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Trail Running


Wopper

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Have recently got into trail running as a great way to spend time outdoors with the wife and dog. Does anyone know of any place to get a guidebook/descriptions of trails that make for fun running? Does anyone have some favorite places they would be willing to share?

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Have ran a lot at Pt Defiance and went out to the Middle Fork Snoqualmie this week-end. Both are cool places.

I have never been to Any Trail. Where is that?

I am not a big fan of trails with lots of elevation gain/loss. Running downhill for an extended period of time trashes my knees.

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wopper,

 

i agree lotsa running downhill is hard on your knees. i bet you are older then me too, so i can only still fathom your issues(knock on wood!!)

 

i walk down hill alot, becuase of the reason you state, but i also run downhill too. it helps devlop some of the muscles in different ways(help courtney!?)

 

reihnhold messner also walked down most hills after running up there.....

 

they are obviously more benefits for slogging if you run up hill....

 

sorry i couldn't help

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Dude-Wopper!

 

There are a couple of new guide books to trail running in Washington. Here they be:

 

Mike McQuaide, "Trail Running Guide to Western Washington", Sasquatch Books, Seattle.[2001] ["over 50 great trail runs." There are indices that rate the runs by difficulty, fun factor and aesthetic appeal.

 

Cheri Gillis, "50 Trail Runs in Washington." Mountaineers Books. [2002]

 

Runs vary from a handful of miles to over thirty.

At this point, I prefer the Mike McQuaide book because I did a run in that new Mountaineers book and got lost following such dubious instructions as "at the Tie Mill (no longer apparent), a new trail drops down" and "new trail drops down ...(may not be marked but if you look right, you'll see it)". Somewhere in a several mile stretch!

 

A favorite training hill: Mt. Pete (also called by the locals, "Mt. Peak") in Enumclaw. It's like a miniature Mt. Si but only one third as high. A steep trail up the north side and then roads on the back and a six mile loop around the base.

 

- Dwayner

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The Northeastern Olympics have a couple of nice trails that aren't too steep-- until the road washed out, the Dosewallips went about 12 miles up without gaining too much altitude. I have run-walked up it to reach Mt Deception, and it's fairly gentle, wide enough, well maintained. Of course this is probably not true this year. Royal Basin is also good although it rises a little more as I recall-- only about 6 miles to the basin from the parking lot. I have put these trails on the back burner for solo runs because, though some of you may laugh at this, I think that running obliviously through miles of Olympic woods makes me prime cougar fodder.

If anyone wants to get up really early to go for one of these on a weekend, I'm game-- send me a pm. [Cool]

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I live real close to Dash point state park and run there virtually everyday. Its espically nice on hot days becuase the trees keep the forest alot cooler. Warning: there are a few hills but most aren't very long, just short and steep. [big Grin]

 

Since you've ran Pt. Defiance I figure you must live in the area.

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One of my favorite trailruns is the Cascade Pass-Sahale Arm trail. Eye candy all around, good reconnaissance for climbs during the season, the cascade pass trail -as everyone knows- is low grade (easy on the knees of you old fellers' [Wink] ), and the explosive ice avalanches off Johannesburg. There is a steep 1 kilometer section in which you gain 250 meters of elevation (my feeble attempt to reintroduce the metric or "suffirior" [laf] system) to gain the Sahale arm. You can explore one of the many mines in the area. (There are several deep ones around Doubtful Lake, take a dip while your there!) If this trail doesn't sound like your style just run the Ptarmagin Traverse (with track spikes, of course!...You know, for traction! [Wink] )

But seriously, when my X-Country Running and Skiing Team trail run/train in the off-season, we do killer repeats on Mt. Si (there are even half-mile markers for those of us who are getting in shape for virtually anything to gauge progress). Also, Granite Mountain (Hard on the knees, sorry) but bring you rock shoes and get the FULL workout on one of the many boulders on the upper northside of the mountain. The best wilderness run I've done is through the Melakwa and Pratt lake region. Start from Denny Creek and end up at the Pratt Lake trailhead. Leaving a 5 km road run back to the car. Find a map and make your own loop. The version I do is about 30 km (18 miles). I think some of these routes are in the guidebooks mentioned above (my favorite is Mike Mcquaide's)

Good luck and don't forget the horsecock to keep the cougars otherwise engaged when you encounter one, I've been told it works like a charm, and if it doesn't then I'm not who you think I am!!

 

ENjoy

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Totally agree. My stomping grounds are in the Cougar Mountain trails. I run there about 3 times a week and it's never crowded. The distance and level of intensity is up to you. They have a pretty sweet map of the area at the entrance of both ends. Either at the Wilderness Trail side in Isaquah off of 900, or the Red Town Trail Head on the Newcastle side off of Lakemont Blvd. The Trail running guide to WA mentioned earlier, is also a "bust yo mothafuckin ass killer book" Later [big Drink]

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