Mercy Hike

My husband knows when I need to get out and wander. Years ago, he used to plead with me to get out and hit the trails (on my lazy days that is – otherwise I was driving on the road before sunrise). Now that I am without wheels, hitting the trails is difficult. It’s always somewhat difficult but now, almost impossible because I just cannot take the only car we have right now and head off to the mountains. It doesn’t seem fair. In fact, it seems selfish. I don’t want to be selfish.

This past Thursday, I mumbled something about trying to get out the next day for a hike. My husband jumped at the idea and offered to come along. Usually, I do the asking. But he offered. So, the last Friday in January (1/27), we headed out the door at about 9:30 am for a nice long stroll along The Great Suburban Trail, known by everyone else as Arroyo Trabuco Trail. After a 20 minute commute, we parked in the lot of a small Las Flores park. Then we crossed Antonio Parkway and caught a trail that took us behind a planned community where we hiked down a steep service road to Tijeras Creek Trail for a 12+ mile stroll to O’Neill Park and back.

The Green of a Southern California winter surrounded us. Chartreuse colored carpets of grass filled the meadows, clumps of green mistletoe hung from giant sycamores. Tijeras and Arroyo Trabuco were both flowing nicely, in addition to multiple tributaries meandering throughout the basin. Scrambling through the brush, we couldn’t find a place to cross Tijeras Creek, so for the first creek crossing, I removed my shoes and socks and waded through the ice cold water over hard slippery rocks. Well, that was enough of that. There were just too many crossings to do this every time.

Tijeras Creek Crossing:

Near Tijeras Creek & Arroyo Trabuco Creek Junction:

Felt so good to get out and get my legs moving. I didn’t mind the wet feet. I even packed a spare pair of socks that I didn’t change into. I admit, I was a little tired on the return. But I like that feeling – it’s familiar, and it’s rewarding. I often use the words “trashed” or “thrashed” to describe that feeling of really overworking the body. Well, I didn’t get trashed on this adventure. But it was close. Toward the end,  I was beginning to feel it in my hamstrings and quads. (Hurts so good!)

Back at home, I thanked my husband for my mercy hike.

He asked, “Is that what that was?”

“Perhaps.”

“ Well, I sometimes have you do things you don’t really want to do.”

“Indeed.”

More of the Great Suburban Trail:

A little over 12.5 miles

Winter Was My Season

Thursday March 25, I specifically set out for flat trails. There’s only one place best for that. I headed out to Arroyo Trabuco (the Great Suburban Trail!) of course. I guess that I was a little distracted as I packed because I forgot my beanie and gloves. And it was cold. Boy was it cold. The skies were gray and the trails were empty. Empty and eerie.

Rummaging through my pack, I found my thin buff and wrapped that around my head and neck. Then I zipped up tight and made my way down Tijeras Creek Trail. From there I hiked to Arroyo Trabuco. By then my shoes were wet, as Tijeras Creek was too full to hop the rocks across.

@ the Tijeras Creek / Arroyo Trabuco junction:

Trabuco Creek nice and easy crossing:

My shoes had plenty of time to dry out along Arroyo Trabuco Trail. The creek crossings had more than enough rocks to hop across. I had also warmed up a bit, but remained zipped all the way up, with much of my face, head and neck covered.  At about the 4 mile mark it began to drizzle. I sat beneath a tree that provided ample cover along a dry creek bed and ate my first meal of the day – beef stick, nuts, dried fruit. It was a lovely. But then the rain came down harder and fell right through my tree. I grabbed my stuff and ran back to the more heavily forested area and stood in the trees’ shadows and took in the rain. It was beautiful.  

As quickly as the rain blew in, it stopped and I decided to head back. I saw a couple of people along the way, a guy on a bike, and a woman on foot. At one point, while walking beneath a tall canopy of trees, I heard the familiar sound of a branch or trunk squeaking in the wind. Oh boy, that caught my attention. The first time I heard that sound was about 35 years ago, I was playing frisbee in a forested area near Walnut Creek in Covina with my husband (then boyfriend) and his friends when we all stood still to listen to a strange creaking sound. And then, before our eyes, a 30 foot tree crashed to the ground. Many years later, as I sat in the Holy Jim parking lot in Trabuco Canyon, I heard that same strange creaking sound coming from above. And then right before my eyes, I watched a giant branch fall several stories high, smashing into the ground below, barely missing the cars parked there. And so, having heard this creaking again, I did the only thing that came to mind. I quickly ran ahead out of the wooded area. Then I stood back and watched. Nothing fell this time. I hope that when it does, it does off trail or when no one is around!

The season was surely spring as evidenced by all the flowers. But it was definitely like a winter day. I sure relished it because I knew it would most likely be my last until next winter. Winter was my season this year. I am grateful for it.

8.54 mi with 1,431 ft of elevation gain (not exactly flat, I know, but these trails definitely seem flat in comparison to other trails).

In Case Anyone's Checking

Phase 3 of course is not panning out either. I am however, doing much better than my progress from Phase 2 (which was pretty close to a failure). I'm still plugging along regardless of my progress. I'm back to my teaching jobs, so time is even more crunched. If I could only get my butt out of bed super early in the morning, I could get runs in before work. But I don't. And that is that. I haven't even been posting either (time is precious!), but I will tally up Phase 3 by the end of this month -- until then, here's a lovely recent hike/run along the great suburban trail, Arroyo Trabuco from last Wednesday, January 8 (before I was back teaching at both schools). The weather was dang cold (for us mere mortals in Southern California), but I am not complaining. I love to bundle up on the trails. The miles totaled 12.25, but I forgot to turn off my watch and drove a couple miles before realizing. So, Strava reports fourteen something (in case anyone's checking). 

View of Arroyo Trabuco Trail from Oso Parkway sidewalk

Creek Crossing (I managed to keep my feet dry here, but there's several creek crossings, and eventually I accidentally plopped down into the water)

Lovely, lovely Arroyo Trabuco (near Tijeras Creek junction)

Beneath 241 Toll Road, nearing O'Neill Park with Saddleback Mountains in background

Yes, this is a suburban trail, but look at all that beauty (This is why I call this the GREAT suburban trail)

Spring is Coming to Arroyo Trabuco

We have been transformed into a green colored state with all the rain that we’ve had the past several weeks. Green hills and mountains surround us now. It really is remarkable. I get out to the trails when I can in between rains. Most of my local trails are closed, so I always shimmy off to the trails that open sooner than the others. One of those trails is Arroyo Trabuco, which I set out on over a week ago (February 24) for a nice long hike (with some running, because I got behind in my schedule due to all the creek crossings). I put in 13.17 miles and waded through the stream a dozen times. I didn’t mind the wet feet, but oh did it feel wonderful at the turnaround point in O’Neill Park when I replaced my socks with a dry pair. Almost nothing feels better than replacing soggy socks with a new dry pair.

Beneath Oso Parkway looking down onto Arroyo Trabuco Trail:

Nearly Knee Deep: 

 

 

Arroyo Trabuco My Good Friend

Arroyo Trabuco 14 mi. / Friday 12/14

I downloaded the Mapmyrun on my phone and took to Arroyo Trabuco Trail Friday, December 14 (yes, I am 10 days late -- so I will make this quick). Not really mourning my Garmin anymore (it really was a pain in the ass). I recall it was a dark day, both physically and mentally. The skies were gray, and I was feeling down for reasons I’ll leave out. Best thing ever to do when down, hit the trails, especially after recent rains.The creek was full, so much so, that I found it difficult to cross without at least dipping my foot in the water. There were several creek crossings. There were also lots of people, and they all made some kind of contact -- a nod, eye contact, even short talks (big contrast to my local trails). I met one man (Ahmad) who told me about the video clips he saw of mountain lions on this trail. We had a good ten minute discussion as he showed me one of the cameras on the trail that I had never even noticed. In the end, I was growing somewhat fatigued, and even had to run some to keep to my time schedule. I believe that I probably ran about 6 of the 14+ miles. At the last creek crossing, I didn’t have energy or focus to cross it without getting my feet wet. So, mid-way, I simply stepped down into the middle of the creek and walked across it, drenching my shoes completely.

Arroyo Trabuco -- The Great Suburban Trail

Oh my gosh, super behind in blogging my trails. Time to catch up because I finally have a little time off in the summer (only teaching evenings now, starting today!). This means that I have more time to hit the trails. But alas, it has been so hot . . .

My last trail (hike-run) was Arroyo Trabuco, right as our temperatures began rising. Of course, I left my house in the afternoon. And I parked further out this time too (near The Water District). This way, I got to skip Tijeras Creek Trail, which gets a bit too sandy, and has that incline at the end -- and I don’t like inclines at the end. However, with this choice, I was going to add two miles to my regular out-and-back.

The date was June 30. The day was a Saturday, and it was frickin’ hot. And so, I decided to hike (to save myself, else I die because as you may recall, I do not do good in heat anymore). I hiked practically all of the “out” of this out-and-back, which ended with 7 plus miles at O’Neill Regional Park. Hiking certainly took a lot of the stress out of the heat. My travels were comfortable and  pleasurable. And even better, the trails were basically empty.

At my turnaround, it was late afternoon, or rather, early evening. A soft coolish breeze began to blow soon after. With the new temperature, I kicked out the back and put in some running (or jogging rather -- hehe).

Well, gosh, I have been on this trail so many times -- countless times. So, this time, at about 2 or 3 miles in on the “back” portion of this out-and-back, I decided to take “Loop Trail” with the assumption that it was the same trail that met up with “Loop Trail” just next to the creek, a few miles up Arroyo Trabuco. Basically, I always stay only on Arroyo Trabuco when I take this gigantic trail (which I can catch locally in San Juan Capistrano). I’ve been on the offshoots, but always with someone else (mainly Tom, and several years ago).

So, down a pretty steep incline I traversed onto “Loop Trail.” At the bottom I crossed the creek. Quickly afterward, I found myself climbing up a pretty decent incline toward the neighborhoods on the canyon cliffs to the right. But I needed to go to the left. I thought this trail probably did turn to the left eventually. When I studied my surroundings, I could find no evidence of this however. And then a young lad came by on a dirt bike (which are not actually allowed on these trails). Out of politeness, it seemed, he stopped when he approached so as not to kick up dirt or make too much noise. And I asked him where this trail I was standing on lead. He said that it lead up to the right, to a park on the cliff. “Are you sure?” I asked. “Doesn’t it at some point turn off to the left?” The kid assured me that he had just come from the park, and that the trail only went to that location.

(There really is no better word than “lovely” to describe the scenery):

Back to the young man on the dirt bike. I should not have believed him. Not that he was lying. He probably just didn’t know. The thing was, I really, really didn’t want to backtrack and hike up that hill back to Arroyo Trabuco. Yet, I turned back anyway with hopes of finding some single track I didn’t notice after the creek, that I could eventually take back to the Loop/Arroyo Trabuco junction.

Well, there was no single-track. But just before the creek, I noticed a clearing in the thick brush. If I ducked my head, I could make it through to what seemed like a slight trail running alongside the creek. So, do you think that I did that?

Of course I did.

By this time, the weather had cooled a great deal. It was lovely. And it was quiet and lush after making my way through the cave-like brush. And yes, I did catch a small trail alongside the creek. In my estimation, it would only be couple of miles, at most, until I made it to my junction. If the trail was like it was currently, the trip would be a breeze.

But the the path got thinner. And the path got wetter. It lessoned to a point that I wasn’t really sure if I was on a trail anymore. I noticed a few offshoots, which I explored. But they didn’t look promising and I always turned back to the creek. I didn’t want to go back though, dang it! There was too much backtracking to be had and the evening was wearing on. It was about 6:30 pm (and don’t mountain lions search for prey in the evening hours?)

Eventually, I found myself traipsing down the middle of the creek with no promising offshoots whatsoever. My path had disappeared. All along, my luck had held out. I still had a decent amount of energy. I had avoided the poison oak (which doesn’t bother me -- I am immune) and the stinging nettle (which does bother me -- I am not immune). And best of all, I hadn’t been eaten by a mountain lion.

So, it was time to make sure that my luck continued to hold out (because I was now pretty much boxed in, breaking through brush to move forward in the stream). I turned back. There was sort of a defeat in that. But there was also relief, because I knew the way back, and exactly how it would look. I’m not quite sure if it was just before or after I turned back that I brushed into the stinging nettle. I got it in the left shin and on the tip of my right index finger.  It wasn’t a terrible sting. But it was a pretty good sting that lasted both on my leg and my finger at the same intensity for the entire night. (It was only when I woke the next morning that I noticed that the sting had been tamed by about half).

The backtracking added some mileage to my trip. So, I decided to take a short cut up to Oso Parkway, where I made my way along that busy road back to the parking lot near The Water District. I probably cut off two miles with the short cut. But the climb was steeper, but not at all terrible.

On Oso Parkway, overlooking Arroyo Trabuco Trail, with Santiago and Modjeska Peaks in the background:

Oh the fun times!  I am fortunate (I don’t realize that enough).

14.22 miles / 958’ elevation gain