2020 Summer Trail Notes 1: Green Mountain – Summit 1

Date: Wednesday, June 2

Start: Early morning

Route: Saddle Rock to E.M. Greenman to the summit, to Ranger Trail to Gregory Canyon.

Carried: Two soft flasks: one with water and one with Maurten, a bunch of rando gels (probably Maurten, Honey Stinger and Huma) and a Promix protein puff bar. Oh, and for some reason, hand sanitizer? Like, sure—I could do some hani-sanitizing (shout out to Bria Wetsch and Aaron Lange for that hand + sanitizer combo) but I’m only in the wood for such a short jaunt… I blame last-minute corona anxiety.

It seems worth noting that I was (unsurprisingly, to those who know me) overpacked. But, I drank all the fluids anyway though because I’m competitive.

Trail specifics: Pretty rocky and technical if you take the steep way up (Saddle Rock to E.M. Greenman) but mostly runnable on the way down (Ranger Trail to Gregory Canyon).

The Trail Run Project rates this loop as 55% runnable, which I’d say seems accurate—unless you’re ready to absolutely crush a trail run right now.

Distance: My watch says 5.31 miles. I started somewhere random on the Baseline Trail in Chautauqua and finished around where Gregory Canyon Road dumps onto Baseline Road.

Total time: 2:09:07 with stops.

Vert: My Garmin claims 2,425 feet.

^{My favorite view in Boulder, Colorado. | Photo by Nicole Bush.}

Highlights:

Firmly establishing that my favorite view is the one looking north along the foothills—with the Rocky Mountains to the left, in the background—towards Estes Park from Green Mountain or Bear Peak. I love how the foothills, especially when they are a lush green, spill into the valley as they vanish into the horizon.
Was mocked by two old white dudes for stopping to take photos. They talked about me while assuming both that I didn’t know they were talking about me and that I didn’t understand what they were saying about me. As my favorite Aussie and former training partner Heidi See would say, “Ruuude.”
Taking photos that I later edited in black and white. The early morning light and the pockets of shadows on the rocks were stunning. It was fun trying to capture all that mountains majesty (while stopping so my high af blood pressure could calm down).
Had an opposite old-white-guy interaction on my way down the mountain. A man, hiking with a woman I presumed to be his wife, commended me for my running down the mountain.

^{The photo I took after waiting forever for the rude dudes to get out of my shot. This is some of the light and shadow I was talking about. | Photo by Nicole Bush.}

Conclusions:

I think I might try to summit Green once a week for a while and see what happens. And I mean that in the broadest sense. Will I get fitter? Stronger? Will I hate it? Will I do it like 16 times? Will I quit after two weeks? Will I go to other mountains instead of Green? Will it get old? Will I do it in the winter too? I don’t know. I just wanna see what happens.