Mt Hood Circumnavigation v2

I'd originally arranged to run around Mt Hood today with a group, but the promise of better weather on Thursday meant I went up there with Yassine and Brian (here).

The guys put together a fun video that makes it look like we were running round the mountain fast, instead of stopping a lot to take photos:



Today it was overcast with rain yesterday and the promise of a lot more any second, but it held off. My legs were a little tired from the 42-miler 3 days ago so I decided to run 10 miles in reverse along the Timberline route to meet them then finish off the trail. I couldn't really say no to a run with some of the fastest and friendliest ultrarunners in the North-West - Max King, Ellie Greenwood, Amy Sproston, Mike Palichuk, Zach Violett and Steph Howe. Just a shame Yassine and Brian couldn't make it out again too.

Autumn is certainly very visible in the trees, although the mountain itself was in the clouds.

Taking a well-earned rest. L-R: Zach, Max, Ellie, Amy, Steph and Mike

That certainly gets me thinking.

Mt Hood Circumnavigation

With perfect weather and both Yassine Diboun and Brian Donnelly to share it with, we did the 40-mile circumnavigation of Mt Hood on the Timberline Trail in northern Oregon today. Thanks to a lot of stops for photo-shoots, it took us from dawn til dusk, which also helped to give a variety of shades and alpenglow to add to the Autumn colors. With a little off piste action, we ran about 42 miles with 10,000ft of ascent.

Importantly, I learned that running with two vegans means a lot of toilet stops...and don't run behind a vegan who's just eaten a burrito.