Mt. Sherman

This peak is about the most accessible peak one can find in Colorado. It's access is from two trailheads that are about 2.5 and 3.5 miles long. We came from the Leadville side and found the trail to be rocky and almost vertical in most places. Great for hill-climbing. Plus we camped at timberline giving us hours at 12,000 feet over the weekend (8-1 through 8-3). In the end, we summited 4 times...

Mt Shavano

This 14,000 foot peak is located near Salida, Colorado and is accessed by heading toward Monarch Pass. The Angel of Shavano trail takes 4.5 miles to ascend 5,000 feet past a snow field that looks like a great angel from the valley below. Yes, I said 5,000 feet in 4.5 miles. Not exactly a trail full of switchbacks. We added 2 miles along the Colorado trail to make it a 13 mile day and did the round trip in about 6 hours. There was a creek near the base and was a good respite as we used Brendan's water filtration system to drink from the stream. Here are some photos.

We made the blog!

How nice to be included in the "Running in the Springs" blog
http://www.runninginthesprings.com/2008/07/summer-round-up-12k.html
Calvin, Brendan, Dad and I were standing together and three of us captured some age group awards... the blogger took our picture together which is shown halfway down the page. Cool beans.

So, the next race is Pikes Peak! This weekend, we'll head over to Mt. Shavano for high altitude training.

Trail Roundup

On Sunday, Calvin, Dad, Brendan and I all ran the 12K Summer Roundup in Colorado Springs. The run began down a slope that Bren and I surged to get around some congestion before the trail closed us up. We got free and were running in the top 30 positions the whole way. Bren pulled away from me up the hill but toward the top I was able to close so we could turn together. Down the hill we passed a number of runners before he began to have stomach trouble. I finished in 55:10 with Bren about 1 minute back. On a different day, the roles could easily reverse. I am impressed with how strongly he climbs.


Calvin ran his own race this day, no longer depending on one of us for pacing. I saw him climbing well as I came down the dirt section of the road. Cal finished in 1:09 and won a second place finisher trophy.

Dad ran about a minute slower than last year, but he said he felt faster. His Achilles is not troubling him and he doesn't get out of breath... he needs more muscle strength. I feel the same way.

Well, let's do a fourteener this weekend and work on that! Mt. Shavano, here we come!

Race Results

Photos for Mt Evans

Here are links to the SkiPix photos from Mt. Evans Ascent

Calvin, Dad and Dan

Calvin and Dad above 12,000

Dad in pursuit

Mt Evans

OK, so I haven't been a good daily blogger, but this entry is good for documenting a great day of running with Calvin and Dad. Calvin ascented in 3:17 and Dad was up in 3:26... a 20 minute PR!

Getting creative

As I awoke to yet another sub-freezing morning, I wandered around in the gloom looking for some sort of hat to wear. While I don't have much trouble running in very cold temperatures in shorts, I prefer to have my ears covered. Failing to find what I needed, I resorted to the laundry basket:

Of course, wearing clothes in ways not originally intended is nothing new for me. Here, my dad and I pioneered the now famous sleeve-into-a-hat technique:


My mother refers to this is as the lobotomy-patient look [;-)