Week Summary: Aug 27 - Sept 2

8/27/2012
Mon-AM: 2:12, 3500' ~ 3rd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Up the Third and down Bear Canyon from the creek. Nice easy run. Easy scramble of the Third in 11min w/ a 10min downclimb and then coming down the canyon was a blast after not running that trail in a long while.  Nice to get in some sustained running. Legs feeling good.
PM: 1:00 ~ Creek Path+Kitt barefoot
Ran down to Kitt, did 2.5mi of barefoot and ran back. Legs felt good.

8/28/2012
Tue-AM: 2:15, 4500' ~ Flatiron Trifecta+Green Mt.
Really solid morning for me with PRs on the climbs and downclimbs of each Flattie.  16:30 up the First, 3:50 downclimb; 11:20 up the Second (downclimb is trivial); 7:20 up the Third, 5:50 downclimb. Some days the shoes just seem to stick better than others, haha.  Started at finished at Eben G. Fine Park.
PM: 1:28, 3000' ~ Fourth Flatiron+Green Mt.
Ran from Chat and up the Royal Arch Trail to scope the Fourth with Joel. At first we got on the wrong rock, but after we found the right start, it was a lot of fun.  The Fourth is really three separate pieces of rock. The first section was my favorite--solid conglomerate, spicy angle with significant exposure, just enough techiness to keep one's attention. The second piece was a little dicy as we didn't get into the gash soon enough and ended up sweating through an exposed hand traverse.  Route-finding mistake. The final chunk mostly required negotiating an off-width crack and lots of trees/shrubbery.  Stepping off the top was also a touch trickier than I imagined.  This Flatiron lacks the clean aesthetic of the First and Third, but the summit is very close to the actual summit of Green Mt, so we ran up there quick to catch an incredible pink/blue sunset before making it back down to Chat just as the light really ran out.

8/29/2012
Wed-AM: 2:04, 4500' ~ Torreys (14,267') & Grays (14,270') Peaks
Slept at the trailhead last night and then headed up this morning after giving Joel a headstart.  He met me on the Kelso Ridge, where we had to negotiate quite a queue on the very short section of knife-edge ridge.  Weather this morning was very fall-like--overcast and cool. Legs felt good.
PM: 1:00, 500' ~ Mineral Belt+barefoot
Cruised around on Leadville's bike path before doing a couple miles of barefoot. Crazy good sunset.

8/30/2012
Thu-AM: 2:33, 5500' ~ Missouri Mt. & Mt. Belford (14,067' & 14,197')
Got an early start so that Joel would have good light for filming up on the ridge. First time I've approached Missouri from the Missouri Gulch TH, and it's a nice climb up to the ridge. Took my now-standard traverse on the southerly side of the East ridge to reach Elkhead Pass, but by staying as high as possible and actually getting back on the East ridge well before the pass, I was able to move more quickly than usual. Almost little bits of use trail in there, even.  Only 18min from the Missouri summit to the pass and then another 19min to the Belford summit.  Really fun descent from Belford back down to the TH in 32min. Really enjoying the transition of seasons; with pockets of golden aspen and the crisper mornings, it's beginning to feel a lot like fall.
PM: 1:02, 500' ~ Boulevard out 'n back (Leadville)
Tired legs felt better at the end. Raining.

8/31/2012
Fri-AM: 1:51, 3500' ~ Quandary Peak (14,265')
Tired, so took it easy up and down after a 17min flattish warm-up on the road.
PM: 1:05, 3000' ~ First Flatiron+Green Mt.
Really fun evening on the mountain.  My legs were bricks this morning but had some solid pep this evening and I set a PR to the top of the First Flatiron (23:24) before downclimbing the SW face and continuing on to the summit of Green Mt. On the way back down the hill I passed by the base of the First downclimb so I could get a split from there back down to Chautauqua and ended up with a 9:16 descent.  Adding together the 11:20 it took me to get to the base (no warm-up), the 12:04 scramble of the East Face and the 3:10 downclimb, that would equate to a 35:50 car-to-car on the First.  I'll have to try it soon with a warm-up (so I can run faster on the approach) and get a true car-to-car time.

9/1/2012
Sat-AM: 6:17, 12,000' ~ Glacier Gorge Traverse, RMNP
One of the most fun days I've had in the mountains this summer.

9/2/2012
Sun-AM: 2:13, 4000' ~ 2nd+3rd Flatirons+Green Mt.
Started from Chautauqua and ran to the base of the Second, climbed it, stumbled down the boulder field over to the east bench of the Third, climbed it, and then continued on to the summit of Green before running back to Chat via Bear Canyon and the Mesa trail .  Legs were obviously pretty worked from yesterday, so I just jogged along most of the morning, trying not to catch a toe and face-plant.
PM: 1:05 ~ Creek Path+barefoot
Jogged over to Kitt Field, did some barefoot, and jogged back.

Hours: 26h05
Vert: 44,200'

The legs seemed to have mostly recovered from Leadville, so I was able to get some good mountain time this week.  The seasons are gradually changing in the mountains, though, with crisper mornings and yellower leaves all acting as reminders that summer doesn't last forever and soon enough getting into the high country will become a much more complicated endeavor.  I was very excited to have snuck in the Glacier Gorge Traverse still this season, though, and am already looking forward to hitting it again next year.

Left to Right: Pagoda, Spearhead, Arrowhead/McHenry's, Powell on the rim of the Glacier Gorge.