Ave Twin Peaks solo:
I tried hard to get someone to go run this with me, but it ended up just me at the trailhead. Because of the terrible air I decided to start at the trailhead and skip parking at the Capitol building like I normally do. This cuts out a few miles, but gets you out of the sheety air quicker. The trail was in phenomenal shape and I had an enjoyable run. I put some Depeche Mode on my iPod and got into a good groove. It took about 15 minutes to get out of the gunk and into the blue sky and fresh air. Ahh...God's country. I passed a few hikers on my way up and when the Ave Twins came into view I could see a couple of guys on the summit. I pushed it hard from that point all the way to the top.
When I got onto the ridge a helicopter flew right over me and buzzed the ridge and then hovered for a few minutes. I thought they might be filming, but I wasn't sure. Eventually it buzzed the summit and then hovered for about 5 minutes next to one of the peaks. I ran hard because I wanted to get up close and check it out. Just before I hit the summit of the first twin it landed on the second twin, so I took out my camera and got a few pics. It was a medical chopper, so it was probably SAR running some drills. When I hit the peak there were two guys in their seventies on top. Awesome! We chatted for a minute and then I started over to the second twin and the chopper took off and headed over by Mt.Wire.
It was quite obvious that only a few people have been dumb enough to hit the second twin recently and it was pretty sucky making my way over in the deep snow. There were tracks, but the trail wasn't packed in at all. I hit the second summit and took a break, snapping some pics and taking a gel. The chopper started coming back but just flew by and then went back down into the valley.
The run down was fun. I enjoyed the weather and my music. The only negative was my hip was still sore from my little fall from the day before, but it wasn't anything serious. Running back down into the inversion is just horrible. HORRIBLE. Other than that it was an incredible day.
PM: Weights at the gym for 45 minutes.
Here are a few pics from my run:
| 