Great run today in the Redwood Forest of Nisene! Started out with Nancy, Jim, Sonya, Lori and Jan, but soon Lori and I found that we had lost Nancy, Jim and Sonya ahead of us and Jan behind us. For us two though we had a great pace going- definitely pushing on the uphills and walking where needed (very steep inclines, precipices, stream crossings and tree roots).
We deviated from the main fire trail going off to the left- first a trail that goes down to the creek and runs parallel to the fire trail; really nice and shady with a number of ‘nice’ climbs in it and the gurgle of the creek below. It plopped us out at George’s picnic area, and from there we caught the West Ridge trail, which goes up and up and eventually I believe connects with the Soquel Demonstration forest up at the summit. (am I wrong? you can correct me with what it actually does. It was my first time on that particular trail). We did not get that far of course.
Lori wanted to do 8 or so miles and my own assignment was 1:20 hours. Lori’s Garmin was intermittent in the woods, so we sort of guessed at our mileage, and didn’t turn around until about an hour into the run. That trail is so beautiful, it beckons you to keep going, so though it was hard to pick a spot we did stop to turn around. Based on the amount of sporty juice in our bottles, it was a good decision.
The thing I always love about running in Nisene is that built in negative split that occurs when you turn around and it is all pointing downhill. The West Ridge trail on the downhill is this lovely swooping track; after working so hard to climb it you are now sailing down with nice long strides, about as deer-like as you can get. Oh sure, we slowed for the steep stuff, tree roots, precipices, cute puppies and wildflowers of interest (mainly of interest to me I think, but I enjoy pointing them out) but the majority of our descent was a strong and powerful feeling. I don’t get that too much running, so this was an opportunity to enjoy.
Definitely tapped into those endorphins and we made it back to the parking lot for an overall time of 1:45. We figure with all the climbing that was maybe 6.5-7 miles? Whatever. It felt so good. Let’s do it again! 
Tags: running, trail running