I'd be lying if I didn't say I was having a bit of a hard time focusing on road running when it's prime season for trail running right now. So a few weeks ago, I was SO happy to be able to head down to Ouray for an awesome trail run - my first mountain run of the year.
I had posted on Facebook asking if anyone was interested in joining me for a trail run and was happy to hear that some of my friends from Montrose already had some plans going and allowed me to tag along! There was a fairly large group of us, but with some of us wanting to go different distances and paces so it worked out well that we ended up splitting into smaller groups as the day went on. The route we took was Cutler Creek Trail to Left Fork Cutler Creek Trail and then to Baldy Trail back to the trailhead. I have actually been on Badly Trail before - Scott and I hiked it the first summer we lived in Montrose, but the Cutler Creek section was new to me. Either way though, I was just happy to be in the incredible San Juan Mountains for the first time this summer.
I'm going to keep this short, and mostly just share pictures, but we ended up going about 10 miles total (we were actually at about 9.5 when we got back to the trailhead, so me being me, had to add an extra half mile onto it to get to 10!) with about 3,000 feet of elevation gain. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and I hope to get many more of these after my next road marathon in 2 weeks (seriously - I am counting down the days until it's over - I'm just a little burned out from it - I want to spend my weekends frolicking in fields of wildflowers and groves of Aspen trees...is that so much to ask!?! I know it sounds cheesy but there is just something freeing about spending time in the mountains. It is good for the soul!
So without further ado, pictures:
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| Map of the trails in the area! We did Cutler Creek to Left Fort Cutler Creek to Baldy |
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| One of the many water crossings! |
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| So pretty!! |
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| Chimney Rock and Courthouse Mountain! |
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| The water crossings felt so nice - it was 85 degrees out!! |
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| My picture doesn't do these poppies justice - they were HUGE and so pretty! |
So pretty!!! I'm in Southern California so this time of year the hills that are green in Spring are just as brown and icky as can be. No shade and nothing but low brush and even the streams in the mountains, especially with the drought, are totally dry. Makes me want to flee to Colorado!! :-)
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