Unmarked Trails, Pink Clouds and Coyotes

Thursday evening I took off for a short run into Wood Canyon.  I really had no final intention on a destination, except for the fact that I knew I’d do between five and six miles.  Anymore than that, I’d be running in the dark, which is not such a big deal, else a ranger stumble upon me and write out a citation. 

The weather was pleasantly cool, as it has been lately during our mild weathered August.  The trails, though not crowded, had more runners and hikers than I’m used to travelling upon them.  I’m seldom out on the trails in the evening though. 

I wore my pf sock (a short compression sock) that helped immensely with my foot pain (either that or my foot is actually improving – I can never tell).  A little over two miles in, running along West Ridge, which overlooks Laguna Canyon Road and the Pacific Ocean, I stopped to snap a photo and noticed something I had never seen before.  There off two my right, only slightly obscured by brush, was a heavily travelled, unmarked single-track that descended down the ledge into Laguna Canyon.  I do not know how I never saw this.  I can tell you that my heart leapt with joy. Seriously.  There is almost nothing better than travelling along a trail that I have never before travelled, even if its practically in my own backyard. 

I descended quickly down this newly discovered single-track.  I don’t mean that I moved quickly, I mean the elevation loss occurred quickly, and oh happy day, I needed to kneel down and slide in some instances, to make the grade.   

Going down on this newly discovered trail:

I could see a large dog park down at the base of the trail, though I wasn’t sure exactly where I would come out.  I told myself, “a little further,”  . . . “just a little further,” until I decided that I needed to head back.  I didn’t want the climb out to be so difficult that it would leave me out in the canyon under darkness.  And so I headed back up, gleefully mind you, grabbing at the rocks to pull myself up along the trail.  It was beautiful.  I never even noticed any problems with my foot. 

The sun was still slightly above the horizon as I ran along West Ridge.  Coyotes began to howl down in the canyon. And hikers seemed all headed in the direction to leave the park.  At the last minute, I decided not to run down Cholla Trail, the one I came up on out of Wood Canyon.  I pretty much always take Cholla.  But dang it, I’m bored of that trail, so I headed down Lynx instead, a less popular trail in these canyons, though I’m not sure why. 

Lynx is a wonderful rocky single-track, technical, but not death defying.  There’s even a bullet-ridden car in the gully, hidden to the casual visitor.  But if you stand in just the right place, you get a perfect shot of the old-fashioned, shiny, blue car. 

When I finally dumped out into Wood Canyon, every cloud in the sky was colored pink.  As I ran back up the canyon toward my car, coyotes, many of them on both sides of the canyon barked and howled as the sun finally set on this lovely trail run.  It was the dogs’ turn for the canyons. 

Being There

“Where you are, be there.”  Master Lee, one of my son’s taekwondo instructors said to him.  And he said this to him again and again, until I never forgot the words.  But thing is, I did forget those words.  I always forget those words.  But they are back now, brought back by a multitude of circumstances. And I am ever so grateful.  Being there.  This is how I want to live life.  This is how I want to run trails.  For the longest time, I had not been showing up to my runs.  Sure, I was there, but I was not really there.  I was in the past, thinking of how things used to be, of the things I neglected to do, etc.  Or I was in the future thinking about where I wanted to run next time, what I needed to do to get my act together, etc. This is not how I want to live, how I want to run.  I want my feet firmly planted in the now. 

Last January, I posted that “I am back,” after running the Calico Ghost Town 30k.  Well, just in time for this year’s Calico run, I am once again back.  Back on my feet, back in the now.  And I ever so love the freedom.

Friday’s Run:  I ran an out-and-back up to Top of the World.  But heck, who says that I have to run it the same ole way EVERY SINGLE TIME.  This time, I took an obscure single-track that I have neglected for years as I approached Top of the World.  And then on the way back, I ran down Lynx instead of Cholla.  And I searched out a meadow that I noticed from afar.  Found it.  (Miles 7)

View of Saddleback Mountains from West Ridge Trail:View of Laguna Wilderness from West Ridge (look at all that green!):The meadow off of Lynx:

Saturday’s run:  I ran up a trail I haven’t run before named either Cadillac Trail or Trabuco Creek Road.  And I really didn’t run it.  At times, it seemed like I crawled up it.  Yet, I was present the whole time and enjoyed the struggle immensely.  The trail met up with Santiago Truck Trail where I ran up the road that leads to Old Camp.  But I never made it to Old Camp because I wanted to get back home in time to see my middle son off to his music lesson.

Scrambling up Cadillac Trail (& that’s probably a Cadillac on it’s back – it was actually kind of freaky come up under it, what if it slips and falls???):Looking back down at my truck, way down there. More climbing:And some more climbing:Time to turnaround and head back:

Found It!

I woke this morning at 6 AM, especially tired.  But this was not reason enough to skip my run.  Acceptable reasons to skip this morning’s trails:  broken leg, broken foot, family emergency.  I had a feeling I’d wake up enough for a short run by the time I finished morning chores (getting the boys off to school).

As it was, I did wake up some.  By the time I hit the trails, the skies were still gray and cold.  I didn’t let that fool me.  This time I left the long sleeves at home. 

I had planned on my usual short run, an out-and-back to Top of the World.  On a whim, I decided to extend this run just a tad to search out an old car wreck.  A friend sent me a picture a while back of a blue, bullet-ridden car in the overgrown brush, somewhere off of Lynx.  Last time I ran up Lynx, I couldn’t find the car.  This morning, instead of running back into the canyon via Cholla Trail, I decided to take Lynx and look around some more for this mysterious car.  The weather had by the way, warmed up extensively by then. 

West Ridge on the way to Top of the World, the better trail here is the road less travelled:

Top of the World – always a triumph:

Lynx is a particularly beautiful trail, quite rocky and technical.  I don’t really know why I don’t run it often.  I suppose it’s because Lynx doesn’t add to a nice clean loop.  Though a difficult trail, it’s not the most difficult in these canyons.  And it’s a perfect trail to practice fast downhill technical running.  The trail’s not so thin, that a fall would throw me off the edge. 

Lynx Trail:

Well, I ran down Lynx searching the canyon views for the blue car.  Nothing.  I did spot a trail off in the distance, at the bottom, closer to the opposite canyon wall.  That triggered my search for anything that looked like a trail leading off my edge of the canyon wall.  The first spot of dirt that could have been a trail ended at a sharp drop off.  Down below, I saw nothing but canyon.  The second dirt section that could have been a trail, lead me to an even steeper drop off.  No blue car.  And the trail that I thought I saw at the canyon’s bottom, disappeared.  I figured I’d probably find a trail at the bottom of Lynx that lead into the canyon.  That’s where the car probably laid. 

Before reaching the end, I took one last dirt area that could have been a trail.  It stopped also at a steep drop off.  There was no getting down this edge, that’s for sure.  But lo and behold . . . deep down in the canyon, practically buried by brush, was the bullet-ridden blue car!  I found it! 

See it?

Look closer . . .

Ahh, the thrill of discovery. 

2012 Quests

Unlike previous years, I did not decide on my races or any other running goals at the beginning of 2012.  It has taken me until May to mark out my quests for the year.  Some of them I have already conquered – of course Calico, my favorite race of the year, Horsethief Repeats, Meadows Repeats, Big Baz’s 21k and his SJT 50k as well.  But more than half of 2012 remains.  And thus, I decided to get my “list” down.

These are my quests for the remainder of 2012:

1) Tides to Towers Run (A run from my house down to the beach to the Towers on Santiago Peak) 29+ miles

2) A Tides to Towers and back to Tides Run, 58 miles

3) Nanny Goat’s 24 Hour Trail Race, end of May, to benefit the Wounded Warriors (see right top Current Project for my pledge page)

4)  Camp Pendleton Mud Run; I had sworn off mud runs a while back, but with two friends running it, I decided to go ahead and get muddy in 2012.  Plus, Camp Pendleton has great runs.

5) Twin Peaks Ultra, 50 miles in the Saddleback mountains with 15,000’+ of elevation gain (yikes).  I’ve got some time – October 13.

6)  Not sure yet, but if I can afford it, I have an “F” (as in DNF),  that I’d like to make up by running the Bulldog 50k in August. (This will take some heat training).

7) And though I’m not yet registered, I definitely plan on running the Saddleback Marathon again this year in November. (This is my 2nd favorite race of the year).

8) And finally . . . run 2,000 annual miles.

As far as number of races, 2012 does not have a great number, especially compared to previous years.  But the overall difficulty of my quests is much greater than all my trail running years combined.  I need to get into the best shape of my life for Twin Peaks, which calls for some life adjustments, which I can gladly make, but lack the discipline thus far.  Yes, I’m 47.  But I can get into the best shape of my life because you see, my prior “best shape of my life,” I was in my late twenties and a non-runner.  I would do anything NOT to run.  And though I was a swimmer back then (5 days a week, 5:30 in the morning before work) and did aerobic dance in the evenings, I was also immature (very) and I was a SMOKER.  Therefore, I think I can smoke my prior “best shape in my life.”   I am not questing the impossible.

The week after Nanny Goat, I will begin a rigid training plan to get myself ready.  I hope to drop 20 pounds by the end of summer as well, and get myself on a diet richer in fruits and vegetables. 

Twin Peaks is why I’m running runs like I ran this morning (and this afternoon – I got a late morning start, and didn’t finish until about 2:30 pm).  My plan for today’s run:  up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down.  I ran up steep inclines, ran down technical downhills, then back up again.  I pretty much zig-zagged Aliso / Wood Canyons (though the satellite doesn’t look much like a zig-zag).  I enjoyed myself immensely.  More importantly, I planned my fluids perfectly.  And even more importantly than that, I finished with “gas still in the tank.”  That means I CAN WORK HARDER.  I just need the discipline to push myself more. 

Scenes from my 18 mile zig-zag run through Aliso/Wood Canyons:

Running up Mentally Sensitive (the first incline on the elevation profile below):

Enjoying the ridiculously steep run up:

Top of the World after clothing adjustments and a snack:

Chased this gopher snake down on Park Avenue Nature Trail (sorry little buddy, I just wanted a picture):

Running down Car Wreck Trail:

Running up Mathis:

A Brand New Bridge on Coyote Run Trail:

Running up the steps on Wood Creek:

Just in time to snap a photo of this rattler on the final stretch of this 18 mile run (last mile, on Aliso Creek Trail):

Satellite:

+3,027’ (922.63m) elevation gain / 18.03 miles (29k):

Autumn Run

People say the seasons don’t change in California.  Born and raised in California, I’m here to testify that the seasons do change.  They don’t change in the same manner that they do in other places, say . . . the eastern coast of the U.S.  But here in California, we definitely know when the season’s a changin’.

When autumn arrives we usually have fires in Southern California.  We call October “Fire Season.”  The reason we have fires (I won’t get into any political facts here) is mainly because of the Santa Ana winds.  Those are those warm winds that blow toward the west.

One of the changes on the southern coast in California during autumn is the smell.  When I wake in the morning, I smell campfires from the beach (or, fortunately not this year, I smell fires elsewhere).  And though the mornings have usually cooled during the autumn, there is an occasional  (actually semi-frequently) warm morning due to these Santa Ana winds.

And sure the colors don’t change like they do elsewhere, but the colors still change.  To begin, that brown coastal sage that I’m used to in my local hills gets drowned out by new green growth.  Autumn is almost like spring in Southern California.

I never saw this bloom at Aliso/Wood Canyons during the summer (must be an autumn bloom!)

I wanted something different on this Thursday autumn morning.  But I really didn’t have “all the time in the world.”  I like having “all the time in the world to run.”  But with 3 youngish boys and a husband, not to mention a job and household chores, that “all the time in the world” is considered bad.  Selfish, selfish . . . selfish.

Anyway, I did have some hours, and I set off lackadaisically (because I’m still in “recovery”)  in Aliso Canyon with no real idea where I was running.  The weather was cool, the skies grayish.  I had lots of different routes in mind.  And I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WAS THINKING, but I decided to run up the new trail “Mentally Sensitive” again.  LOL.  The best thing about the trip was that I could see the Saddleback mountains in the distance (& I’m still in reminisce mode).  The worst thing about that trail was that it was HORRIBLE.  I mean, WHAT WAS I THINKING?  That trail gets so steep that I’m serious when I write that I have to use all my strength not to slip backward.   You can see from the profile below that this trail basically goes straight up.  And in my silly mind, I thought that I’d run the whole thing.  Problem was, I found it impossible to keep up the mid-foot strike and had to resort to the fore-foot strike.  At first I kept the fore-foot strike only on my left foot (where a nerve has been surgically removed), but eventually I had to resort to a fore-foot strike on my right foot (where I have refused a second surgery).  I felt okay with the toes during this horrid trail.  But eventually I resorted to some backward running, and also running up the hill sideways.

As I ran up Mentally Sensitive, I thought this has got to be the LAMEST NAME FOR A TRAIL EVER. (Sorry if you named it.).  While running it, the name that fit perfectly for me was RIDICULOUS.  Then after some time, I realized that the best name for this trail that simply climbs and climbs and climbs is Psycho-Path

Autumn colors from Mentally Sensitive (Psycho-Path)

Running up “Psycho-Path”

Well, it appears that I am NOT making a “long story short,” nor am I really proving my point about autumn (I would rather make a long story short than a short story long). 

So!  When I finally reached the top of Psycho-Path I thought that since I was up there that I’d  venture into unknown areas and explore past the park I found the first time up this silly trail. 

I recovered quickly viewing the lovely gray Pacific Ocean and ran off to my left, and ran joyfully (I’m not joking) through the soccer field exploring like Lewis and Clark.  Wait!  More like Ponce de Leon who was searching for The Fountain of Youth.  Unlike my friend de Leon, I found the fountain of youth.  A swing set. 

After my little play session, I ran along the asphalt neighborhoods to Top of the World.  From there, I simply ran and turned down trails based on the time of my clock.  As I ran along West Ridge Trail I found my Conservation Corps friends.  I snapped some pictures of these young and beautiful guys and gals with the promise that I’d post them for their viewing on my blog (advertise!)

Conservation  Corps rebuilding a trail off of West Ridge

This is our autumn!

I could go on and on with this run.  But if you follow this blog, you know these trails well.  Instead of running down Cholla Trail, I decided on Lynx Trail, one that I hardly take.  That trail lead me right out onto Wood Canyon, which of course was a pleasant delight.  Then I finished up my loop, recording my evidence of autumn with my camera, running Wood Creek, Coyote Run and Wood Canyon trails.

Lynx Trail:

Wood Creek Trail:

The lovely color RED has overcome the poison oak:

Coyote Run Trail:

Miles logged Thursday morning:  13.27