Williams Canyon to Waldo Canyon to Longs Ranch Road with Dionne

I've neglected to update about my last long run with Dionne, which was over a week ago. I did want to post at least a short update with a few photos, because this run was so interesting to do.

The last time I ran the Waldo Canyon trail -the whole loop - was many years ago, during my cross country team days. This was way before the Waldo Canyon fire of 2012, which forced the closure of the trailhead off of highway 24, which remains barricaded to this day.

However, in the recent years, runners have returned to Waldo Canyon, finding the overgrown trail and running this excellent loop.

This was my first time ever exploring in Williams Canyon, which snakes up past the Cave of the Winds to connect with Waldo Canyon trail.

We first scrambled up to one of the caves in the Williams Canyon area, before continuing up to the top to check out the view.

Then we scrambled back down the steep gully and continued on the trail until it connected with Waldo Canyon.

The Waldo Canyon trail itself is somewhat overgrown from 7 years of no maintenance. But on this perfect autumn day, it didn't seem difficult to navigate the turns between the autumn foliage and yellow grasses. We even got some cool action photos!

We then crossed over highway 24 and went up Longs Ranch Road, where we found the last remaining yellow aspens that hadn't lost their leaves in the recent freeze.

What a fun time exploring in our local area!

Since the run, it's been snowing off and on in Colorado Springs, and every run I've done since then has been something I can access from my doorstep. Without boring you with mundane details, I'll simply post a few photos with captions.

A rock outcropping along Templeton trail at Palmer Park. 

A famous view of Pikes Peak with a prominent rock formation from the northwestern corner of the Templeton trail loop.

Julie Penrose fountain at America the Beautiful Park, with clouds closing in over the mountains. 

Yesterday's long run was the Legacy Loop from my house, totaling a bit more than 12 miles. I then watched as the clouds slowly moved towards town, enveloping the city in snow as evening set.

Yes, it feels as though winter has already arrived in Colorado. It is time for me to back off on the mountain running, and stick to the local trails. More consistent flat mileage is in my immediate future, not to mention more time in the gym. It's also a good time to dream of the coming year and make plans for adventures to come... more on that in a future update!

One more time on the Peak! October Elk Park with Sharon

Last year in October, Sharon and I did a summit of Pikes Peak on October 21st. There was minimal snow last year at this time, but we started at 6am and it was still quite dark.

This year, we went one weekend earlier in October, which was the 13th, and we did Elk Park instead of the top. We also started at 7am instead! It was more comfortable to be starting with the sun, and knowing we wouldn't have to make the full summit, especially since the snowstorm. (Although we saw several groups setting out for the summit along the way).

Even at 7am, it was quite cold until the direct sunlight began to warm up Engelmann Canyon.

Most of the aspen leaves, which were so beautiful over the last few weeks, had fallen off since the hard freeze with the snowstorm. But almost all of the snow on Barr up until Camp had melted off, and the groundcover in the forest was still exceptionally green from the wet spring and summer we had.

The thick mossy carpet at the base of this aspen.

It was nice to stop in at Barr Camp and see Zach. He had no news for us as far as Elk Park trail conditions, but he'd seen several cyclists coming from that way and assumed the conditions were pretty good.

Just a dusting of snow in front of the cabin at Barr Camp.

They were pretty good, as we discovered. There were a few patches that don't see much sunlight that had some snow buildup already, but the snow was soft powder that wasn't too slippery. We also saw several more cyclists coming downhill.

Sharon in the meadow on Elk Park trail. 

The places where there was a bit of powder. Not full winter conditions yet!

Even though we were just a bit too late for the aspens, the views of the mountain from Elk Park trail are always set to impress!

I'd really like to come back here and do some of these harder-looking scrambles on the ridgelines approaching the northeast side of the Pikes summit.

The meadow before the Oil Creek Tunnel split.

The sign says "Oil Creek Tunnel .5 (to the right); Barr Trail 4.5 (to the left)"

The last steep climb after the Oil Creek Tunnel split leads to treeline.

Soon we reached the treeline where all of my really favorite views appear! As most people who have run with me before know, I like to spot different mountains and become as geographically knowledgeable about the area as I can be. This helps me in several practical ways. First, as I become more familiar with each mountain and valley, it keeps me oriented correctly, and less likely to get lost on adventure runs. Second, my ability to translate map-to-nature improves, and navigation in new places becomes more quick and intuitive. 

Can you spot the cyclist that just passed us, headed down around the bend? 

The view northeast from the Elk Park trail. Severy Creek is below flowing through the meadow, with an unnamed knoll to the right in the foreground. Ormes and Blodgett Peaks make their appearance in the central background. 

The view north from Elk Park. You can see so many 14ers from here! Not sure if the quality of compression will allow you to see much, but in this photo, Bierstadt and Evans are to the far right in the background.

We did it! Myself and Sharon at the top of Elk Park trail. 

Finally we topped out on Elk Park on this beautiful day. Another refreshing day in the mountains completed!

A trio of local 9000-foot summits: Kineo Mountain, Grouse Mountain, and Blodgett Peak

No, not all in the same day! That would have made it more challenging. My runs lately have been local and short for the most part.

Last Saturday, I did Kineo Mountain, starting on Seven Bridges trail (622). In order to make it a bit more interesting than the usual route, I cut off early and scrambled directly up the south face of the mountain. This wasn't a tough scramble, although it was steep. It was mostly deep scree and a few bands of easy-to-climb boulders. I arrived right at the saddle below the summit and quickly topped out. I returned to North Cheyenne Cañon via trail 667, connecting to 776.

The saddle below the summit of Kineo.

The rock outcroppings atop Kineo are super neat!

Summit panorama, Kineo Mountain.

The view of the North Cheyenne Creek drainage, with the south summit of Almagre in the distance to the right side of the photo (it's the one above treeline.)

Then on Sunday, we took the kids for the Kids Fall Series 1 race at Bear Creek Park. The Fall Series, put on by the Pikes Peak Road Runners, is a free "fun run" race series for children that fosters a love of running.

After that, we headed up to Mueller State Park to catch some fall colors. We decided to do the Grouse Mountain trail. This short trail is only half a mile to the summit! It was so short, even for the kids, that we added some additional hiking after that. This summit was so easy that it's almost cheating!

The kids and the summit sign.

The view south from Grouse Mountain. Mt. Pisgah is the pointy one just right of center, and the Crestones are the range far in the background on the right side.

Alex and I at Mueller State Park. 

Finally, today (Wednesday), I decided to do a quick midweek trip up Blodgett Peak. This would mean I'd topped out three local 9000+ foot peaks this week (although one was almost too easy to count.)

Blodgett Peak is an interesting mountain. If you are adamant about sticking to the primary drainage, it can be a class 2 all the way to the summit. If you deviate from this  at all (intentionally or not), it can quickly become a class 3 on the boulderfield or even a class 4 or 5 where the cliffs are.

Today, I intentionally sought out the boulderfield, and scrambled up through the main "crack" between the two cliff faces below the false summit. I then traversed the ridge to the true summit.

The main crack between the two cliff faces has a couple tricky moves which I would consider class 4, and one spot where it was so washed out that I had to climb up the side of the cliff a short way. I'm not an expert but this single move seemed to be class 5. It might have been avoidable if I was taller or the gully was less washed out, but as it stood from where I was, it looked like the safest route.

Climbing between two cliff faces.

The narrow view down. This route could be dangerous!

When I topped out on Blodgett, I sat and soaked in the views with my binoculars. I watched cars driving the dam at Rampart Reservoir. I had a clear view of the 14ers Bierstadt and Evans, and I could even (faintly) make out Longs Peak far in the distance.

The views on top Blodgett Peak are very worthwhile! For such a short summit, less than 10,000 feet, there's a LOT you can see from up there. I could have stayed up there all day. Blodgett definitely is the best mix of challenging climbing, local accessibility, and superior views for a fairly small time investment.

The true summit of Blodgett as seen from the false summit.

Pikes Peak behind the golden foothills. These trees were all burned in the Waldo Canyon fire in 2012, creating an interesting contrast with the autumn-colored shrubs.

Blodgett Peak summit panorama. 

Selfie! What a hot day, considering we're expecting snow tomorrow.

What a super week in local adventuring. Now I can sit home and comfortably await our first snowstorm of the season tomorrow. However, I think I'll still be chasing summits this season as long as the weather permits.

Journey through the heart of the Indian Peaks: Pawnee-Buchanan loop with Dionne

After last week's Mt. Herman loop with Sharon, I knew the aspens would be changing colors, as well as the autumn weather ushering in the snow soon. With that in mind, I convinced Dionne to go to the Colorado high country with me before it got too cold and late in the season. We decided to do the Pawnee-Buchanan loop in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. 

This popular running loop is around 27 miles and 7800 feet elevation gain. 

We set out on Sunday the 29th very early, arriving at the trailhead with the stars still filling the sky.

During our drive up, we passed through a lot of fog in Boulder. Our drive took us up through Left Hand Canyon. By the time we reached the Brainard Lake area, the fog had completely cleared and the night sky was gorgeous.

"Is it snowing?" Dionne asked as we first set out from the Long Lake trailhead. Yes, it was just barely snowing! Likely just some remaining condensation from the fog that was mostly below us now.

Unfortunately we went slightly wrong at the very start by the first lake, so we'd already added half a mile to our day before we began. No big deal overall. 

On our second pass by the lake (in the correct direction), the early astronomical twilight was reflecting off the water. A clear and beautiful indication of the day about to start!

Soon we were at the first trail junction, with Navajo, Apache, and Shoshone Peaks in front of us. These jagged 13ers dominated the skyline during our first climb, towards Pawnee Pass.

The robust-looking Mt. Audubon with the last moments of pink-tinged alpenglow stood in front of us as we climbed.

Soon the sun was high enough above the horizon to color this rock wall bright orange with its morning light.

Looking back towards the east, we could see the fog that we drove through in the morning in Boulder and just outside of Boulder in Left Hand Canyon. Wow, it was cool to see the sea of clouds so far below!

It wasn't long before we were above treeline, in alpine tundra, and near the top of Pawnee Pass.

And then, there we were! The top of the Continental Divide, and the first and tallest climb of our day. It was cool to still see the clouds way down below.

The wind at the top of the pass wasn't that terrible, but once we started descending the pass to the west... wow, we entered the wind tunnel!

The winds were extreme. At one point I almost got blown down by it. Nonetheless, I could not take my eyes off the gorgeous views. That clear blue lake off in the distance is Lake Granby!

After this point, the trail descends steeply into a sharp canyon, surrounded by jagged rock formations. The landscape is barren and dramatic. I told Dionne later that I felt like I was on a grand quest towards Mordor!

Look closely! You can see Dionne on the "trail" - more like a scree gully with overhanging rocks above.

The wind was still brutal this whole way. Furthermore, we descended into the shadows, making the transition from the daylight at the top even more drastic.

We continued to descend toward Pawnee Lake.

And then we passed the lake, and continued descending even more. In fact, we descended so much that I started to get worried! It was a lot of downhill.

From the bottom of the valley, the classic picture of Lone Eagle Peak came into view. (It's the pointy one.)

And from here on, the fall colors got better and better. I was exhilarated by the beauty of it all.

We passed by several pretty waterfalls.

And finally, it was time to start climbing again on the way to Buchanan Pass!

We achieved treeline fairly easily, and the wind atop Buchanan Pass was significantly less than the wind atop Pawnee Pass earlier in the day.

Descending from Buchanan Pass to the east, the ground was covered in beautiful red foliage! The sharp autumn sun above treeline made everything so much more bright and bold.

Soon we'd descended to the Coney Flats area, and we were ready for our third and final climb, back up towards Brainard Lake.

The last climb of the day was deceptively long, as it isn't a named pass, but still reaches treeline one more time before the descent into the Brainard Lake Recreation Area where we'd started.

On this last climb, Dionne was pretty beat and ready to be done. I think the EnduraLite that she had shared with me was working, because I still felt like I was in decent shape for being well over 20 miles into this venture.

The view to the north from this part of the trail was a massive panorama of the south face of Longs Peak and the high points of Rocky Mountain National Park.

I think it's so cool that from this loop, we were able to see both the east and the west sides of RMNP, which is a huge National Park!

Finally, as the sun was beginning to go down and the shadows became longer again, we returned to Brainard Lake.

It took us almost exactly 12 hours to do the whole loop; 6am to 6pm. Wow - what a long, tough day! We certainly weren't setting any speed records, but it doesn't matter - the experience alone was completely worthwhile.

We drove home through Coal Creek Canyon instead of the way we came (through Left Hand Canyon), so even the drive itself was somewhat of a nature loop, too.

This amazing journey covered so much territory, and such a variety of sights! From the windswept heights of the Continental Divide, the cragged and exposed descent from Pawnee Pass, to the rich Aspen-filled valley below, and back up to the red-tinted meadows beyond Buchanan Pass - it was like packing a whole lot of life into a single day.

Thanks again to Dionne for going with me on such an adventure! And special thanks to my husband Alex for holding down the fort at home while I let my soul wander through nature. The Indian Peaks are a special place, a spiritual place, and a place where one can find a kind of lasting contentment that permeates forward into the coming days and weeks.