Will run for scenery.
(Pronounce one of the nouns like a Brit, and you, my friend, have yourself a rhyme. You're welcome.)
On Saturday I ran the Imogene Pass Run, 17 miles from Ouray to Telluride, CO. (RR to appear any day now in Beginners and Beyond.) One of my big goals for the weekend was to combine the IPR with a LR on Sunday to get around 30 miles for the weekend. So I camped out in the forest not far from Ouray, right at the beginning of a gorgeous, fairly flat trail.
Two things conspired against me, however. One is that I fell hard near the end of the race and think I busted a rib - it was hurting bigtime when I woke up Sunday. And second, the trail I so carefully selected was slick and muddy from all the rain, and some of the "gentle" terrain wasn't even passable for pack animals, judging by the loooong scratchmarks on the vertical cliff of mud that was the trail. So I turned back after a mile or so. After pancakes and a nap I headed for home.
But as I was passing through the desolate, mountainless area west of Gunnison I hung a right on a dirt road and got up on top of a huge mesa. Once I was in the middle of nowhere, I parked and started running.
Nobody ever builds things on top of mesas, and nature seems to follow their lead. A road on top of a mesa is on the slow way to nowhere. And no matter how far you travel, you're still just there : you, the sky, and 360 degrees of horizon. It's the perfect place to get your Gump on. I set out thinking I'd only do one hour, on account of low water and the busted rib. But it was cool and overcast in a dramatic big-sky kind of way, and my comfort-jogging doesn't seem to use my ribs or chest muscles at all. So I just followed the soft gently meandering dirt road and before I knew it I was an hour from my car. The return was just right. I was starting to think I might walk a bit when I crossed a gentle rise and saw my car. After I got in, a few sprinkles started to fall.
So, my first "double" turned out to be a success. I ended up hitting 30 miles for the weekend, and the "running on tired legs" seemed to work out just right. But it also changed my ideas about trail running. Now when I pore over maps planning for the perfect run in nature, I've got a whole new beast to search for - the beautiful desolation of an out-of the way mesa.
Stupid feet!
Stupid elbow!
Nice! How was the pass run? Did you come up early to acclimate or are you one of those lucky folk that live at altitude?
Congrats on your Imogene finish!
Given your description, I am guessing you were somewhere above Blue Mesa / Stueben Creek/ Lion Gulch - maybe Soap Creek? I wish I'd been more of a trail runner when I lived in Gunni, there's some great trails...
So - I've done Imogene 4 times and Rim Rock 3 times...do we know eachother?
Watoni, it was spectacular. Definitely a bucket list kind of run. I had a wonderful, fantastic day even taking into account 2 wipeouts involving trail rash and a busted rib. I'm one of those lucky people. I live around 6000' with a 14er (Pike's Peak) right at the edge of town. And I get summers off. But don't hate me, I'm not beautiful !
DeltaRose, The road was the Blue Mesa Cutoff. After a short ways on that, I turned on a road with a sign for Armitage Springs (?). I don't imagine we've ever met IRL, but might have crossed paths at IPR last year (my first). I've never done Rim Rock, but I'm thinking of doing it this year. It would probably be an easy marathon PR for me, as I've only done Leadville and Pike's Peak.
I plan to get a RR for Imogene up sometime soon... I lost my cell phone (w/ the pics) 2 days ago and just found it this morning; now the battery is dead and charger is at home...
Pace Prophet
I've done Imogene 4 times also - great race. Rim Rock is also a great race (I've done it twice) but it's not certified, bummer. It was actually my PR the first time I ran it, too.