Mesa - Bear Canyon - Green Mountain

Great mid-afternoon loop that included a stint on the Mesa Trail, up Bear Canyon, over to Green Mountain and back to the start.


Time:  1:44
Distance: 9 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny & warm/humid


An early start to the workday allowed for a respectable-length mid-afternoon run. Started again at Chautauqua. This time I ran up to the Mesa Trail and over to Bear Canyon. I've decided that I really like the Bear Canyon trail. It's a moderate, but steady and totally runnable climb. There's lots of step-ups, but nothing that forces one to break stride.  And, Bear Canyon Creek's waters provide a ready-source of body-cooling relief.


Near the top of Bear Canyon, I hung a right and climbed up Green Bear to the four-way intersection with Greenman and Ranger. After a quick check to make sure I had enough time to do the summit out-and-back, I did the quick climb up to the summit of Green Mountain. I paused just for a minute to watch the fast-approaching storm that was already dumping rain around Walker Ranch and throwing lightening and thunder around.


I returned to the four-way and sped down Ranger and Gregory Canyon and back to the car at Chautauqua. Pushed the pace a bit on the descent enough to get the quads a bit grumpy. Felt good.


Good Speedgoat 50K race report from #2 finisher and FoCoian Nick Clark. 


Ryan Burch has part one of his race report from the inaugural running of the Grand Mesa 100.  My favorite part:


 "At Anderson Lake the AS personnel told us to wait a few minutes. Apparently at the time no one was manning the Carson Lake Aid station which was our next destination and they were thinking of possibly ending the race. After refueling we got confirmation to continue!"


WTF?


The race apparently had 60 starters and 33 finishers. Eager to read part II of Ryan's race report. Will the race be around for a second year?