Still catching up. The last two runs are from my trip reports I wrote on WTA.org.

Monday, May 18, 2015, 6:57 pm
7.16 mi, 990 ft gain, 1:30:23. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Average HR 123 bpm.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015, 6:42 pm
9.72 mi, 2067 ft gain, 2:01:22. Woody trail to Upper Falls(20), Upper Grade, Wallace Lake, Greg Ball, RR grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.

Average HR 132 bpm.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015, 6:40 pm
9.73 mi, 2172 ft gain, 2:01:02. RR grade, Greg Ball, Wallace Lake Upper Grade to Upper Falls(21), Woody Trail, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.

Average HR 135 bpm.

Thursday, May 21, 2015, 6:52 pm
7.62 mi, 1076 ft gain, 2:04:19. Reiter toward wfsp, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Average HR 116 bpm.

Friday, May 22, 2015, 6:36 pm
9.10 mi, 440 ft gain, 1:27:21. May Creek Loop & WFSP lot, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

Average HR 125.

Saturday, May 23, 2015, 4:07 pm
18.46 mi, 5878 ft gain, 4:54:13. Woody, Upper Falls (22), Upper Grade, Stickney to ~4200ft, Greg Ball, cutoff to Woody, Upper Falls & down. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.

Average HR 136 bpm.

Sunday, May 24, 2015, 4:34 pm
4.67 mi, 1843 ft gain, 1:39:11. Kelley Creek Trail, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.
I was going to try to run up the Kelley Creek trail to Johnson Ridge. The FS website said the trail has not been maintained. They weren’t kidding. It’s probably been at least several years. It was overgrown from the beginning, but still not too difficult to follow. 

About 1.3 mi in, there’s a rotted out puncheon bridge going uphill (a terrible idea). I could still make out the old trail bed most of the way, but in many places the hillside above has reclaimed much of the trail, choking the path down to 10 inches wide or less and significantly sloped downhill, so you’re basically side-hilling much of the way. There were at least a dozen blow-downs in the first 2 miles, but none too difficult to pass. At about 2.25 mi, it looked like an amateur lumberjack went at it over the hillside. It seemed that 90% of the trees in the next 0.25 mi were down. Some trees uprooted, taking parts of the trail with. I made it through a couple hundred yards, then it looked even worse ahead. I turned around and headed back. With everything so wet and trail conditions so terrible, I wanted to make it back to the car with enough time to hit another trail (Beckler Peak, which was fantastic). There is flagging tape marking the trail in the difficult to follow parts up until that point, and I’d imagine the markings continue beyond. 

I wouldn’t recommend the trail unless you like bushwhacking, obstacles, route finding, being soaked from the foliage and traveling half as quickly as normal at the very most. Unless the trail gets some attention, it might not be too long before it’s no longer worth the ink to continue printing on maps.
Average HR 126 bpm.

Sunday, May 24, 2015, 6:58 pm
7.45 mi, 2299 ft gain, 1:30:55. Beckler Peak, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.
After trying (and failing) to run up Kelley Creek trail, the Beckler Peak trail was amazing. I got there around 6:45 pm. There was one other vehicle parked at the trail head, but I passed about 6 on the drive up. 

The trail is in great condition. There was one small patch of snow still on the trail around 4600ft. It was only about 10 ft long and will likely be melted out in a day or two. 

Shortly after crossing that snowy patch, there was a small patch of blue sky overhead. I hoped it would last until I reached the top. It had been grey and foggy all day. It only lasted a couple minutes, though. 

I caught up to a hiker about 100 yards from the top. We chatted a little about the area. There were no views to speak of. Visibility was 50-100 yards at the most. It was still a great climb. After a couple minutes, I headed back down. 

As amazing as the trail was going up, bombing down was even better. There are a couple mildly rocky parts on the decommissioned logging road section that took a little more care, but I made great time back to the trail head. 

I’ll definitely head back sometime.

Average HR 141 bpm.

Weekly totals: 74 mi, 16765 ft gain