Bighorn sheep showed up right on schedule, and I'm not sure who was more curious in this particular standoff. After taking this picture, I ran between the red and grey shirts... no need to get head-butted if the animal got tired of its audience:
The road was busy, but it was not obnoxiously so. There were all kinds of people, from athletic to not, bikers, hikers, runners and fishermen, out enjoying the day and it was nice to see.
I was staying ahead of an older couple on bikes and when I stopped the woman asked "Are you getting tired?". That was three miles in, and I answered in the negative and thought "But ask me again in 15 miles".
Don't photograph yourself in a giant curved mirror if you're self-conscious about having short legs, because there is definitely shrinkage:
Picture 6 miles of dirt road through canyons and you will get the idea of the first and last part of this outing. The rocks were sometimes interesting, and the fishing water looked fantastic, with deep green pools, rocks and eddies.
Nonetheless I was glad to get to the dam and the beginning of the forest trail around mile 6.5 (after another short stretch of road after the dam).
I'd never been on the beginning (east end) of the Colorado Trail, though I've been on a couple of other segments including the Durango section (west end), which is a favorite daily run when I'm in town. The Denver side is pretty nice after the dirt road. Probably half the trail was covered in snow and frozen slush, but I didn't like the way those pictures came out so I didn't include them :) Just imagine slippery ice and slushy snow.
Nonetheless, it was one of those times when you feel lucky to live near great terrain, cruising up some fantastic forested mountain trails on a Sunday afternoon a short drive from home. Life was good.
Woodpecker condo:
After a couple of miles (?) I reached the junction with the Buffalo Creek trail spur. From there, the terrain opened up and descended across open dry dirt among scrub oaks, and all of a sudden I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere, between nameless hills in a nameless valley in the Colorado backcountry.
The forest had a very lush feel on the north slopes, and it certainly didn't look like the tail end of winter:
Except for the frozen slush on the trail:
So, I made it about 2/3 of the way on this segment of the CO trail. I have yet to complete a full section, since they tend to be ~15 miles each one way. As blissful as the forest sections were, I had a tough time staying upbeat on the 6.5 miles of road back to my car. I was seriously craving some mental stimulation, and stopped at anything at all interesting just to keep my mind off my legs, which had a ski day and 15 miles on them.
After I made it back to the car, I put on my jacket since the sun was down, and walked a bit to relax the muscles. I found to my chagrin that beavers had pretty much wiped out the riverside brush I enjoyed running through last summer, along the Platte south of Chatfield Reservoir:
But hey, if I support the right of humanity to change its surroundings, I can't very well object to some beavers making a home, can I?
Distance was 18.18 miles, time 3:55, and elevation gain/loss 1,805 feet.
Half-marathon split was 2:55, which includes most of the 1,800 feet of gain and a lot of the stopping for photos and snacking (I walked while eating). I'm trying to get a realistic idea of possible completion times for longer runs based on vertical gain and distance. I probably stopped for 30 minutes or more, so in spite of my dispirited ending this run wasn't bad in terms of speed -- for me.
Again, awesome weekend!
