When I left Pearl Street, I was surprised that the clouds had lifted, the chill was gone and the day had turned out beautiful. I headed for Gregory Canyon Trailhead and my destination, Green Mountain. My typical trail runs have been 4-8 miles and 700-1500 vertical feet of climbing, usually with time constraints of needing to be somewhere at a certain time. Today was very different. I had nowhere to be, nothing to do, other than run and enjoy being in the mountains. So I headed up Gregory and Ranger for my first summit of the day. My legs felt good but I was hesitant to try my luck at Bear Peak as well, so I descended down Ranger, then to Saddle Rock and back to the trailhead.
Green Mountain, with a fresh dusting of spring snow.
The thought entered my head..."why not a double?" I mean, I've read of people lapping Green multiple times in a single day, why can't I. So, after refilling my water bottle and eating a couple Cliff Shots http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_shot_bloks I headed up the canyon again for seconds. Man, what was I thinking!? Halfway up Ranger, I definitely bonked! With stints of running and hiking, I logged a back-to-back summit of Green Mountain.....approximately 5000 vertical feet of climbing. The pasta afterward never tasted so good!
So my thoughts migrate toward a goal I've had for sometime now.....running Longs Peak (15.5 miles and 5000 vertical feet). Ever since I was passed by a trail runner on my first summit of Longs Peak, I've wanted to run it. If I'm able to continue logging the mileage and vertical gains that I have been lately, I think I'll give it a shot this summer.
Longs Peak is in the center of the picture
Lastly, this is a new artists that I've come to really enjoy listening to. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgsT-klFnXY
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