An early start to the workday allowed for an extended lunch run today. An inversion was holding the cold, damp air down low, making the upper reaches of the local hills warmer than the bottom.
Time: 1:57
Distance: 10.71 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Average
Weather: Cool and Cloudy
Ran from the office to Eben G. Fine and up to the summit of Flagstaff Mountain via Viewpoint and Flagstaff Trails. Pace was easy, but steady. Trees, shrubs and grass all were covered in a nice cloak of snow from the overnight dusting. Truly beautiful.
Interestingly, the higher I went, the warmer it got. Apparently there was an inversion holding the cold air down low. Almost stopped to shed a layer at the top of Flagstaff.
After running around the trail atop Flagstaff over to Flagstaff Road, I jogged down to the Green Mountain Lodge, curious about trail conditions. The trail was icy, but footing wasn't bad due to the bit of snow covering everything. I was in the mood for a bit more vert, so I jogged up Ranger to Greenman, hung a left and ran over to Saddle Rock. I paused here for a bit and contemplated heading up to tag the summit of Green, but I already was hurting for time, so down I went.
The descent down Saddle Rock took a lot of time and patience. Lots of ice and no traction devices conspired to slow my pace to a crawl in spots. I even had to sit down and inch my way down one particularly steep, rocky and icy drop. Managed to make it down to the mouth of Gregory Canyon without hitting the deck, although I had multiple close calls.
Jogged through town back to work with a quick stop at Illegal Pete's for a burrito to go.
2,154 feet o' elevation gain.
mmmm. IP's is the best post run food. I wish the Qdoba in Conifer were IP's...
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