(Yet Another) Ponderous Posterior Re-cap, Plus the Week That Was...

Definitely the highlight of the week was the Saturday morning trek down to Colorado Springs for the second annual Ponderous Posterior 50K. I can't say enough good things about this little jaunt around Manitou Springs. Great weather. Great course. Great people. Great organization.

Beyond the PP50K, the week was so-so. Had a couple days off and a couple of good runs. A quick run-down:

Monday:  Soda Creek -  6 miles; 49:21; 838 feet o' elevation gain. Easy jog through this hilly 'hood.

Tuesday:  Chautauqua - Mesa - Bear Canyon - Green Mountain Loop - 8:23 miles; 1:46; 2,887 feet o' elevation gain. An auditory celebration.

Wednesday:  Off - work/family schedule ate up the day. About 7 p.m. I pulled into the rec center parking lot after driving up from Denver, got out of the car, took 10 steps in the freezing cold with my quads barking loudly at me and called it a day. Went home. Quads were aching from the hard run down Green Mountain on Tuesday - my first use of Micospikes this year.

Thursday:  Off - not enough time in a busy day to get out. Good thing, too. The cold and wind were ferocious.

Friday:  Elk Meadow Open Space - 6 miles; 1:10; 844 feet o' elevation gain. Thursday's wind had kicked up a lot of snow. This was a slog of a late afternoon run. Knee-deep snow drifts were everywhere. Ugh.

Saturday:  Ponderous Posterior 50K - 29.15 miles; 5:47; (5:24 running time); 6,788 feet o' elevation gain. Ran to the car to lose the tights as people were gathering in JT's yard for the 7 a.m. start as warm weather was expected. By the time I got back to the house, everyone was gone. Nothing like a bit of tempo to start a 50K!

Caught up the the back of the pack as we entered Red Rocks.  Slowly worked my way up to the lead group over the next mile or two. Had a great time running with PG, JY and TG, plus a host of new faces from across the Front Range. The pace was easy and the views/temps/company were perfect.

My right knee pretty early let me know that it wasn't happy. It was aching and occasionally bitching at me. I started thinking about dropping after the Incline. I'd never been up the Incline and really wanted to make the 2K climb up. The climb was tough, but manageable at our laid-back pace. Once up top, I decided to continue on to the aid station at the mouth of Waldo Canyon and see how things went.  I took the descent down snow-covered road through Longs Ranch way easy.  Knee was still grumpy, but holding up fine.

Starting up the Incline. Photo: PG.

A few folks were gathered at the truck taking on water and fuel (and PBR...not sure if that's water or fuel).  Never really contemplated dropping at the truck. Figured it would take longer to wait for a ride than it would to finish the run. I nudged TG and off we went for the climb up Waldo. We pretty much ran all the dirt and hiked the icy sections as we made our way down into and up Williams.

I really enjoyed Waldo/Williams. We just ran/hiked steady and before we knew it, we popped out on Rampart Range Road for the final descent down to the Garden of the Gods and back to JT's place.

I was pretty happy with the run. No rough spots, no wrong turns and we finished strong. Knee was no worse for the wear, although the discomfort was/is frustrating.  Hitting the foam roller, icing and stretching regularly to keep at bay what I suspect is some IT band stuff.

Great time catching up with folks back at JT's house and enjoying some fine post-race food and beers.  Many thanks to JT for hosting and for everyone that took the time to mark the course. The CRUD South gang puts on one hell of an event!

Learned this morning that a large group of the 7 a.m. starters, including me, missed the out-and-back up Red Mountain, which explains why we ended up a bit short of a true 50K. Bummer.

Early Sunday I morning, I joined JP for my third-ever yoga class. This time is was a 1.5-hour Bikram yoga class, which meant even more sweating than the previous two sessions I've done this winter. I am convinced yoga is a great long run recovery activity. I feel so much better after these classes.

Sounds of the Trail

Running is a treat for the senses...the sights, sounds, temperature, wind, footing and smells all stimulate some aspect of our five senses, whether we think about it or not. Sometimes, though, a particular sense is activated and for a given run, that sense dominates.

So was the case on Tuesday's jaunt up Green Mountain as I was struck by the sounds of the mountain.

The run began around 3:30 p.m. from Chautauqua, climbing the old paved road to the Mesa Trail. The trail was, as expected, a mix of snow, ice, dirt and mud. No traction required (on the ascent).

I made my way over to the junction with the Bear Canyon Trail and started climbing. The further up I went, the more aware I become of the few sounds around me.

First, it was the pleasant gurgling of Bear Canyon Creek running beneath a layer of ice and snow, reminding me that even on the coldest days, our mountains remain invaluable water factories for the plants, animals and human communities that surround them.

On the climb up Green-Bear, I paused to listen to the distant caw of a crow, it's call forlorn and almost out of place on such a beautiful, sunny day.

Soon I was standing on Green Mountain's summit rock, marveling at the fact that there was no wind. None. It was perfectly still. I noticed then the constant, low rumble generated by the 97,000 or so souls moving around and going about their days down below in Boulder. Their collective sounds rolled up, combined and enveloped the mountain in a strangely comforting auditory embrace.

Green Mountain's summit marker. Photo: Brandon Fuller

Just then, the whistle of a train dropping down the side of Eldorado Mountain echoed through the hills, adding a new dimension of sound to the bass line of the city. The train's sound reminded me of hearing as a kid in Kansas the same distant whistle in the summer through my open bedroom window. To me the whistle is as much a warning as it is a reminder of movement, of going places...as in running.

On the run down Green's frontside, the dominant sounds became of my own making -- the scrape of Microspikes on ice and rock, or the satisfying "squench" when spikes found a solid purchase in firmly packed snow, propelling me around a sharp switchback.

Once back at the now dark Gregory Canyon parking lot, the sounds became those of others. A car driving down Flagstaff Road, a dog barking in the backyard of a house in the neighborhood adjacent to the open space.

The low rumble of humanity I heard atop Green's summit now was just the usual collection of individual sounds. The crows were quiet, and the train's whistle now was drowned out by the immediate din of the neighborhood.

Running is, indeed, a treat for the senses.

Distance: 8.23 miles
Time: 1:46 (Green descent - 20:57)
Elevation gain: 2,887

Weekly Roundup - May 15-21, 2011

An up and down week, to be sure. Had some high quality runs, but was hamstrung by the lingering effects of the bug I picked up last week.  


Sunday - Bergen Peak Summit:  2:12; 10.47 miles; 2,109 feet o' elevation gain. Ran to the summit of Bergen Peak from the house...up Bergen Peak, down Too Long.  A good 5-6 inches of snow up top.

Monday - South Mesa - Shanahan Loop:  1:20; 8 miles; 1,516 feet o' elevation gain.  From South Mesa Trailhead ran up Homestead and Towhee to the mouth of Shadow Canyon, traversed over to the Mesa Trail to Shanahan North Fork and closed the loop via Lower Big Bluestem and Mesa. Lots of variety in this loop: steady climbs, downhill screamers and rolling goodness.

Tuesday - Bear Creek Trail:  1:12; 7.72 miles, 1,033 feet o' elevation gain. Started from O'Fallon Park, a Denver Mountain Park, in Bear Creek Canyon. Ran up to the BCT, hung a left and cruised down to Lair o' the Bear Open Space, then turned around and retraced my steps. Maya was out on this one with me. The last couple of miles were in a cold rain. Thank goodness the run started right next to Bear Creek.  Maya, who is a mostly-white dog was now mostly dirt colored. I think she enjoyed the post-run creek bath.

Wednesday - Off:  Just couldn't get myself out into the rain/snow.

Thursday - Treadmill:  50+ minutes, 7.25 miles.  Heavy wet snow was falling most of the day. Totally unmotivated until around 5 p.m. Finally got myself out the door to the rec center. Wasn't sure what to do today on the 'mill, so I did a little of everything.  The miles went like this: 8:00; 5:42; 8:00; 6:58; 8:00; 6:00; 8:00. A veritable smorgasbord of treadmill fun.

Friday -  Centennial Cone Open Space:  2:30; 18 miles; 2,646 feet o' elevation gain. Took a good chunk of the day off work to get in a longer run since JP was going to be out of town over the weekend. Ran from the Mayhem Gulch Trailhead in Clear Creek Canyon.  This is a great, fast loop with a few modest climbs, lots of rollers and some fabulous views of the foothills and down into Clear Creek Canyon. Had a smile on my face pretty much the whole run, except for the parts where the sky spit bits of ice and water at me, but that was short-lived.

Saturday - Bergen Peak Upper Loop:  1:18; 8.21 miles, 1,733 feet o' elevation gain. Was feeling a bit tired from the previous two days' efforts. Jogged via streets to the lower lot at Elk Meadow Open Space. As soon as I hit dirt, the wind started roaring. It was blowing so hard, I turned off my iPod because I could no longer hear the music. The roar of the wind was drowning it out. I just put my head down and slogged it out, know that as soon as I hit the trees, I'd find relief.

Soon enough, I was out of the wind and enjoying my slow recovery jog pace. Then, just as I was approach the Too Long Trail turn off, I noticed a runner coming up behind me. Damn it! I don't want to be caught from behind and passed!  So, I picked it up a bit figuring I'd be alone again once I started up Too Long. Not many people run up that trail. Wrong. She turned up Too Long behind me.

I gave up my notion of a pure recovery jog and picked up the pace enough to avoid being overtaken. After about half a mile, I started feeling better. In fact, the higher I went, the better I felt.  On a couple of the long switchbacks, I could see her below running strong.  I continued on, past the Summit Trail turnoff and picked up the pace down the Bergen Peak Trail. I was feeling GREAT on the descent, just cruising through the rocks with confident foot placement and a solid pace - even passed a mountain biker who also was going down.  I enjoyed that way too much.

All-in-all, a solid week. The long run was shorter than I would have liked and the day off was unnecessary - the result of a lack of will, I guess. Still, ended up with a hair under 60 miles, 9 hours and 22 minutes of fun and 6,391 feet of ups.

Bear Peak & A Mental Lapse

Late afternoon run up to the summit of Bear Peak via the backside. A navigational error added a bit of urgency (...and time...and distance) to the run.


Time:  2 hours
Distance: 8.25 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Average
Weather: Sunny and warm

Started from the Cragmoor trailhead, unsure about what I was going to run today.  Thought about heading up Bear Peak via Fern Canyon, but wanted a bit more distance and running than that route offered.  The catch was I had a time cut-off to meet in order to be where I needed to be to pick up jP and CP.

By the time I had climbed up to the Mesa Trail, I had a plan. I'd run up Bear Canyon to the West Ridge Trail junction, assess time and either return down the canyon or head over to Bear and down Fern Canyon.

The climb up Bear Canyon was a beautiful as ever. Still my favorite route up into the Boulder hills. I passed a ranger hiking near the mouth of the canyon - the first ranger I've seen out and about in a while. I hit the West Ridge junction and time was looking good. By my calculations, I had enough time to get up to Bear, down Fern, back to the car and back to the 'hood to pick up the kids.

So, up West Ridge I went. I realized here that this was the first time I'd been on this trail since running last June an abbreviated and moonlight version of the Boulder Skyline Traverse with GZ, Tim L., JP and a host of others. I made steady work of the ups and downs over to the backside base of Bear, then scrambled up the loose stuff to the north ridge, climbed the jagged rocks to the summit and tagged the summit marker.

As I made my way back down from the summit, I was back doing the time calculations. My head was filled with numbers, which obscured the mental map I was following. Before I knew it, I was jogging over to the saddle between Bear and South Boulder Peaks.

The minute I hit the saddle I realized I messed up. Fern Canyon is on the north side of Bear, and roughly a straight line down to the car. I was now standing at the mouth of Shadow Canyon, which angles decidedly to the south, away from where I was parked.

Well, I was committed (and now a bit stressed out) so I started down Shadow Canyon, pushing the pace and hopping from rock to rock, down the big drops, around the trees and past three to four groups of hikers. Time was ticking by faster than I was running.

Made it out of the canyon and traversed over to the Mesa Trail, winding my way, eventually, back to the gravel path that leads down to the Cragmoor cut-off.  Made it back to the truck at exactly two hours.

And, as luck would have it, it was JP's turn to pick up the kids. Good thing, because I would have been late. Rest assured, I now have the location of Fern Canyon permanently tattooed on my brain.

Mesa - Bear Canyon - Green Mountain

Late afternoon run from Chautauqua to the top o' Green Mountain via Bear Canyon.


Time:  1:41
Distance: 9 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Fair
Weather: Cloudy and Cool

Solid run...decent distance and elevation gain. Body held up well and felt best when moving (which is sorta the whole idea behind running, so things worked out pretty well).

Felt relatively good on the ups. From the Chautauqua parking lot, headed up McClintock to Mesa, Mesa to Bear Canyon and Green Bear to the four-way, then up to the summit of Green. Tagged the summit marker in 1:07, 39 minutes and change from the sign at the start of the Bear Canyon trail. Just focused on running a sustainable pace. Never red-lined it.

Came down the backside of Green. Cruised pretty hard down to just past the ranger cabin, then slowed it down after the flatish stretch. My quads definitely were letting me know I haven't run hard downhill in a number of weeks.

Wrapped it up with a nice jaunt through the Chautauqua meadow back to the truck.

The hardest part of the run was the first 100 yards, which is about how long it takes until all the muscles are warmed up, the joints are oiled and the engine stops knocking.  Once the back loosens up...good to go.  More progress.

2,686 feet o' elevation gain.

A Monochrome Day on Green Mountain

Solid run from Chautauqua up the backside of Green Mountain and down Bear Canyon.


Time: 1:47
Distance: 9 miles
Effort: Steady
Body: Average
Weather: Gray and cold

Sometimes the incongruence of a name and a place becomes suddenly conspicuous.  For example, if something terrible happens to a family that lives in a place called Happy Valley...or if no one in Germantown speaks German...or if there are no hills or dales anywhere near Hillsdale.

I was thinking about this as I was headed up Green Mountain as a light snow was falling and the fog-like fingers of a low cloud ceiling were reaching down into the furrows that unfold along the mountain's flanks. The snow, trees shrouded in white, the clouds and the poor overall visibility created a monochrome feel around Green Mountain today, a peak whose names suggests a verdant, living place.

Still, even a seemingly colorless landscape has beauty and Green didn't disappoint today...it just presented itself in a new way. Stark. Simple. Quiet.

I started late afternoon at the Chautauqua parking lot and made my way over to Gregory Canyon, slipped on the traction devices and started my trek up toward the ranger cottage. I saw one other hiker on the ascent, just a bit past the trailhead.

I ran up to the cottage at a steady, but unimpressive pace, stopping ten or so times to readjust the Microspikes. I need to get a smaller sized pair for my size 11.5 feet. The Crosslites I was wearing are too narrow for the large size spikes I have.

I was today in the mood for the mountains, so the stops didn't bother me. Everything would be taken in stride. No hurry. The temps were nice. The snow was beautiful.  All good.

I hit the summit in around 46 minutes, tagged the summit marker and headed back down to the four-way and dropped down toward Bear Canyon. Along the southwestern side of Green, the cloud ceiling really seemed to close in, heightening the feeling of absence of color.

I don't remember much of the descent. I was lost in thought and on blissful autopilot feeling like I was miles away from the bustle of work and of Boulder.

I saw my first hikers since early in Gregory Canyon shortly after joining the Mesa Trail. The appearance of others whipped me out of my revelry. I put my head down and focused on keeping a steady pace back to Chautauqua.

By the time I was back in the truck and headed home on Highway 93, the falling snow and dropping temps had made for some relatively treacherous driving conditions. Traffic slowed, and so did my commute. The upside...I had more time to reflect on the monochrome silence that enveloped Green Mountain this winter day.

Mesa - Bear Canyon - Green Mountain

Late afternoon run around this classic Chautauqua-area route. Despite poor trail conditions, a solid run.


Time: 1:45
Distance: 8.39
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Clear and cool

Got a somewhat late start, heading up toward the Mesa Trail from Chautauqua around 3:50 p.m.  The dry dirt/pavement heading up along the Chautauqua meadow was deceiving.  As soon as I hit the Mesa Trail, it was clear that trails conditions were going to be challenging today.

The intermittent mix of fall-on-your-ass ice, dirt and mud certainly made things interesting.  There was not enough ice to warrant wearing traction devices, so I carefully plodded across the slick spots and picked it up on the dirt.

At the mouth of Bear Canyon, I stopped to strap on the Microspikes to navigate the quarter mile of icy steeps. Soon, though, the trail leveled out a bit and the ice was less of a problem, so off came the Microspikes. The rest of the cruise up Bear Canyon was typical, which is to say great. My favorite Boulder trail.

Once at the four-way below the summit of Green Mountain, I hung a right and climbed up to the summit, tagging the marker in 1:08.

With darkness fast approaching, I put the Microspikes back on and jogged down the backside of Green, suffering through the same dirt-ice-dirt conditions. I finally yanked the Microspikes back off a quarter mile or so past the ranger cottage and picked my way down carefully from there.

It was just about dark by the time I got back to the truck at Chautauqua.

Those trail conditions were about as bad as it gets.  Too little snow for tractions, too much ice for carefree running.  Bring on the snow (or a whole lot o' sun)!

Other Stuff:

Good run on Saturday in Breckenridge from our weekend rental condo (with friends from CA). Ran up Boreas Pass Road a couple miles and looped back via Illinois Gulch. Eager to explore that area more.  6.05 miles in 51 minutes.  On Sunday XC skied about 5K on the Breckenridge Nordic Center trails. Only fell once.  Really enjoyed the change of pace. Would love to do a lot more XC skiing.  Kids took skiing/snowboarding lessons on Sunday. The numbers were off for their small-group lesson and they both ended up with private lessons. So cool when things go your way...

Registered Saturday morning for June's San Juan Solstice 50. Race registration was mangled by problems with the IMAthlete site. I can only imagine the frantic morning the RD had trying to straighten that out and deal with all the frustrated runners trying to register. Took about two hours to sort out. Glad I cancelled a morning run and stuck it out.  I really enjoyed running that race last summer. Looking forward to tackling it again. Goal is to go under 10 hours.  Ran it in 10:41 last year.

I'm interested in a few other races, but am reluctant to invest in more until I can pack on some consistent, pain-free miles. Left heel is still harping at me. Right lower ab also is still telling me to take it easy. Can't wait to get past this crap.

Flagstaff Mountain - Plus Some Other Stuff

Got out a bit early to get in some miles before hooking up with the Boulder Trail Runners group for a pack run.


Time: 1:42
Distance: 8.83 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny & Cool


Heard via the Boulder Trail Runners listserv that Andrew Skurka was going to share some stories and pics from his six-month, 4,700-mile Alaska-Yukon Expedition at Sherpa's Restaurant this evening.  So, I cleared the decks and planned to stick around Boulder post-work in order to catch the presentation and get in a few miles.


I got over to Chautauqua around 4:30 p.m. with plans to run for a while and then meet up with the BTR Thursday Happy Hour running group at 5:30 p.m.  Standing in front of the Chautauqua meadow with so many trail options before me I tried to guess what would be the least likely option for a fairly large running group of people with mixed abilities. I was keen on not running the same route twice this evening.  So, I guessed the group was not likely to run up the Flagstaff Trail, so I headed off solo in that direction.


I was feeling pretty good and ran an easy pace up the Flagstaff Trail to its intersection with the Ute Trail near the apex of Flagstaff Mountain.  Hit a spit here in 28:23 and turned around and retraced my steps back to Chautauqua.


The BTR group was already gathering as I ran up. After a quick pit stop for some water, the group of 15 or so runners set off running toward, you guessed it, Gregory Canyon, where the start of the Flagstaff Trail is. I still held out hope that the group would opt for a cruise up the Gregory Canyon Trail, but twas not to be. Up the Flagstaff Trail we went. 


The group quickly split up with three of us well off the front running a steady, but easy pace. The group didn't seem to have a pre-arranged route, so at the first trail junction we stopped to regroup. This would be the theme for the rest of the run...run, stop, run. 


We ran up Flagstaff to Crown Rock (regrouped) and descended down to Gregory Canyon (regrouped). From there, we ran down to the parking lot (regrouped) and headed up the Bluebell Trail and ran a series of trails over to the Mesa Trail (regrouping twice), then three of us ran up Mesa a bit and picked up an extra mile or so on a few trails I'd never run on that eventually led us back to Chautauqua.


It was a lot of fun running with the group, but all the stopping to regroup was a bit much for me. I thought about bailing a few times, but was enjoying running with some new folks just enough to stick with it. Glad I did.


After the run, I headed over to Sherpa's for some Nepalese food (fair) and some $2 pints of local beer (very good).  A crowd of about 40 people turned out to hear about Skurka's adventure. This was the first time he'd given a presentation about his expedition, which he returned from about five weeks ago. He had some great stories and good pics and video. He still has a lot of work to do on the presentation, but he's got a great experience to share.


One video he showed stuck out in my mind. He shot himself sitting under his tarp during a hard rainstorm. He was at the tail-end of the trip, enduring a long stretch of difficult bushwhacking through pure wilderness - a 3 and a half week stretch of no towns, no roads...just wilderness. You could tell from his voice and his thousand-yard-stare that he was walking a razor's edge of emotion. In the video, he was opining on what wilderness in Alaska is compared to what we have here in the lower 48, but his eyes and just-on-the-verge-of-cracking voice told us more about Alaska wilderness than the words. You could tell he was mentally going through a lot of difficulty. Very telling.  Very poignant. If you get a chance, be sure to catch his presentation.


Boulder Daily Camera article on Skurka and his expedition, here.

Mesa - Bear Canyon - Green Mountain Loop

Time: 1:43
Distance: 8.23 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Average
Weather: Sunny & Hot


Morning run from Chautauqua up to the Mesa Trail, over to Bear Canyon, up to the Green Bear Trail, over to the four-way and up to the summit of Green. Ran steady the whole way to the summit of Green. The cruise up Bear Canyon was a highlight. Just felt solid the whole way up. No fatigue in the climbing legs. Slowed a bit heading over to the four-way and up the Green's summit. 

Green Mountain from Chautauqua

View from the Mesa Trail just before descending to Bear Canyon

Looking east back down Bear Canyon, about 2/3 of the way up.

Looking west from the summit of Green Mountain

Took it way easy descending down the front side of Green. Note to self:  You do not like that trail. Do not descend that way. 


Got it.


This stretch of record-breaking warm fall temps has been great. I know it can't keep going this way, but I sure am loving it for now.

Saturday, November 14 - Backside Loop

Run: Backside Loop - Boulder

Time: 3:52

Distance: 20.3 miles

Effort: Easy

Body: Fair

Weather: Chilly, Socked-in

Left the house this morning around 5:30 a.m. bound for Chautauqua in Boulder. Upon opening my garage door, I was greeted by the hooting of a distant owl. Such a great way to start a day. On the agenda on this chilly morning was the Backside Loop, an approximately 20-mile route that circumnavigates the dramatic Flatirons, the mountainous backdrop to the city of Boulder.

After the 50-minute drive from home and a quick stop for a bagel, I hit Chautauqua and was the first and only car in the parking lot. I strapped on my North Face hydration pack, stuffed with water and four gels, and headed out across the meadow toward Gregory Canyon.

I ran up Gregory Canyon to the ranger cottage, then jumped on the Long Canyon trail. The trees throughout the canyon were covered with a thin layer of snow, the product of a cold front that moved in the day before,swapping our 70-degree weather for temps this morning in the low 30s. The trail, thankfully, was clear of snow and the only white stuff I ran through was on the bridges, plus a bit in the north-facing depths of the canyon lingering from the snow storm of two weeks ago.

Up the first two canyons, I followed a solitary pair of footprints, but my only company on these two trails were the dark-eyed juncos that flitted about as I approached and a small flock of wild turkeys near the top where Long Canyon meets Flagstaff Road. The light dusting of snow seemed to absorb any and all sounds, save for the cacophonous cackle of the occasional magpie.

Where Long Canyon ends at Flagstaff Road, I headed uphill on an old roadbed, but soon lost the track and did a bit of bushwhacking to just above the last switchback on Flagstaff. After 2-3 miles on the paved, and sometimes icy, Flagstaff Road, I hit Walker Ranch, a 3,778-acre bit of Boulder County Open Space and Bureau of Land Management land.

I can't believe how long it's been since I'd visited Walker Ranch. I used to mountain bike there regularly, when I lived in Boulder. I think it's been about nine years since I'd been up there. A number of things had changed. A fair bit of trail work had been done. And, the Eldorado fire, which burned over 1,000 acres in 2000, was evident with a hillside of charred trees near the western trailhead.

From the Walker Ranch Loop trailhead, I headed northeast cruising up a short uphill section before winding my way

to an east-facing hill and descending on switchbacks through trees to an old two-track that led down to South Boulder Creek and the Eldorado Canyon Trail. After a quick jaunt down to check out the creek, I began the ascent up the Eldorado Canyon Trail. This trail was new to me, as it was built since my last visit to the area. The trail climbs relatively steeply up to a highpoint with normally great views back down into Walker Ranch and down into Eldorado Canyon (I'd run to this high point from Eldorado Canyon earlier this fall). Today, though, the views were obscured by a thick cover of low-lying clouds.

I made pretty quick work of the Eldorado Canyon Trail as it dipped and turned along hillsides and into small sub-drainages. After a few miles and three short climbs, the trail drops suddenly down into Eldorado Canyon via a series of well-built switchbacks. Interestingly, on the last stretch down to the dirt road near the canyon's bottom, I passed five people with a television-style video camera on a tripod. I didn't pause long enough to even make a guess as to what they were shooting, but had to laugh at the strange scene.

From the upper picnic area in the canyon, I followed the road down to the small hamlet of Eldorado Springs. Trying to remember directions I read last night, I headed across a bridge over South Boulder Creek in search of an unmarked trail that would take me up to Shadow Canyon and the Mesa Trail, which I would follow back to Chautauqua.

I knew the trail was past a couple of trailers and up a driveway, but once in the area, the jumble of ramshackle houses, trailers and assorted dirt roads, drives and tracks left me scratching my head. After an ill-fated attempt to find the trail off a driveway clearly marked "No Tresspassing," I was accosted by the owner who just happened to pick that moment to head down his drive in his Honda Civic. Fortunately, he was good natured and understanding and pointed me in the right direction. The trail, it turned out was toward the east end of Baldwin Circle and, as advertised, accessed off a gravel driveway.

The trail began as a pretty rough social trail. After it winds around the edge of a few private property lines, it climbs steadily up a long grassy valley to the intersection with the Shadow Canyon Trail. I imagine this stretch of trail would be absolutely gorgeous in the summer, when the grass is green and tall.

I took Shadow Canyon to the Mesa Trail and ran Mesa all the way back to Chautauqua. Once back at Chautauqua, I did a quick loop through the meadow and did once around the paved road by the dining hall to get the total mileage just over 20 miles for the day.

This is a great loop, with excellent and well-marked trails (save for the jaunt up from Eldorado Springs) and just a little bit of pavement. As I write this here at 7,800 feet in Evergreen, it's snowing pretty hard, making me even more grateful to have had at least one last opportunity to do a long run on snow-free trails this late in the season.

Wednesday, November 4 - Mesa Trail

Run: Chautauqua - Mesa Trail

Time: 1:01

Distance: 6.60 miles

Effort: Moderate

Body: Average

Weather: Cool and clear

Got out for a quick out-and-back on the Mesa Trail this afternoon. Ran from Chautauqua, up Bluebell to the Mesa Trail. Ran Mesa out about 35 minutes and did a few minutes of the Fern Canyon trail before turning around and returning the way I came. The trail was in pretty good shape, about 90 percent snow/ice free. There was a bit of mud here and there, but not too bad.

Speaking of mud, I am often surprised and always chagrined to see people walking around muddy trail sections and creating new social trails. I love single track singletrack. From my perspective, if a little water/mud is a problem, stick to the sidewalks...don't create wide, braided trails just to keep your shoes clean and socks dry.

Another gorgeous day. Tomorrow promises to be even warmer. Elevation gain today was 1,670 feet.