road-signs

First non-run weekend in a few.  Alarm set, 5am buzz, shower, backpack ready – HIKE day!  Hour-half to Georgetown, pup peering o’er the console.  Rocky Mountain altitude.

destination: Guanella Pass.  13 miles from town center; trailhead start for Bierstadt.

9-mile Jeep trek ‘til snow towered 15 FEET high.  ROAD CLOSED.  Two weeks from Memorial Day, don’t expect the Pass ready before mid-June.  Mountains still socked-in, whole lotta snow.  Maybe a rafting trip this summer (water should be FAST) 😊

Parked.  Pup tethered to my belt.  2 ½ miles followed a path created by hikers past.  Quiet.  No people, wildlife still hibernating.  Untethered Ro past tree-line.  Less threat of mountain lion on exposed sheets of high snow.  Bear season too – though none yet spotted per the online Ranger report.  Mule deer & Bighorn, only tracks seen all day.

Broke trail last mile-half.  Just me & Ro, only heartbeats this high this week.  Amateur navigated (not great with a compass).  Used tops of road signs & later, roof of a trailhead outhouse.  Stovepipe & triangle apex pushing outta the snow.

Gosh.  Good to be HIGH.  Thin air.  Blowing skies.  Nowhere better.  PERMA smile.

Soaked in peaks while Ro wildlife-explored.  Marmot chirp.  Never sunshine-showed (stayed burrowed), just teasing Pup.

Dig hiking high.  Only 2 marathons calendar’d Independence Day to Labor Day.  No cell signal, weekends in-between.  Craggy rock &  snow-melt rivers.  14er summits, Ponderosa pine, Engelmann spruce.  “The mountains are calling & I must go.”

First HIKE of 2019!  LOVE LOVE my Colorado life ❤️

 

 

Guanella Pass 11,670ft

 

 

 

Tick, tick, tick.  Last tourist stop.  Marathon bib pick-up @ MiCo (Milano Convention Centre) via Metro.  Easy navigation.  Modern, well-marked/labelled (used both red & yellow lines).

HUGE marathon, nice-sized Expo.  NYC & San Francisco bigger, but this one – soooo international, many countries represented.  Like walking a row at the UN (United Nations).  Runs represented from France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, UK, Poland – and host country Italy, of course.

FREE is for ME.  Entered a drawing (& WON entry) to a far far-away December location but… still gotta get there.  Fingers crossed I receive a lottery ‘thumbs-up’ from JAPAN, where ideally I’d tag Continent #7 over Thanksgiving break.  So it’s Osaka or Abu Dhabi (no joke).  Either way, all signs pointing to SEVEN CONTINENT completion in December 2019 (life goal, half-year early).

(Strangely, geographically, much the Middle East is technically Asia.)

 

Just 26.2 miles of cobblestone to go AND a big plate of PASTA.  Pre-race carb-loading in ITALY — HIGHLY recommended.  Tomorrow we run, tonite we EAT.  Gracie mille, Milano.  Molto bene!

 

 

 

Milan Running Festival

 

 

Three hours early for a domestic flight?  Glad I heeded the advice.  Flying from Chile’s capital city?  Folks it’s a hot mess.  Check in, dropping a bag, clearing security.  2 hours 45 minutes.  Friendly & professional but just a select few working.  No criticizing our TSA, been schooled.

4 hour direct flight, southernmost city in Chile.  Touchdown, bag retrieval.  Last hour more turbulent as winds off the Andes pushed our small plane side-to-side – still, clear open skies in Punta Arenas.  Nodded to a taxi driver holding a sign marked $10,000.  Assumed Chilean currency & piled in.  Hotel Diego de Almagro por favor.  Room key, smile, nod, sorry no español.

Nuff time for an afternoon run.  Layered up, 10 mile out-n-back.  Best way to see a new city.  Hugged shoreline (no getting lost).  Ran ‘long the Strait of Magellan, where oceans Atlantic & Pacific meet.  WOW!  Strong gusty headwind, rough rolling surf, even summer season.

No ear buds, eyes alert to traffic and dogs.  Packs of them street-roamed.  Strangely, most wore tags & collars.  They’d chase, I’d walk.  They’d sniff, I’d slowly ease myself back on pace.  Eyed them use crosswalks, watch for cars – this their town.  I’m the tourist.

Day 2 Highlights:  Ocean shots, statue pics, a famous shipwreck.  Newest landscape addition – giant city sign dedicated just the day prior, anticipation of next year’s 500-year Magellan anniversary.  AWESOME timing, short tenth-mile from my hotel digs.  FAAANNNNTASTIC!

White Continent meet ‘n greet tomorrow.  Crazy excited!

 

 

Chilean Telenovela