Trail Running on the Grand Mesa

I got back yesterday from my trip to the Grand Mesa and y’all, it was seriously beautiful over there. At the lower elevations, the aspen leaves were just changing to a stunning golden yellow and I couldn’t get enough of them! Mom and I decided to go trail running on Friday morning as a way to get our sweat on while still taking in the views. Best. decision. ever!

The Grand Mesa is seriously one of the least populated outdoor meccas I have ever explored (I’m even hesitant to type this because I fear that I’ll help spread the word faster!) For example, when I asked Mom where we were going to run, she replied, “Oh, let’s just drive up the hill a ways. I’m sure we’ll find something.” Sure enough, we found a beautiful trail that was completely void of people!

I wore my Mizuno Wave Ascend 7 trail shoes and, because it is the start of hunting season, my neon yellow Columbia Solar Polar Half Zip. I was thinking I was all smart, dodging the hunters and remaining highly visible….until I realized I was the same color as the changing aspens. Moron.

Matchy-matchy with the leaves. I’m an idiot.

Anyway, Mom runs at a significantly slower pace than I do, but I was just excited to be outside in the beautiful sunshine! Although the Denver Metro area received snow on Friday, the western side of the state was just as warm and sunny as ever. It was roughly 55 degrees when we started, and I daresay I used the word “glorious” to describe the weather! Tals was fortunate enough to be able to run off-leash, so she and I would jog ahead for five minutes and then turn around to jog back to Mom. Naturally, Mama said it was fine for us to keep going but Tally was not having that decision at all! She is very protective of “her flock” of people and she doesn’t like it when Grandma is out of sight. As long as we checked on Mom every 5 minutes or so, Tals was kosher with the situation.

Mama truckin’ up one of the climbs

The run was a gradual uphill that started out as a tight, leaf-covered singletrack but turned into a wider, two-lane backcountry road. There were plenty of muddy bogs for Tals to splash around in and drink from (Yuck, I know, but she is a dog!) so she was psyched. I enjoyed watching the trees change as we climbed up the Mesa. The leaves were the previously mentioned yellow at the base, but as we climbed, the aspen trunks grew bare and we eventually turned around in grove free of leaves.

My lil’ furball taking a break

View from the top– love the random patches of yellow!

Annnnnnnnd I was planning on uploading the topo of the run for y’all to see, but my Garmin and my laptop are currently going to battle, so I’ve got nothing for you 🙂 You’ll just have to believe that the run involved some BEAST climbs that explain away the 3.1 miles in 40:07!