Hitting the trail for a quick jaunt up towards Buckskin Pass on Saturday was our first visit to the area since ski season. Some useful route beta for the Maroon Bells area was learned. Here’s the report:

Buckskin Pass and the Four Pass Loop

The only news from down low is that as you pass the wilderness boundary sign there are four new trail washouts from the recent rain. Higher up, it’s dry in the open, sunny areas but in the shaded spots the snow still remains, even as low as where the trail crosses Minnehaha Creek. Stretches of patchy snow above the creek crossing are easily passable, to near 12,000 feet, and above that the remaining 500 vertical feet to the top of the pass is still pretty well covered. read more>>>

Nearing the "Narrows" aid station, near mile 15

Christy and I have run the San Juan Solstice 50 two times now and decided we wanted to try something new. So in place of the Lake City, Colorado race, with it’s huge vertical gains and high elevations, we ventured to a different 50 miler we had long heard of, in northern Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains. The Bighorn Wild & Scenic race weekend offers up a 30K, 50K, 50 mile and 100 mile course, all held simultaneously and choreographed so as to have the four races finish on the same afternoon. As validation to its difficulty, the 100 mile race, which is an ‘out and back’ of our 50 mile course, counts towards the grueling Mountain Slam Series. Having run all of the other races in that series and knowing their difficulty firsthand, I knew this 50 miler would likely be tough. Hopefully it would also be fun.

Christy’s sister Jen, and Kathy Fry, both of whom paced Christy at the Wasatch 100 last September, also found something appealing in it and decided to join us there. It was their first foray into the ultra scene which surprised at least a few of Jen’s friends, some of whom were quick to remind her of earlier declarations made after witnessing Christy’s suffering at WF100, that is to have said read more>>>

Don't let the photo fool you, we're out in the upper part of Hunter Creek where the ground is dry. The three hours prior were spent in a mix of mud, snow and water.

At least it was hard last Monday. More so than when Richard Betts, an avid trail running friend, sommelier and producer of killer wine and fine mezcal (if there is such a thing it’s called Sombra), and I have completed this trail linkup in years past.

This time was different though. With all of the recent cold temperatures, cloudy weather and rain (and snow up high– see last weeks TGIF dawn patrol), the local high country trails  haven’t been melting.  As an annual rite of summer for Richard and me, we run the 19 mile Midway Pass to Hunter Creek route each year in the days preceding Food & Wine weekend in Aspen, and this time the mostly downhill(2211 ft. gain/4891 ft. loss) run wasn’t the typical the pre-work cruise but rather an early season hike/ slog through water, mud and snow. read more>>>

Well maybe it’s not a true “Dawn Patrol,” by its strict definition at least. But it is Friday and with the approaching summer solstice only 10 days away it’s not really necessary to get moving in the dark, and because it was completed before Christy went into work, we’re filing it under the title above.

The weather lately has been unusual to say the least, with unseasonably cold temperatures and rain that sometimes seems to fall all day long. The road bikers, rock climbers and other sun loving types have been pretty cranky and others are just wondering when summer will arrive. Though it’s been nice for running, keeping things cool enough to allow for a mid-day jaunt when it’s normally too hot for my liking, even a cold weather lover like myself realizes the combo of cold temps, clouds and rain need to pass to allow things to dry out.

Friday’s forecast showed a potential break in the pattern and since a lot of the rain we’ve had in town was falling up high as snow, we thought it might be fun to go see first hand if there was any June powder. There was quite a bit. read more>>>

Well at least that’s my strategy when Christy and I line up at the start for the Steamboat Marathon this Sunday. I don’t have a choice. After a great spring almost entirely dedicated to skiing, and with the approaching calendar stacked with some pretty tough running races– the Bighorn 50 is in two weeks and Hardrock is a few weeks later just to name two– I need to get some miles under my belt. I could run on my own around here but sometimes it’s more fun to throw down for an official race, to get more out of the standard training experience (as well as another T-shirt).  It will be my third time lining up at this race with the mantra “start out slow, then taper*,” acknowledging the all-but-certain outcome of a slow finish time.

That should explain why I’m talking about this race before it happens, rather than the standard post-event debrief. This way I don’t have to discuss how it went afterwards and defend the inevitable slow time and potential finish behind Christy.

It also allows me to plug a slideshow I have in Steamboat the night before. The presentation, on our trip to Ama Dablam last fall, is being hosted by One Steamboat Place at 6pm at the One Steamboat Place Hospitality Lounge, 435 Lincoln Avenue. If you’re around on Saturday, come on by, it should be fun. At least more fun than Sunday.

*quote credit/race strategy first overheard at the start line of the 2005 Snowmass Winter Wild Race, from John Doyle.

J Love warmsup for his next amazing feat

Despite earlier threats and against my better judgement, I went skiing this morning.

Actually, it had everything to do with the call I got yesterday from Johnny Love, a.k.a. Johnny Extreme, who for five years has held his “Ski Bum” party, an annual late spring get together involving a morning ski up on Independence Pass and an afternoon BBQ at his place afterwards. I’ve unfortunately missed it every year due to being elsewhere so when we got back from NY last night and I heard the message, I realized I had to go.

But what really helped me arrive at the decision to go was the hope that I would see something like this little creek crossing sequence below, which has become his late-season Independence Pass trademark.

Scroll through the photo’s to see Johnny’s latest attempt at greatness and decide if he is:

A) just being “Johnny Extreme.”

B) not always coming up with the best ideas.

C) a brilliant skier with the style, skills and technique we all aspire to possess.

D) simply seeking redemption for last year’s debacle that landed him on YouTube. (see J Love Dive Bomb here)

E) getting ready for his summer boating and waterski season up at Ruedi Reservoir. read more>>>