Nature Loop Trail

I went for another evening run today.  I find it very difficult, strenuous to run in the afternoon or evening.  And this evening it was hot.  I wore minimalist shoes which are still so extremely comfortable.  It’s not actually like I’m running barefoot.  But it’s like I’m not wearing shoes (and my neuroma knows it too!  I came in from today’s run limping.) 

As I ran Coyote Run Trail, I saw something dark to my side run and leap through the brush.  I thought “Oh crap,” because I feared I was running alongside an extra active bobcat.  I’m not usually fearful of bobcats.  But I usually see them in the morning when they are a bit lackadaisical.  So, I abruptly stopped in the single-track trail.  Not ten feet away stood a wide-eyed deer chewing on a wad of grass.  A few feet from her another deer bent down to chomp the vegetation.  My presence didn’t phase these beauties a bit.  As I ran onward, I saw the third deer, the smallest one, the one that had been leaping through the grass when it spooked me. 

Off Coyote Run Trail I ran the last remaining trail at Aliso/Wood Canyons Park that I had not yet run.  I put off Nature Loop Trail because it seemed that every time I ran past it, time was fleeting.  I finally took that right turn and climbed up to the ridgeline trail, and as of this evening, I have conquered every single marked trail in these canyons. 

Who would have thought?  And I had lots and lots of fun doing it (not to mention some disappointments, some falls and injuries), but mostly an awesome time.

View from Nature Loop Trail

A pause before coming off Nature Loop Trail

The Trail

Miles run today:  5.13 (The loop:  Canyon Vistas Park, Wood Canyon to Wood Creek Trail, back to Wood Canyon Trail, Coyote Run Trail, Nature Loop Trail, Mathis Trail, Wood Canyon Trail back to Canyon Vistas Park)