Icing on the Cake

It finally looks and feels like winter here on the Front Range of Colorado. About six inches of snow have fallen and the temperature has dropped to about 5 degrees. I would rather run in a blinding snowstorm than with the temperatures in the sixties and that nasty wind we can get here so I threw some weight in the back of the pick up and drove down to Eldorado Springs. Six inches of snow had already fallen there and was still coming down when I pulled in to the Dowdy Draw Trailhead.

I put my iphone in a ziplock bag in my windbreaker pocket and headed up the trail. I clearly was the only one out; it was virgin powder as they say in Colorado. The South Spring Brook Trail and the Goshawk Trail are somewhat twisty and rocky; on the way up I was able to at least see where the larger rocks were covered with snow and avoid them. It was a little slower going moving my feet through the snow but the running seemed easier because of the trade off of slower speed.

At three miles and 700 feet of elevation gain I turn and headed down opting for the North Spring Brook Trail which is slightly longer, less steep, but canted to the downhill side. This proved to be more difficult because the upslope wind was driving the snow into my face and the late afternoon light was completely flat so I could no longer visually distinguish any rocks, unevenness of the trail, or holes under the snow cover. They say that if you let a horse run how it wants it won't step in a hazard. I must have had the horse sense in me today because I couldn't see anything and had no mishaps, just a great run that you had to be there to appreciate.