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