Stage Coach / Serrano / Little Sycamore Loop

Saturday, I met my old running mate, Tom Fangrow for a long overdue run. I don’t mean “old” as in age. I mean old, like from a long time ago. I actually ran with Tom on my very first trail run. And he showed me much concerning trails over the proceeding years – I think more than anyone ever has. So, this run came at an excellent time for me – a time when I have have been struggling so much with my running. It was good to get back to basics, taking it easy on some trails that I barely know. It was like old times – Tom showing the way.

We met at the Nix Nature Center in Laguna Beach for trails in Laguna Wilderness – trails that I have not run in about seven years. Funny thing, that run seven years ago I recorded in my first blog post for this blog: https://laurenontherun.blogspot.com/2009/07/bommer-canyon-wilderness-access-day.html. And Tom was there too, along with some other long time running friends.

On Saturday morning, we took Stage Coach Trail out from Nix Nature Center, making our way up to Serrano Ridge. The views were immense, summer-brown, rocky and beautiful. From Serrano Ridge, we caught Little Sycamore, a rocky single-track at first, and took it back down to the center. (There might have been another trail in there, but I can’t tell from the map.)

Excellent run, and I felt good afterward. Best of all, I didn’t fall, and I got to run with an old friend.