A traveler's guide to trail running

Over the past few years I have had the opportunity, thanks to my work, to travel all over the world. Being a trail runner, I always try to find a trail to run on regardless of where I am. I don't always find a trail, but I almost always get a run in. Here are some tips to finding trails and running in new places.



1. Bring your gear. Running in slacks and dress shoes in the dark without a headlamp is probably not a good idea. Bring you shoes, headlamp, water bottle, and anything else that you usually run with. Check the weather for where you will be. If it's 30 degrees colder there, don't forget your hat.

2. Run with a GPS device. Not only can you track your run, but you can also find your way back to the hotel. Most phone running apps and GPS devices have a "back to start" feature. A device that also has a map display can be very useful when your lost.
















3. Find a trail. Figuring out where to run in a new area can be tricky. Before each trip I usually look at the location I am traveling to on Google Earth. I also look on strava.com to see if other people have run in that area. Lastly, I do google searches for hiking and bike trails in the area. If I can't find a trail, I run on the roads and see where my legs take me.

4. Be safe. Running in an unknown area can be scary. Be prepared for an emergency. If running in a foreign country make sure that you know what phone number to call in an emergency. 911 won't work. Don't run alone. Even if you don't have someone to run with, run in an area where there are other people out and about.


















5. Have fun. Running in unknown territory can be exciting. Explore the area as much as you can. Take pictures of your adventures. If you're brave enough, ask a stranger to take your picture.

4 Lakes Loop

Catching the sunrise on Honeycomb Cliffs Peak.

by Sam

The 4 Lakes Loop is located at the top of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. The traditional route starts at Alta in LCC and runs over Catherine's Pass then skirts by Lakes Catherine, Martha, and Mary. Around the Mountain to Twin Lakes then up the pass and back to the car, unless you add Honeycomb Cliffs Peak like we did. It's a short climb and totally worth it.

Map & Stats of the 4 Lakes Loop.

One of the coolest things about this loop is the opportunity to run in both canyons. Also, there's opportunity to add a few more lakes if desired, Dog, Silver and Solitude. Loop runs are always fun because the trail is always new. Mentally, that is a big bonus.

The Pfeifferhorn sure does spike up out of nothing.

If you look really closely you can see Ben, Jen, Matt, and Ashley over there on the Crest trail.

Chris and Me with some sweet Aspens above Twin Lakes.

Summit Monkey on Honeycomb.

Pfeifferhorn and White Baldy

The Spine between Pfeifferhorn & White Baldy

by Sam

Earlier this summer Chris Pope and I attempted to summit White Baldy. Earlier that day I had summitted Mt. Kessler and I think I slowed us down just enough to lose our sunlight. The ascent to White Baldy is one of the sketchiest around. Lots of opportunity to slip and fall to your doom on loose gravel, loose rock, knife edges or just steep pitches. We ran out of sunlight and after climbing a bit in the dark we decided to return another day. Today was that day. But first, we decided to do Pfeifferhorn as well.

Jeremy, Nate, Chris, Ben, and Jeff running around Red Pine Lake.

The Mighty Pfeifferhorn.
Jeff and Jeremy being directed by Maestro Ben across the spine.

A handful of the Wasatch Mountain Wranglers met at the White Pine trailhead just before dawn. We made good time going up Red Pine and summitted Pfeifferhorn right at the two hour mark. I brought just enough bacon for everyone to have a piece. It wasn't quite the Bacon Cheeseburger the Nate wanted but it did satisfy.

We spent little time on the summit because we wanted to get after the next part of our adventure, which involved some intense ridge climbing. The Spine between Pfeiff and White Baldy is a sheer knife edge which lasts about two miles. At the top of this post I embedded the video that Ben took of this traverse. I have grown to love this type of mountaineering. It is exhilarating to say the least.

Taken from White Baldy summit. Red Pine Lake on the left, White Pine Lake on the right.

Above you can see Red Pine on the left, the way we came up, and White Pine on the right, the way we went down. The photo was taken from White Baldy's summit. It has a gnarly descent into White Pine, the traditional route. The views were spectacular, the weather was perfect, the company was good. It was an awesome day.

White Baldy summit monkey.

Jeff and Jeremy start the death slide off White Baldy.

Map & Stats of Pfeifferhorn and White Baldy.