to lift (partially because we wanted to see the time trial unfold at the Tour de France!) and when the sun arrived, we had heat and humidity to greet us on the trail. It remained partially hazy and we were in and out of clouds for our run but the earlier weather pattern left us with light traffic on the trails - sweet! The view down the back canyon from the rim - you can see the trail at the bottom of the canyon. You can also see the saddle in the background that we will climb to reach the outer rim of the park - it runs just above the open "meadow" area. Those nice trail posts always give us a spot to set the camera for a "group" photo.

Looking back across the canyon as Steve ascends the saddle to the outer rim of the park.
Kathleen's turn at the ridge - almost two miles of sweet downhill from here - awesome!!!
Even with the haze, the landscape views from the rim of Red Rock are awesome. That is the Garden of the Gods in the background. We had an awesome day, even with our plan B schedule. 10 miles of fantastic Colorado trail running always makes for good times!!!