Beta V.5

Ahh, all weekends should be like this... Earlier in the summer I was chatting to Brian about running some of the earlier sections of the Sawtooth course as a training run ahead of his first 100 miler in September. So I was glad that it worked out for him to be able to join me on yet another trip north (I feel like I have neglected Afton this summer!)... Myself, Vale & Dee headed off from the cities around 3pm Friday and met up with Brian in Two Harbors. Chris and Cooper joined us later the campsite. The plan was for Brian to run from Gooseberry to Finland the next day with the rest of us joining him at Silver Bay. Vale would have run the whole thing as part of her training for Sawtooth also but was resting a sore foot. The day turned out to be much hotter than expected, and hotter even that the Twin Cities, but it did mean beautiful clear skies and awesome views of the lake. There was some reprieve with the breeze up on the high ridges but overall it was super hot and humid. We were dripping wet from the start and drinking way more than usual. Which unfortunately meant we ran out of water - a lesson learned there! Though I personally found the Baptism River water to be quite tasty... but I agree, not generally recommended. After a nice long day on the trail we relaxed by the campfire for the evening, entertained by Brian's stories including the lock-jaw one which had us all in stitches. Sunday morning myself and the girls helped out with a bridge building project at Fox Farm Road west trailhead - part of the new sections of trail south of Two Harbors. It was a lot of fun and standing in the cold river for an hour was probably good for the legs! Here are some pictures from the weekend...