4.56 miles/2,674/1:06:54(41:25 post-42:02 true summit)avg. HR 158
It has been since the week prior to the fire since I have topped out on Bear, so I have been eager to revisit since it re-opened a little over 2 weeks ago.
Due to circumstances revolving around renovating and moving into our new house, my running has been pretty minimal for a long time. A few maintenance runs in late July/early August, Pikes Peak on the 19th, a week off, Green Mountain from Martin Acres on the 25th, then another week off. We finally finished our move on Friday and on Saturday I FINALLY felt as though I could breathe easy again. It has been a long and stressful summer and I am eager for cooler weather and eager to start running again.
Started off pretty mellow, but after 3 or 4 minutes started to get into a bit of a groove and eventually by the Slab, got my splits dialed for a sub 40 ascent, but then got stung in the Achilles by a bee while crossing the small creek just beyond. Bee stings are never fun, but getting it on the Achilles really hurt and threw me off a bit for much of the remainder of the ascent (that and my questionable fitness was catching up to me more than I cared to admit at the time). I had also forgotten that I had spent several hours in the morning carrying babies on a hike from S. Mesa, so that may have got to my legs a bit.
~5 or so minutes from the summit, I began to notice trees stained with red slurry and was surprised how thick and pasted it was, somewhat surprised even that it was still there. Despite viewing the summit of Bear from Green many times, I was still a bit surprised at how minimal the fire damage was. I took the descent at what I felt to be reasonably mellow, but was surprised to get a 1:06 RT all thing considered. Not too shabby (for me).
After seeing the fire damage up close, I really can't understand why Fern Canyon was closed for 2 months and am a bit mystified why the other trails are STILL closed. It all looks fine to me, just part of nature, so let's get on with it already!!!
