Sunny and Warm in Moab

Two of my favorite places in the world are thankfully only hours away from the front range. One being the San Juan Mountains. The other being the Colorado Plateau. Specifically the stretch running between I-70 in Utah along Highway 191 all the way down to the Arizona stateline.

This past weekend the wife, daughter, dog and I got to hang out in Moab.  Moab's always been a great place to restock on food, beer and gas, but rarely has it been a spot to spend time in.  I've been thru the town hundreds of times while the wife and has never been. 

Friday the 3rd:
5am to 6am - Weight Lifting
6:15am to 7am - Shoveling heeps of snow
9am to 5pm - Driving to Moab
6pm - Moab Brewery enjoying beer at winter rates!

Saturday the 4th:
Stuffed myself with homemade burritos and coffee and waited for my chance to sneak out right before the little one's nap.  10 minutes to the trailhead to finally get the opportunity to run Jackson's Trail and Amasa Back Trail. 

1/4 of the mile into my run I came across this frozen section.  With disregard to a broken arm only one year ago, I slid myself across the sheet of ice and made a leap of faith for the sunny patch of dryness.  Stuck the landing and off I went to enjoy plenty of the following.

About 40 minutes into my run, my wife called and alerted me that housekeeping accidentally woke the little one up and that I needed to get back asap if we were to enjoy a mid day hike.  My slow run turned into a tempo run but was still slowing down to marvel at the landscape on my return trip via the Cliffhanger and Amasa Back. 

Once off Amasa, I was left with 1.2 miles back to the car along Kane Creek Rd.  Per my Garmin, I ran the stretch at a 5:35 pace.  Easy to do when you have a little one waiting on you and an absolute stunning backdrop which would make mile repeats spectacular.   

Back to pick up the family and exchanged the Nathan pack for Baby Bjorn.  Yup, putting the D into Team TURD. 

There has been more then a few occasions in which I thought I was about to witness someone die while exploring Utah's Wild Backcountry.  Well seeing folks jump / swinging off Corona Arch was added to that list. 

Another nap for the little one and off to Arches before dinner. 

Sunday the 5th:
One of the downsides of vacationing is the adjustment the little one has to go thru.  My girl was up at 9pm Friday night to party.  Then at 4am Sunday morning to party.  By Sunday morning the wife and I were toast and decided to head home.  Thankfully for me, not till after the little one's morning nap.  Giving me another chance for some more trail running just minutes outside our door.  With another belly full of homemade burritos and coffee. 

Each run averaged about 7 miles and 1,500 feet of climbing.  The only thing missing was more hours to run.  However, not running in exchange for sharing the beauty with the family was an easy call.