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)

Arroyo Trabuco

July 18, the day after my day off from three in a row (two short runs, then a hike), I knew I needed to get back out and run if I wanted to eventually latch onto that wonderful thing called momentum. HOWEVER, I absolutely did not want to do this. I had already had a full day and was not at all in the mood to run. It is kind of discouraging when you're starting over. And so therefore, I waited until the very last possible minute to run and get it in before dark. At about 7:30 pm, I drove down to the Marine Institute and ran 2.51 miles in the Dana Point Harbor. I did not like it. Except at the end. When it was over. I liked it.

The next day (July 19, it was a Friday), I wanted a nice long hike, something easy, something relatively flat, and something long. Best place for that was Arroyo Trabuco Trail. I chose a 12ish mile out-and-back with a turnaround point in O'Neill Park (lovely!). I hit the trails at about 1pm, so undoubtedly, it was warm. But I got lots of shade (which is the reason that I chose Arroyo Trabuco in the first place). I saw very few people on the trail. I also saw two bull dozers from it appeared the fire department plowing the trail.  For the most part, the hike was uneventful, just easy going and in the NOW. The most eventful moment was when bushwhacking on Tijeras Trail, as I stood in the middle of a field after having lost the the single track trail, something ran past me and brushed into my leg. That something was little, I was thinking little like a mouse, but I really have no idea because as soon as I felt it, I ran. 

Best 12.86 miles in a long time! 

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.