HRH course marking - day 1

Maybe I'll finish this post today (Thursday) - IF my internet connection stays on. I've been mostly away from web access, and then my Sprint card (now the 4G version) doesn't seem to care for running at 3G speeds. Well, at least our time up in the hills is going well, even if my time online isn't so much!

The day after we arrived in Silverton, CO we trekked to the top of Kendall Mountain just outside of town. A wonderful training hill. Here's John (he started later than I did and caught me just as I reached the top) amid a bunch of great scenery:


Yay for dried blueberries! (thank you Markus and Brandi!):


The next day we tagged along with the trail marking crew, starting with some work at the Mineral Creek rope crossing. The creek is WAY low this year, but it's still nice to have a rope:


Heck, if Shoal Creek in the Atomic race had been like this, we would have had NO trouble!


Love this sign:


This is where our Putman aid station was last year:


I believe these are King's Crown - lots of wildflowers out this year:


And lots of pretty views, as always:


Jim and John:


The trail marking crew:


The first steep haul, to the top of the first long climb:


More pretty flowers - these managed to grow in a fairly difficult spot:


The middle of the first section:


Should we mark it down here or over there?


How about straight down?


Coming over a small pass, one of the few snow spots we have seen on the course:


I like this plant:


Jim coming across the KT trail:


Andy and John checking out the creek crossing and the "bridge" that is sorta still up from last year:


The Red Crew (Andy, Liz, John) finishes the day:


Trail marking is great fun, a wonderful way to see the course and meet people, and something I highly recommend even if you aren't running Hardrock.