Archive for March, 2015

Running – William F. Hayden Park (aka Green Mountain), Lakewood, CO

Friday, March 6th, 2015

Laura and Clare Trail Running Green Mountain
Laura and I on the top of Green Mountain.

Looking Down Box o' Rocks
Looking back down Box O’ Rocks trail.

Photos courtesy: Laura Luhn

On Friday, I met up with Laura for my training run at Green Mountain. She ran with me for the first couple hours of my run, so it was great to have company. We met fairly late in the day, so the snow was already beginning to soften. By the end of our first loop (8 ish miles), it was turning to slush.

During my second loop, the trail had devolved into full on slush with rivulets of mud sliding underneath the snow. I got very wet and muddy as the day continue to warm up. I was running a bit too fast down a steep grade and I fell and landed in the mud. Bits of ice cold mud and water splashed up over my head and dripped down my sunglasses. The entire right side of my body, coated in a thin layer of mud. Thankfully, with nothing other than an abrasion on my leg and palm, I continued back to the car.

At the end of my second loop, I decided I had enough of the slush and opted to finish the last 3 miles by running on the paved bike path. Being on a firm surface allowed me to finish my 4.5 hour excursion with some fast miles and it felt good to open the throttle at the end.

Hiking – Mt. Galbraith, Golden, CO

Sunday, March 1st, 2015

Dennis and Clare Hiking Mt Galbraith
Hiking in the snow!

Clare and Jane on Mt. Galbraith
Clare and Jane enjoying the wintry weather on Mt. Galbraith

Mt Galbraith Park Trail Head
Trail Head Sign

Jane, Dennis, and I met up to go for a nice hike up to and around Mt. Galbraith. It was a snowy winter day. When we got to the trail head, we saw that the trail was packed so we decided to leave the snowshoes in the car. It took us a couple hours to hike the ~6 miles, at a really nice mellow pace. The clouds were fairly low, but we still had some nice views of Golden and Lookout Mountain. I really enjoyed the hike of Mt. Galbraith; it’s proximity to Golden, convenient trail head, good signage, and nice views.