Lake Mountain solo: It has been a while since I went up Lake Mountain, so I really wanted to get up there this weekend. I started at 7:30 and it was really warm. I parked down in the neighborhood, turned on my ipod and settled into a slow pace to warm up as I made my way up the trail. After about a mile the ice started and the road was pretty icy for until about mile 2. I could avoid the ice on the side of the road, so it wasn't bad, but slowed me some. After about two miles there was a track in the snow all the way to the saddle. I alternated between a run and a fast hike and only stopped a few times to pee. :) I made decent time to the saddle, but from there it was horrendous. I had to break trail to the top and the snow conditions were horrible, with a hard icy crust with sugary powder below, so I would sink with every step and my ankles and shins took a pounding from the hard crust. Slow! 1:13 to the top where I took in the views, but didn't stay long. Getting back to the saddle was almost as slow as going up. I re-traced my tracks and slowly made my way down. Back at the saddle I was able to get into a good run and I got progressively faster as I made my way down. When I got past the steepest section I could finally get into a fast pace, which got faster (sub 7) when I finally got off of the ice. As I came out of the canyon I could hear gunshots and there was a group shooting guns just below me and they kept shooting even though I was only about a hundred yards away and only about 25 yards out of their direct line of fire. They were just blasting away. Gotta love Lake Mountain on the weekend. I got into a great groove and pushed a fast pace all the way back to the car. I love this run.
| 