Monday, July 25, 2011

Northwest Colorado Springs

4 Miles 33:33 8:22 average per mile
11:45 am) mid 70's Sunny & Warm!
Elevation Gain: 676 ft
Elevation Loss: 677 ft
Min Elevation: 6,621 ft
Max Elevation: 7,308 ft
Just 4 miles today but a hard 4. I ran a out and back and the 2
miles out were tough. Mile 2 my pace was 10:30! I did walk for
part of it. Not sure the name of the trail I was on. Never
been on it or knew about. Just kind of found it on accident.
Parked at a Methodist Church parking lot since I didn't see any
public parking near by.
The trail is located near Flying Ranch Road and Centennial.
Steve or Craig do you know the name of this trail? It's near
Ute Valley Park.

B/a11r/232

8 comments:

HappyTrails said...

Brad - right near home. Describe the location a bit more and I can tell you if it is a "named" trail or not.

Brad Poppele said...

I never saw any signs so it might not be named. Hard to describe it. I started out on a gravel bike trail that ran along a concrete gully then as the trail started more towards the mountains it became steep and more single track. Some of the single track would split off but eventually would join back. I only went 2 miles out so not sure how much further it went. I didn't have a camera so no pictures to help describe it. Next time I can post pictures.
Thanks!

HappyTrails said...

If you crossed Allegheny and had the scar on the mountain (Pikeview Quarry) on your left, then you were on what is loosely called Foothills Trail. It goes up onto the hillside, into Pike National Forest, then there are many side trails. You can connect over to Blodgett Open Space, then onto Blodgett Peak, which tops out over 8k.

Brad Poppele said...

That's it! I did see the quarry on my left. Next time I will go to the top. Thanks Steve for the info!

HappyTrails said...

Dude, if you ran 8:22's on that - look out PPM!! When you get to the top, it is a little sketchy on trail directions but it's not like you can get lost. When you get to the stuff that is like goat path steep, you are pretty much going straight up the side of the foothills!!!

Craig Hilton said...

Blodgett has a sign on it - plus thats further North of the scar up in Peregrine, so I'm sure what HT's is saying is true - although I have not been on the Foothils Trail.
You are rocking it Brad, I'm getting excited for you for PPM. What's your PR for that?

Brad Poppele said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brad Poppele said...

Thanks Craig for the info. My PR at PPM is 5:33:54 from 2008. I hope to go sub 5 hours this year. Goal is around 2:50 for the ascent and 2 hours or better on the down.