Heading out of Morrison on the west side. That place is busy 365 days a year:
Mount Morrison is a steep trail, so not much photography on the way up.
It was like the Barr Trail up there, with runners flying down like Kilian, testing the limits of the uphill right-of-way rule a bit. Or at least testing the spirit of it.
The steep, rugged ridge near the top of the mountain:
I like this photo because it shows the grade on the upper section. This is not running:
There was a young kid from Aurora on top who asked what "those mountains" in the distance were (Rosalie, Evans, Bierstadt) and mentioned he wanted to climb a 14er. So I gave him some beta. Probably too much detail, but he knew of Bierstadt and that's a good first choice.
Coming back down the ridge, sometimes on my rear:
After descending without slipping on rocks or hospitalizing anyone, I ran back through town and fooled around in Bear Creek Lake Park. This is where the tempo really fell apart, as I just couldn't get motivated to keep going. I would find any excuse to stop or walk a bit.
Finally the sun came back out and I guess my desire to be outside increased and I picked it up a little bit. And I didn't realize I'd become a little chilly until that brilliant low sunlight hit me.
Distance was 12.76 miles, time 3:42 (moving 2:51), elevation gain/loss 2,605 feet, avg. pace 17:28 (moving 13:29), and best pace 7:15.
Yeah, I probably could have cut 30 minutes off that time just by paying attention.
