Runnin' and Ridin' the Boat - Scene Two

Tuesday - Mad Creek / Hot Springs Loop

 Kathleen climbing up Mad Creek Trail

Tuesday we were aiming for a little shorter outing which had potential for a longer option if the legs felt snappy.  We decided to head out the Mad Creek Trail, with the option to continue on the Swamp Park Trail in Mount Zirkel Wilderness and loop back on Red Dirt.  Our primary goal was a 14 mile loop.  The trail starts with a nice climb up the canyon wall above Mad Creek (go figure...) and then opens out into some large meadows mixed with aspen groves.

 Note the gate - all of this area is open range, meaning you share the trail with the bovine crowd

 Landmark Mad Creek Barn, looking up valley to the wilderness

 Dense foliage - and this is a "good" section...

We were not prepared for the dense overgrowth of foliage as we got in towards the wilderness boundary.  Generally the cows keep the trail pretty cleared, but they have been slacking this year.  There were times when the growth was so dense from both sides that you could not see the trail or your feet, and the foliage was near shoulder height in spots.  So, after crossing into the wilderness (and getting the 'itchies'), we decided to try an alternate route and turned back.

 Too busy eating to trample the path for some trail runners!

 Perched above Mad Creek

 Crossing Mad Creek - used a bridge for this one!

 High above the Hot Springs Trail

We crossed over the bridge after coming out of the grazing zone, and headed up a long ridge on the opposite side of the creek.  We would traverse the other canyon wall, run up and over the ridge, and then drop down to Hot Springs Creek to loop back around to the trailhead. 

 Cooling off post run - Kathleen catches me gingerly lowering myself into the cold creek!

It was getting pretty warm and turned out to be a fabulous day.  We ran 9.5 miles, which fit in great for our week long plan of activity, and then sat in the creek for a bit to soak the muscles and rinse the pollen from all the bushwhacking!

Wednesday - Road Ride to Lake Catamount

  Enjoying another bluebird day - on wheels this time

 Lake Catamount and great country roads

We hit the road Wednesday on two wheels, rather than two feet.  We planned a nice route that would circle Steamboat Springs, then catch the River Road out to Lake Catamount, on the lower slopes of Rabbit Ears Pass.  We had several route alterations due to the ubiquitous chip-n-seal operations in effect - winter is not far off, and they have to get their roads repaired while they can!  We saw a lot of bikes out enjoying the day - these are just some great roads to get out and ride without much traffic hassle at all.

 Stopped to watch the tractors for a bit - great countryside for a meandering ride

We could have ridden for hours on end with the perfect weather and scenery that is oh so easy on the eyes.  I, being the voice of reason, reined us in at 35 (someone else was "jonesing" for 40) miles though as we had more on tap for the week - can't spoil any days with inactivity, right???  After fueling up post ride, it was time to head over to the Yampa River Botanic Park.  We needed some fresh ideas for next summer in the Xeric garden at home.

 Fantastic mountain gardens

 Looks like more work for Kathleen next summer....

 Great ponds at the park

Foxglove framed against the Colorado azure skies - sweet!

A perfect couple days but still more to come.  The modem was smoking, so more pictures will have to wait until the next upload!!!  Happy Trails!

Summer in Steamboat - Scene One

Been a little while since a post here, so it is time to dust off the keyboard and put some words to a little escape we took this week over to Steamboat Springs.  We have been contemplating a long-term escape from the Front Range of Colorado if everyone and their brother continues to move to our area (another 4 million in the next two + decades, nearly doubling our state's population), but that's another story for a different time.  We're going to have to start posting horrible pictures and telling everyone how awful a place it is to live :))  Back on track here - now for some good scenery and Happy Trails (and roads, but that's next post ;-) )

Last Sunday we took a drive up to the northwest part of the state.  We like to stay clear of I-70, so we went through South Park and caught Highway 9 over Hoosier Pass - pictured above, then up through to Rabbit Ears Pass and over to Steamboat Springs. August is sometimes a spotty month for travel across these areas as the dry summers can occasionally leave a lot of brown, drab landscape.  However, with the REALLY long/cold spring in the mountains, everywhere we drove it was green and lush.  And yes, folks in the mountains are actually talking about summer starting, just in time for about 6 weeks of it until snow starts up high - ouch, is that ever a short season!  Did a double take on the sign marking the distances off the pass - see below:

 Couldn't help noticing someone had been on Hoosier Pass recently.... We had to stop and pay homage!

(Any coincidence that Beth placed her sticker so close to High Country Healing???)

After the 4.5 hour drive over to Steamboat, we drug out the road bikes and went for a nice, mellow 18 mile spin around town to flush out the legs a bit (we had done an 8 mile tempo run the day before).  This is a great place to bring the bikes as there are countless miles of quiet country roads to ride without fear of being run off the road or ending up in crazy traffic.  We even sat out at Starbucks enjoying some great weather and kicking the feet up while enjoying some high octane beverages!!!  We also spent some time pouring over the map plotting out our trail excursions for the next several days.  Let's get rolling!

 The Rabbit Ears - unique volcanic plugs atop Rabbit Ears Peak

Monday found us back over on the east side of Rabbit Ears Pass at the Dumont Lake trailhead for the Wyoming Trail, part of the Continental Divide Trail that crosses from Rabbit Ears to Buffalo Pass.  This is some wide open country as the total trip across is over 20 miles by road from east to west and it is about 18 miles by trail from Rabbit Ears to Buffalo. 

 Dumont Lake - alpine lake #1 for the day

 Kathleen on the start of the Wyoming Trail

The first 1.5 miles of the trail winds gently along a diversion ditch that the forest service uses to spread out the watershed.  The trail skirts a huge alpine meadow above Dumont Lake that is bursting with wildflower activity.  The trail dips through a stream near a diversion point and then sharply climbs into the first section of forest.

 Been a while since we had snow on the trail

The dense forest, along with elevation that is mostly in the 10k + range, harbors snow for long periods of time and it is holding on to quite a bit this year.  This was the start of many miles of snow, mud, and standing water on the trails - summer is almost here!

 Indian Paintbrush bloom along the Wyoming Trail, just before Base Camp

 One of MANY creek crossings on the day - Fishhook Creek after the descent from Base Camp

After about 4 miles on the trail, there is a connection over to the USFS Base Camp trailhead.  From here, the Wyoming Trail continues on, shown at times on maps as Trail 1101, Base Camp Trail, CDT - all the same trail.   There is a sharp descent in to the Fishhook Creek drainage, quickly followed by another climb up to Fishhook Lake - #2 alpine lake of the day.  Base Camp is a popular spot for hunters who pack in on horseback in the fall - wear blaze orange if you run here in the fall!

 Fishhook Lake - stunning.  Why would anyone want to live here....???

 HT at Fishhook Lake

 Next up - Lost Lake - we found it!

 Finally to #4 - Lake Elmo

We had some great stretches of trail out past Lost Lake to Lake Elmo.  A lot of the trail passes through meadows that are seeping marsh ground and there was lots of standing water on the trail.  We got pretty used to the shlish-shlosh feeling of soaked feet as we ran 90% of the day that way.  Lake Elmo was the elusive lake for us as we have seen the others before either from the Rabbit Ears side on foot, or from the Buffalo Pass side on mountain bike.  When you look west from the trail at this point, you are looking over the back side of Mt Werner, home to Steamboat Springs' ski area.

 Starting back from the far side of Lake Elmo - just around the bend, the trail is under water

 Leap of Faith!

Given the fact that back in March Kathleen could at times barely lift her arms shoulder high, and had to carefully step up or down for trail obstacles because she had lost all her strength, seeing her regain enough strength to jump across the creek was one of the moments that made the trip for me.  While she is not by any means back to her old kick, this was a moment that gave me a spark of hope that we have her headed on the right track!

 Typical trail surface for most parts of the CDT - lots of footwork, no daydreaming

 Heading back down from Base Camp

 Racing the rain clouds back to the trailhead

The clouds had pushed in on us pretty heavy from the start.  We had several periods where the sun teased us for a while, but moreso we were watching the skies, not wanting to be caught out in the expanses of this pass in severe weather.  It is not like the rain would have hurt so much - we were wet from the knees down the majority of the run.  The lightning is what you have to fear up here!!!

 Coming out of the forest with Dumont Lake off in the distance

 Dropping out into the huge meadow and the connection along the diversion ditch

 Kathleen runs in the wildflowers

 Back to the start - Rabbit Ears monument and the end of the trail

This photo was a bit deceptive - the skies to the northeast were still showing blue, yet behind Kathleen as she took the photo were huge black storm clouds.  We finished out with 15 miles in pretty big country.  Although the trail conditions weren't perfectly stellar due to the standing water on much of the trail and the profuse number of downed trees that broke up the running rhythm at times, it was a great day to be out.  And what a better way to end a run like this - we had left over pizza from BeauJo's waiting in the car - nice!  Stay tuned for more from the trip and here are some parting wildflower shots on the way out from the trailhead!

 Could you run here?

 Red "Carpet" treatment

Flowers everywhere

Other than at the parking area at the trailhead, we did not see another person along the entire route.  Peace, quiet, and solitude......

BTW, minutes into our drive back, the rain commenced - Happy Trails!

More Steamboat...

Act Two - continued
... a few more photos from Rabbit Ears Pass to start.

Wildflowers - we've never seen so many so late in the summer. Spectacular!

The trails roll in and out of forest and meadow along the trails we ran. This is looking back from a ridge - the trail is in the center of the photo.
Singletrack and wildflowers! Notice the reinforcements that have been placed along the trail - this is somewhat of a bog area - that's why the flowers are so happy!
This is on the monument at the top of the pass. The trails we ran rolled between 9,600 and 10,200 feet elevation.

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Thursday we headed UP the Spring Creek Trail in Steamboat Springs. This trail follows the creek all the way up the drainage to Buffalo Pass Road. This is one of the more unique places we go in the mountains because of the lush foliage along the creek. Those are ferns up to my shoulders along the trail - it's almost like an alpine jungle!!!
The ascent is steep in spots and the climb is about 5.5 miles. Kathleen is cruising one of the smooth sections here.

Sweet trail winding through the aspen forest!

Pictures are so deceiving - this is about 15% grade but the photos just don't show it.
Nearing the top of Spring Creek, the drainage opens up as we are almost to Buffalo Pass road. Now it is mostly downhill back to the trailhead - oh yeah! We've biked this many times but there is a whole new feel to it on foot and it was a great run.

The stats: 11 miles, 2200' elevation
Shoes: K Asics Trabuco S Saucony Xodus

Friday - off to Snowmass / Aspen area! Act Three coming soon!