Simply put, these weekends were amazing. On Friday (May 9) evening The Girl (another rip-off from dcrainmaker, deal with it) and I headed up to Pagosa Springs, Colorado for a quick adventure. Fortunately, The Girl is a bit of an expert on the region, so she has many great adventure ideas. But more importantly, neither of us had ever been to Pagosa Springs.
1. HOT SPRINGS AT PAGOSA SPRINGS RESORT AT NIGHT
We were incredibly fortunate to stay at Pagosa Springs Resort. Some strings were pulled, but we also lucked into a rare weekend when they were not booked months in advance. After checking in, we headed over to Pagosa Brewing. Here, we were hosted by the brew master and GM, who gave us a tour of the brewing processes and future adventures for the brewery. We also enjoyed dinner and a sampling of every one of their beers on tap (18 in total, I think, oof!). My personal highlight was their green chile beer, The Girl’s was their Poor Richard’s Ale. We really liked all but one of their beers, which is pretty impressive. I highly recommend checking them out. Anyway, dinner and beer sampling went longer than we expected. Despite being pretty tuckered out, we figured we should at least check out the hot springs before bed.
The town of Pagosa is located about 35 miles north of the NM border. It is nestled close to Wolf Creek ski area, the San Juan flows right through downtown, and about 3 million acres of San Juan National forest with miles and miles of trails highlighted by waterfalls surrounds the town. But the biggest highlight is that Pagosa Springs is home of the world’s deepest geothermal hot spring (more than 1,000 ft).
Pagosa Springs Resort has created a number of small soaking pools each ranging in temperature and all fed by the “mother” hot spring. The pools are located along the bank of the San Juan, allowing an amazingly serene experience. It was late when we headed down, which meant we nearly had the whole place to ourselves. Our favorite pool was located right on the bank of the river, spilling out directly into the river. Once you get use to the sulfur smell of the hot spring, it doesn’t get much more peaceful than that!
2. TRAIL RUN AT PIEDRA RIVER TRAIL IN PAGOSA
After a night of a lot of food, beer, and hot spring soaking, The Girl and I headed for the wilderness to get in a good trail run. It really was pretty overwhelming how many great trails there are in and around Pagosa. We headed out to the Piedra River trail, which afforded us a good opportunity to drive through the surrounding countryside; there are some really big houses around Pagosa!
The trail follows the Piedra River (I wonder how they came up with the name for the trail); it quickly drops into a narrow canyon, which hosts a number of rock climbing routes. Eventually you climb out of the canyon an end up running along the terrace above the river. Early into the run, The Girl managed to step on a baby snake, but that was the only casualty and wildlife siting during the run.
What you should appreciate is that The Girl is definitely in her element running along trails. I have never seen someone beaming with joy while running fast along trail; I think she would have run all day if I wasn’t there to drag her back to the car. I should note, however, I did beat her in a race up a hill to the car after we finished (maybe I got a head start, but that doesn’t matter).
The town of Pagosa is located about 35 miles north of the NM border. It is nestled close to Wolf Creek ski area, the San Juan flows right through downtown, and about 3 million acres of San Juan National forest with miles and miles of trails highlighted by waterfalls surrounds the town. But the biggest highlight is that Pagosa Springs is home of the world’s deepest geothermal hot spring (more than 1,000 ft).
Pagosa Springs Resort has created a number of small soaking pools each ranging in temperature and all fed by the “mother” hot spring. The pools are located along the bank of the San Juan, allowing an amazingly serene experience. It was late when we headed down, which meant we nearly had the whole place to ourselves. Our favorite pool was located right on the bank of the river, spilling out directly into the river. Once you get use to the sulfur smell of the hot spring, it doesn’t get much more peaceful than that!
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| Post trail run celebration, "FOOD!" |
2. TRAIL RUN AT PIEDRA RIVER TRAIL IN PAGOSA
After a night of a lot of food, beer, and hot spring soaking, The Girl and I headed for the wilderness to get in a good trail run. It really was pretty overwhelming how many great trails there are in and around Pagosa. We headed out to the Piedra River trail, which afforded us a good opportunity to drive through the surrounding countryside; there are some really big houses around Pagosa!
The trail follows the Piedra River (I wonder how they came up with the name for the trail); it quickly drops into a narrow canyon, which hosts a number of rock climbing routes. Eventually you climb out of the canyon an end up running along the terrace above the river. Early into the run, The Girl managed to step on a baby snake, but that was the only casualty and wildlife siting during the run.
What you should appreciate is that The Girl is definitely in her element running along trails. I have never seen someone beaming with joy while running fast along trail; I think she would have run all day if I wasn’t there to drag her back to the car. I should note, however, I did beat her in a race up a hill to the car after we finished (maybe I got a head start, but that doesn’t matter).
3. DRIVING
You can appreciate from reading the blog that I have driven many miles over my life and have had many road trips. I’ve driven cross-country multiple times, all over the Northeast and Midwest many times, and now beginning to explore the West. In undergrad, I use to leave Saratoga Springs after my last final in the afternoon, drive straight through the night and make it home around sunrise. A far majority of these miles have been solo, which I don’t mind; driving is meditational for me. In fact, I cannot remember the last time I made a 5+ hr drive with another person in the car, until this weekend. It may seem insignificant, but I really enjoyed making the drive up to Pagosa Springs with The Girl. It is such a great drive; it was nice to finally share it with someone.
4. SANTA FE RUN AROUND
Fast forward one week (May 17) and back in Santa Fe, this weekend was the inaugural Bike and Brew hosted by Outside Magazine. As the name suggests, this entailed many biking and beer related activities, but also coincided with the Santa Fe Run Around. This was amazingly the 36th year of the race, which includes both 5k and 10k events. The 10k was simply two laps of the 5k, which starts/finishes at the 400+ year old Santa Fe Plaza and constantly climbs at increasing inclines for 2.5k, then drops back down for the rest of the loop.
When The Girl and I toed the line, I was looking to just keep up with her and she was looking to crush the competition. But she wasn’t the only one with her game face on. We were surrounded by several dozen little kids, decked out in team race gear, compressions socks, and doing striders up and down the road up to the start of the race. I can’t say I have even been intimidated by a 12 year old, but I was a little worried I might get beat by a 12 year old at that moment. Fortunately they were all doing the 5k (it doesn’t count if they beat me in 5k when I am doing the 10k….right?).
Staying true to my “thorough” race preparation, I had no clue what the course included. To my defense, had I known I would be climbing up an increasing grade for half of each loop, I would have maybe “accidently” forgot the race was taking place that day. I should point out the passion for trail running has helped The Girl become quite good at running hills. This means the first 2.5k of the race were sufficiently painful. I have successfully fooled her into thinking I am a better runner than I am, so at the top of the climb she told me I can go. I managed to mumble between gasping for air, “No, I can’t!”
At the end of the first lap, we discovered another woman had caught up close to us. The competitor inside of The Girl drove her to sprint the start of the second lap, with me struggling to keep up. We maintained a hard effort through the entire climb in this final lap. We managed to drop all runners; she even managed to drop me right before the top (but, don’t worry, I quickly caught back up when it leveled off). I am not sure what The Girl was thinking during the final 2.5k, but I know I was hoping no other girl would get close to us because I wasn’t sure if I could handle another sprint. Near the end I was just hoping The Girl did not have a final kick left in her. Unfortunately, she did and managed to narrowly edge me out at the finish line. Officially she beat me by 1-second. I contend they generously rounded up. Plus the finishing chute was only one-person wide, so being the perfect gentleman that I am, I let ladies go first…..
5. EXPLORING SANTA FE
After losing to The Girl by technicality, we hung around the finish for the awards. I guess this is what happens when you win a race. Did I mention The Girl won the women’s race? It was a beautiful day, so we hung out and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. It turns out that there was a screw up with the 10k results, so it ended up taking a couple hours to get the results. It was humorous since everyone who was left at that point had won an award of some type (overall or top age-group winner). But it was not so bad because hanging out in the Plaza on a beautiful Saturday morning is a good place to be. We were just kicking ourselves for not brining any money for coffee or ice cream.
Finally, the results got (kind of) sorted out and The Girl received her awesome handmade platter. I also managed to get a mug for a 3rd place age group finish (I think there were only 3 people in my age group). From there, we headed for food at our favorite spot, Tune Up. I got a real breakfast (burrito) and The Girl got her traditional non-breakfast (yogurt, boring!!). After refueling, Bike and Brew activities were still kind of going on and we caught a unique interpretation of modern circus show. The rest of the day was spent wondering around Santa Fe, including shopping, ice cream, shopping, food, and food. Highlights included Double Take, a big consignment shop with a really eclectic and sometimes high-end collection of Southwest clothing, furniture, odds-and-ends, cowboy boots, cowboy hats. Here, I had my first win of the day; I talked The Girl into buying a cowgirl hat. It looks awesome!
The day continued with many more wins for me, all largely including me talking The Girl into new clothing items (including a Lulu running skirt which she had previously admonished, but secretly liked). She really needs to learn to not be so easily swayed by me. Of course, we also enjoyed ice cream in the plaza (we finally found some decent ice cream in New Mexico). The Plaza on a nice weekend afternoon hosts some awesome people watching!
So that makes 5 topics. I could easily ramble on about more highlights, but I have rambled long enough and need to get to bed to start another adventure tomorrow. Ciao!!
Fast forward one week (May 17) and back in Santa Fe, this weekend was the inaugural Bike and Brew hosted by Outside Magazine. As the name suggests, this entailed many biking and beer related activities, but also coincided with the Santa Fe Run Around. This was amazingly the 36th year of the race, which includes both 5k and 10k events. The 10k was simply two laps of the 5k, which starts/finishes at the 400+ year old Santa Fe Plaza and constantly climbs at increasing inclines for 2.5k, then drops back down for the rest of the loop.
When The Girl and I toed the line, I was looking to just keep up with her and she was looking to crush the competition. But she wasn’t the only one with her game face on. We were surrounded by several dozen little kids, decked out in team race gear, compressions socks, and doing striders up and down the road up to the start of the race. I can’t say I have even been intimidated by a 12 year old, but I was a little worried I might get beat by a 12 year old at that moment. Fortunately they were all doing the 5k (it doesn’t count if they beat me in 5k when I am doing the 10k….right?).
Staying true to my “thorough” race preparation, I had no clue what the course included. To my defense, had I known I would be climbing up an increasing grade for half of each loop, I would have maybe “accidently” forgot the race was taking place that day. I should point out the passion for trail running has helped The Girl become quite good at running hills. This means the first 2.5k of the race were sufficiently painful. I have successfully fooled her into thinking I am a better runner than I am, so at the top of the climb she told me I can go. I managed to mumble between gasping for air, “No, I can’t!”
At the end of the first lap, we discovered another woman had caught up close to us. The competitor inside of The Girl drove her to sprint the start of the second lap, with me struggling to keep up. We maintained a hard effort through the entire climb in this final lap. We managed to drop all runners; she even managed to drop me right before the top (but, don’t worry, I quickly caught back up when it leveled off). I am not sure what The Girl was thinking during the final 2.5k, but I know I was hoping no other girl would get close to us because I wasn’t sure if I could handle another sprint. Near the end I was just hoping The Girl did not have a final kick left in her. Unfortunately, she did and managed to narrowly edge me out at the finish line. Officially she beat me by 1-second. I contend they generously rounded up. Plus the finishing chute was only one-person wide, so being the perfect gentleman that I am, I let ladies go first…..
5. EXPLORING SANTA FE
After losing to The Girl by technicality, we hung around the finish for the awards. I guess this is what happens when you win a race. Did I mention The Girl won the women’s race? It was a beautiful day, so we hung out and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. It turns out that there was a screw up with the 10k results, so it ended up taking a couple hours to get the results. It was humorous since everyone who was left at that point had won an award of some type (overall or top age-group winner). But it was not so bad because hanging out in the Plaza on a beautiful Saturday morning is a good place to be. We were just kicking ourselves for not brining any money for coffee or ice cream.
Finally, the results got (kind of) sorted out and The Girl received her awesome handmade platter. I also managed to get a mug for a 3rd place age group finish (I think there were only 3 people in my age group). From there, we headed for food at our favorite spot, Tune Up. I got a real breakfast (burrito) and The Girl got her traditional non-breakfast (yogurt, boring!!). After refueling, Bike and Brew activities were still kind of going on and we caught a unique interpretation of modern circus show. The rest of the day was spent wondering around Santa Fe, including shopping, ice cream, shopping, food, and food. Highlights included Double Take, a big consignment shop with a really eclectic and sometimes high-end collection of Southwest clothing, furniture, odds-and-ends, cowboy boots, cowboy hats. Here, I had my first win of the day; I talked The Girl into buying a cowgirl hat. It looks awesome!
The day continued with many more wins for me, all largely including me talking The Girl into new clothing items (including a Lulu running skirt which she had previously admonished, but secretly liked). She really needs to learn to not be so easily swayed by me. Of course, we also enjoyed ice cream in the plaza (we finally found some decent ice cream in New Mexico). The Plaza on a nice weekend afternoon hosts some awesome people watching!
So that makes 5 topics. I could easily ramble on about more highlights, but I have rambled long enough and need to get to bed to start another adventure tomorrow. Ciao!!
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