3 Runs in 1 Day

So after a few days of shooting in bad weather, i figured i better get a run in. The elevation in Yellowstone is around 7400 feet, so it made for a good test of running at elevation for the Transrockies. I grew up in Richmond BC, which is actually below sea level, and aside from a couple of runs over the Rubble Creek trail run course, i have not really ran much at elevation. As we left the hotel, we had the sun shining down on us, but by the time we entered the park, it started raining quite heavily. We hit the turnoff for the Fountain Paint Pots, another Geyser basin in Yellowstone that we had not checked out yet. so we stopped for a quick look. I figured i might as well get a short run in and test running on the boardwalks around the geysers. The day before, all of the boardwalks around the geysers had snow on them, so they were too slippery to walk on, but without the snow they were fine. After 15 mins on running the loop and watching one Geyser erupt, I met my Mom back at the car and we continued on down the road.

We accidently passed to trailhead that I had planned to run, so we kept going until we reached the Old Faithful area. There was a 1 mile loop that climbed up over the basin to an outlook that i wanted to check out, so off i went for run number 2. Running at 7400, i did not really noticed the altitude while on the flats, but once i started up the switchbacks on the climb, i could really feel it. As i neared the top i could barely breathe, my mouth was wide open gasping for oxygen, I know my hill climbing sucks but this was crazy. Transrockies will start at a higher elevation and go up to over 12000ft, Looks like i got lots of work ahead of me. As i headed back down, i passed Solitary Geyser, which erupts every 7 minutes, so i figured i would wait to watch it blow. It had a large pool that you could get really close to. As i waited, it started to downpour again, a mix of snow and rain, so I hid under a tree, but luckily it passed quickly. Just as it stopped, the geyser started to act up. All of a sudden, a huge bubble about 6 feet wide burst out of the geyser, it reached up about 5 feet above the ground before it popped. It was cool to see but that was all it did. After that one bubble it flatten out, and that was it. I headed back down the trail and continued down past about 50 other geysers all the way to Biscuit basin, for a total of 5 miles or so.

I figured i was done at this point, but as we drove past the the original trail i planned to run, i told my Mom to pull over. Why not make it 3 runs in one day. I had hiked part of this trail years ago, it passes right by the Grand Prismatic Spring, which is an amazing pool of water with every color of the rainbow. You really need to see it from the air to get the best view point, and from this trail you can climb a hill get a better viewpoint of it. As i didn't have a camera with me, i kept running past it. The trail is 4 miles long, and quite flat, but it really takes you away from the park roads. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if any wolves were chasing me down, but luckily i did not see any more on this day. You go through an area that was hit by forest fires in the past, so you see a lot of downed trees, with many new trees growing around them, it looks like a Christmas tree farm, but it is all natural. At one point i climbed this rise above a curving river, just as the sun came out. A perfect rainbow formed just behind the S curves of the river, with golden grass on either side. I really need to pack a baby camera with me on my runs to capture these amazing sites. It would have been a perfect shot. As i got to the end of the trail, where my Mom was supposed to pick me up, she was no where to be found. So rather than stopping in the cold to wait, i just kept running down the road. About another mile later she finally showed up, she had figured i would take longer than i did. It didn't matter at all to me, as it allowed me to continue my run in one of my favorite places in the United States.