In search of dry trails...

With wet heavy snow that turned to a cement-like crust last weekend, we have had serious issue trying to find something dry to run.  Everything that has had sun is wet all the way through and will just about suck your shoes off your feet!  Yesterday, went over to Santa Fe trail which is usually our go-to trail when everything else is muddy.  No such luck.  Ran 9.5 miles of muck - the only thing not muddy was the snowpack that was still left.  Covered in mud, no photos will be posted!  :-)

So we hit the road this morning, heading south on I-25 to Pueblo and a run along the Arkansas River Trail.  We knew we would have to run some on the paved bike path, but it was dry so we went for it.  We would generally come to Pueblo to run the south shore trails at Pueblo Reservoir, however, today we decided to get a little fast leg turnover on the flat route.   When we made the turn west on Arkansas River Trail, this was the view back to the east under Pueblo Blvd - the Arkansas River looking pretty calm.

After passing by the Nature Center, we were out in the open in Rock Canyon running an abandoned dirt road (which kept us off the cement bike path!!)  Thought this knarled tree was cool looking against the bluff.  The road is a gradual ascent out toward the reservoir, generally following the twists and turns of the river.

Kathleen coming off the dirt road and onto a section of the bike path.  From here, we would be on and off on paved and dirt double track sections all the way out to the dam.  As you can see in the pics, we had a nice sunny day though the cool wind kept temps in the upper 40's. 

After following a large bend in the river, the dam wall comes into view.  On the left, you see one of MANY fly fisherman we saw on the run - they had an awesome day to be out.  If you have seen any of our pics from past runs at Pueblo Reservoir, you know there is a LOT OF WATER behind that dam.

The handiwork of beavers, above, could get ugly on the trail when they are a little further along on their task!

Me - Enjoying the run and NO MUD!

More fishing activity.  Fly fishing always looks peaceful, kind of like trail running!

The satellite view of our out and back run.  Like I said, lots of water behind that cement wall!  We had a nice run of just over 11 miles, though very different for us with continuous leg turnover and faster pace.  Aside from some paved areas, it is a nice mellow run with a total elevation gain of a little under 900 feet - pretty much flat for Colorado.  This is probably the Happy Trails version of a road run :-)  Hope everyone has a great week!

Shoes - K - Nike Structure Triax

S - Brooks Ravenna