June Adventures

 June brought some great running. I love the early summer months when everything is so green and the flowers are just starting to come out down lower.

Boise Greenbelt:

We kicked off June with a hot 10 miler around the Boise Greenbelt. I love running over there.

The Boise River

Sidewinder:

Mark and I did a nice 6 miler on Sidewinder. I love this trail, so I try to get it in several times before the hot summer months hit, and the rattle snakes come out.

Sidewinder

Cress Creek Canal:

Scott and Amber came to visit, so we took them on the Cress Creek Canal path, hoping for a good sunset. The sunrises and sunsets never disappoint on this one.

Mark-Amber-Scott

So pretty!

😍😍😍

Cranky Cowboy Plus:

Mark and I did the Cranky Cowboy, and then added a little out and back to get the 6 miles we needed. We saw bear tracks on the out and back.

Cranky Cowboy Trail

Bear tracks

Kelly Heart Loop:

I love this route, especially without snow!

Heart Loop

Meadow Creek Loop:

Every once in a while, you get a perfect run. This was that run for me. Everything clicked in all the right ways. We had a gorgeous sunrise, the scenery on this route this time of year is amazing, the hills felt effortless, I could tell my fitness was increasing, my pace was good, etc. It was 11.5 miles of me feeling like my hard work was paying off.

Meadows Creek sunrise.

The water level is nice and good this year. 🙌

😍😍😍

Kelly Canyon Loop:

Mark and I went up and did a quick 6 miler in Kelly Canyon one evening. I love that we live so close to all the running trails now.

The Butte:

Jenn and I tried to get as much climbing in our 5 miles as we could at the Butte. It's so great for our hill training days.

The Butte

Jenn-Tricia

Glen's Grunt-Hidden Vista-Buckskin Rally Polly:

Now that Jenn is off for the summer, we have been getting in some early morning runs, and I've been loving it. We started at 5:30, got in a beautiful 8 miles, and I was back to feed the animals on time.

Hidden Vista

Buckskin Morgan

Kelly Canyon Figure 8 Loops:

Mark and I showed Jenn the figure 8 loops that we like. We got in a good 14.5 miles. This is a fun route!

A nicely placed downed tree. 😅

Hawley Gulch area.

The flowers are starting to come out!

This downhill stretch is so fun!

Jenn-Tricia-Mark

Kelly's Ski Hill Road:

We used this steady state hill workout as a fitness test. I had done it about 6 weeks previously, right before our official training started. I improved so much! I was very happy with my progress. I went a mile farther, didn't have to walk any of the hill this time, and I was about 25 seconds faster per mile. I'll take that as a win.

Kelly Mountain Loop:

Mark and I had a nice evening run on the Kelly Mountain Loop. We really pushed the uphills, and felt it the next few days.

Climbing to the top of Kelly Mountain.

We made it up!

Our first rubber boa (turd snake) of the season.

I got him off the trail so he wouldn't get run over by a motorcycle.

Big Elk Hike:

Steph had a Friday off, so we hiked Big Elk. I hadn't seen her in FOREVER, so we had lots to catch up on. This trail will always be a favorite of mine. I love it in all the seasons!

Steph

North Indian Creek to Garden Canyon:

Mark, Ashley, and I did a 15 miler up N. Indian Creek to the top of Garden Canyon. It's so beautiful up there! We were part way up Garden Canyon when Tessa alerted us to a bear. It was so cool watching it run through the snow field. It's amazing to see how much ground they can cover in such a short amount of time. It was an all around great day in the mountains.

The second water crossing.

We've had to use rope to cross this before. It was a nice, easy depth this time.

There was a snow bridge!

This is the most beautiful area.

Getting ready to start our climb.

The bear!

Almost to the top of Garden Canyon. 

The views are amazing!

Tessa-Ashley-Tricia-Mark

Women's Run:

I only got to go to one women's run this month. Since I'm bottle feeding the cows, I don't have time to make it to the ones that are closer to Idaho Falls. This one was climbing Bigalow's, which is close to me, so I could feed animals, and get there on time. I hate to miss the Monday night runs, but it will probably be like this through August.

On top of Bigalow's Beast.

We're getting to that point in summer where we can get in the big mountains for the long runs, and I'm so excited about it. June was great, but July will probably be even better.