Garfield Grunt

Given my mountain travel plans for the late spring and summer, all entailing significant amounts of elevation gain, I have come to the conclusion that early morning runs in the rolling terrain of the Lunch Loops and weekend warrior type excursions will not suffice. My training regime must be stepped up a notch. So after work today I headed to the 'best-bang-for-the-buck' in the Grand Valley, namely Mount Garfield.

Mount Garfield is accessed from the Town of Palisade over which it stands sentinel. Surrounded by blossoming orchards and vineyards the approach road is quite pastoral and bucolic. 

But any serene thoughts of an evening stroll are cut short at the honest sign marking the trailhead. 

2,000 feet in two miles means only one thing - steep! A brief 100 yards of  'warm-up' does not even attempt to disguise the fact that overall it's a killer and especially if running is the plan. For me 'run' is found more frequently in the word grunt of which I did plenty.

Here and there are sections were the trail flattens out which serve more as an opportunity to catch one's breath rather than picking up the pace. But for the most part it is like climbing a stairs (actually worse) and in some places the use of hands is beneficial.

The views on top are fantastic with the San Juans being the furthest I could see on a somewhat hazy evening.

Running down is more accurately described as semi-controlled careening. Luckily the trail is in great shape right now and I did not bust my butt once - quite an achievement.   

Although I barely made it to the top in the time it takes the racehorses of the Garfield Grumble 'Extreme' Mountain Race to both 'summit and plummet' , it is indeed a good workout for a carthorse like me. I'll be back for more. If anyone is interested in the Garfield Grumble it's coming up in a couple of weeks. Info here. Maybe I'll get crazy and show up.