KZ was in Boulder for an all girls science seminar. After I dropped her off, I headed over to Chautauqua to take advantage of being in town. I went with the screw shoes, in hopes to best navigate the combination of mud, bomb proof ice, snowy trails. My legs protested a bit as I hit the early climbs, reminding me of the efforts this week and the lack of vertical as of late. I decided to take the Greenman cut off from Gregory (based on feedback from Schlarb), and I agree – it is a nice alternative. I have come down this route more than I have gone up it. It makes for a nice mix.
After tagging Green, I headed down over to Bear. I saw no one on this entire route but Bear Summit was relatively crowded. It was a gorgeous day to be out there for sure. I knew the climbs would kick my ass today, but I was dreading this next part of the run the most – and with good reason. Fern, particularly the upper stretches above the shoulder, is a luge run right now, and the screw shoes were less than adequate. The Mesa switched things up, bringing the heavy mud.
11 miles, 3800 plus vertical. It was great to be out there, and to get some climbing and to be out in the woods for the day. That said, the trails are a bit of a mess right now, so I am not itchy to get out there again right away.
GZ - Sounds like a great outing. Glad to get the heads up about mud on Mesa :\ My neighborhood trails are muck right now, I wouldn't even bother. But, I gotta run some trails, I'm going trail-stir-crazy.
ReplyDeleteI love that greenman cut off..Red lion loop is in good shape now.
ReplyDeleteMtnrunner2 - yeah, pretty mucky down low, but not bad up on the upper stretches (except the steep stuff is slick).
ReplyDeleteYeah, Dave - we got to get out soon.