Summit junkie!

Grandeur Peak loop with Jun:

This is one of my favorite running routes in the Wasatch. We met at 5:30am and started at the Grandeur Peak West Ridge TH. It was cold and dark at the start, but within 10 minutes or so we were breaking out of the miserable inversion and were greeted to a starlit sky and fresh air. It was also a lot warmer as we made our way out of the muck and up the west ridge. The trail wasn't as packed in as we had hoped and it was frustrating at times when there would be footsteps going off in 2-3 directions and we had to guess on what the best route would be. It was slower than we thought, but we still made 'decent' time up to the top where we had an incredible sunrise and amazing views in every direction. The Salt lake Valley fog/smog is just atrocious right now. After a gel and some pics we took off down the other side of the mountain (Church Fork)

The Church Fork trail was absolutely amazing! The best trail running so far in 2013. The trail was well packed in, there was zero ice and the usual loose rocks were buried under the nice packed trail. Awesome. Of course the views are always sweet, the sun was out, the sky was blue and we were cruising down the trail. It doesn't get much better than that. Just before we got to the Pipeline junction we crossed a creek where we stopped to take some pics. I had an excellent idea that I would jump the creek for a glory shot and after packing down some snow I attempted the jump. The packed snow gave out and... FWAP! BAM! UM OUCH! That sucked. Hello large sharp rock, meet my hip. Luckily Jun didn't capture it with his camera. After that my mojo was gone and my hip/shin/leg hurt the rest of the run.

The Pipeline trail wasn't in great shape, but it wasn't horrible either. We slogged it out all the way to Rattle Snake Gulch where we decided to head down and take our chances with the infamous Millcreek Flasher instead of hitting Bambi Hill. Unfortunately we missed the flasher, but we did start to enter the inversion again and we would smell, taste and feel it. SICK! COLD! So cold. Within about 5 minutes we were completely frozen. Frost on the gloves, hats and beards. It had to be below zero. The run down the canyon road and back to the car wasn't as enjoyable and we were happy to get out of that crap back at the trailhead. As always it was worth losing some sleep to get out into the Wasatch.

A few pics from the summit:

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:

6 at the gym. No big woop. My boss is in town and has been dragging me to steakhouses and meat establishments the last few days and I have been eating like total crap. Meat hangover. Meat sweats. Meathead.

5 on the track at the gym. It was kind of a tempo run. They are doing a biggest loser competition at the gym and some of the contenstants were walking around the track. It was crowded and stinky, BO and gas. SICK.

Ave Twin Peaks with Jun, Dorsimus and Bryan:

We met at 6:00 at the trailhead. There was already freezing rain falling and on the way in Jun got rear-ended and I just about slid off the freeway. The roads were atrocious. I thought the weather might be bad, but we really lucked out. It rained some, blew a little, but overall the conditions were great and once we got above the inversion it was warm. We had an excellent run up to the summit just chatting and goofing off. Just before the BST cutoff we saw a herd of elk making their way up the slope. Awesome.

When we hit the summit of the first twin we decided to go tag #2 as well and the trail was in much better shape than when I hit it on Monday. Up on #2 we took a break and checked out the city. Bryan is from Boulder, so we were showing him all of the nearby trails and landmarks. On the way down I got a little behind the other guys, as Jun picked up the pace a bit. At times I hung with the crew, but a few times they gapped me and I had to catch up. It seemed like Jun was pushing a pretty fast pace the last mile or two, but I have no idea what we were running. It was a great morning.