November 11, 2008
Heil Ranch
| Distance | 5.50 miles |
|---|---|
| Time | 2 hr 02 min |
| Elevation Gain | 1,003 feet |
| GPS Analysis | MotionBased |
After the near death experience at Hall Ranch, I decided to take Kim to Heil Ranch this week. It is a bit closer to home and usually more traveled. However, when we pulled into the parking lot this morning, it was empty. Guess we will be the first blood of the day!
The weather was great for November. I had a long sleeve tech shirt with my TNF Hydrogen jacket over it. Felt great. No snow yet FWIW. We decided to see if we could make it up the Wapiti Trail until the junction with the Ponderosa Loop Trail. After the distance mistake at Hall Ranch, I wanted to build some good karma with Kim on this hike. We hit the junction at about an hour flat with no real stops. Took a minute and then proceeded back down. We planned on running but Heil has a bunch of loose rock and Kim wasn’t ready for that yet. So we were on and off the run the whole way down. My legs weren’t feeling that great. They are in some super recovery mode and going up my stairs at home even hurts. So I took what I could and we made it back down in about another hour with some stops for scenery along the way down. Our only wildlife encounter was with a black squirrel. We will take it for this week.
Another great outing before the snow flies!
