Got up to Mill D North and was planning on making my way up to Desolation Lake then head back down. I knew the rain might be a factor so I ran hard. I didn't expect what was to come, however.
A moose was blocking the trail almost 3 miles into the run. I stopped my watch and waited her out from about 50 yards, for 10 minutes or so, making all sorts of noise so she'd know I was there. When I finally decided she wasn't making much progress, I went up the mountainside to swing wide around her. When I was straight across from her at about 60 yards away, a mountain bike came down the trail and blew by her. The guy probably didn't even see her. However, she wasn't very happy and started grunting. I continued my forward progress and got to the point where I was going to drop down and connect with the trail again. And guess who was there? Yeah, she now had a sense of urgency and she was pissed, now coming straight at me.
At this point the only option is to run away, so that's what I did. I ran as fast and as hard as I could through the belly-high bushes. I turned my head around a couple times to see where she was and she was making ground. When she was within 40 yards or so I came upon the ridge then dropped straight down, basically falling down the mountain. I didn't look back, just tried to put some distance between us, however futile it may be. If she really wanted to get me she easily could have. She was just an ornery thing that was looking to put a scare in me. Mission accomplished!
When I felt comfortable that she was no longer near me, I bushwacked to try and find the trail. Wasted major time doing this, but I eventually found my way back. Once I hit Blunder Fork I decided to head up to Dog Lake real quick to feel like I got some semblance of a run in. Then the rain started and the lightning soon followed, so I pushed it down the trail. On the way down I passed some bikers. We chatted for a second, then I put some distance between us. When I got to the bottom, the lady that was in front arrived a few minutes after and told me that about 1 minute after I pushed ahead of them, she saw a bobcat run across the trail! So mad that I missed seeing that! I've always wanted to see one in the wild. Oh well. It was an interesting day to say the least.
Distance is a total guess
No idea on time
No idea on vert | 