TOUGH GIRL!

So today we decided to tackled HARD GUY #33 .  We had heard a lot of terrible things about this trail and even it's name sounds daunting.  Kris's husband Dan, an avid biker, mentioned that he had NEVER seen a runner on hard guy!  Well, he has never seen Michele and I then.  We are obviously not your typical runners!

We parked at the first Corral's trail head off Bogus Basin Road.  This is a portion we have run before.  We cruised along until we came to the trail head for #33.  Here we go!

This trail wasn't the HARDEST we have ever run nor the steepest.  It did have a lot of climbing and we did do a lot of walking.  The toughest part of the trail was the uneven surface.  It did make it hard to get a good footing ad some parts were very sandy! 





 

As we ran we passed a trail on our right that was unmarked.  Michele said she thought that it was the "Dry Creek" trail that we had heard about.  It is not part of the Ridge to Rivers Trail system so is not on our map.  As we continued to run we could see the trail below us windy around.

It may be hard to see in these pictures but it is down there!  I almost tripped a few times because I was looking down into the ravine instead of where I was going.  "I want to run down there!" I said.  Michele agreed.  We started hatching a plan right then and there.






Since Hard Guy kept CLIMBING and CLIMBING we decided we had the general idea of what this trail was like....a climb.  Although as a side note, Five Mile Gulch makes Hard Guy look lie a beginner trail!  We decided we would turn around ad head back to that trail we saw!  We ended up running about 2/3 of Hard Guy, enough to say we had done it, and don't need to do it again!

SO, we happily turned around at mile 4.6 ish and headed back to that unmarked trail.  Unfortunately, running Hard Guy down hill wasn't as pleasurable as running down hill usually is.  It was a bit too jarring because of the steepness and uneven terrain.  At just over 6 miles we reached the unmarked trail.  Down we go!

This was the greatest trail EVER!  Every once in a while we find a trail that we love so much we want to run it again!  This is one of those trails!  Fabulous surface, easy up and down hills, interesting ,single track, beautiful scenery.  Can't wait to see what this one looks like in the spring!  We eve got to cross a creek!

Well, I crossed the creek fine. Michele had a little trouble.



Beautiful Scenery

Cool Rock Formations


This "Dry Creek" Trail ended at Bogus Basin Road.  Michele had read about it in one of her mountain biking books.  "It should be just a short run up the road to where we parked."  Well, that was not exactly true.  Here we were running on a part of the road that we had never ran before, having no idea how long we had to run to get to Michele's car and at this point we had no idea where the car even was!

It turned out to be about 2 miles.

SO we tackled Hard Guy and in the process found a new favorite trail.  That gives us the self-proclaimed titled of TOUGH GIRL!

And what of Dan the biking "expert"?  Well, when he found out about our adventures he set out that day to try out Dry Creek and loved it!  We are such a good influence on him!

Our Attempt to Kill Kris....Failed

Now that wasn't truly our goal today.  But, she sure thinks it was!  Let me explain.

Our goal today was to get a 16 mile trail run in today.  Kris wanted to run with us but not THAT FAR! So, we compromised......

Michele and I arrived at the Camel's Back parking lot.  We called Kris and told her to leave her house now. Then we ran Hill road to Bogus Basin Road. 

Now before I get in to this run too much I need to mention that the temperatures have been triple digits for like 5 days in a row!  Today was forcasted to be 104.  We left as early as was possible, but it turns out later we learn...not early enough.

So Kris passes us in her car as we are running up Bogus Basin Road.  As you would expect she hollers at us out the window and sufficiently harasses us.  She parks at the trail head and waits for us...THIS is the compromise. It is about 3.25 miles for us to get to the trail head #31 Corrals.  When we arrive we are ALREADY HOT, and ALREADY SUPER THIRSTY.  But we count up how many ounces we have and think...yep we are good.  I wish there had been a little voice saying, "Nope you don't have enough, it's too hot today!"

We LOVED Corrals.  From the first trail head that it.  We had nice rolling downhills with a few ups.  If you start at the SECOND trail head it looks like a killer climb. Don't do it!



I brought my pepper spray today.  There have been a lot of fires and we thought there may be a chance that some animals that we don't want to meet may try and meet us.  As we ran Michele looked up ahead and shouted "Animal on the trail!"  Instantly we clumped together and I reached for my spray.  You can imagine how dorky we felt when we then realized it was a DOG.  But in our defense it's owners were a bit behind it and out of sight.

Kris started going on and on about what if we saw a Wolf.  "There are wolves by Table Rock, the fires could have driven them here."  When neither Michele or I really answered she said, "Oh you two would run ahead fast and they would get me and eat me up.  Then you can remember your friend who saved your lives by being eaten by wolves."  Michele laughed and said, "Jodi you can write a book about it."  "yes," I answered, "And I will call it the last sacrifice."

After a great enjoyable run on Corrals we can to a fork and took the left to go onto Scott's Trail #32.  Now Michele and I ran this particular trail in February, so we were prepared that it was a DOOZY.  Kris however, it was a first for her.  How did she feel about it?  "Every night I pray and thank God for such wonderful friends who get me out the door and running each morning.  I think I am going to STOP doing that!"   She was already feeling like we were going to kill her/

At this point I was already feeling dehydrated.  But I kept drinking and tried no to push it too much.

Scott's ends at the 8th Street Extension.  We took a left (actually we debated about left or right.  Michele insisted it was left, we weren't sure so we followed her insistence- to a success).  We came to the Hulls Gulch Interpretive Trail head #0.  This trail was AWESOME!  Definitely one to do in the spring!  I wish we had a camera today.  We crossed many bridges, it was downhill with switch backs, there was a tiny waterfall which would be much better with the early spring run off... Just absolutely loved this trail.

However at this point our fluids are rapidly decreasing and becoming very warm.  Drinking warm Gatorade or water to hydrate is NOT FUN.  I was really starting to feel the energy zap out of me and head straight to the sun.

When Trail #0 ended we had a brief run on #4 (thankfully VERY BRIEF) and then we turned onto Crestline Trail #28.  This is a trail we are familiar with and have ran many times.  Only problem today was THE HEAT.  It was really beginning to take it's toll.  We were all slowing down and talking less.

Something new on this trail was that we didn't stay on it until it meets with Kestral.  We turned right on Red Cliffs #39.  We all liked this trail much better.  It is still downhill, just not as steep.  Well, I'm not sure if Kris liked this better or not.  At this point in the run she was convinced we were trying to kill her.

When we came out to the 8th Street Extension we had three options, hit Kestral to Owl's Roost, the road or this back gravel road that connects with Red Fox.  Kris decided for us "THE ROAD! IT IS SHORTER!"  None of us disagreed.  We wanted this run finished!  We took the road to the parking lot and then joined the Gold Finch Trail out to Red Fox and DONE!

The full mileage was about 15.5, just over 3 hours.  It was HOT!  We were all out of water and walked to the drinking fountain at Camel's Back where we drank enough to last a normal person a few days!  We were so sapped of energy!  Kris was now convinced we were definitely out to kill her.  "I now know my trail limit!"  she announced, "SEVEN!  My limit is SEVEN MILES!"  It is always fun to have her along...I sure hope she changes her mind.

This run really dehydrated me.  Another day of losing over 6 pounds on a run.  And that weight was taken after a couple water bottles, a sprite, a PB and honey sandwich and french fries.  Imagine if I weighed myself before ANY OF THAT!  I think it was so bad because I wore the socks that I got from the Race to Robie Creek.....I should have known better.