Bear Mountain

            Being sick put me out for a couple days, but I am almost recovered now.  On Thursday I was feeling better, so I went on a run up Boulder’s second highest peak, Bear Mountain.  This is one of the tougher routes in Boulder due to the amount of climbing needed to get to the top.  The trail network begins fairly mellow for the first 2.5 miles as a nice steady climb, and then you reach the base of Fern canyon.  Fern Canyon to the top of Bear peak is a 2-mile stretch with an elevation gain of 2,300 feet that becomes exponentially steeper as it progresses.  To say the climb a calf-burner is a bit of an understatement.  I think it is more accurately described as Satan’s stairmaster.    

Heading up Fern Canyon

However, the climb is great for training and worth it once you get to the top.  The view from the peak is very humbling as you stand on the edge of the Front Range looking out over Boulder, Denver, Rocky Mountain National Park and Indian Peaks.  The great view makes you forget your legs feel like they were set on fire an hour earlier.

View of Boulder from the summit.  The clay-colored buildings in the center are the university and the Front Range Mountains extend up the left side of the picture.

View of the backside.  It looks a little different from the front.

            After a short rest, I started the decent around the back of Bear Mountain and down Bear Canyon, a once lush green trail that felt like you were running through Wonderland with Alice.  However, last summer, the area was scorched with wild fires, killing most of the foliage in the area.  The trail now has a more ominous feeling of a post-apocalyptic world, or maybe what Wonderland looked like after Alice sobered up.  The remainder of the run was gradually downhill through the dead trees and eventually back to the trail I started on, making a 5-mile loop at the top of the lollipop. 

Total Distance: 11.25 mi

Total Elevation Gain:  3,563 ft

My trek up and down Bear had close to same elevation gain as the race coming up in Moab this weekend over half the distance.  The intense climbing is more than I will have to face, but having experience climbing steep mountains will allow me to prepared for any amount of climbing I’ll face in the race.  This week I will be doing a few light runs to keep my legs moving, while giving them time to recover.  It is important to taper training before a race to make sure my legs will be fresh and loose.  After a hard run it takes a few days to fully recover, so I don’t want to be in recovery mode at the starting line of the race.

This whole process has been an adventure so far and I’m excited to complete my first race since starting training for Leadville.  I appreciate all the support so far towards my goal of raising $5,000 for the American Brain Tumor Association.  The 20-mile race coming this weekend is an important stepping stone towards completing 100 miles in August and every donation is a stepping stone towards finding a cure and creating better treatments for an array of brain tumors.  For this race, I ask for your support with a donation of just $1 per mile.  Every donation is important for helping those affected by a brain tumor and driving research forward.  Thank you for joining my journey towards a cure.

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Justin