We have not been back to Kirkwood in several months, and are pleased/surprised to see how much snow remains.  The tops of chairs 6 and 10 look like they do in early December, when just another storm or two will open the mountain.   Not enough of the white stuff to ski on the 4th of July as we did four years ago, but not bad either.

But I’m not here to ski.  We’re up for hiking, swimming in frigid mountain lakes, and one nice run at altitude.  At 8,000 feet, the base of Kirkwood is about the same as Fairy Lake, where the Bridger will start.   Need  to get the body used to sucking in the thin mountain air, cutting back the pace enough to sustain a running pace.   I ran 8 miles today, gained a thousand feet.  Huffed and puffed my way through it.  Not bad for a start, but a long way to go!   I will be able to get some altitude runs in during upcoming trips to Cody, Wyoming and Banff, so this is just the beginning….