I finished all of my Lost Souls routes in the middle of August, so a lot of my running is in that post. But we had some great mountain adventures in August!
Fisher Bottom:
I helped Steph get her Fisher Bottom route done.
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| Getting soaked by the long grass on the way to the river. |
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| The old Fisher homestead. |
Sawtooth Loop:
A group of us had planned to run in the Wind Rivers, but there were too many storms, so we headed to the Sawtooths instead. This is one of the greatest loops I've ever run. Jaw dropping scenery for 25 miles! It is one of the most incredible places! Be prepared for a picture overload.
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| We drove to the trailhead the night before and slept in our cars. On the way there we saw the most incredible sunset! |
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| We stopped at a lookout to take a few pictures. |
We did this loop last year as part of of Grand Canyon training and loved it so much. I've run in a ton of amazing places, and this is in my top 5 of all time for sure. It is incredible!
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Starting from the Tin Cup Trailhead.
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| Took a detour to Yellow Belly Lake. We got a later start than we planned, so we missed the sunrise. |
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| The girls at the waterfall. |
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| I loved these tiny little flowers. |
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This is one of my favorite pictures of the day.
Edith Lake |
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| The gang at Edith lake. |
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| Edith Lake gets better as you climb and look back down on it. |
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| 😍😍😍 |
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| Taking it all in! |
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| Georgina-Michelle-Tricia-Amanda-Ashley |
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| Mark overlooking Toxaway Lake. |
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| Starting the climb to my favorite part of the whole run. |
Coming over this pass and seeing the Twin Lakes is incredible!
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| Twin Lakes |
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| My favorite spot! |
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| I'm not sure we'll ever top this view! |
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| The whole gang! |
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| My favorite running buddy! |
Taking a dip in Twin Lakes!
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| So refreshing! |
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| Alice Lake |
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| I love the ponds right past Alice Lake. |
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| Seriously! It looks like it was professionally landscaped. |
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| Jaw dropping! |
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| Almost done! |
We stopped for yummy food on the way home. It was basically a perfect day!
Kelly Mountain Peak:
I had some back issues after the Sawtooths, so I just took it easy on this one. I was helping Steph get the Kelly Mountain Peak route done.
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| Pretty day! |
Union Falls:
This has been on my bucket list for a couple years, and it gave us 17 more miles toward our Yellowstone Conqueror's Challenge. Another amazing day in the mountains!
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| We took the scenic route there (not on purpose), and were treated to a great sunrise. |
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| We passed a pretty lake covered in lily pads on the way to the waterfall. |
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Lots of creek crossings! They felt cold on the way out, and perfect on the way back.
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| Love my running peeps. |
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| Union Falls is the second tallest waterfall in Yellowstone National Park. It was a lot more grand than I thought it would be. |
Super cool!
After we left Union Falls, we took a short detour to 'Scout Falls.' It's a little waterfall with a warm pool at the base. This was my favorite part of the whole day. We swam in the warm pool, and jumped off the rocks. So fun!
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| Scout Falls |
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| It was like bathtub water! |
Nate did a backflip!
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| Mark jumping in! |
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| Ashley and Meredith |
Mark and I jumped in together.
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| 💙💙💙 |
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| I took this still shot from a video. I was laughing so hard! 😂 |
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| We were having so much fun, we almost forgot to eat our lunches before we headed back. |
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| More creek crossings. |
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| We detoured out to see the lily pads. |
On the way back, Mark was in the back, and heard a crashing sound in the trees next to him. He said he looked up at Steph in front of him to see if she was hearing it, but she wasn't. He kept thinking, "Please be a deer! Please be a deer!" All of a sudden a bear comes running out of the trees right at him! I don't even think the bear realized he was there. He yelled BEAR, BEAR really loud, and that got it's attention. The bear saw him, and veered to the right, entering the trail right behind Mark. It took off sprinting down the trail the way we had just come. It all happened so fast. By the time Steph turned around, all she saw was the dust it left behind. By the time I grabbed my bear spray and ran back, it was long gone. I think Mark startled the poor bear more than it startled him! 😅 That sure got Mark's heart rate up! That's the closest encounter he's had!
Such a great day!
IFTR Group Run:
We did an early morning group run on the Apocalypse Loop. I'm not sure what the loop is actually called, but that's what it is known as to me. We were treated to a great sunrise.
Wind Rivers: Titcomb Basin
When I said the Sawtooth Loop was in my all time top 5, this one is there as well. We did 30 miles in the Wind Rivers. We went in 15 miles to the Titcomb Basin Lakes, and then back out. It was so so so good! There is a beautiful pond or lake every mile or so. The farther in you go, the better it gets. We totally want to do more camping and exploring in this area.
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| We drove up the night before again, and slept in our car. That seems to pay off with great sunsets. |
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| So pretty! |
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I was a little nervous about this distance, because my back hasn't been doing great, and I've been having some hamstring trouble, but we just took it slow, and I felt great!
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| The pond at Photographer's Point. |
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| Photographer's Point. |
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| The girls |
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| I love all the ponds just as much as the lakes. |
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| There were so many giant mushrooms on the trail. |
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| So pretty! |
Going along Seneca Lake.
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| The water color is amazing! |
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| The gang at Seneca Lake. |
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| Another great pond. |
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| We were getting closer to the basin, so the mountains started getting good! |
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| Island Lake is my favorite spot on the whole hike! |
This view is amazing!
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| Life doesn't get much better than this! |
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| Final stretch to the basin lakes. |
These mountains are so rugged!
