Sunday morning I went on a 6 mile trail run to Mount Falcon. I had leaves to rake and other honey-do's at home, so I couldn't stray far from the city. Mt. Falcon is in the foothills close to Denver, just 4.2 miles up Hwy. 285 then on to Parmalee Road.
I decided to follow the route described in Dave Rich's Denver Hiking Guide for the Devil's
Elbow. The route goes past the very cool Walker Home Ruins, then down the Meadow Trail to the Old Ute Trail (photo 1 go up and left). You then do the loop around the Devil's Elbow (photo 2 go clockwise) and return the way you came (photo at bottom).
This only gives you a 3.8 mile run, so I decided to extend it by taking the Parmalee Trail (photo 3). This trail descends at first, then skirts the slope providing some nice views, and finally ascends to get those quads burning at the end. About half-way on this trail I met up with six does and a small buck (photo 4). The deer here are very tame and let me get quite close. They were grazing within 10 feet of me and weren't spooked at all.
This was the first time I tried taking my camera with me on a trail run. It worked out okay by stuffing it in my small runner's Camelback fannypack. Next weekend I hope to do a bit more scrambling if it doesn't snow too much. The week after that is elk hunting season!
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