Running Back into Shape
The transition out of ski season into running season is always challenging, but this year is worse than normal. I have run less this spring than any in recent memory, due to many things going on in life. But with a mid-week day off, Daniel and I decided to get out and log some miles to shock our bodies into summer mode. There was nothing that had us particularly stoked, with a marginal forecast on the west side. The best idea we came up with was a 30 mile loop out of Salmon La Sac, visiting some nice lakes and exploring a short off-trail section around Summit Chief.
We started at the Pete Lake Trailhead and climbed up Tired Creek towards Polallie Ridge. The trail was nicer than expected, but the view from Polallie Ridge Lookout was worse than expected. Perhaps the trees have grown taller, but they get in the way of the peaks.
The trail had quite a few blowdowns on the backside as we descended towards Waptus, although many had also been cleared. We knew there would be a lot of blowdowns since it was early season in this area, but consistent blowdowns throughout the day definitely slowed us down considerably.
The Waptus River ford was cold and mosquito ridden. Luckily, the skeeters didn’t bother us too much for the rest of the day. Waptus Lake was calm and beautiful.
We followed the lakeshore trail around towards the PCT, turning right up towards Dutch Miller Gap.
My plan was to leave the trail around 4200 ft and start traversing towards Summit Chief Lake. We could have continued to Lake Ivanhoe and done a higher traverse, but that would involve more snow. At 4200 ft, the terrain was open on the rocky, south facing slope. It seemed promising, so we went for it.
It started to get brushier, but we were able to follow animal paths around 4600 ft. Eventually, the brush got kind of bad. By the time we reached the next creek, we were in dense, jungly terrain. We saw some slabs across the creek that could get us into the alpine, so we went for it.
From there, we continued west up blocky rock. There was actually some interesting scrambling between tiers.
Once we reached the next ridge, we followed it south to Peak 5965, where we took a break, admiring the craggy peaks of the Alpine Lakes Crest. We had a great view of the terrain I covered on the Alpine Lakes Crest Traverse and Chimney Rock Circumnavigation. Clouds were rolling over the crest today, so we were glad to be on the east side.
We trotted down to lakes and hopped on the PCT, readying ourselves for the endless switchbacks.
Once we hit the bottom, it was a slog up and down out to the car. My legs felt like rocks, but we managed a decent job most of the way out! Overall, I was pretty happy with how my legs held up over 30 miles, which included many miles of actual running.
While this route is certainly not the most epic, even for the area, it was nice to get out with Daniel and continue building our fitness for the summer!