Saturday, July 17, Hope Pass Double

Met some friends near Winfield to go camping so when I got up Saturday morning I decided to do a double crossing of Hope pass as this will be the crux of the race in August. From our campsite at 9600' it was a 3.1 mile ~500' vertical warmup West to the the Sheep Gulch trailhead. I don't know too much about the course (trail names) so luckily I had assumed this was probably the trail up to Hope Pass and took it. So 32 minutes into my run I started towards Hope Pass. I was supposed to find Jenna and Jenny in Twin Lakes in about 2 hours so I wanted to make good time going up. My split from the Sheep Gulch trailhead to Hope was about 53 minutes although I could be wrong as I wasn't really paying too close attention to splits.

Upon descending there is a point where the trail forks and you can either continue straight or go west across a small bridge. I opted to go straight and I think this is the route for the Leadville course?? Crossed the stream that feeds the lakes which felt great since it was pretty warm. Then I bush whacked my way through marshes and bogs as I couldn't discern any trail until I made it to Hwy 82. I ran down the road about a half mile and found Jenna and Jenny at the Twin Lakes visitor center. I was glad I made it there in time, and actually I was only 10 minutes off what I had estimated having never seen any of the trails or knowing exactly where I was going.

I spent about 20 minutes chatting with them. I was happy they were generous enough to meet me so I could fill my water bottles and get some food. Not wanting to stop for too long I started back (my first split was ~2:17). I marched through the marshes and crossed the stream again. My energy levels weren't there at the start of the climb and I settle into a solid power hike. I ran some when the trail flattened, then power hiked the last switch backs to the top. Not sure of my split here (I'm thinking somewhere near 1:40 plus or minus 5 minutes). Made quick work of the descent and ran the gradual downhill back to my campsite. Total running time 4:45:25 not including the stops on top of Hope to enjoy the view and my stop in Twin Lakes (and maybe a couple minutes more that I stopped my watch while I was fiddling with my water bottles).

I estimate the mileage to be around 22.5 miles with 6400' vertical in 4:45:25 which I think is in line with where I want my fitness to be.