Running The Ranch

Sunday morning I actually got a little downtime with myself, nature and the sunrise.  Running early on a Sunday morning is one of my favorite things, especially when I get a chance to enjoy a beautiful place like the Smith Fork Ranch.

I took off on a trail run first down the Old Ferrier Ditch Trail.  We rode horses on the trail Saturday and I ran along the cliff by the river, through the Cottonwoods back to the ranch's breakfast ride spot and to the river where we crossed on horses the day before.

As I was running back the sun was rising above the mountains and it felt like it was chasing me down the trail.  I raced it back to the road.

From there I ran by the cabins and main building.  As I was passing the barn and where a couple of folks were practicing roping, Gus the ranch dog, ran with me.  We headed back to the cattle guard at the entrance to the ranch.  It was a great view of Needle Rock.

From there I ran back for a well earned breakfast.  That's a way to the start the day!

Hiking McCullough Gulch

Saturday was a great hike with friends.  It was shorter than I've been doing lately but we didn't have a ton of time since we were catching the cyclists come in to Breckenridge in the USA Pro Challenge.  McCullough Gulch is a 3 mile round trip with an elevation gain of about 800 feet.

It's a great hike near Breckenridge with waterfalls and a beautiful alpine lake!

Hiking & Biking Up A Storm in Beaver Creek

Saturday turned into an all day workout for me at Beaver Creek.  It started at 7:15am when I took off on the Lost Buck Trail.  I headed out on what I thought would be just a nice hike/jog but it turned into a 3 miles hike/run with three hill intervals added in.  There's something about hiking or jogging by a ski slope that just inspired me to run intervals to the top of the hill.

For there it was out on a mountain biking adventure at 9:15am with my guide Laura.  Little did I know that I would be going 14 miles and there would be a crash.  I'm still a pretty novice mountain biker.  I'm a much better road cyclist.  At Beaver Creek we road the Centennial Lift then took off on Cinch to Dally to Village to Village over the Arrowhead.  Somewhere on the Village to Village I bit it going downhill while trying to shoot video.  In Arrowhead we caught the bike trail and then bus back to Beaver Creek for a quick lunch at Spruce Saddle, off of the Centennial Lift.

Laura was up for a hike so she went with me.  We took the Royal Elk Trail to Beaver Lake at an elevation of 9,746 feet.  After a quick break to soak up the beauty of the lake it was back down the Beaver Lake Trail to my hotel The Osprey.  Round trip it was a 6 mile hike.

That's 9 miles on foot and 14 on bike - not bad for a day's workout!

A Massive Climb

Saturday was a massive climb....up to the summit of Mount Massive, the third highest peak in the contiguous 48 states.  It is a long hike and big elevation gain.  The trailhead starts at 10,000 feet and you climb to 14, 421 feet at summit so it's a 4,421 foot gain in elevation.  It's 13.6 miles but my friend Sarah and I took a wrong turn so it ended up being more like 14 miles for us.  It was tough but so rewarding and the views are incredible.  Because of the mileage it's an all day hike.  I can certainly see why so many hike up and camp then come back down the next day.  It was a long day but a fun day and I made it 14 miles round trip!

Trekking West Maroon Trail

Saturday was a big hike with a group from Aspen to Crested Butte on the West Maroon Trail.  This was my first time to do the hike.  Most of the group has done it before.   It's 12.5 miles with the extra 1.5 (possibly 2) you have to hike because of an avalanche near Emerald Lake that is still keeping the road closed. We start at Maroon Lake at 7:30am and by 8:11am we'd arrived at Crater Lake, which is about 1.5 miles.  We crossed two streams and had to walk through two snow areas in the first 6+ miles to the lunch stop on the saddle at 12,500 feet.  We headed down from the Saddle at 11:25am. Wildflowers were everywhere on the second half of the hike.   We got to the trailhead at 1:08pm but then had to walk the road including uphill a ways on the road to Emerald Lake. The road was closed because of an avalanche that we walked over. We were to the bus at 1:50pm and definitely ready for some R&R.  The weather was perfect and the hike was awesome!

Adventure in Aspen & Snowmass

Today was a fun fitness day with mountainboarding and biking in Snowmass then stand up paddling on the Roaring Fork River in Aspen with a hometown (Greenville, SC) friend.

First for Frank and I was mountainboarding - something I've never heard of let alone try until this trip.  Our instructor Doug was fantastic.  No falls and by end of lesson felt confident on the board.  I'd call it skateboarding on steroids or a summer version of snowboarding on wheels.  Even did what's called "dropping small" which is boarding the small ramp.  Snowmass has camps for kids where they get to do this and adults can try it too.

Next was mountain biking with another fabulous instructor Kevin.  We went up the Elk Camp Gondola then did downhill mountain biking.  The trail system in Aspen/Snowmass covers 50 miles of varying terrain.  I'd never done straight downhill mountain biking.  It's challenging - especially going through the turns and bridges.  In addition to a workout for your legs, core and arms being in the athletic stance on a bike, it's also a workout for your hands since you'll be braking on the way down.





The third outdoor adventure of the day was stand up paddling (SUP) on the Roaring Fork River in Aspen with professional skier Chris Davenport and Aspen Kayak & SUP Academy owner Charlie MacArthur.  This was such a great core workout with amazing scenery.  Plus the water felt great - yes I fell in but we all did!

Tomorrow is a 12.5 mile hike from Aspen to Crested Butte!

Tackling Two 14ers

On the Summit of Torreys

Saturday I tackled not one but two 14ers.  A 14er is a 14,000 foot peak.  There are 54 of them in Colorado.  I did my second and third by hiking Grays and Torreys with four friends.  I'm still an extreme newbie to doing this and for two in our group it was first time to a 14er.  You start at an elevation of 11,280 feet in Stevens Gulch.  Round trip is just over 8 miles.  We took off in 44 degree weather.  The path was green and lush bursting with wildflowers.  As we climb of course it turns more rocky.  We decided to hike up Torreys (14,267) first then Grays (14,270).  Grays Peak is the highest peak on the Continental Divide.

According to 14er.com the trail is 8.25 miles when from Stevens Gulch to do both peaks.  

 

It's a pretty tough workout with the altitude.  We definitely savored the gorgeous day.  The views were spectacular, even with the clouds really rolling in when we were on top of Grays and heading down. 

My friend Chris, who does 14ers all the time, told me the only way to get faster and better at them is to do the climbs.  Everyone reacts differently to the altitude.  You definitely get a chance to push yourself farther than you think you can go.  For beginners plan on it taking 8-9 hours to do both.  There will be lots of breaks.  More intermediate hikers will do it on average in about 5-6 hours.  More advanced hikers and trail runners can do this route in 3-5 hours.  I was having stomach issues from the get go and was fully cramped out for descent.  I made it (barely after close to 9 hours on trail).  If you've seen the movies Bridemaids, there's a scene outside of the bridal shop that could have easily been me several times on the mountain.  I know TMI.

With the pushing yourself and then the views at the top, I can definitely see why so many are hooked on 14ers!

On the Summit of Grays with Torreys in the background.

   

Running Along Gore Creek...and Checking Out The View

My Sunday morning run was along Gore Valley Trail.  I started out about 9:30am in 64 degrees weather. I decided I just wanted to do a nice leisurely jog, Facebooking and tweeting along the way while taking in the amazing scenery on a beautiful Sunday morning.  


It's a mile along the Gore Creek from Vail Cascade Resort to Lionshead Village.  At Lionshead I ran right through the Mini Golf course and by the chair lift then back by creek.  I popped up street side in Vail Village to check out the Farmers Market.
Jump back on trail on east side of Village on the Gore Creek Stream Walk, which is gravel, to Betty Ford Way and run to and around the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, the highest botanic gardens in the United States, and Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. 

On the way back I took the Golden Peak/Ford Park route back to Vail Village and connect back on Gore Creek Stream Walk.

I then had to go through part of Vail Village Farmers Market again to catch the Gore Valley Trail again to head back to Vail Cascade.

Straight shot from Cascade to Alpine Gardens is about 2 miles each way. I added some extra to hit over 5 miles.

After a post-workout lunch I was walking around with my friend Kim, who was visiting me for the weekend, and Chris, who lives in the Vail Valley.  Chris Anthony is an extreme skier and in ridiculous cardio shape.  As we walk over from Vail Village to the Alpine Gardens he made the comment jokingly, "You ran this far?"  Yes Chris I did.  Running is the only sport I could beat him at since his knees from years of competitive skiing won't let him do much more than a mile.  Now hiking up a mountain, bike riding, and of course skiing....I'm eating his dust!