So we decided to take advantage of the amazing winter weather and head up to RMNP to do a bit of trail running up in the mountains. We decided over a few beers that Lumpy's Ridge was our destination. Lumpy's is best known as a classic climbing destination on the east boarder of the park, but we picked the 11.05 mile Twin Owls Loop, as our distraction rather than the soaring cliff faces.
With the sunny weather in the 50's we took off from the trailhead at 7800 ft and headed northeast towards gem lake and balanced rock. The run took off straight up hill and all four of us, myself and my buddies Josh, Jude, and Paul, were feeling the mixed effects of the altitude, steep terrain, and a few too many beers the night before. But as we quickly climbed we were rewarded with amazing views of Long's and the rest of the majestic mountains that make up the horizon of the park.
We kept climbing all the way up to an elevation of just over 9100 feet before we left the mixed dry and iced trails of the south facing slope for the ankle to knee deep snow on the north facing aspect. The next 5 or so miles were a mix of uncontrolled downhill running on slippy snow, to a grueling slow paced trudge breaking trail through knee deep powder. It got a little tiring and was a surprise somehow, even though we were running in the highcountry in late January.... Anyway we managed and after loosing probably 1500 vert and then of course regaining that lost footage we were back on the south facing slope and the snow had melted away.
We finished our run on the dry plains above Estes Park under the massive cliff faces of Lumpy's. We spied a few brightly colored dots of climbers hundreds of feet off the valley floor as we dashed under them. By the time we had gotten back to the car, over 11 miles later, everyone was pretty beat, but as smiles were still abundant we chalked it up to one hell of a time. It was a hard run for sure, but one hell of a little adventure too! Thanks Colorado for being so rad!!!
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