We Desert(-ed) the Mountains... Part One

 Vail Pass - our weekend weather last Sunday - we're outta here!

 I-70 through Glenwood Canyon - a highway masterpiece

We generally take our "Spring" getaway a little earlier than this, but with the rude interruption of Grave's Disease, we had been stalling to let the meds get Kathleen back on track.  We were itching to get out for some time on new trails and Kathleen was wanting to "draw a line in the sand" for a fresh start on rebuilding her fitness. This week was that line.  With some good labs under her belt, we took off for some desert relief from the fussy weather we had been having, driving through a snow storm to get to the western slope of Colorado.  We were waffling on going to Moab, but perched ourselves in Fruita, Colorado simply for the fact that it has far better trails than Moab.  Don't tell anyone, but it's true ;-)

 Arrived in Fruita and "stretched our legs" with a nice 5 mile loop on Rustler's.  The Line is Drawn...

 The storm pushed through to the east, just where we wanted it to go.  The Colorado River is running high, stealing all our water sending water downstream to Vegas, Phoenix, and other places that can't get their own...

 Kathleen enjoying the desert trails and knocking off the cobwebs from 5 hours in the car

 Enjoying the last stretches of sweet singletrack - got to save some legs for Monday...

 The Promised Land - Overlooking trail nirvana from the Kokopelli Trailhead on Monday morning

 Getting it rolling on Mary's Loop - the start of Monday's long run.

 Climbing Mary's Loop, overlooking Rustler's, which we ran Sunday.  Mary's Loop is the "official" start of the Kokopelli Trail - 142 miles of desert rambling from Loma, Colorado to Moab, Utah.

 Heading up the double-track climb on Mary's - caution needed as the jaw dropping scenery does not lend well to the technical trails ahead!!!  The views are so big that photos struggle to capture the landscapes.  We took boatloads of pix, so follow along!

 Dropped off of Mary's onto Horsethief Bench - one of our favorites.  We have biked and run this trail numerous times.

 Stopped for a group shot on Lunch Rock.  You can sit on the front of the rock, dangle your legs over into free space, and watch the Colorado River flow far below your shoes while you eat your snacks!

 Climbing well above the river on Horsethief Bench.  The distant canyons are part of Black Canyons Wilderness which flanks the other bank of the Colorado.  The water looks calm from up high, but it is really moving with the late snow melt in the high country.

 Kathleen enjoying the trail - and her health.  This day was a big test.

 This is the "cattle chute" that you go down to enter Horsethief Bench, and then climb out to return to Mary's Loop.  For perspective, Kathleen is about 40% of the way up.  We have heard of mountain bikers cleaning this but never witnessed it ... until Wednesday when we would see 3 clean it and one faceplant on the very last drop!   Can you pick a good line through that???

 One of many canyon rims that you run along on Mary's Loop

 A lot of cliffside exposure on these trails - probably less jello leg running it than biking it!!

 Kathleen climbs away from the river on Mary's, nearing the junction of Steve's Loop - what a cool name for a trail...

 Trail marker for my namesake loop - Steve's Loop is a sweet singletrack that follows the rim around two large canyons and then winds its way up toward the major intersection with Lion's Loop, Mary's Loop, Mack Ridge, and the Moore Fun trail.

 Running on the ledge - watching your step is advised.

 Such awesome trails - really hard to not run these multiple times in a row

 Dropping in through some large boulders - remember the part about not watching the scenery???

 Eagle's view of one of the benches on Steve's Loop - love seeing those ribbons of trail

 The desert was in full bloom - good timing because the scorching heat that is coming to this area leaves the landscape fairly parched by summer.

 We don't often run with cows but all the area we would run while in Fruita is open range - good thing they are vegetarians!!!  This intersection connects traffic for 5 trails going off in different directions.  Kathleen chose to drop down to the doubletrack off of Mack Ridge and run back in to the trail head, finishing with 15 miles - more on that in a minute...

 From Mack Ridge, I headed up the Moore Fun trail - we had never been on it.  It was good but not fun, if you know what I mean!  Up many rocky switchbacks and ledges I climbed, with about 5 false summits, until I reached this perch looking over Mary's and Horsethief - sweet!  Moore Fun is extremely technical and I would guess that I would be lucky to ride 25% of it if I had been on my bike.  Some of it was even difficult to run but I enjoyed the views and the new experience.

 Descending now on Moore Fun, looking east over the trails to the start of the loop, with the massive Grand Mesa in the distance, partially cloud covered.

Finally reached the end of Moore Fun - a fitting sign post to mark the end of an unbelievable run.  Desert runs are different, as there are not many extended climbs with large gains like there are in the mountains.  This 18 mile run had just under 2800' of elevation gain, fairly tame by mountain standards.  However, the constant undulations of the trail, exposure, and pesky technical footwork required leave you in a similar state of overall fatigue.  As for Kathleen's run, this was the first 15 miler she has done in many months and she was very excited to finish well.  We were anxiously awaiting what the following days would allow.  More to come...

Fun Filled Weekend

After 5 weeks of long run weekends, including 3 with back to back long runs, it was time for a cut back week.  This was timed perfectly to coincide with a visit from Kathleen's brother and his family from Iowa for the Easter weekend.  It also timed out well for a couple shorter runs during a crappy weather spell!  After an awesome Friday evening forage on Boriello Brothers Pizza (I highly recommend the Clemente), we were up early in the cold on Saturday to sneak in some trails at Ute Valley Park.

 Kathleen climbing the west rim

 Keeping it moving on a cold gray morning

 Kathleen drops into the trees

 Posing by the favorite arch

We had a nice 8 mile run, got in some great trails, and did not have to pound out any long miles in this latest bout of cold weather.  That makes for a good run, and it was only the start of our day...

Shoes - Montrail Mountain Masochist

 Mmmm ... Boonzaaijers....

Post-run, it was time to get the tour guide hats on and get rolling.  Of course, Starbucks was up first, closely followed by a trip to Boonzaaijers Dutch Bakery.  Nothing says recovery fuel like a Black Forest Roulade...

Fresh Tart, Tiramisu, and Black Forest Roulade - good stuff!

In the "tourist" section of the Garden

After taking the kids up to see the Adventures in Odyssey and doing a little shopping, the sun broke out for a bit and we made good use of the time by hitting Garden of the Gods for a little sight seeing.  While it was certainly not warm, the sun helped out and we were able to get the Iowans out to see the Siamese Twins, then got over to the Gateway/Cathedral Spires area to see some of the nice rock formations.  Since these are not optimal run routes, we are rarely down in this section and it was nice to reacquaint with the area. 

 Good day for climbing once the sun popped out

 White Rock catching late rays

 Looking out from the darkness behind North Gateway

Had a great trip (as always) to the Garden, hit up Salsa Brava for some high quality Mexican grub, and settled in for a movie with the fam at home ... just as it started to SNOW?????

A run ... and then the "Safari"

It did indeed drop some snow Saturday night and we woke to colder temps with some fresh snow, so we ran the neighborhood trails over Flying W and got in a quick and cold 7 miler this morning.  We needed to get rolling as we were not sure what the weather would hold and we had promised the kiddos a trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  Now, we do not have the largest zoo with the most animals, but with a spectacular setting right on the side of the mountain, this one is pretty tough to beat for atmosphere. It is a wonderfully scenic and awesome little zoo.  So we bundled up the crew and headed out for some more fun!

 Feeding the giraffes - CM Zoo has a great, very accomplished giraffe program

 Meerkats huddled under the heat lamp - it was a bit of a funny sight

 Mountain Tapir - they make very interesting noises and have intriguing feet

 Amur Tiger - 500 lbs of magnificent, carnivorous beast

 Mountain Lion - a bit unnerving being three feet from one of these - he wasn't intimidated by us at all.  He was probably thinking, "Hmmm, I've seen them running down the trail before......".  Very beautiful but also a little scary as they are prolific in our area.

 The Big Fellas - just got let out into their enclosure.  CMZ is getting ready to build an enormous new elephant display which includes a wide open, 2 acre natural area for them to roam and a variety of new buildings and enclosures.

More skilled hunters

 Albino Burmese Python - 10 foot of creepiness there

 Primate with "bad manners".  He was a funny and sneaky guy.  He was hoarding all of the lettuce feed by hiding piles of it in the hay and carrying it to this spot where he would uncover his treasured lettuce and begin his feast.  We watched him do it over and over.  As you can tell, he was not too amused by our presence, evidenced by his well rehearsed use of sign language.  Ahem.  It was a comedy.

 Always a ham in the bunch

Hit up the Garden Trading Post on the way home

We had a blast at the zoo and then did some extra shopping time at the Garden of the Gods Trading Post, aka Tourist Trap Central!!!  Had a great time with the family and were sad to see them head off late this afternoon in order to avoid the marathon drive home tomorrow.  Good times and we are reminded, once again, how incredibly blessed and thankful we are for our wonderfully beloved families and dear friends.  We need to never take any for granted, which is easy to do.  Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Happy Trails this week!

Red Rocks and Falcons and Trails

Kathleen had to work Saturday, so she ran early before work and was able to get in a great 8 mile morning run.  I waited until she got home, had an iced mocha waiting for her recovery fuel, and then set out for my long run.  In anticipation that Kathleen was going to attempt Falcon on Sunday, I decided to run from home and incorporate some sort of loop in/around the Garden of the Gods.

 Nice View

 North Gateway and Tower of Babel

After completing the "urban" portion of the run, I dropped in on the Navigators side and onto the north Garden trails.  After a cool start, I had already ditched the arm warmers and the sun was fantastic.  I was trying not to think too hard about it - but it was NOT windy.  Big deal of late, for sure.  Although I encountered little to no traffic on the entrance trails, there seemed to be an oddly high amount of car traffic for 9 am - more on that later...  After looping up onto Palmer trail, I took the hard switchback up and started out of the Garden onto the National Forest trails.  I wanted to try another route this time, so instead of taking the goat path up and over the rim to Rampart Range Road, I circled south and around a few false summits, and then dropped onto a singletrack that appeared to head down to RRR.  The singletrack turned to a "halftrack" to a barely-there-track and before I knew it, I was scrambling down some 30% plus slopes trying not to plummet face first down the side of the hill!!!  Safely down, I dropped out onto RRR quite a bit below where I jumped on last time. 

 Making sure it didn't tip over...

 Almost off RRR - looking through an old tree to the Garden

After the cruise down RRR, I dropped back in on the Garden trails and headed up Cabin Canyon, then up the backside of Siamese Twins.  I kept thinking to myself, where are all these people coming from.  I mean. you NEVER see anyone on Cabin Canyon other than oddball trail runners people like us.  And having to pass people on the backside of Siamese - what???

 Siamese Twins

There was a horse train going through the normal route around Siamese Twins when I go to the top, so I had to come in the top side.  It then dawned on me that it was D-Day - the grossly overdone Earth Day extravaganza at the Garden.  Some of our worst trail experiences with rude, moronic people on trails have been on this very day.  Funny, as it is supposed to be a day for people who actually like being on trails... OK, where was I??  Oh yes, running along now... Climbing over, this was my view.  Aside from the little guy picking his nose, the other 4 people were lined up for the photo I wanted to take and they were not interested in moving any time soon.  Since I was 12 miles into a run, I got rather pushy, and popped in front to snag this photo, which you may have spotted yesterday:

 What a frame for Pikes Peak!

Although this is a ubiquitous photo around these parts, I still like to stop by every now and again to snag the shot.  I particularly enjoyed the lighting this time as the slightly shadowed keyhole allowed for a nice focus lock on the Peak.  It is also nice to see that prominent diagonal scar of the Manitou Incline - one of the better 35 minute workouts in our arsenal....

 Reservoir Trail...and the tree is hiding something:

 Climbers at the top of Cathedral Rock - I'll pass on that activity!

The whole enchilada - Cathedral Rock set against a wonderful sky!

I made the outer loop as quickly as my dwindling legs would allow, utilizing the most difficult trails in order to avoid the hoardes.  Made the quick jaunt out through the Navs and then up and over Flying W back to the casa.  Felt great all day and finished at just under 19 miles with 2900' climbing.  I am really starting to enjoy these longer runs - might just become habitual...  In fact, I may just start hauling off on some long runs like these and not even bother with races - we'll see.

Shoes - K Montrail Mountain Masochist

S - Pearl Izumi SyncroFuel XC

  and once again, sported the McDavid Compression sleeves which take nice care of the calves!

More Sun and more Wind on the Falcon Trail

 Kathleen enjoying the sunshine

Today we headed over to the US Air Force Academy to run the Falcon Trail.  Kathleen has been itching to see just how long she can run these days.  We know this trail well, so it is always a good testing ground.  The sun was out strong and we got out pretty early to "attempt" to beat the wind.  There were a bunch of people who had the same idea as the Stadium trailhead was packed with lots of empty bike racks on the backs of vehicles.  Despite the number of folks out, it really never seemed busy on the trail which was nice!

 Backside climb complete - looking across to the water facilities and Blodgett Peak

 Lots of bikes out - trails and road alike

We couldn't help but notice the swarms of road bikes on the drive in.  It turns out that USA Cycling had a little shindig going on at the USAFA - The Front Range Cycling Classic. They were utilizing a loop that is one of our favorite road loops and was also the site for the 1986 Road Worlds. The AFA is an awesome place to ride and it is a  great loop. We usually do 2 for 30 miles.  The Pro men were treated to 5 laps - in 2000mph wind - OUCH!

 The backside of USAFA - beautiful facility if you get a chance to visit

Sweet day on Falcon Trail

Even though the 2000 mph winds made their appearance yet again, the temperatures in the low 70's helped ease the sting of their rude interruption of our trail bliss!  It was an awesome day out there and as always, we enjoyed Falcon.  Bonus highlight of the day - We saw a couple on a SWEEET full suspension tandem clean the gnarly switchbacks down from the Chapel overlook - big time skills on that one!!!  Toward the end of the route, Kathleen simply ran out of gas, which is to be expected while we get her meds dialed in for Graves Disease.  This is OK - we knew it was a "test" run of sorts.  She stopped just past the 12 mile point and walked it in from there, which was fantastic.   It was a great day and we sat in the sun for a while enjoying fresh-baked-this-morning coconut oatmeal cookies and a protein shake, soaking up another wonderful day!!!

13 miles, 1800' climb

Shoes - Montrail Mountain Masochist