The “Big” Big Loop

June 5, I still choose to hike locally, especially since I’d rather sleep in a tad, til about 7 am, then sit around drinking my two cups of coffee with stevia and heavy whipping cream. Of course that gets prolonged because I need to pack my stuff and do a walkabout on my property to look at things like the blackberries and wildflower seeds planted beneath the Orange tree. By the time I head out, it’s already at least 10 am!

June 5 was hazy and gloomy and even rainy in the early morning. We call that June gloom on the coast in southern California. It’s this way every year. Sometimes it seems we barely see a day of sunshine in June. It rained, in fact, the day I gave birth to my oldest son, more than 20 years ago, June 3, 1999.

June 5, 2020, I decided to go for The Big Loop, V. 2, as I have often called it, which is a longer extension of The Big Loop. I parked in the church lot across the street because the parking lot at Aliso/Woods ranger station was closed (although the park was open). That didn’t seem so odd to me since we live in weird times right now, and parking lots are constantly being closed. Then as I was climbing out of my truck, at least 50 motorcycle policemen (& women too, I’m sure)  road down the road toward the boulevard. And that’s when I suddenly heard the shouts and cheering from afar. And amazingly, from my viewpoint, I could see protestors out near the federal building in Aliso Viejo. There have been protests daily in my area. All have been peaceful, so I was not necessarily alarmed. But the event felt a little surreal.

The Big Loop (the first version), is actually a lollipop loop, going up Cholla Trail, going down Meadows (or vice-versa), just under 12 miles. The Big Loop, V. 2, on the other hand, is just under 13 miles, replacing Meadows above with Mentally Sensitive Trail. Of late, I’ve been calling V. 2, the “Big” Big Loop. I think I like that name better. But that’s neither here nor there. What’s is here and there is this (despite all the depressing news out there – in the U.S. and even in the world, you know what I mean):

Spring is still out there on the southern California coast!

And this:

The forest is spooky and awesome

And this:

The California Riviera

 

 

One More Big Loop Before Calico

Yesterday, Monday, January 20 was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a federal holiday in the United States. Normally, I teach at two schools on Mondays -- one in the afternoon, and the other in the evening. It's usually a long day and I'm not back home until 9:30 pm. Monday's holiday was much appreciated (for both the extra day of rest and for what others went through to bring about change in my country). And so, I celebrated the greatest civil rights leader our country has seen, one who brought about change by peaceful means (which is a difficult feat!), by taking one more swing at the Big Loop at Aliso/Woods Canyons before Calico 2020.

The decision to do the Big Loop came last minute of course (I guess that's how I roll, I might as well own up). All weekend I had planned on something bigger, perhaps 19 miles, the actual mileage of Calico's race, which is a long 30k. I was thinking of something grueling with difficult climbs. But that of course would bring me to the mountains, adding two hours driving time (round trip) to any grueling route. OR, I thought Sunday night, I could sleep in a little later and take a 15 minute drive to some coastal hills and not work on climbing but instead on an overall push. Beat my recent best. That was my goal: beat 3:19 on the Big Loop. 

I picked up my pace right off the bat on Aliso Creek. Usually, I hike that first paved part. Not this day. Bundled in gloves, jacket and beanie, I ran all of Wood Canyon. I only stopped my run to hike up Cholla Trail, which is pretty steep, but only about a half mile. Surprised and thrilled, I was 15 minutes ahead of schedule when I reached the top of Cholla. I was using a finish time of 3:15 (beating my recent best by 4 minutes) for my calculations. It helps me to calculate times and distances when I'm pushing hard. It helps keep my mind off the fatigue.

Crossing over Wood Creek in Wood Canyon

Wood Cyn (Wood Creek is flowing down and to my left)

Cholla Trail (this is the part where I hike)

I reached Alta Laguna Park 15 minutes ahead of schedule! Fifteen. Minutes. I usually stop to use the restrooms here. But on this day, remember a holiday, there was a line of women out the door! So onward I ran. I was doing so good on time, I didn't want to waste a single second of it waiting in a bathroom line. After taking a couple minute walk break in the Top of the World neighborhoods, I took off running toward the wilderness park entrance at the other end. I figured that if I arrived at Meadows Trail in thirty minutes, I would have no problem creating the Big Loop in 3:15 (four minutes better than my recent best).

My time was so good at the top of Meadows Trail, I was on schedule to not only make the 3:15 time, but if I made decent time, I could possibly break 3:00. I doubled down on my focus and continued running, enjoying the lovely view of Aliso Canyon and the Saddleback Mountains. What a wonder Martin Luther King, Jr. Day it was turning out to be. 

And then, body memory clicked in. Suddenly, after struggling for 3 months waiting for this, my body remembered how to run when it's dirt-dog-tired. I felt it kick in, and with this joyous recollection, I was able to continue running all the way into the ranger station, beating my time by 18 minutes. I shocked myself. I now feel a little more confident about Calico. I may not die! (But I'll still probably take the DFL)

Heading Back into Wilderness Park, on way to Meadows Trail

Top of Meadows Trail (Looking at Saddleback Mountains)

Meadows Trail

Goats at Top of the World!

Even though I love wandering about on trails and even though it is pretty much my medicine, nowadays I struggle with pushing myself out the front door. For many years this was not the case. I didn't relate to discussions on how to stay motivated. I was driven to wake early and put in hard miles several days a week. Of course, times were different then. I didn't work as much first off. And I was younger and less beaten down.

July 10, I believe it was, I took a mid afternoon hike in Aliso/Wood Canyons Wilderness. I had planned on 9 or 9.5 miles. I took a detour to Dripping Cave and meandered about elsewhere. I ended up with 11.53 miles with a moderate gain (1,500+ feet). About 3 miles in, I checked my email. That was a big mistake. Some disappointing news on the job front. This of course gave a whole new meaning to my hike. Good thing I chose (coincidentally) to hike up Meadows Trail. That's a darn good suffering trail there. Believe me, there's no better remedy for suffering than to climb a tough hill, in the heat. 

My route: Wood Canyon to Meadows Trail, Top of the World, West Ridge, Cholla, Wood Canyon. It was beautiful. It was therapeutic. As I mentioned already, I visited Dripping Cave, but what I didn't mention was that right after leaving the cave, a deer bolted across my path. That was exhilerating because she was loud and forceful. And she was gone in an instant.

Wood Canyon

Meadows Trail 

So, no matter how tough things may seem, it seems that I never wish that I didn't take that hike, or I didn't take that run, or that swim, or even that gym workout. This hike, despite my mood, was the best. And then I got these! These lovely goats at the Top of the World. 😊

 Goats at Top of the World!

Painted Lady Migration

A week or so ago the Painted Lady butterflies began making their entrance into Southern California. At any given time you could have hundreds, no, thousands of butterflies fluttering about you. It has been quite amazing. Of course that's a difficult thing to actually capture in a photo. Eventually, I'll post a one of the butterfly video clips I took during my hike-run in Aliso/Woods Canyons some time ago (too much time, oh how it has gotten away from me -- much has happened in the past week which has pretty much dwarfed everything else).  

So, this post will briefly cover a 12.25 mile course with 1,657' feet of elevation gain. (3/15/19) The course: Aliso Canyon, Wood Canyon, Cholla Trail, West Ridge, Top of the World, Meadows, Wood Canyon, Aliso Canyon. The hills and the canyons were superb, so lush and green! Thousands of Painted Lady butterfies flittered and danced about, especially so in Wood Canyon. Tiny spring flowers, white, purple, yellow and orange dotted the hillsides. And wow, the skies were so blue with wisps of white clouds painted across them.

The Adventures of a Mentally Sensitive-Mathis Loop

Aliso Cyn – Wood Cyn – Meadows – Mentally Sensitive – Moulton Meadows Park – Aswut – Top of the World – Alta Laguna Park – West Ridge – Mathis – Wood Cyn – Aliso Cyn

I got out before Friday for some more trails this week. I don't teach Thursday mornings this semester, which means I have the day until about 5:30 pm when I need to drive off to teach a math class. That leaves a lot of time for trails. I decided to spend some of that time putting in some long miles (11) sprinkled with the steepest incline in Aliso Canyon (Mentally Sensitive Trail!). 

The meadows were green. The creek was full. And the wildlife was out in abundance. Squirrels ran across my path. A bright blue bird swooped down in front of me. A road runner flitted across my path on Mentally Sensitive. And as soon as I turned the corner on Meadows heading toward Mentally Sensitive, I spotted a a rarity step out onto the trail from the meadow at my left. I mentioned in my last post that there is a delay in identifying animals when they are coming straight at me. The otherside of that is when the animal is not coming straight at me, there's instant recognition. This was the case on Thursday. I caught a glimpse of the cat from the side and immediately idenitified Bobby! (As in Bobcat). And what a beauty he was. 

Climbing Mentally Sensitive was a chore. Definitely  took my sweet old time. Half way up, I had grown so overheated, I needed to take off my long sleeves and tie them around my waist. The struggle was absolutely wonderful. And the green valleys and Saddleback Mountain views were very pleasing to these old eyes. Soon we will have fields of spring flowers. Hopefully we'll have a few more rains to keep the creeks flowing. Wet winters are a delight in California (not so much during the actual rain because we aren't used to it, and thus a lot of times unprepared and unpracticed). But the pay off from the rain sure is great.

Some Stats:

11.01 miles

Avg. Heart Rate (rpm) 122

Max. Heart Rate 165

1,522' Elevation Gain

1,480' Elevation Loss

Highest Altitude 1,168'

Lowest Altitude 150'

Slopes:

Uphill 35%

Flat 36%

Downhill 29%