Winter solstice at the Bottomless Pit junction

On Friday, I made my way up Barr Trail to the Bottomless Pit junction via the Incline.

I like celebrating the solstice by having a nice peaceful run. I usually spend both summer AND winter solstice this way. Since it was winter solstice, daylight was short.

Luckily I felt fast and started the day with a 33:37 Incline. Not bad for a winter Incline, and maybe with a little training I'll be able to break that magical 30-minute barrier this summer.

I did see Jim at the false summit! Unfortunately I didn't get to catch up with him at the top, and I could have sworn I had his contact info, but my phone doesn't seem to have it. So if you're reading this Jim, leave me a message at the bottom.

At the top of the Incline was a very well decorated Christmas tree! The holiday spirit is alive and well in the mountains.

I will say, I was tempted by the summit - I wish I had started earlier so I could push a summit since it was such a nice day. But, alas, daylight was too short to complete a trek that lengthy today.

Instead, I pushed past Barr Camp, and decided to go for the Bottomless Pit junction, which I reached in a solid 2:21! Woah - I felt pretty invincible. That's the type of time I'm looking for in the summer, and considering all the ice on the trail, I can't complain in the least.

I will have to say, my husband got me a new pair of spikes which worked excellently for the trail conditions on Barr, which was packed snow with a thin slick icy melted layer on top.

I still had enough time to stop in at Barr Camp and wish them a happy holiday. On the shortest day of the year, Barr Camp was still pretty busy - at least three others stopped in while I was there, and I only had about 15 to 20 minutes to spend.

I love the long shadows in the afternoon on a winter day at Lightning Point. 

And the summit of Rocky Mountain soaking in the last moments of sunlight as I descended towards No Name Creek. 

And finally, I got to witness sundown on winter solstice while I was still a couple miles up the trail.

I still was able to complete my run before it got dark, and meet my family at the park in Manitou where the kids played for a whole hour after sundown and before it got too dark and cold.

All in all, a perfect celebration of the winter solstice for me!