Ute Trail and Headed Home

Had an interesting run last night.  I ran from the apartment, up Little Cloud to Summer Road, then down Summer Road to the Ajax Trail and up the Ute Trail after that.  I thought that the Little Cloud Trail was steep but Ute Trail set me right in that opinion.

You can see in the picture, Little Cloud Trail on the right and then the Ute Trail going up and down the mountain on the left.  I had to bail as I was losing light and had to head down.  My next trip up here, next week, I plan to take Ute Trail to the summit and then Summer Road down to the base of the mountain.  It will be a three hour round trip I bet.

Little Cloud and Ute Trails

I left the apartment yesterday afternoon with my sunglasses but in reality I should have packed a headlamp.  Every fall there is the one run that catches me in the dark at some point and I forget that the days have indeed become shorter with less sunlight.  Headlamp or no, Ute Trail is best to ascend and not a friendly descent in any kind of light I imagine. 

My other goal on the next trip is to ride from the apartment and then up Hunter Creek Trail to the McNamara Hut.  That will be another longish day.  I am hoping by then the weather is a little cooler too.

Leaving Aspen this evening and headed to the springs.  I turned the AC off in the house before I left last week and I bet it is just burning up in there.  I also imagine the lawn needs mowed in the worst way. If it is still alive that is.  No idea what the heat and weather has been like there or if we even got any rain.

No running or riding today.  I've hit it pretty hard the entire time I have been up here so taking today off works as it is a travel day.  I think I will make most Wednesday's my day off for a while.  Still no clear plan on when I will start training for the JFK 50 for real but soon I am going to have to start throwing some longish weekly runs into the mix.

So back over Independence Pass tonight.  I will enjoy it and appreciate the relative brevity of it because once they close that pass my weekly commutes will be at least an hour longer each way.