Easter Sunday… the plan is to meet Krista and go running in the forest. The estimated running time is about 2 hours; 2.5 at the most. Sounds fun! I am wearing my little green running skirt and bright orange shirt, and the effect is much like an Easter Egg dressed for Tennis. (Just setting the stage here.)
Into the woods
The white dot is Krista, looking for the trail
I have ridden my bike past the Soquel Demonstration Forest, and I have hiked in part of it, so I was looking forward to further exploration on foot. We drove up there with James C. and his friend, who were going to ride mountain bikes while we ran. We started from a trailhead up at the summit- not sure what it’s called, but the main fire trail was Hines Mill Trail. James gave us a running route to follow and we both memorized the key points- turn up sulphur spring, right at the Y, go through the helicopter pad, right down
Tractor trail and right back to the trail we started with.
The Helipcopter Spot- complete with lupines!
We ran together for about 20 minutes and then I released Krista from my snail running pace so she could bound like a deer as she does. Soon after, I came upon the first trail turnoff; Sulphur Springs. I knew to expect a steep climb, and it was, but the Y came up sooner than expected. I turned and found Krista in the helicopter pad, which was really a very beautiful meadow. She was looking for the trail- the meadow appeared to dead-end. We both scoped it out, although I must admit I was more concerned with taking pretty pictures. We found no trail, but did see (and hear) a wild Turkey, running back the direction we came. We followed and continued back up Sulphur Spring, which soon became very steep indeed! She again bounded ahead and I did my walk/run behind her. I tried to keep a steady pace whether walking or running- it was a very long hill! There were two mountain bikers stopped in the middle of it. They started up as I passed and somehow I stayed ahead of them until we reached the top. (hooray for me! My snail pace is faster than a bike snail pace!)
The Descent
Top of the Trail to you...
At the top I was glad the bikers were there because the trail was not just a Y, but had maybe 5 choices I could make. They confirmed my suspicion of which one led to Tractor Trail.
I turned onto a very lovely single track in the woods, with hidden picnic areas opening onto hidden views. As the trail descended back into the canyon, I tried to access my inner deer, and bound with a lighter step so I didn’t just thrash on my knees.
Picnic spot with view of Monterey Bay
Every now and then I’d come across mountain bikers on their way up the hill, smiling despite apparent effort. “Enjoy your climb” I say, gesturing grandly as I step aside for them.
On the way down
It was longer on the way down than the climb, and climb had been long! I started to wonder if I was still on the right trail- there was an option to take a shortcut called “braille” but just in case the trail name was in any way descriptive of its terrain, I declined to follow it.
Eventually I cam across two more bikers, and because they did not seem very sweaty, I correctly
ascertained that we were near the end of the trail. Hooray! Now all I have to do is turn right and trot back to the parking lot. It must be coming up soon.
It didn’t come up soon, it turns out! It was once again a quite beautiful trail with madrones and redwoods and pretty forest flowers, so it’s not like I was unhappy in there, but I could see from my watch that I was
coming up against 2.5 hour mark, and knowing Krista might be finsihed and waiting already made me want to finish my run. Also I was tired by then! That was alot of legwork we did on those big hills.
Right Purtiful!
It turns out EVERYONE had finished by then, and James and his friend rode their bikes down the trail to find me. “she’s alive!” they exclaimed. Of course I’m alive. Just slow, is all!
Ribes Sanguinia... Right?
The road back to the parking lot was mostly uphill, although a softer grade than Sulphur Springs. My lungs got tired and I did walk intervals, but when I saw I was near the lot, I pulled out my finish-line sprint and greeted my friends at the truck. Actual Run time for me was 2:55, not at all what I had set out to do, but as is the case when you follow Krista into the woods, a fun adventure.
Epilogue
By the time we were driving back into town, I realized that it was already 4pm, the time I was supposed to be arriving at a friend’s birthday party, and I still had to go home and frost the cake! I called in late, sped home, tripped over the shower track thing, bruised my shin, cut up the strawberries, whipped the cream and slathered them onto the chocolate cake I’d made that morning. I seat-belted it into the car and arrived just in time for dinner. Whew!
(The soundtrack for this part of the day would have been manic Warner Brothers cartoon music.)
