Running on ...HOME OF THE 'TALL MAN'...
(And you can see the blog pictures below in much greater detail simply by clicking on them)
|
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Reverse return trip
It snowed an inch or two overnight, but was frozen so I returned to the sceneof yesterday's run, what with the ground being frozen, etc.
I did my usual down to the ravine, but picked up the trail of a walker with a dog down by the Crooked Falls Overlook, so deviated from the usual and took the bluff trail to the right on the inbound phase in order to not overlap with him (why?). Anyway, that was nice, then met another guy coming up the east side of the ravine on the return trip. He was friendly, but seemed surprised to see someone out there.
It was chilly -- 23-25 degrees with a stiff breeze in my face on the return -- but sunny and beautiful. No wildlife; no other remarkable things. I think I'll run in the hoods tomorrow in order to gauge my speed (slow, I think). Feeling good though.
5.5; 17; 41.5; 104.5
I did my usual down to the ravine, but picked up the trail of a walker with a dog down by the Crooked Falls Overlook, so deviated from the usual and took the bluff trail to the right on the inbound phase in order to not overlap with him (why?). Anyway, that was nice, then met another guy coming up the east side of the ravine on the return trip. He was friendly, but seemed surprised to see someone out there.
It was chilly -- 23-25 degrees with a stiff breeze in my face on the return -- but sunny and beautiful. No wildlife; no other remarkable things. I think I'll run in the hoods tomorrow in order to gauge my speed (slow, I think). Feeling good though.
5.5; 17; 41.5; 104.5
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Dawn run again
I didn't see this on my run today, but I did get a big kick out of it.
Pretty sunrise. The sky spit some pellet snow at me during the run, but otherwise nice.
Tall man says howdy from the west side of Whitmore Ravine.
Pretty light above and beyond Crooked Falls.
Geese in the stubble.
Geese leave the stubble.
Went to the 67th Street parking area and repeated my usual route toward Cochrane Dam (which btw must be open because the river between Crooked Falls and the dam was way low, including exposing the Whitmore Ravine Delta in some detail).
Very nice run ... no gumbo, which surprises me because the snow melted only yesterday. Went to the milepost in the middle of the flats beyond the bluff trail on the east side of the Ravine. Took 33 minutes to get there, including a detour onto the Mayhem bike trail, which I abandoned after a short distance because it looked like it'd be muddy as it descended.
Went back by way of the middle bluff trail that dumps me into the ravine in the usual riverside way.
Saw a bald eagle, some magpies and a former colleague, Erin Madison, now Outdoor reporter for the paper. She was biking on the trail with her dog before going to work. Had a nice chat.
5.5; 11.5; 35; 99
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
I think I can ...
Before dawn today I went to a spot along the river that's a little farther from the tunnel and bridges that I used as my getting-back-into-running route in January, and ran from there, past (through, actually) the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and onto the RET near the FWP Headquarters.
From there I went on out to the tunnel, then took the Colter Trail back to the RET and back to the car the way I came. It was uneventful, but I did notice that the ground wasn't as wet/muddy as I'd expected, so tomorrow I may go back out to the Whitmore Ravine route. Felt good, and the ribs didn't bother me in the least.
Temps in the high 30s with a light SW breeze.
5; 29.5; 5; 93.5
From there I went on out to the tunnel, then took the Colter Trail back to the RET and back to the car the way I came. It was uneventful, but I did notice that the ground wasn't as wet/muddy as I'd expected, so tomorrow I may go back out to the Whitmore Ravine route. Felt good, and the ribs didn't bother me in the least.
Temps in the high 30s with a light SW breeze.
5; 29.5; 5; 93.5
Saturday, February 09, 2013
Skiing in Colorado
Took about a week off to go skiing with my Italian buddy and his spousal unit's family at Breckenridge.
It was a delightful week, great kids (age 18-27), great visit with Carlo and Elisabeth, and at the end with my cousin Cliff, who lives in not-too-distant Denver. He joined us Friday and Saturday.
I did take a tumble on an icy patch on Beaver Creek's slopes, trapping my elbow between the rock-hard ice and my still-slightly-overweighted ribs. I'm pretty sure I cracked at least one, and it caused me to miss one day of skiing. Tried it out again Thursday, though, and was able to ski just as well (which isn't that great) as ever, provided I got a little help putting on boots and picking stuff up from the ground (hurt to bend down and exert). So, I got in four full days and loved almost every minute of it. Below are a few pictures of some of the gang and the beautiful venue.
Here's much of the crew, with the exception of Laura, who shot the picture. This is on top of the Breckenridge lifts, probably 12,000 feet or so.
The boys: Juan currently from San Francisco; Michael from Brussels; and Nicolas, also from Brussels.
Nicolas, who left Colorado today for six months of study in Chile, clowns with the tall man. Well, actually it was the tall man doing the clowning.
The girls of Chile better look out!
It was a delightful week, great kids (age 18-27), great visit with Carlo and Elisabeth, and at the end with my cousin Cliff, who lives in not-too-distant Denver. He joined us Friday and Saturday.
I did take a tumble on an icy patch on Beaver Creek's slopes, trapping my elbow between the rock-hard ice and my still-slightly-overweighted ribs. I'm pretty sure I cracked at least one, and it caused me to miss one day of skiing. Tried it out again Thursday, though, and was able to ski just as well (which isn't that great) as ever, provided I got a little help putting on boots and picking stuff up from the ground (hurt to bend down and exert). So, I got in four full days and loved almost every minute of it. Below are a few pictures of some of the gang and the beautiful venue.
Here's much of the crew, with the exception of Laura, who shot the picture. This is on top of the Breckenridge lifts, probably 12,000 feet or so.
The boys: Juan currently from San Francisco; Michael from Brussels; and Nicolas, also from Brussels.
Nicolas, who left Colorado today for six months of study in Chile, clowns with the tall man. Well, actually it was the tall man doing the clowning.
The girls of Chile better look out!
Saturday, February 02, 2013
Into the mud
Waited until late morning today (slept in, starved so ate breakfast), and drove to Ryan Dam and ran a big loop there. It was beautiful, but because of the thaw badly gumboed up. Took me half an hour to clean my shoes when I got back!
I took a few pictures, but I've packed my cables, etc., for uploading them because I leave tomorrow for my weeklong splurge ski trip to Colorado. I may post a few pics from there. The ski area is between 10,000 and 13,600 (no kidding -- it's Breckenridge), and the weather is supposed to be sunny and in the 30s and 40s, after almost 3 feet of new snow in the past week, so it should be frickin' spectacular. I may be ready to try out for the Olympics by the time I've skied that for five days in a row!
There was no one on the trail when I arrived today, but there were five cars in the parking lot when I got back. I met one couple (guy cheery, dog happy and woman looking disgruntled, if not miserable) on the upper trail from the Ryan trailhead.
5; 24.5; 12.5; 88.5
I took a few pictures, but I've packed my cables, etc., for uploading them because I leave tomorrow for my weeklong splurge ski trip to Colorado. I may post a few pics from there. The ski area is between 10,000 and 13,600 (no kidding -- it's Breckenridge), and the weather is supposed to be sunny and in the 30s and 40s, after almost 3 feet of new snow in the past week, so it should be frickin' spectacular. I may be ready to try out for the Olympics by the time I've skied that for five days in a row!
There was no one on the trail when I arrived today, but there were five cars in the parking lot when I got back. I met one couple (guy cheery, dog happy and woman looking disgruntled, if not miserable) on the upper trail from the Ryan trailhead.
5; 24.5; 12.5; 88.5
Friday, February 01, 2013
Long by the river
Geese were leaving the river and flying over me through the entire 85-minute run today. Beautiful sky.
The low clouds covered the tops of the Highwoods at the outset today.
These are what I call the flats above Cochrane Dam. It's where I turned around on the moonlight run. I've been going past this point the past couple of runs.
The sign for the "Mayhem" trail, presumably erected by the bicycle club. I took that trail today, and it was slow going in places because of sidehill ice and snow on top of a precipitous drop on the lefthand side.
The upper end of Mayhem. Cochrane Dam may be visible in the distance.
This is where I turned around. This sign has been there for years. It refers to Art Renander, who wanted to develop the land in some way or to get the city to take it off his hands. Apparently neighbors won't allow access.
Today I went the farthest I've run since long before the foot surgery. I went all the way to the above land buyer warning sign, which is near Cochrane Dam.
I took the upland trail out of Whitaker Ravine, as I've been doing daily, then went past the flats. No one else was out today, but the snow wasn't bad. Didn't even muddy my feet.
Speaking of feet, now the left one bothers a bit, but it doesn't look as bad as the right one was before surgery. Stay tuned. Not eager to go through that again.
Nice day -- 38 degrees and relatively calm.
7.5; 19.5; 7.5; 83.5
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Continuing to stretch the river routes
It snowed about 3 inches and was right around 0 degrees yesterday, so I skipped a day (other than shoveling, etc.). Today I returned to the scene of Monday's moonlight run and repeated it, tacking an extra half a mile onto the far end.
The snow was mostly blown clear of the trail, so footing was actually better than it was the last couple of times I ran there, and the muddy spots were frozen so I'm not tracking gumbo in the house.
The turn-around spot was the 9.5 milepost, about halfway across the flat area before rising to the cliffs above Cochrane Dam. A man walking a dog was ahead of me and I nearly caught them before turning around. He was parked at the Rainbow overlook. Someone else, also with a dog, came down behind me but must have taken a different route out of Whitmore Ravine. His dog, a border collie with its own backpack, ran by me then back as I came down into the Ravine on my return trip. Never saw the owner, but if it was a woman she has big feet.
6.5; 12; 76; 76
The snow was mostly blown clear of the trail, so footing was actually better than it was the last couple of times I ran there, and the muddy spots were frozen so I'm not tracking gumbo in the house.
The turn-around spot was the 9.5 milepost, about halfway across the flat area before rising to the cliffs above Cochrane Dam. A man walking a dog was ahead of me and I nearly caught them before turning around. He was parked at the Rainbow overlook. Someone else, also with a dog, came down behind me but must have taken a different route out of Whitmore Ravine. His dog, a border collie with its own backpack, ran by me then back as I came down into the Ravine on my return trip. Never saw the owner, but if it was a woman she has big feet.
6.5; 12; 76; 76
