Trail Thursday: Capitol Reef National Park

Happy Friday-eve! Does anyone ever have those days where your hair is completely unruly and you are SO CLOSE to chopping it off?

Yeah… that was me the other day. It’s at this length where it’s in-between short and long and just not the most flattering (I think). I want to grow it out, but I also just really want to stop feeling like I look like a boy with long hair…

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Anyways, we’re almost to the weekend! I really wish we had some pumpkin patches near us here in Steamboat, but I guess I’ll have to settle for one at Safeway. I’m also thinking of doing a really cool pumpkin carving this year. Thinking either this one or this one. Do you carve pumpkins? If you do - do you use one of the stencils or freehand it?

I’ve got 7-8 easy miles on tap with some strides at the end this morning and hoping to fit in some strength either before my run or tonight. It’s always ten times harder to get my strength in after work for whatever reason- anyone else feel this way?

NOW- let’s get to our Capitol Reef National Park Recap!

Here’s some quick things that I took away from the park:

Fall was in full-force here and I LOVED it!

• Backpacking- super easy to find a spot and you can grab a wilderness permit once you arrive to the park. Unless the weather is bad, I think this is a great idea (we didn’t do this since we had Stella with us)

• Running- sooo many trailheads close to the Fruita Campground and even the scenic drive is a great place to run. I fit my run in on both the trail that runs parallel to the scenic drive and on the road early Sunday morning (so traffic was minimal). It was so beautiful and peaceful.

• Hiking- same thing goes for hiking as it did for running. So many easily accessible trails right from the campground OR you can drive to so many great hikes. Always remember to be prepared for your hike with adequate water, sunscreen, a hat, and know the weather.

• Driving- We did the scenic drive and also the Washburn side drive (it’s a dirt road with a few rocky sections), both of which were spectacular. We also drove into the park from the west and left the park from the east, so we did get to see A LOT of the park. There are plenty of side trips that we could have done (had we had more time).

• Food/Gas/Lodging- There really isn’t much inside the park, but I definitely recommend stopping at the Gifford House for some fresh pie! It’s directly next to the Fruita Campground so easy 5 minute walk. We got there around 8:15 Sunday morning and the pies were still warm (and there was a relatively long line). They’re a bit pricey ($6 per pie), but totally worth it. Hot, fresh pie for breakfast? Yes, please! The town of Torrey is to the west of the visitors center and gas/ food/ some lodging is maybe a 10 minute drive? It’s super close and convenient if you forget something.

• Orchards- I saw over FIVE orchards in the valley of the park (by the visitors center/ campground/ museum). We had just missed the apple picking season (by 2.5 weeks), but it really makes me want to come back and take advantage of the harvesting season. They have walnut, apple, pear, almond, and peach trees.

OVERALL takeaway - We will definitely be back. The history is amazing here (we came across the arch where Butch Cassidy hid!) and the overall accessibility is amazing. Pretty easy to bring your furry friends too (if you don’t want to go hiking), since the trail to/from the visitors center is dog-friendly. It may be the least popular of Utah’s Big Five National Parks too, so that’s more incentive to visit!

Fruita Campground!

Nice walking trails to the Visitors Center and green space to enjoy a picnic!

One of the orchards along the Scenic Drive

Views from my run!

Driving on Washburn drive towards the canyon

Butch Cassidy’s hideout arch- located in the top middle canyon!

Petroglyphs!

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Have you carved your pumpkin yet?! Gimme some ideas!

What are you up to this weekend?!?

Pumpkin Flavored things - yay or nay? —> no, thank you.

Ever been to Capitol Reef National Park? —> if yes, what was your favorite?

Weekend Recap!

Happy Monday! I had a GREAT weekend and will have a full race recap for you tomorrow and a recap of Capitol Reef National Park for you on Thursday, but here’s some photos from our weekend!  

Race ready!  

Campsite all set up at Lake Powell

14.1 miles, 2 medals, a new race state, and a new half PR - check!  

Made it to Capitol Reef National Park! 

Nice evening walk around  the park!

Easy 4 mile Sunday run and made some new furry friends! 

Now I’m out getting in some more easy miles (5-6) and hitting up a Pilates Reformer class at lunch! 

How was your weekend?!  

Favorite place you’ve ever run? 

Ever done a Vacation Races event!?!? 

Trail Thursday: Timber Lake Backpacking In Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park!

Happy Friday eve! I’m so excited to share with you some of the photos from our backpacking trip last weekend in Rocky Mountain National Park. We booked our overnight camping permit about a month ago on their website here. Alex or I had never done any sort of Wilderness camping where you needed a permit, so we were both a bit excited and nervous! It was so easy to book the site and navigate through their website to find the best location for us on the date that we were looking for (plus it was inexpensive too! $26 to book online). I ended up booking Snowbird site at Timber Lake because it was a relatively do-able distance for us (4.6 miles 2,000’ gain), close to the lake, and close to the Grand Lake entrance of the park (closer to our home!). It ended up being National Parks Day on Saturday so the park and trailhead was busier than we expected, but it wasn’t anything unmanageable. We picked up our permit at the Kawanachee Visitors Center around 11:15am and got to trailhead before noon! We ate the sandwiches that we had picked up at Natural Grocers earlier in the morning and headed out. The Ranger that gave us our permit said to be on the lookout for Moose (they were rumored to be active in this area) and that the hike would take us 4-5 hours. We were hopeful we could get to the site around 3pm!

Ready to go!

The trail to Snowbird site was so beautiful and well-maintained. I honestly think it was one of the best trails I’ve been on since moving to Colorado 5 years ago!

We crossed over several streams, but there were great man-made footbridges which made it easy.

It was also a pretty gradual ascent (hard, but still do-able if you’re used to the elevation) for most of the hike which was nice since we had our heavy backpacks on!

At mile 2.6, we made it to the Active Landslide area. I had read reviews where most people went around the landslide, but that it was very steep and difficult. We looked at the landslide area (it was short - maybe 1/10 mile long (if that))- gravel and a few downed trees to go over and under, but we decided to give it a try! It was definitely trickier with our backpacks on and I think that if the trail was wet at all or if we were just beginning our hiking/backpacking season then it would have been much more difficult/near impossible. We made it to the other side (thankfully) and soon arrived at the Long Meadows trailhead.

At this point, the trail climbs up a bit steeper (with several switchbacks) and you never really get a great view of the Never Summer Wilderness region. Another mile or so past the trail crossing, we came to the Jackstraw site (it was unavailable this year) and to the open meadow (SO BEAUTIFUL).

We knew that once we hit this site that we were getting close (our mileage said we were around 4.5 miles and ~2,800’ in gain)!

We crossed by the privy and at this point the trail subsides a bit and rolls in-and-out of the forest and meadow area, until we arrived at Snowbird site! Our mileage said that we were at 5.0 miles and gained 3,000’ in elevation (a bit off from the designated site details). We arrived at our site at 2:55pm and I think we really made excellent time. We didn’t stop too much coming out, but I was definitely TIRED once we got there!

Rockslide area right by our campsite!

We set up our tent, sleeping bags & pads, and gathered our chairs/books/cameras to head to Timber Lake around 4pm. Once we got there, we were the only ones! It was so beautiful- the photos absolutely do not do it justice. The lake was about a 5 minute hike from Snowbird campsite.

We turned in relatively early (both had a mild case of (what we think) Altitude sickness, a bit of nausea) and had all of the winter layers since it was anticipated to get down to around 30* that night!

Thankfully we packed all the layers (plus hand warmers which I put on my toes!), so we weren’t too chilled when we woke up the next morning. We retrieved our bear box (necessary for the wilderness camping) that we set out 70 steps from our campsite the night before and made coffee (always tastes so much better outdoors!)/ a Mountain House for breakfast.

We both wanted to get back home, so we packed up pretty quickly and were out hiking back by 7:45am! It was still chilly for the first 2-3 miles so I kept my mittens and down jacket on for a bit.

Good Morning!

We made it out of the trailhead by 10am and only met a handful of hikers heading out onto the trails. The other snowbird site was never filled and overall it was so peaceful! We got a bunch of reading done and the beauty of the Fall Foliage during the hike was spectacular. It is definitely longer than the NPS suggests, but I think you should be able to make it to the Lake within 3.5-4 hours even if moving at a gentle pace. The biggest factor in this trail is making sure to be prepared (you have zero cell service) for all weather conditions (including First Aid/ food/ layers) and going through the landslide area (it is pretty dicey for anyone who is not experienced or if the trail conditions are even a bit damp/ frosty).

Navigating the Landslide area with all.the.layers

Overall- I’d highly recommend backpacking out in Rocky Mountain! The trails were so well-maintained. We didn’t see any wildlife (slightly disappointed), but I know it’s out there so please remember to leave no trace when hiking and respect the animals who call these places home.

Some of the many Fall colors we came across!

Trail Thursday: Grand Teton National Park

I've been fortunate enough to visit the Grand Teton National Park twice. The first time was in 2015 when we did an impromptu trip to Yellowstone and drove through the Tetons enroute to Yellowstone. The second time we did get to spend a bit more time in the Tetons (last Summer, 2017), but still never quite enough time (in my point of view). I always feel as though Yellowstone's close proximity to the Tetons overshadows it.

The Tetons are absolutely spectacular and I'd really love to plan an entire trip just visiting it (without Yellowstone).  We've driven through several of the side roads in the National Park (one was just before my Jackson Hole Half Marathon start and it was zero dark thirty...yeah I don't recommend doing that) and there is just so much to see. 

I really do not think that the photos do it justice. I'd also really love to backpack in the park. I know that there are several backcountry options to hike to and that sounds amazing. With having Stella (our pup), it's always a little challenging planning these types of trips (dogs aren't allowed in the backcountry in both Grand Teton & Yellowstone Nat'l Parks), so we aren't able to do them as often as we would prefer. 

Jenny Lake is absolutely beautiful and I'd recommend planning to spend a day just admiring her beauty (if you have the time)! 

Also plan to camp directly in the park. We ended up camping just outside of the park last Summer (we stayed here) because we arrived later over Labor Day weekend and all of the campsites were previously booked. Still a beautiful site and only ~25 minutes outside of the Park/ Jackson Hole Ski Resort area, but I wish we could have gotten a site in the actual park. 

Ever been to Grand Teton National Park?

Camping or backpacking?

Trail Thursday: King's Canyon National Park

Happy Friday-eve! I honestly feel like this week has gone by REALLY quickly. Anyone else feel that way? Also- how is it already mid-August?!? Would time please move a bit slower? Although, I am really looking forward to some amazing Fall runs! What's your favorite part of Fall? I love the crunching sound of the leaves under my feet, apple cider, apple cider doughnuts, fresh apples, crisp cool mornings...I could go on and on ;) 

You actually come out above the sequoias to cross into Kings Canyon and see some pretty amazing views. When we visited, there were several wildfires going on (nothing like it is this year however) so the view was a bit hazy.

I wanted to continue our recap about our trip to California a few years ago (we went there in October 2016). We combined our day trip to both Sequoia National Park & Kings Canyon. I'm not sure that I ever realized how close together (they're actually touching) these parks are until I started my research on them!

The SIZE of the tree trunks were just incredible. 

I think in a perfect world, we would have camped in either of the parks, but since our main "A" goal was to stay a few nights in Yosemite we skimped on staying longer in these parks. There is A LOT to see here and I'd recommend taking at least a few days to see everything and really take in the beauty and grandness of the parks. 

General Grant Tree

We parked several different times and walked around the nice paths that the park offers. Like Sequoia, the park doesn't allow dogs on any of the established trails (that we saw anyways) so it was cool enough for us to leave her in the car for small periods of time.

General Grant Tree from afar. 

Seeing General Grant Tree was absolutely the highlight of the park for us. 

The grandness and history of the tree was awe-inspiring. The walk to the tree was longer than some of the others (some were almost directly off the parking area), but there are several parking lots and great marked trails so you never feel like you may be lost. When we visited, it was also REALLY busy which was unexpected because other areas of the park seemed quiet. I guess this was one of the top "must see" groves in either of the parks. 

What's your favorite National Park?

Ever been to Kings Canyon National Park? Favorite spot?

Favorite part of Autumn?