Has Spring/Summer Arrived?

Well, it looks like we may be done with Winter for a few days or more (hopefully). I have been up in Denver all week but the nice thing about this is that I can stop at the Greenland Trail Open Space on the way home (and not have to drive extra miles) and get in a good run. The trail is in excellent condition, and the temperatures seem to be a bit lower that in Denver (5-10 degrees). This is good since there is not shade to be had on the course.

That being said, I took one day this week to explore a part of the High Line Canal Trail in Denver. I was somewhat familiar with it from the far past where I use to meet some of my Denver area running friends for a longer run. Back then, I was running the section farther to the east and north than my current location.

I did a short 5 miles run on the Canal Trail Tuesday and I can see where this section on the Greenwood Village area has a great feature going for it...it is well shaded by large trees along the section that I ran on. Nice on a hot sunny day in the late afternoon. There is a nice parking area on Orchard Rd, west of I25 about 2-3 miles to start the run from. Also, it is a gravel/dirt trail so the trail itself does not hold the heat as much as other surfaces. If you are in the area and looking for a place to run, this is a good choice. There is another trail area not quite as far west and the High Line Canal, located in a park area that also shares the shade characteristics as the canal trail.

The High Line Canal Trail is a very long trail and I think if I am in the area and have the time, I will explore more sections of it (maybe) on a bike to allow more exploration time and map it on the website. I did some searches for more info on it but did not find good maps and descriptions so I think it worth documenting.