The majority of the Never Summer 100k trails are clear of snow and open for training!
Between now and race day, we’ll be up at the park most weekends scouting out the course and doing trail work. For the most up-to-date announcements about course conditions and opportunities to join training and work groups, please follow us on Facebook.
Here are a couple dates to put on your calendar:
6/25 Clear Lake Trail Work
We have a lot of downed trees to remove from the Clear Lake trail on the north section of the course and we need to re-mark the entire road/trail loop with permanent orange markers. Park staff will be working with us to cut logs. We’ll need extra hands to help hike in equipment, pull cut logs and small branches off the trail, and set orange markers.
Meet at the Clear Lake trailhead at 8:30am.
The trailhead is at the very end of the park road 41. Park maps are available online here.
Pack your own food and water to be out on the trail for most of the day. Dress accordingly – work gloves are recommended. Long sleeves and pants are best for moving heavy logs but running shorts and tshirts are suitable for hiking in gear and/or helping with trail marking.
4th of July Training Weekend
Come up and join us for 1, 2, or 3 days to preview sections of the course. We will post full details on Facebook before the weekend.
The following are some options for routes that everyone can follow to give people the best chance of running with a group and to make it easier to coordinate carpooling, car shuttles, and water drops.
We will try to set out some limited marking on several of the trickier segments before the 4th of July but the course will not be fully marked. We recommend buddying up with runners who know the route and/or bringing detailed maps and directions to find your way.
Saturday 7/2
Meet at the Ranger Lakes Trailhead at 7:30am to coordinate car shuttles for the 16 or 18 mile options. We may have some light flagging out on the tricky turns for this section of the course but it will not be fully marked. We recommend buddying up with someone who knows the route. You can also print a copy of the detailed directions and course map that we have online here (the USFS map version is he most accurate of the area).
Ranger Lakes to Diamond. ~16 Miles.
Ranger Lakes to Bockman ~24 Miles. This route will follow the course to the junction of the Yurt Trail on the Montgomery jeep road. Continue down the jeep road to the Bockman campground.
Ranger Lakes to Bockman and back to Ranger Lakes. ~30 Miles. Follow the same route cutting the route short down the Montgomery jeep road to Bockman and then follow the course from Bockman back to Ranger Lakes.
Sunday 7/3
Meet at the junction of Ruby Jewel Rd and the main park road (CR 41) at 7:30am.
The Ruby Jewel Rd is rough and the trailhead is small so we recommend parking at the bottom of Ruby Jewel and carpooling up to the trailhead to start. Runners can easily finish this loop heading down the road to their cars. This section of the route is on maintained park trails and the blue Rawah Wilderness Map has the most accurate detail of the area. You can pick one up at the Moose Visitor Center.
Ruby Jewel to Ruby Jewel.
~25 Miles. Start at the Ruby Jewel trailhead and follow the course back to the Ruby Jewel Rd and back to the trailhead.
~20.5 Mile option. Skip the out and back climb to Clear Lake.
~16 Mile option. Take a left on the access road at the end of the Kelly Lake trail to short cut directly to Canadian and follow the Yurt trail back to Ruby Jewel.
Monday 7/4
TBD – preview shorter routes, help out with some trail work, and/or meet up for some recovery/social time and beers.
The major developed campsites at Bockman, Michigan, and Ranger Lakes are booked up already for the 4th of July weekend but there are always plenty of first-come-first serve spots at the Crags or the dispersed sites in the park. The dispersed sites at the Clear Lake trailhead at the end of park road 41 are usually the best option to find a group of campsites all together in the same area.
If anyone wants to find us to check in Fri, Sat, or Sun evenings this weekend, Pete will be at tent site #1 at the Northpark Campground at the main entrance to the park.
