I love the mountains. I love the way they look, the way they smell, the way they make me feel. There’s just something about being in the mountains that makes me feel alive. I also love music, especially live music. So when I saw that 2 of my favorite bands were playing a series of concerts in Boulder and Denver, I jumped at the opportunity to go. The concerts were a blast, but I was just as eager to hit the trails and log some mountain miles in the 10 days leading up to Bandera.
I had 2 decent runs heading into Friday, but I really wanted to find some relatively snow-free trails to run. After doing a bit of recon at REI and the Boulder Running Company, I determined that my best bet for such an adventure would be to run near Wonderland Lake in Northern Boulder. The foothills had less snow than some of the higher peaks closer to town, which was fine with me after a little “incident” I had with snow and ice a couple days prior. The weather was perfect, with overcast skies, no wind, and temps in the mid 40s. I hit the paved loop that would take me around the lake to the trailhead, where I hoped I could find some elevation since I needed to work in one last good day of hill training. After about a mile of icy pavement, I found what I was looking for.
(Frozen Wonderland Lake)
The trail I encountered went straight up towards some houses perched atop the hill (anyone want to loan me a million bucks to purchase one???). While not super snowy, this trail was very muddy, adding to the difficulty of trying to scramble up this steep ascent. I trudged up and up, sliding backwards with each step in the slippery mud. Up and over, back up again, crossing several large patches of snow that obscured the trail, I made my way to the top (the trail peak just below the summit). Once there, I turned and headed down in a different direction. Man was this section steep! I soon found myself at another intersection, staring right at 3 large deer, who seemed to be wondering what idiot was disturbing their peaceful morning. I decided the trail I had just descended would make the perfect spot to do some hill repeats. After cranking out 5 of them, each time stopping at the top with hands on knees panting, I continued on down the trail. At one point, I crested a ridge and saw 20+ deer bedded down in the grass. Several were large bucks, guys I certainly didn’t want to disturb.
(Trail winding its way up)
The rest of the run was fairly uneventful, save for some snow running, beautiful scenery, and numerous marmots. Just as I was about to turn back around and head to the car, I found 2 more trails, one of which climbed up to the ridge and looped around. If only I had more time…Running in the mountains brings me peace, a sense that nothing else matters. For a short time, I am able to push aside all of life’s problems and just be in the moment. Yes, the mountains are fantastic. I ended up with just over 9 miles and roughly 4,000’+ of elevation change. Not a bad day.
Wow!!
ReplyDelete