Waldo Lake clockwise

I'd been wanting to run around Waldo Lake for a few years now. Before I considered myself a "runner" I hiked it. While it was a beautiful hike... I may have bit off a bit more than I should have at the time. I'd been curious to try it again... now more familiar with this distance, but I kept only half-heartedly thinking about it... and not putting forth a concerted effort to organize anything.

Luckily I heard some friends of similar running ability were going to run it. It was my chance. Beautiful weather and the perfect reason to take a middle of the week vacation day. 

There are a couple of spots to start from. We chose to start Shadow Bay.

Be sure to bring a annual trail pass, or cash for day parking.

It's possible to start at any of the three day use parking locations along the eastern shore of Waldo Lake. Due to habbit of the trip leader, we started at the southern day use area, Shadow Bay. I personally think starting at the northernmost point and running counter-clockwise would be best due to running through a former forest burn with no forest canopy early when it's cooler. But that section wasn't too horrible during the hottest part of the day for us this time.

We were able to take a little break at the north campground and refill our water before our last 7 mile push south to the car. But I suspose the same could be done at the south camp if starting at the north and heading counter-clockwise.