Yesterday I had an intersting run in the Southern Presidentials. I was hoping that there would be enough snow above treeline to get in some good snowshoeing, but it was a mixed bag. The weather was great, but the trails changed from rock, to streams, to snow, to ice and back to rock. I went prepared with my Dion snowshoes and Khatoolas. I ended up using both. I was able to make it to the summit of Jackson, the 46th of 48 Four Thousand Footers I've run up, in 54:57. I put on the snowshoes for the section between Jackson and Pierce and hit the summit in 1:52:14. Next I headed to Eisenhower where I used the Khatoolas above treeline along the Crawford Path. A lot of people were out taking advantage of the nice weather. I summited Eisenhower in 2:33:52. The trip down the Crawford Path back to the Highland Center was pretty uneventful, except for catching a spike a few times on bare rocks as I was getting tired on the downhill. I covered the +/-11 miles in 3:51:08. Not an impressive pace, but I felt like I was working the whole time.
Today I got out for a nice 6.2 mile, 65 minute run in the singletrack along the base of the Green Hills. There was a couple of inches of snow, but nothing to make the going too slick. During this run I thought a lot about what I'll need to do this winter to be ready for Snowshoe Nationals, and ultimately Mt. Washington. This week my main goal is to get a run in everyday and get in another long mountain run next weekend. I need a place to start and then I need to build from there.
View of Eisenhower, Monroe and Washington from Pierce