Some places just feel like home, even if they technically aren’t. Colorado is that way for me. I’ve developed some close friendships with people there over the last few years, and also have a love of the high mountains. I feel like the home feeling has more to it than that, but I’m not sure how to describe it. I was excited to get there, so we decided to drive from Tahoe to our destination just outside Denver in a week.
We moved quickly from Tahoe across Nevada on Highway 50. Betty White can hold 80mph pretty well! Highway 50 in Nevada is designated the loneliest road in America, and it certainly felt like it! Jami kept wondering how many bodies were buried as we’d drive for many miles without seeing another car or any sign of civilization. We stopped in Hickison Petroglyph BLM park (free) for a night. It was a beautiful park, but it was unfortunate to see that many of the petroglyphs were almost indistinguishable from more recent carvings/grafiti. We still had fun exploring the park.
Here are a few pictures from our travels across Nevada. There are a couple from runs, and most are from a hike with Jami and Mia in the Hickison Petroglyph park.
Jami was trying to work as we drove along, which was a frustrating experience. We’d get spotty service, even though she could switch between AT&T and Verizon as needed. At one point she got an unexpected call from her company president. I quickly looked for a place to pull over. Of course just as I pulled off the freeway we lost service. Definitely not the type of conversation you want to have with a company exec!
We continued across more barren landscape and finally made it to Moab. We spent a couple nights and explored Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, as well of the town of Moab. Arches is small and we were able to see almost all of it in a day, while Canyonlands is massive, so we just scratched the surface. It was beautiful, but as Jami put it, all of the arches started to look the same at a certain point.
Here are a few photos from a run in Moab
Betty White in Arches National Park
And more Arches National Park photos!
The following pictures are all from a run in Canyonlands National Park
After that we finally made it into Colorado! I went for a run outside of Fruita in western Colorado, then we made our way to Golden. The Golden RV Park is run by the city and is one of the nicest we’ve stayed at. It is clean, small, right next to a running path and the river, and an easy walk into town. Oh… when we arrived it was SNOWING! After 2 months of running it shorty shorts without a shirt, it was definitely an adjustment! Thankfully the cold weather only lasted a few days, and has been pretty warm and sunny since.
My first run outside of Golden with Caleb… brrr!
And here are some more pics from my first few runs around Golden
Colorado has been incredible. We’ve been catching up with old friends and making new ones. Our first stop was with Caleb and Kelsey. I met Caleb while running the Fat Dog 120 in Canada, and we instantly became great friends. I think we shared around 80 miles of that race together. At the time he told me about a race he wanted to put on in Colorado on some incredible trails, but didn’t have a name or all the details worked out. I told him I would be the first to sign up once he put it together, and I have been for all 3 years of the High Lonesome 100! Kelsey is his amazing partner and a huge part of making the HL100 happen. Always so great to see them! I also got to reconnect with Matt and Julie, their son Paavo, and new baby Brecon at their temporary home base in Boulder. I started Team Run Run with them (which they have taken to new heights!), and after I left for Amazon we haven’t been as close. It was great to hang out with them, catch up, and reestablish our friendship. They live a very nomadic life and it’s always fun to compare plans! For the first couple of weeks in CO it felt like we were seeing an old friend almost every night! I’ve even run into friends unexpectedly while running the trails around Boulder! Colorado peeps just seem super cool. What great people!
Speaking of running, Golden and Boulder are running meccas, and it’s been so much fun to meet some running legends in person. I got to run with Andrew Skurka (National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, among other cool running and hiking accomplishments). Check out one of my favorite videos of Skurka after a Grizzly encounter on an Alaska adventure. I also got to stay in my coach’s driveway for a night (David and Megan Roche). It was so cool to chat with them and meet their super cute dog Addie in person (highly recommend following her on Instagram @Addiedoesstuff… be sure to read the photo captions)! On top of being incredible athletes, coaches, and people, they wrote an amazing book, The Happy Runner, that I’d highly recommend to anyone. It’s actually the one physical book I brought with me, even though I’ve already read it. I think there is a lot to take away from it even for non-runners. Megan had unfortunately just gotten some bad news about an injury, but they were still such great hosts! It’s inspiring to be around their positivity and energy.
Kyle, Skurka, Matt and me on a run in Boulder
More trail porn from Boulder, Golden, and in-between
After a couple weeks in Golden and Bolder Jami and Mia had to fly back to Seattle. Their part of this adventure was done, and I immediately missed them. Jami had been on and off the van with work trips, but it definitely felt different having Mia gone and knowing I wouldn’t see them for a while (I’m flying back to Seattle for a week at the end of June, but will otherwise be in Colorado solo until August). Jami already found a fabulous new apartment for us, and is settling in as I write this (Thanks my love!)! Had it not been for trying to work she would have liked to stay on Betty White for longer, but she was definitely ready to get settled and see her coworkers back in the office.
Now solo, I drove up to Leadville, the highest US city, at 10,200 ft, to spend time in the higher mountains and to acclimate for upcoming races. My first race, The San Juan Solstice 50, was unfortunately canceled due to snow levels. It’s a pretty scary situation for the small town of Lake City, which is at risk of serious flooding as snow melts. I decided to jump into the Leadville Marathon, on June 15th instead. It is also going to have a course change, since its high point (Mosquito Pass, a little over 13,000 ft) is under too much snow to clear. I’m in a rustic little RV park right in the town of Leadville, with a view of Mt Elbert and Mt Massive from Betty White. My mom decided to come out for the race, so I’ll have some company coming up soon!
The view from a Leadville trail run with Caleb. The furthest mountain to the right is Mt Massive.
The Leadville RV park Im staying in on the left, and an incredible view of Mt Massive!
Another shot from a Leadville trail run with Caleb
Finally some pictures from a hike up to part of the High Lonesome 100 course. In the race this trail climbs to the high point of the course (a bit over 13,000 ft), in a saddle next to Mt Antero. On this hike I was only able to get up to near 11,400 ft due to the snow. I was climbing through thigh deep post holes pretty quickly at that point and decided to turn around. Hopefully it all melts before the High Lonesome 100 at the end of July! On my way back some storms started rolling in. Thankfully I made it back to Betty White before the rain started.
Thanks for reading!