Spruce Mountain

"It feels kind of weird running on a Friday..."

Those were the thoughts going through my mind as we started out across Spruce Meadows for the Spruce mountain trail today. That and the fact that it was strangely humid for Colorado, which was making the breathing a bit labored as the sun started to come out. We had heavy rain again yesterday and the abundant water is evident as all our favorite trails are lined with lush greenery ~ lush being relative to Colorado standards, of course! It is always nice to be out the first week of July without the imminent danger of our state burning to the ground in a blink!

As a side note, it was fun reading all the blogs and news this week from the Western States Endurance run - The Super Bowl of trail running - which was held last weekend between Squaw and Auburn, California. Congratulations to the winners - Hal Koerner on the men's side, and Colorado's own Anita Ortiz on the women's side! Big kudos to all the finishers who endured triple digit temps while running 100 miles!!!!

Steve ascending the lower meadow to the base of Spruce Mountain.

The rock formations along the southern edge of Spruce Mountain are very unique. Here is a nice view out to Mount Herman (foreground), with Pikes Peak just poking it's head out behind.
Kathleen rolls through the pines on the upper region of Spruce Mountain trail. It was really nice footing today as the normally sandy trails were well packed from our recent abundance of moisture.

Another nice overlook, peering out onto the western side of Greenland Open Space.

Definitely a great day for a run!

Steve rolls back through the waist-high prairie grass on the Spruce Meadows trail. We were able to do a nice 10.5 mile run, just a short drive up the road to Monument, Colorado. Happy Trails and a good start to a holiday weekend. Everyone be safe tomorrow!

Shoes- K Montrail Odyssey

S Saucony ProGrid Xodus

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As always at this time of year we're gearing up for some Tour de France coverage, which starts tomorrow in Monaco. It is particularly interesting this year with the return of Lance Armstrong bringing the Global Cancer Campaign to the main stage of competitive cycling. Like him or not - we do - the resources he has been able to coordinate for cancer patients and survivors is unbelievable. If you want to find out more, read this and watch this (we love this one)!

Rampart Reservoir

Today we drove up to the mountains west of us and ran at Rampart Reservoir. We ran this a couple times last year, however we parked at the dam. This time we parked at Rainbow Gulch trailhead on Rampart Range Road and ran it as a lollipop loop. Given the late spring we had and the late snows in the high country, the water is still pouring into the reservoir - this is good.
So here is the aerial map of what we ran, with a clockwise direction for the loop. The loop ranges between 8990' and 9315' elevation. The trail is almost always above and next to waterline, except in some of the tributaries where it is routed farther inland for high water. The long straight section on the east end is the dam road. This is a taxing run mentally and physically because there are no extended climbs or descents, yet nothing is flat - a lot of up and down rollers which make momentum a definite mind game.

Kathleen cruises the fine singletrack on the northwest shore.

Starting in toward the main body of the reservoir with the brilliant morning sunshine glistening on the water. That is the first of many boats we would see on our run.

Climbing out of one of the many inlets, the water is smooth as glass behind Kathleen.

About halfway around the northern shoreline, the first views of Pikes Peak appear between the trees - just never get tired of that view!
At the end of one of the outstretched fingers of the reservoir, Steve emerges from one of the bog areas - roots, logs, and always muddy. These areas never get much more than slivers of sunlight for any extended periods during the day. Hope you brought your bug spray!!!

Nice shot of the trail weaving through a stand of aspen.

Rounding this corner, the first full views of the entire Peak grab your attention - sharp left turn or you'll run right off the edge into the drink! The mountain is way more impressive seen from the north like this - one enormous piece of granite!!!

On the southern edge, looking back toward the dam.

Steve runs through one of the few open meadows along the trail, dwarfed by the stunning landscape - the views on every section of this trail can take your breath away.

Kathleen crosses the bridge to complete the loop proper - now it is back up the hill on Rainbow Gulch to the trailhead. Finish with a climb?!?!?!
A kind mountain biker offered to take our picture along the stream before we headed up the hill to the truck. It was a fantastic run today - AND - Kathleen's longest run ever!!! She is finally getting her legs back!
Happy Trails!

Today's stats (as requested by J.B.) :-)
Shoes - Asics Trabuco
Mileage - 15
Elevation gain - 2600'

Buffalo Creek

Our original weekend plans had been to head up to Twin Lakes Friday night after work, catch a few winks in the Pilot, head into Aspen for a lope on the Government Trail, do some window shopping in downtown Aspen for the afternoon, head back over Independence Pass in the evening, get our zzz's overnight in the Pilot, again, do a scenic cruise along the shores of Turquoise Lake on Sunday morning, then head home. The weather forecast didn't look real stellar in the mountains for the weekend, so we decided to save our time, miles, and money for another time. Consequently, a change of plans . . .
We decided to head up to one of our all time favorite mountain bike areas - Buffalo Creek. This awesome network of trails is about an 80 minute drive from our house and is a mountain biker's paradise. We have thought it could potentially be a trail runner's paradise, also. With well over 50 miles of trail, the centerpiece for this gem is the Colorado Trail. Today we avoided the Colorado Trail proper due to its tendency to be a literal bike freeway on the weekends and stayed on the connecting trails to the north. We have done many epic 30 mile mountain bike rides here over the years - I think we may have even eeked out a 40 miler or two - and have been anxious to get a new look at the fabulous trails on foot. Today was our start.

***A little history, as you will see in the photos - This area has been scarred by several horrendous forest fires. The first major one was in '96 and nearly 12000 acres were burned across an 11 mile path. That was followed by mudslides that almost destroyed one of Denver's major watersheds. The area was also subject to fire in 2000 and again in 2002, when it was affected by the Hayman Fire - the largest in Colorado history. That fire burned 138,000 acres and 133 homes were lost. While it was spooky coming back to the charred forest after the fires, we now have an appreciation for the sometimes "lunar" landscape in parts of this area. It continues to be a wonderfully beautiful area in spite of the burn spots.
The first few miles are on a non-motorized two-track dirt road. Kathleen is enjoying the sound of the rushing Buffalo Creek. Most of the start is through a lush canyon. Parralleling the creek, the trees give way to this view below - showing the effects of the 1996 fire.
From the same photo vantage point above, Steve turned to snap the below pic of Kathleen at the start of the Gashouse/Baldy trail intersection. We get to head up the trail into the trees.

Steve cruising along the pristine Baldy Trail.

A shot of Kathleen a little farther up Baldy. Another burn area - notice the burn line up the hillside behind her.

Still climbing and back into the forest.

Slickrock, Baldy style. It looks flat but it is a fairly steep pitch.

Did we mention there are miles and miles of sinuous, flowing ribbons of pristine singletrack???!!!

. . . and more of the same with gorgeously blooming wildflowers. Trail eye candy!

A meadow along the Sandy Wash Trail.

Some of the lunar landscape singletrack. Still awesome.

Driving home with a view of the backside of Pikes Peak.

We ended the day with an awesome 14.5 mile loop. We had expected this area to be good trail running and we certainly weren't disappointed! We have been fortunate to mountain bike many areas over the years and are now having tons of fun re-exploring some of those areas on foot. Old trails are new again! Plus, we will be on the hunt for some new stash as well. Happy trails this week!

Shoes: S - Asics Gel Trabuco
K - Montrail Odyssey