La Plata Peak -14,336

This past weekend my friend Melissa and her dog Olivier with Fisher and I headed to the Buena Vista area for some Colorado outdoor fun. We had planned on backpacking into part of the Collegiate Peak Wilderness near Mt Oxford, Belford and Missouri Mountain but had to change our plans because of the weather. We instead car camped it on national forest in a beautiful valley surrounded by many mountains, most of them 14ers. We decided we were going to summit La Plata the next day. It is the fifth highest peak in Colorado and is just south of Mt Elbert. From the top you look right down on Independence Pass. We took the less travelled round (Winfield trailhead) and supposedly the easiest route. It was a great hike but took longer than we thought. It was a little more technical than we thought with steep scree, some boulder fields and wet marsh. We took it a little slower for the dogs and after it was all said and done round trip it took us about 6hrs. We had great weather at the summit and we able to hang out up there for a good 30-45 mins. The descent was very tiring but once back at the trailhead we were offered some beers by some fellow hikers. We gladly accepted while the dogs hide in the shade under their truck. After being thoroughly exhausted we called it an early night.
The top of the scree.
The top of the boulder field.
Fisher very bravely finding his way through the boulder field. He did awesome.
The summit!
The summit with Aspen/Snowmass area in background.
The dogs did great!
A much needed cool down!
On our way down!
The next day we went on a run on the trail we were originally going to backpack up. It was a great trail to run with some steady uphill and only a few steep sections. It was beautiful and followed a river all the way up where it opened into a wide valley surrounded by some 14ers (where we were going to camp). All in all we ran for about 12-13 miles and 4 hrs. We would have gone farther but the weather was looking bad so we turned around early. We recharged in Buena Vista with some food and let the dogs swim before heading back to the Springs. It was a great weekend.
A brief stop during a mini rain!
Arriving into the wilderness!
The valley with Oxford in the background!
Some columbines we found along the way!

Mt Evans Ascent

This past weekend was full of lots of activities all surrounding the Mt Evans Ascent running race on the 19th of June. The weekend started out on Thursday night with my good friend Jen flying in from Austin, TX. After picking her up in Denver, we headed for dinner and beer at the Vine Street Pub near City Park (see above picture). This brewery is run by the same people who do the Mountain and Southern Sun in Boulder where we both frequently visit when we are in the area. After a yummy beer and buffalo chicken sandwich we headed back down to the Springs. I was able to take Friday off work so we could hangout and get ready to head to Denver. Jen had never been to Manitou or my place. I showed her around the Garden of the Gods as we did a very slow 3 mile run to get the legs moving and Jen's lungs a little used to altitude.
In the Garden with Pikes Peak in the background.


The rest of the day was spent packing, eating, and running errands. We left for my cousin Heather's place in Denver late afternoon and finished the evening off with a big pasta dinner and salad before crashing early. Before heading to bed I did get word from my mom that Jenny was in labor with my second niece or nephew. I woke the next morning to find out I had a new beautiful healthy nephew Russell Benjamin. It was a great wake up! At 530 am we were off to the Morrison park and ride to meet my friend Wendy who was the sports photographer for the race.
It didn't take up long to get up Floyd Hill, stopped for potty break at Idaho Springs and we were at the start at about 645. Gun time was 730am which was plenty of time to warmup, get race packet and to find a tree for another potty break. The weather was perfect with blue skies and a very slight chill to the air.
This was my second year running this race but it was Jen's first. It is a 14.5 mile race on road taking you from Echo Lake which sits at 10,600 feet and climbs to the summit of Mt Evans at 14,264 feet. It was great to have both Wendy and John cheering us on. We both successfully finished the race and I was able to improve my time from last year finishing in 2hr39min07sec and 11th overall female. The winning female came in at 2hr01min37sec (a course record) and the winning male at 1hr41min21sec. Jen didn't finish too far behind me. Upon finishing, I had to put warm clothes on immediately despite still having blue skies. While waiting for Wendy and John at the summit when tried to stay warm by making our way to the actual summit. The race does not finish right at the summit. We walked the 500 feet up and took some summit photos. Then we passed the time with people watching and animal watching.
The lone scruffy bighorn who thought he was a mountain goat.
At the finish.
A hungry marmot.

The mountain goats were everywhere and could care less about all the people.
We did it! This was my first official time a the summit because last year I didn't go the extra 500 feet because the weather was so bad (wind, snow, fog).
Wendy and John finally made it to the top and Wendy of course had to take more pictures at the top. We headed down the mountain shortly thereafter but it took a while driving down waiting for slow tourists. We also had to pull over and stop because her brakes were too hot and quite stinky. The post race party was at the start which included food and the awards ceremony. I just barely missed an age group award as I got 4th. Oh well! There were a ton of great runners this year. Jen, however, won a raffle prize which was exciting. After inhaling our food, we made the trek down I-70 to my car and then headed up to 12 Mile for the night. We met some other friends up there including Tom who had finished a 100 mile mountain bike race in Bailey that same day. My dad was already up there with the dogs which was nice because it was Father's Day on Sunday. So we had lots of celebrate-finishing running races, mtn bike races, and fathers! We had a feast of a dinner: ribs, sausages, corn, beans, and watermelon margaritas that even my dad drank! The next morning I took all the ladies on a 90 minute run up to Sheep Meadow. They all did great and the dogs had a blast. The run was quickly followed by a huge brunch of pancakes, scrambled eggs with sausage and fruit.
Oliver and Fisher hanging out!
Fisher sporting the sunglasses.
The hummingbirds went crazy.
Our run up sheep creek.

Happy Father's Day Dad! Glad I could spent it with you! Love you lots!

What a great weekend!

Sage Burner 50K-Gunnison, CO

This posting is a little overdue but better late than never. Memorial Day weekend we headed down to Gunnison for my first 50K race. The race is sponsored by Western State College and is in its 3rd annual running. The race takes place at Hartman Rocks Recreation Area just outside Gunnison. It is a huge area with over 40 miles of single track covering 8,000 acres winding through lots of sagebrush and granite outcroppings with little shade. The primary sport in this area is mountain biking but also great for running. The weekend was full of other events as well. Along with the 50K run there was a 25K option both starting early morning on May 29. That same day there was a 24hr climbing event and then the next day the Growler Mountain Bike race took place in the same area with a 32-mile option and 64-mile option. In town they had live music, beer, and food going on throughout the weekend.

The 50K course (31 miles) included 5200 feet of climbing through some technical singletrack with lots of undulating ups and downs and as I mentioned before no shade. So it was VERY HOT and DRY. When i finished the course I think it was almost 80 degrees and when you are racing between 7700 feet and 8390 feet in elevation that is HOT! Aid stations occurred every 5-6 miles and very fully stocked with very helpful volunteers. I have never drank so much fluids during a race and almost ran out of water between aid stations. For me, the toughest part of the course was the first 15 miles where I struggled to get in a rhythm with the constant quick and steep ups and downs which killed my legs. After I took quite a fall (going uphill) at mile 10 because my legs felt like lead, I was questioning whether I could finish. Luckily, I battled through it and after about mile 16 the course seemed to mellow out a little with more steady terrain. I started to feel better, got into a rhythm and actually passed a bunch of people plus the wind picked up a little which helped dissapate some of the heat. I finished 36th overall and 9th female in a time of 6:20:04 in a field of about 90 people. The winning female came in a 5:04:06 and the winning male 4:23:06. John and Fisher were patiently waiting at the finish for me capturing a few pictures. I was so thankful to see them and be finished almost in one piece minus a bloody knee, giant blister in between my toes, quite the dirt tan and feeling like I had been scorched by the sun. We quickly left the finish and headed down to the Gunnison river to let Fisher swim and soak my legs in the cold water and then back to an air conditioned hotel room which I think shocked my body. After showering and bandaging up my knee, we headed into town for food, beer and live music and to meet up with my running friend who had run the 25k race. The evening finished off with inhaling three giant pieces of pizza, some red wine and passing out in bed around 9. A great end to the day!

The next day we headed to 12 Mile for some recovery time.
At the finish line, ready to get out of the sun.
The aftermath.
The dirt tan.
At 12 Mile celebrating the next day.
A BBQ feast at 12 Mile.
A recovery hike up 12 Mile Creek. nice and slow.