Rafe came up from from Albuquerque to watch some March Madness games this weekend with his buddy Brian.  This prompted Eve to host a Here Kitty Kitty relay team reunion, which culminated this morning in a trail run at Hall Ranch.

Eve skipped the run, but her husband Brian, pictured here on the Nelson Loop Trail, braved the elements.  Actually the weather could not have been more perfect.  I started out in three shirts, tights and gloves.  I shed the gloves after a mile, tied my long sleeved shirt around my waist at the summit, and didn’t really need the tights.  20° in full Colorado sun and snow can be quite pleasant.  With zero wind, the conditions were unreal.

Thursday dropped a half foot of fresh snow and running through Hall Ranch felt like being painted into a scene alongside Burl Ives in the 1964 movie Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  The snow crystals glistened like diamonds.  This is Beth pictured above in her own personal post card.

This was my first time running Hall Ranch.  We started on the Antelope Trail, intersected with Bitterbrush Trail after the first uphill mile, and circled around Nelson Loop before returning.  My nano spikes came in handy on the initial climb but things warmed up quickly.  Fat tire bikes cut the lower trail for us but not even rabbit tracks disturbed the powder higher up.  This was my first challenging hill run since my hamstring injury and I felt pretty good.  I credit squats for my leg strength.  My lungs were spewing exhaust like a steaming locomotive, but it felt great to be back out on a mountain trail.