Once upon a time, in the land of salmon, sword ferns, banana slugs, and espresso there ventured a lad clad in skimpy shorts. Accompanied by two coffee aficionados, toting a couple of t-shirts, pairs of shorts, and Swiftwick socks, they were greeted by a bard in the great city of Seattle.
Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, Glen Pops Freeman!
On day one, clouds lingered low in the sky, but retained any rain that could damper our enjoyment of the day. We ventured to Discovery Park to run a little loop that allowed us to soak up the beauty of the forest and the undulations of the Puget Sound's coastline.
Discovery Park
The following day we ventured to the Tiger Mountain of Fleet Foxes fame. The run to the top was great, a little over 3 miles with about 1,700 ft of vertical. After I made my way back down I circled the lake at the bottom, running about 11 miles on the morning.
Looking from Tiger's summit to Squak Mtn
Smooth trail=fast, fun run
Our go-to coffee spot in Seattle quickly became Milstead & Co. Its situated on 34th Ave & Troll Ave. Troll Avenue sits beneath a bridge, and what bridge is complete without a 15 foot tall troll?!
The troll of Troll Ave
The following day we climbed aboard a ferry to Bainbridge Island. The views from the ferry were truly remarkable. Mt Rainer, to the southwest, appeared to be on a different planet rising, literally, 14,000 feet above us. Mt Baker to the north was completely covered in snow and looking incredibly impressive scraping the sky. The skyline was cool, too.
Dan, Vince, and myself aboard the ferry.
I must digress for just a moment: Vince and I were driving through the Freemont neighborhood of northern Seattle when, on the sidewalk out my window I saw a familiar stride running. I turned onto the next road and parked on the sidewalk, further examining the runner. As he approached, both of our faces filled with awe, as we realized who we had so fortuitously happened upon. It turned out my friend Dan, who I knew for just a matter of days back at the Grand Canyon, had just made his way to Seattle for a visit a couple of days prior. Truly, truly bizzare. It was great to get to spend a couple of days with some great friends.
Dan, Vince, Travis, and I went to see a great group of folks play music Wednesday. Caravan of Thieves was the name, I had the pleasure of seeing a couple of years ago in Asheville, and they put on an entertaining performance that I would encourage anyone to check out.
Friday I said farewell to the friends after a 5 mile outing at Deception Point, and made my way out onto the Olympic Peninsula. I stopped as soon as possible to run in the Lower Dungeness Wilderness, just outside of Sequim, and did about 13 miles on soaking wet, brilliantly green, leaf-covered trails before making my way to Port Angeles for the night.
Bald Eagle, unfortunate to just have my phone camera.
Appalachians or Olympics?!
The facemeltingly beautiful peaks of the Olympic mountains and their proximity to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which leads to the Pacific, left me restless throughout the night in anticipation of Saturday's run up to Mount Angeles. The route is a 12.5 mile loop that gains a little over 4,000 ft. It passes through dense, damp, dark forest, into beautiful sub-alpine meadows surrounded by snowy pines, and then ultimately to craggy, scree-covered ridges. Here are some pictures from the outing:
The trail is the snow wrapping to the left of the pines
Superb singletrack
View northwest towards the Pacific
Klahhane Ridge
Mountain Pass
My destination, Klahhane Ridge, in the distance across a lot of snow
Faint view of the trail on which I came.
The only other hiker I saw kindly took a picture. Mount Angeles in the back.
Looking south into Olympic National Park from Klahhane Ridge
Me and Mount Angeles
Mount Angeles
I followed goat tracks nearly the entire time I was in the snow.
Kitty tracks were plentiful, too
Lake Angeles
A lot of beautiful forest on the descent.
The rest of my stay in Port Angeles was great. I met a lot of good folks who were passionate about the place they'd chosen to call home.
Sunday morning I went out for about 15 miles on the Adventure Trail, which is just west of P.A, and then made my way back to Seattle to head back home.
Looking towards Port Angeles with Klahhane Ridge rising high behind
Sunset by the sea
Sea life as seen in an aquarium...
Mountains look incredible from an airplane.
Week In Review:
11/5- Monday
X
11/6- Tuesday
4 miles at Discovery Park, :40 minutes, 600 ft
11/7- Wednesday
Tiger Mountain, 11 miles, 1:25, 1,800 ft
11/8- Thursday
X
11/9- Friday
AM- 5 mile loop on Deception Point with Vince, :40 minutes, 600 ft
PM- 13 miles in Lower Dungeness Wilderness, 2:30, 1,800 ft
11/10- Saturday
12.5 loop up to Klahhane Ridge, 1:35 up, 2:45 total, 4,200 ft
11/11- Sunday
15 mile out-and back on the Adventure Trail, 2:10, 1,500 ft
I ran both further and faster than I typically do on my runs this past week. The body feels strong and has recovered better than anticipated. I'm excited for runs to come, most notably the week I'll spend in the Seattle area/Olympic Peninsula in early November!
With plans of heading to Boulder in mind, I contacted a couple of folks in the area to see what was happening in the running world and as steered towards the Boulder Basic. I asked how long the run would be and where it would go and the reply was "we'll know when we get there", and I was sold. Arriving at the start there were probably 40 people dressed to kill, with traction systems in tow excited to tackle the backyard trails. I met up with Jason, Jenny, and Ethan, and we ended up getting going about 20 minutes or so after the group, but it wasn't too long until we caught up to folks. The prescribed route featured summits of Flagstaff, Green, and Bear, the later of which we elected to cut out for the sake of time. We slid through snow and splashed through slush, and had a hell of a time.
The event felt like a bit of a homecoming with the casual atmosphere, the excitement, laughter, and camaraderie so reminiscent of my much-missed WNC Trailrunners. Its always a blast to get out with a group of friends and familiar faces (many of whom had patronized the coffee shop at somepoint this summer).
Week In Review:
Monday 10/22-
5 miles around town before work, :40, 300 ft
Tuesday 10/23-
12 miles out-and-back around Turquoise Lake with Luna, 1:35, 600 ft
Wednesday 10/24-
15 miles on the CT with Travis, Luke, and Lunas north from Timberline TH, 4:00, 2,500 ft
Thursday 10/25-
17 miles with Sandi on the east side of BV, 2:45, 2,000 ft
Friday 10/26-
X
Saturday 10/27-
Boulder Basic (alternate route) with Jason, Jenny, and Ethan, 3:00, 3,000 ft
Sunday 10/28-
8 miles in circles on the college's fit trail, 1:00, 500 ft
Totals: 70 miles, 12 hours, 8,900 ft
Boulder's Flatirons Saturday morning.
Luna is thinking of taking up a new sport... I hope she'll continue with recreational jogging.
The last few weeks have been wonderful. I'm glad that I have stayed healthy and enthusiastic to the point of being able to enjoy the last of the autumn weather. The snow is poised to settle in any week now. Some of my favorite trails are already starting to build up banks, but I look forward to running on the groomed ski trails when I'm not out skiing them.
We had the pleasure of getting out on a sailboat in Twin Lakes a couple of times. How often do you get to sail in front of 14,000 ft peaks? Awesome.
Mel and Elbert
Mind the boom. If it catches you off-guard, your head will hurt.
About a month ago I reverted back to vegetarianism and have been having a blast in the kitchen and feeling really great both on the trails and in day-to-day activities.
Meanwhile, Luna enjoys playing fetch (duh) and has been learning some new tricks.
This past week Luna and I headed up Mt. Yale, which may be our final trip up a 14er without skis this year. I believe that puts me at having summited 10 different 14ers since heading out to Colorado in May, and about 25 total trips up beyond the mystical 14,000 ft mark.
I think I can safely say that the wind experienced on Yale's ridge was the fiercest I've ever endured. I maintained three points of contact through most of the scrambling to the summit so as not to get blown over.
Luna looking out towards the Three Apostles about 1,000 ft shy of Yale's summit.
Looking north from Yale's Ridge at Colombia (center) and Harvard (left)
The wind blew me off-balance before the timer clicked.
Contemplating the snow-covered north slopes as a means of dodging the winds.
A little catching up to do, so here's some weeks in review:
