View Benchmark peak solo: I finally got outside for a run. The weather looked perfect, so I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to get out. I ran VB via Ann's trail and it was a total mess. SLOG! Ann's trail has a lot of snow, a lot of slush and a good amount of mud. After about a mile the snow was up to my knees and when I got to the turnoff there were no tracks, so I was breaking trail all the way to the VB trail. SLOW! There were a few occasions where the snow was up to my thighs. It was a total slog until I got the the VB trail where there was a solid track put in all the way to the summit and I was able to run most of the way up to the top. It took me 1:10 to the summit which is about 30 minutes slower than normal. I didn't even stop and just turned right around and ran down. The run down was also pretty tough because the snow started to get really soft, so I was sinking a lot more than on the ascent. I said a lot of curse words, but it was easier than going up. I was able to keep a nice running pace until I got back to Ann's where I was slogging again for about a mile in the deep snow. The last mile was tough and I was just happy to finish, but it was good to get back out into the hills again.
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