Lotsa Snow (L.A. style)

"Dan Stumpus" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

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...
I saw bits of melting snow at about 3100', and enjoyed the cold air.

After

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50 minutes I made the turn up the north-facing Grand Canyon at about 4000'
and was immediately in 6 inches of fresh powder. My new favorite running
surface. There was already a bike track worn into the snow, and evidence

of

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about 6-8 hikers/runners ahead of me.

Gotta love that sweet fluffy powder. It sure beats the slippery wet stuff I
ran in last week.

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The sky was blue, the snow a bright cheerful white and the only sound was
the gentle fluffing sound as my feet landed. I passed a couple of mtn
bikers (who always put up a fight for a few minutes). Overhanging

branches

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were heavy with snow. The last gradual 800' of climbing was a joy, as the
snow deepened, sometimes half way up my calf. I found it very much like
running on soft sand, except with a very soft landing.

Great going downhill even more aint it!

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Finally, after about 1:10 and about 6.5 miles, I reached inspiration

point,

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where 6 Japanese tourists were enjoying a meal under the shelter. The
mountains were beautiful and snowy and I kicked myself for not bringing my
camera along. Looking down the steep drop onto the sunny and dry streets

of

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Pasadena 4000' below made me smile.

Seems like every time I'm out in the middle of nowhere on a weekend around
here there's a large group of Koreans out enjoying the trail. It seems like
several different oriental cultures share have this in common. I think it's
great.

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I shot a couple of pix last March, when the snow was starting to melt off,
so you can get an idea of the run. Yeah, I know, snow is no biggie for
much of the country, but it's a treat for us low-desert dwellers.

about a mile from the top, looking across Grand Canyon:
www.tinypic.com/o89t02
shelters at Inspiration point: www.tinypic.com/o89uab

Thanks, nice pictures. Sure changes the look of the place doesn't it.

-Tony

Dan Stumpus said:

Exactly one week after our little heat wave and 85 degree temps, a cold
front blew in, bringing in a half-inch or so of rain in the city. Temps
were low 40's in the morning. I knew there'd be snow in the San Gabriels
above Pasadena.

So I waited until the rain blew through (thank you Weather.com for doppler
radar pix)and drove up to the sunny trailhead. It was about 43 degrees at
1400' elevation. My plan was to run up to 4800' to Inspiration point, where
temps would probably dip down to 30 or so. I bundled up (L.A. style)
wearing tights, wool ski cap, wind mitts, and a long sleeve high tech top
with a low-tech cotton t-shirt over it.

I saw bits of melting snow at about 3100', and enjoyed the cold air. After
50 minutes I made the turn up the north-facing Grand Canyon at about 4000'
and was immediately in 6 inches of fresh powder. My new favorite running
surface. There was already a bike track worn into the snow, and evidence of
about 6-8 hikers/runners ahead of me.

The sky was blue, the snow a bright cheerful white and the only sound was
the gentle fluffing sound as my feet landed. I passed a couple of mtn
bikers (who always put up a fight for a few minutes). Overhanging branches
were heavy with snow. The last gradual 800' of climbing was a joy, as the
snow deepened, sometimes half way up my calf. I found it very much like
running on soft sand, except with a very soft landing.

Finally, after about 1:10 and about 6.5 miles, I reached inspiration point,
where 6 Japanese tourists were enjoying a meal under the shelter. The
mountains were beautiful and snowy and I kicked myself for not bringing my
camera along. Looking down the steep drop onto the sunny and dry streets of
Pasadena 4000' below made me smile.

Well I'm impressed by the elevation gain and
in fresh snow (lacking info though is the %
grade per mile...)

Thurs when I ran it was +9F and windy. The
high over the next 48 hours was +11 F; morning
low was about -11 F. I ran Sat. afternoon in
brilliant sun (quite warm when not facing the
wind) at about 0 F. Was going to get up at 6 am
and run at -11 but just too lazy...

Just for comparison, 20 F is my average winter
running temp and a whopping +40 F is a heat wave 🙂

Quoted message said:

I shot a couple of pix last March, when the snow was starting to melt off,
so you can get an idea of the run. Yeah, I know, snow is no biggie for
much of the country, but it's a treat for us low-desert dwellers.

about a mile from the top, looking across Grand Canyon:
www.tinypic.com/o89t02
shelters at Inspiration point: www.tinypic.com/o89uab

It's almost as high as my house 🙂

Dan Stumpus said:

Exactly one week after our little heat wave and 85 degree temps, a cold
front blew in, bringing in a half-inch or so of rain in the city. Temps
were low 40's in the morning. I knew there'd be snow in the San Gabriels
above Pasadena.

Well if you wanted to run in snow, ya coulda come here and run the Su
100. 😉 3 runners (2 from San Diego, 1 from Yuba City) and 1 biker from
California completed it. 100 miles of snow! although it was firm packed
most of the 50k route (haven't talked to any of the 100 finishers to
know what they ran into). (I was just cheering people on and getting a
long run in.) Highs Sat were probably in 40s. (yes, that's above 0F)
Thursday I was in t-shirt briefly between sections of a run / power hike.

Quoted message said:

So I waited until the rain blew through (thank you Weather.com for doppler
radar pix)and drove up to the sunny trailhead. It was about 43 degrees at
1400' elevation. My plan was to run up to 4800' to Inspiration point, where
temps would probably dip down to 30 or so. I bundled up (L.A. style)
wearing tights, wool ski cap, wind mitts, and a long sleeve high tech top
with a low-tech cotton t-shirt over it.

I saw bits of melting snow at about 3100', and enjoyed the cold air. After
50 minutes I made the turn up the north-facing Grand Canyon at about 4000'
and was immediately in 6 inches of fresh powder. My new favorite running
surface. There was already a bike track worn into the snow, and evidence of
about 6-8 hikers/runners ahead of me.

The sky was blue, the snow a bright cheerful white and the only sound was
the gentle fluffing sound as my feet landed. I passed a couple of mtn
bikers (who always put up a fight for a few minutes). Overhanging branches
were heavy with snow. The last gradual 800' of climbing was a joy, as the
snow deepened, sometimes half way up my calf. I found it very much like
running on soft sand, except with a very soft landing.

That's one of the reasons I like snowshoe running for downhill work -
softer landings and if I wipe out, it's oh, so much softer than dirt.

Maybe I need to go to California for a snowshoe race 🙁

Quoted message said:

Finally, after about 1:10 and about 6.5 miles, I reached inspiration point,
where 6 Japanese tourists were enjoying a meal under the shelter. The
mountains were beautiful and snowy and I kicked myself for not bringing my
camera along. Looking down the steep drop onto the sunny and dry streets of
Pasadena 4000' below made me smile.

I shot a couple of pix last March, when the snow was starting to melt off,
so you can get an idea of the run. Yeah, I know, snow is no biggie for
much of the country, but it's a treat for us low-desert dwellers.

Sounds like you had fun playing 🙂 I'll bet you don't get ice like we
do, which makes a real mess of things.

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about a mile from the top, looking across Grand Canyon:
www.tinypic.com/o89t02
shelters at Inspiration point: www.tinypic.com/o89uab

Thanks for the pics.

Dot

--
"Remorse - a good trail always makes you feel sorry that it is over no
matter how tired you are" - Matt Carpenter

"Tony S." <[email hidden]> wrote

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Gotta love that sweet fluffy powder. It sure beats the slippery wet stuff
I
ran in last week.

Yeah, I tippy toe and walk when it's icy, not out of fear of going down, but
of getting injured in my decripitude...

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were heavy with snow. The last gradual 800' of climbing was a joy, as
the
snow deepened, sometimes half way up my calf. I found it very much like
running on soft sand, except with a very soft landing.

Great going downhill even more aint it!

The best!

Quoted message said:

Seems like every time I'm out in the middle of nowhere on a weekend around
here there's a large group of Koreans out enjoying the trail. It seems
like
several different oriental cultures share have this in common. I think
it's
great.

Yeah, at Griffith Park in L.A, there are about 20 miles of trail/fireroad,
and there's lots of Koreans in the morning (and a few crazy runners of
various ethnicities). There's a big Korean community here (I live in K-town
myself), but regardless, they are definitely overrepresented among morning
walkers and hikers.

-- Dan

"Tom Phillips" <[email hidden]> wrote

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Well I'm impressed by the elevation gain and
in fresh snow (lacking info though is the %
grade per mile...)

That would be 523.0769'/mile, or 10%. Steep at first, then gradual after
3.5 miles...

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Thurs when I ran it was +9F and windy. The
high over the next 48 hours was +11 F; morning
low was about -11 F. I ran Sat. afternoon in
brilliant sun (quite warm when not facing the
wind) at about 0 F. Was going to get up at 6 am
and run at -11 but just too lazy...

I take it that winter is a good time to put in a recovery phase....where do
you live?

-- Dan

"Dot" <dot.h@#duh?att.net> wrote

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Quoted message said:

The last gradual 800' of climbing was a joy, as the snow deepened,
sometimes half way up my calf. I found it very much like running on soft
sand, except with a very soft landing.

That's one of the reasons I like snowshoe running for downhill work -
softer landings and if I wipe out, it's oh, so much softer than dirt.

My trusty Nike Air Pegs (with waffle soles) gave me great traction. I was
worried that I'd step on an invisible rock, and twist an ankle but the snow
seems to compress in such a manner as to prevent that.

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Maybe I need to go to California for a snowshoe race 🙁

You would have loved it up there. There's about 8 miles of climbing trail
and unswept road above where I turned around.

Dan Stumpus said:

Yeah, I know, snow is no biggie for much of the
country, but it's a treat for us low-desert dwellers.

Gee, if a couple mm of snow is a treat, you've *really* love the
Northeast. Wanna swap houses for a few years?

"Charlie Pendejo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dan Stumpus said:

Yeah, I know, snow is no biggie for much of the
country, but it's a treat for us low-desert dwellers.

Gee, if a couple mm of snow is a treat, you've *really* love the
Northeast. Wanna swap houses for a few years?

Unfortunately, the slush we get most of the time can't compare to western
powder. In any case, a few inches of fresh dry snow on a trail is a dream
surface to run on.

-Tony

Tony said:

Pendejo said:

Gee, if a couple mm of snow is a treat, you've *really* love the
Northeast. Wanna swap houses for a few years?

Unfortunately, the slush we get most of the time can't compare to
western powder.

Shhh! Don't ruin this for me, Tony!!!

Dan Stumpus said:

"Tom Phillips" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Well I'm impressed by the elevation gain and
in fresh snow (lacking info though is the %
grade per mile...)

That would be 523.0769'/mile, or 10%. Steep at first, then gradual after
3.5 miles...

A respectable ascent...

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Quoted message said:

Thurs when I ran it was +9F and windy. The
high over the next 48 hours was +11 F; morning
low was about -11 F. I ran Sat. afternoon in
brilliant sun (quite warm when not facing the
wind) at about 0 F. Was going to get up at 6 am
and run at -11 but just too lazy...

I take it that winter is a good time to put in a recovery phase....where do
you live?

CO, about 6000 ft. Winter is when I do most of
my running since I hate running in hot weather
(your LA 85 F temp is a bit warm for me.) Your
winter cool down to 40's equals a pretty nice
running day around here 🙂

Our January was about the warmest on record. So
I was enjoying the cold. My usual average running
temp between Nov - Feb is about 15-25 F.

"Charlie Pendejo" <[email hidden]> wrote

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Quoted message said:

Unfortunately, the slush we get most of the time can't compare to
western powder.

Shhh! Don't ruin this for me, Tony!!!

Whew! Close call. Thanks for watchin' my back, Tone.