The grade is not too steep, so it's extremely runnable. The only downside is it's a little exposed, but there are shady areas of pines and aspens. The rocks are neat.
So, I'm photographing this tree, and Woody Anderson and family walk by. I'd only met Woody once in person at the Dirty Thirty, so I'm lucky I even recognized him in hat and shades. We chatted for a sec, I met his wife Tanya. A fun short break from the run.
I was surprised to see someone I knew, but then again the Dunes and the Sangres are a big attraction. Just today I found out JT was one trail to the south, at Zapata Falls, and Ted & Christy Mahon (whose blog I've enjoyed for a while, and who I met in passing in Aspen) were skiing a 13er in between, on Columbia Point. Anyone else?
This was the high point on the road:
Although the aspens up high were bare, the ones down lower were green and full of leaves. Nice to see some color on the branches again, after winter.
Distance was 6.90 miles, time 1:48 (moving 1:27), elevation gain/loss 1,604 feet, avg. pace 15:46 (moving 12:40), and best pace 7:43.
After I finished I was walking back up to enjoy the trail a bit, instead of rushing past everything. A couple of female runners pass me on the way to the parking lot, and I caught up with them to find out where they had run, since I didn't see them on my out and back. It turns out there's a side trail just before the fence at the top (which Woody had mentioned) that leads to the top of Carbonate Mountain. They said it was beautiful -- and so did the ranger at the visitors center, although this trail is not on the park map. It's a good 3.5 miles more, and twice the elevation gain of just the run to the pass, so I'll have to allow a decent block of time for that, some other trip.
Post-run recovery was the IPA at San Luis Brewing in Alamosa. Good beer, and a fairly good quesadilla with fajita ingredients.
A walkway at the Alamosa County Courthouse across the street:
After a brief walk, I drove some country roads, tuned in to a Mexican music station for a bit (it seemed appropriate considering the locale), meandering past farmhouses and fields of cattle in the deepening dusk.
I got out of the car and just stood there, staring west and upwards at the biggest, most perfect blue sky I've seen since New Mexico... which wasn't much farther south after all. And the San Luis is a big valley.
