Smuggler Road to Hunter Creek Loop - Aspen, CO

Every time I ask my friend Max, resident extraordinaire of Aspen, CO, where I should go for a run he manages to guide me toward something which usually begins with a mile long death march up a mountain. It never matters how I describe to him the run I want to go on. Saying something like "I want something with a bit of gradual climbing, but nothing too intense" is somehow translated in Max's head to "I want to run straight uphill, with an incredible amount of altitude gain, and perhaps the possibility of being mauled by a mountain lion." Hence, I now have experienced Smuggler Road, sans mauling.

Smugglers Mountain Road is on the northern part of the valley that houses Aspen, near the Hunter Creek condos, about 1 mile from downtown Aspen (map here). The road is dirt, and relatively steep, winding up about 800 feet before the cutoff for the Hunter Creek Loop. It is frequently used by hikers, runners and mountain bikers, but is wide enough to accommodate everybody. When I did it there were not too many people, but reports from some of the men folk in town indicate that the road is usually filled with attractive women denizens of Aspen.

After climbing up the road, there is a cut-off for the Hunter Creek Loop, take that until it winds down to a T in the trail, from there go right and then take a left at a bridge that crosses a creek (do not cross the bridge). You will follow the creek for a while, which should be on your right. Eventually the trail will dump you into a wider section which angles downhill and is a bit more rocky. You will come to another bridge. Cross it and take an immediate left (I missed it the first time, it is somewhat hard to see). Follow this trial down. Be careful, as you are basically running down a boulder field. When I did it I was right behind a guy that managed to trip and sandwich himself between two boulders. This trail will dump you off into the Hunter Creek Apartments area, which is about a half a mile to the west from the start of the run (map here). The entire run took me about 1.5 hours.

Fitness Hikes

My typical argument when someone is trying to convince me to go on a hike is that it is too slow. "I would rather run it" is my typical, meat-head response. This summer I spent a fair amount of time in Aspen, and in an effort to reach a middle ground with my more relaxed girlfriend, ended up hiking a fair amount. Surprisingly to me (but not to my girlfriend) I realized that I like it, a lot. While there is still the desire to run on some of the more gradual hikes, it is a great alternative to running and the slower pace makes the scenery a lot more enjoyable. That said, I am adding a new category called "fitness hikes" that will document the more challenging, aerobic type of hikes that are more appealing to me. The Incline and the Ute Trail are what I would consider "fitness hikes;" hikes that get your heart rate up quickly and are generally too steep to run for any significant amount of time.

Mt. Tabor - Portland, OR

The area around southeast Portland is surrounded by isolated low lying hills, remnants of old cinder cone volcanoes. One of these, Mt. Tabor, is located in the Hawthorne neighborhood, in Southeast Portland. A neighbor of ours mentioned how great Tabor is as a venue for a quick run, advice I quickly disregarded as I thought of her as somewhat crazy. Lo and behold, Crazyface was right, Tabor is a great place for a quick run, ride, stair workout or interval training. Every time I am up there I am surprised by how big the park is: it holds a reservoir for the city, multiple bike and running paths, an ampitheatre, picnic areas and playgrounds. Simply put, there is a lot to Mt. Tabor, so I will focus on the features that I use the most.

For riding, Tabor is a quick climb, that can be lapped on the roads that run through the park. I get the sense that a lot of area bikers use Tabor as I do, a quick workout before or after work. Cars move through the park pretty slowly, so riding in there is pretty laid back. Starting in May and running through most of the summer, the park hosts bike races, the Mt. Tabor Series, which run every Wednesday afternoon.

Tabor is a perfect venue for running. There are a couple of trails that wind around the park, along with a main road that runs all the way to the top of the park, where it forms a loop about 1/3 of a mile long - great for interval training. The views from the top are fantastic; both downtown Portland and Mt. Hood are prominent scenes. I have spent a lot of late afternoons running up there, and there is always a big gathering of people from the neighborhood to watch the sunset. Very romantic. Even only Seneca would watch it with me instead of dive bombing the bushes in search of birds and sticks.

Finally, my favorite feature of the park is the stairs that run from the base of the northeast end of the park to the summit. They are longer than the Med School Stairs, and make for a great side workout.

From Downtown Portland: take Madison east to the Hawthorne Bridge, and continue on Hawthorne until it dead ends at SE 60th Ave. Take a left and then your first right into the park.

Herkimer Coffee - Seattle, WA

I'm still trying to catch up from the latest road trip, which has been a bit of a struggle as we keep moving around making hard to sit down and write. Currently I am back in Manitou where it is rainy and clouded over, reminding me of the northwest and the topic of this post: Herkimer Coffee, in Seattle.

When I moved to Portland, OR in 2005 I was not much of a coffee drinker. I would drink at most a cup or two some mornings, but never regularly and never anything beyond Folgers or Starbucks. I made it through the first year out there without upping my weekly percentage too much. It was not until my second winter/spring in Portland that I came to realize that coffee was salvation from the endless cloudy skies and rain (sidenote: does it rain in the northwest? Yes. A lot. But, it is not the rain that makes the northwest a hard place to live in - it's the endless gray skies. Think nuclear winter, but with more caffeinated survivors, and that is what the winter and spring is like).

As I get more into coffee, I try to explore various coffee shops to see what else is out there. One of my favorites in Seattle is Herkimer Coffee, on the Phinney Ridge near the Ballard section of NW Seattle (7320 Greenwood Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98103 - there is another location in the University District which I have not checked out). It has a cool, "modern" interior and seems to be a favorite of the neighboorhood. Definitely a locals scene in there. They roast and sell their own coffee, which is all really good. To me, the best part of Herkimer is that it is a local business that appears to be thriving in the epi-center of Starbucks America. You have to love that.

Stanley Park - Vancouver, Canada

By far, Vancouver is my favorite city in the Pacific Northwest. Sitting on the English Bay, with the Coastal Range framing its views, the city feels very west coast with a dose of a New York City vibe. Every time I am there I am struck by the low-key vibe of the city. It is really a great place to get lost in and explore.

I've been to the city a couple of times, but have not really explored the recreating options at all. Everyone raves about Stanley Park but I have never taken the time to check it out. Recently, we were in Vancouver for the Radiohead show at the University of British Columbia (an awesome campus and a great show) and managed to score a great hotel in downtown Vancouver, close to the park. For some reason I woke up really early, hungover, and decided that the best way to exorcise my body of the booze and late night McDonald's was a run. After the first awful 20 minutes, I found myself in Stanley Park. There are very few runs I have done that I would describe as jaw-dropping. My run through Stanley Park definitely met that description (and not because I might have still been drunk).

The park has a paved loop that runs along the entire perimeter of the park, following along the seawall that protects the park from the waters of the bay. The path runs 5.5 miles from start to finish, remaining mostly flat the entire way around. The most striking part of the run was when I reached the north part of the peninsula, where the island turned from forest to immense granite cliffs. At this point I was sober enough to actually start enjoying the truly incredible view.

Green Lake - Seattle, WA

Seattle is one of those cities that the more I explore it, the more I love it. The proximity of the city to so much water definitely reduces the abject depression that I enter into whenever it clouds over with the typical northwest weather. Not to say that I could live there, but it is definitely a fun place to visit for a few days. Combine that with its proximity to the mountains, and the city becomes almost as cool as Portland or Vancouver. But as with most cities in the northwest, there are just some places where even liters of coffee won't fix the effects of the rain.

Usually when I'm in Seattle I run, mostly because the roads don't seem super conducive to cycling, and I haven't really found anyone to show me rides around town. The running, however, is pretty fantastic and very easily accessible. The first time I visited the city I was surprised by how hilly it is, which holds true for most of the close in neighborhoods surrounding the city. I did the Seattle Marathon in 2006 and was impressed with the views and the variety of terrain, and apart from the psyche crushing hills they make you run up starting on mile 19, the route was a great introduction to Seattle running.

My new favorite area is the Ballard part of town, in the Northwest quadrant of the city. I stay with friends there so I have been able to explore part of the area on a regular basis. There are a couple of good restaurants, and a great coffee shop that are worth checking out. There are also a lot of great markets, and the word is a Trader Joe's is going to open up in the area soon.

Green Lake is located between I-5 and the Phinney Ridge, just east of Ballard. I believe it is considered one of the more upscale neighborhoods in that area (ie; safer to run in). The centerpiece is the lake, which has a multi-purpose path running its entire circumference. The path is concrete and dirt, and is basically flat. There are generally a lot of people that use the trail throughout the day, so get ready to dodge dogs and toddlers. The best part of the run is that the neighborhood is where a lot of University of Washington students live, so there is usually a plethora of attractive women running or sunbathing, which help to augment the already great views. I would suggest adding Phinney Ridge into the run, which is basically Phinney Road. From the top, on a rare clear day, you can see both the Olympic Range and the Cascade Range. Not really on par with nubile co-eds, but certainly worth a look. Click on the "view larger map" link below for directions (I am loving Google Maps lately).


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