I had my running stuff with me so driving home from work I was checking out the mountains and decided to stop off and run the Mueller park trail. Didn't hit the trail until just before 5, so I was in shadows the entire time. It was really cold, but the trail did not disappoint. I only saw 2 people right at the lower part of the trail, and then I had it to myself the rest of the time. The trail was packed really well, especially on the first half of the trail, it got a little less traveled the higher you went, and every now and then you'd run into some energy sucking snow drifts that you'd sink into. I always try to see if I can be light and fast enough to make it across the top, but it usually doesn't pan out. You gain about 1500 feet in the almost 3.5 miles to elephant rock. Didn't look like anyone had been higher than that in some time (at least since the last snowfall). Took me 40 minutes to get up and 30 to get down. Could have been faster on the way down, but was battling stomach stuff the whole way that slowed me down every now and then. Still came in a few minutes faster than my last run of the trail, which I pretty much attribute to the microspikes, which I didn't have the last time. | 