Mt. Rosa: The BIG Loop

Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone!

I set out Friday morning to get up Mt. Rosa. Since my last unsuccessful summit, I figured I still had unfinished business with the mountain.

To be clear, I've been up Mt. Rosa about a half dozen times in previous years, but not since the pandemic began. It was time to revisit those slopes.

Alex dropped me off at the top of North Cheyenne Cañon. It was a quiet Friday morning, with only a handful of cars in the lot, especially since it was the start of a long weekend. 

My plan was to ascend the classic route, up St. Mary's Falls Trail.

The morning was cool and refreshing. It had just finished raining and storming the night before. The trails weren't dusty and had good traction from the moisture.

Even from the start, some clouds began building in the east.

Steep steps on St. Mary's Falls Trail, and views.

Above the Falls, as the trail continues towards Mt. Rosa, I noticed some clouds off in the distance building over the mountains. There had been a clear view over Mt. Rosa on our way over to the Cañon.

Clouds to the east, and flora on the trail.

Clouds to the west along the trail.

I pressed on as the trail ascended towards the junction with 381.

The moss along the trail was abundant, and the most stunning color of neon green! More evidence of the wet spring and summer we've had along the southern Front Range. 

Bright green moss!

I crossed 381 and ascended toward the wide, flat saddle to the north of Mt. Rosa. As soon as I reached the saddle, I was entirely and completely engulfed in the fog.

With another mile or so to the official summit, I almost debated just turning around then and continuing on my loop, knowing that I wouldn't have any views at the summit. But since I didn't make the summit last time, and since trail runners don't give up that easily 😉, I continued on anyway.

Scenes from the saddle and summit of Mt. Rosa. All foggy!

I took a little time at the summit, refueled and called Alex. By the way, reception up there is amazing - I had five bars! But the clouds failed to clear by the time I was ready to continue, so no summit views for me this time. (That's just a reason to do Mt. Rosa again!)

It was chilly in the fog on the Rosa summit, and I was glad I had my jacket. In fact, my hands started to get cold and I felt like gloves may have been beneficial, but I knew I'd be down out of the cold pretty soon.

I descended from the saddle to the trail #672 split, and took the fork to the west. Even though I'd already been on the mountaintop and the highest elevation point of my run, I was still very early on in the total mileage I'd expected to do.

Trail #672 towards Frosty's Park was somewhat washed out, rocky, and rutted at points. This meant a little slower descent.

Descending Trail #672 towards Frosty's Park. 

But once I reached Frosty's Park and began descending the road, I felt great and I was flying downhill!

Of course, at this point the Mt. Rosa summit was clear. I was only 50 minutes removed from the top, but too far to go back up this time.

I took trail #626, called "Frosty's Shortcut," back towards FS 381.

Top left: "Frosty's Shortcut" trail. Top right: The summit of Mt. Rosa shows itself from Frosty's Park. 

From FS 381, I descended past the closed Wayne's Campground, and joined Gold Camp Road for a fast and smooth downhill on the dirt road. It felt great to be going downhill at such a nice pace on a surface that wasn't hard on my legs. I think downhill dirt road running is just about the best there is. What a treat!

Views near the St. Peter's Dome trail.

It was no time before I reached the parking area for St. Peter's Dome.

I knew from previous experience that there is a dirt bike trail that connects directly from here, back down to the closed-to-cars section of Gold Camp.

I took this shortcut back down, and reconnected to Gold Camp just before Tunnel #5.

As I continued my joyous jog down the wide, comfortable road, I peered up at the now totally clear Mt. Rosa. Oh how she'd evaded me today!

I noticed something I'd never seen before, that you can actually see the top of St. Mary's Falls from just after the tunnel. I took out my binoculars (which I had packed for the summit views that never materialized) for a look.

As I continued down the dirt road, I saw the sweeping views of Cookstove Mountain come into the picture. The huge rocky cliff face is so attractive to me. It's one of those mountains that I'd like to sit on top of some day.

I've actually *almost* made the summit of Cookstove once before, but it was one of those days with intermittent rain and hail that tried to chase me off the mountain. I looked at Cookstove Mountain and thought "maybe next time!"

The views back towards St. Peter's Dome were quite nice as well.

Top: Mt. Rosa, now totally clear of clouds, is the peak in the left-background. Middle: Cookstove Mountain, (a someday goal). Bottom: St. Peter's Dome on the left, standing boldly. 

After a few more miles, I was nearing the parking area where I'd started this morning when Alex dropped me off.

I passed a hiker wearing a teal-colored N95 mask and waved to him. For context, I always bring a face mask when I'm running, and I pull it up when I'm passing folks, especially in popular areas, as a courtesy to others. This hiker commented on how he was surprised to see a runner with a mask on, and how he thought he was the only one. I then explained I wear it when I'm around crowds especially, but I'd been up Mt. Rosa today and I'd had the mountains to myself. He clearly had a good knowledge of the area and asked about my route. I explained that I'd gone from Mt. Rosa, down to Frosty's Park and then down Gold Camp, and he was impressed. I told him I was about 20 miles deep at the moment, but that I would go for the full marathon today. 

The interaction buoyed me so much that I felt the heaviness in my legs lifting, and my pace increased. In fact, my fastest mile was in mile 23.

After the parking area, I continued down Gold Camp still, taking advantage of the fast, smooth downhill miles. Sometimes it's nice to "cheat" and finish at a lower altitude than you started. 🤫

I ran down past Bear Creek Canyon, and met Alex for my ride home near Bear Creek Park off of Lower Gold Camp.

I was even able to add an extra mile of jogging around the parking lot as I waited for my ride, bringing my total to 28 miles for the day, and over 5000 feet of elevation gain!

This was a feel-good day. The trails were straightforward and there was minimal scrambling, as compared to my last long one which had a huge scramble. Running downhill on dirt roads is a nice confidence booster. And this kind of training is great for the Leadville Silver Rush 50, which is a goal race for me once COVID is over (I hope!)

Lots more adventures and long runs to come soon! I'm trying to pack as much fun into this time of year as possible. Thanks for following along!