running LOCAL ROCKS – new Coal Creek PR, 34th overall
Hooray for Labor Day! Kicked off the 3-day holiday weekend with my favourite 10 miler, Louisville’s Coal Creek Crossing. Running LOCAL ROCKS! (Glad to be back — last year’s event was cancelled due to extensive trail damage from the 2013 Boulder Flood.)
7am start, near perfect weather. Lined at Community Park – ok, go.
Louisville, like most Front Range communities, hosts a highly competitive field. I came out slow – but well remember Aquarius Hill (mile 4 & 9)…I’d catch folks either out or back, it’s a steep climb.
Used today’s local run to fix my mental before Fall marathon season. Tagged a runner at mile 6, closed the gap on Aquarius Hill. Lost him again on the downhill. A mile from the Finish I generally fade (mental lapse)…but not this day. Half-mile upgrade, stuck close & pushed past. Hitting pavement tenth-mile to go, sprinted to the Finish.
Improved my Coal Creek PR by 5 minutes, 34th overall. Good day 🙂
1428 K R Haga Louisville CO 1:24:07
Quick shower, change of clothes, packed the Prius. Tomorrow’s 14er goal: Mount Massive (3rd highest in the continental U.S.)
Whole lotta traffic on I-70 (holiday weekend parking lot). Arrived in Leadville at 3pm, two hours to see the National Mining Museum. I’m a FAN of minerals & big rocks – add history to the mix & I’m well entertained ‘til closing time. LOL>
Quick walk downtown, grocery store provisions, then 11 miles over dirt road, past Halfmoon Campground to Mount Massive Trailhead.
Pulled out the sleeping bag, downed a tub of hummus, kicked back & counted stars. Goodnight Moon.
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- I-70 holiday parking lot
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- tucked off Highway 24 in Leadville CO
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- dedicated to the three Argall women in mining
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- mining claim, issued when Colorado was still a Territory
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- quartz crystal wall removed from Idarado Mine near Telluride
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- iron pyrite from Colorado’s oldest mine, the Eagle Mine at Gilman
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- built in 1879 by Horace Tabor (Leadville’s Silver King)
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- sleeping bag, hummus & stars
Kicked in the weekend with an early group run ‘round Boulder Rez in North Boulder – a ‘sweet 16er’.
Held sub-8 pace for 10+ miles, then slogged the hills. Group said their goodbyes at mile 13; soloed the remaining 3 at ‘old man pace’. Need to find an 8:30/9-minute pace group – the young guns are killin’ me. That’s all.
2 hour nap, pasta carb loaded – reenergized…hiking tomorrow.
Woke late Sunday (7am), made sleep a priority before hitting the highway. Easy hour half drive – I-70 to Idaho Springs Exit 238, today’s hike destination: 13er James Peak.
[in Colorado] 13ers are often treated like the ugly step-sister…only 14er climbs rank a water-cooler boast. Today’s elevation gain? 4000ft – thousand feet more gain than 14er Bierstadt (my one-day PR: 7800ft, Barr Trail to Pikes Peak in 2012).
Parked at St. Marys Glacier, outside of Alice. Watched local snowboarders pitch up the impromptu ‘slope’…only in Colorado, right? 🙂
Glacier crossed tethered to Ro, then hiked 2 miles across colourful arid landscape: bushy willow thickets yellowed by cool evening temps, late season wildflowers, orange-hued moss – spectacular pallet of early autumn colour.
Beautiful weather: sunshine, temps in the low 50’s, lotta wind.
Followed the CDT (Continental Divide Trail), bushwhacked briefly, then connected with the well-defined trail up James & neighboring Mount Bancroft. Hiked this peak in 2012 – bushwhacked that year too. Consistent I guess 🙁
Wildlife count: marmot, pika & a flock of summer-camouflaged ptarmigan. These birds will go ‘winter white’ over the next 2 months.
Stayed right of the canyon gulch between Bancroft & James at 12,000ft (whatta view) – then pushed UP the remaining 1000 feet over a maze of switchbacks. SUMMIT SUCCESS! Kicked back on a rock shelter & let Ro hunt pika before snapping Peak pics.
One last weekend before fall marathon season. Running my hometown 10-miler Saturday morning, Louisville’s Coal Creek Crossing – then 3 hours of highway to Leadville. Hike goal: Mount Massive, 3rd highest peak in the continental U.S. Why? ‘Cause it’s there.
Weekend Highs & Lows
Rocky Mountain high – LOVE this place!
‘sweet 16er’ at the Boulder Rez
13er James Peak – 10 mile hike PLUS glacier snow
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- St Marys Lake, only 30 minutes from metro Denver – whatta view!
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- St Marys Glacier (late August)
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- glacier melt magic
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- snowboarding in August – only in Colorado 🙂
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- beautiful hike day – so much colour
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- summer-camouflaged ptarmigan, will go white when the snow flies
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- summit SUCCESS!
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- good day to be a dog
Forgotten how good a 14er hike feels. Pre-dawn trailhead drive, first sun pop over the high peak.
Love of everything outdoors, BIG, immense, larger than ourselves.
Hour half on I-70, Exit 221 Bakerville – 8 miles from Eisenhower Tunnel. Five mile dirt-road journey. Struggled to maneuver the pothole minefield UP, secure off-road parking. Not a lotta spots left at 630am, gotta love Colorado hikers. Day starts early here 🙂
I last hiked Grays in September 2012. Trail was lined with yellow aspens and first snow of the season.
Hiking a month earlier in mid-August, today’s views did not disappoint. So much colour – like a Ravensburger puzzle, one of those 1000 piece projects you poke over during the summer. Not just one shade of green – slate green, moss, lime, yellow-green, forest.
Looked forward to the horizon. Stopped, peered back at my progress below – completing the straight puzzle edges first, framing a border, later patch-working the green inside. Two long stretches of boulder incline, but no huge scramble at the end.
Summit SUCCESS! Strong winds whipped so backed behind a man-made rock shelter. Chatted up fellow hikers planning their next ascents – before the snow flies (just a few weeks left). Parade of folks on top at 9am.
Fave quote: “I like your dog. He’s so warm.” LOL>
Return hike always seems longer than the ascent – a hiker mystery. Purposely drove West thru the Eisenhower tunnel, crossed the Continental Divide & lunched in Silverthorne before heading home (a 3 hour I-70 day mare – ARGH!)
Next 14er? Something near Leadville I think.
Haven’t been to the Nat’l Mining Hall of Fame & Museum. [ya’ll are thinkin’] How can I get a ticket, right? 🙂
Snow UPDATE, Wed August 19th: Colorado weather: Snow dusts high country, Denver sets record low
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- early a.m. – looming ahead, just waking, peak still under cloud cover
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- Colorado steppe: big & inspiring
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- hike crossroads – left to Grays, right to Torreys
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- so much colour – like a Ravensburger puzzle
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- summit SUCCESS!
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- good day to be a dog
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- sister 14er Torreys – looks close but another hour away (hiker specks on trail below)
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- hike reward: glacier play
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- Indian paintbrush
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- tunneling under the Rockies, crossing the Divide
Grays Peak summit
