Getting Lost For Fun

Last week I got the kids off to school and headed out on a run with no where in particular as a destination. I know the area enough to get where I want to go one way or another, so I set out up my new favorite hill by the school, and decided to take a trail I had never taken, but knew it headed over towards, and then under, Ygnacio Ave through the upper tunnel. (did you know there were 2 tunnels underneath??)

The trail headed over that way, towards Diablo.

trail

It even had some fun down hill!

This single track is heading straight at Ygnacio, if you make it bigger you may spot a car or two, but the trail goes through a tunnel underneath and out the other side.

Once on the other side I followed a few random trails and hit many dead ends.  This is in the quarry area that is on the right of Ygnacio as you drive up the hill.  It looks like one big exposed quarry, but back in the hills there are tons of areas like this that are dug out.  The whole area is on top of a hill, and I knew I would eventually need to figure out a way down.

 

Neat, tight, little canyon, but another dead end.

You can see I'm up pretty high, and the edge of the cliff over there.... that is what I was trying to figure a way down.

Another dead end, it looks like a bush grew up out of the middle of the trail, right?? It's actually the top edge of a cliff.

I just kept back tracking and running down a different trail. I had a few hours, and other than coming across quite a few well used fire rings that were a bit weird, I wasn't overly alarmed to be lost and stuck on top of a hill. I figured I would eventually find the right way...there had to be a way, right?

Another dead end, but now I was getting a bit frustrated, not scared, just mad.  Who makes trails that lead to edges of cliffs and up rock walls??  Whatever. I decided to climb this thing and see what was at the top. If you cant' go down, why not climb up higher? (this was really steep and i knew if I got hurt climbing up a wall out in the woods Brian would not be happy, but I had really wound my way pretty deep into a series of valleys of dead ends, and wasnt' even sure if I could have turned around and figured my way back out)

So at the top of the wall there was a very well worn single track that I was sure had to be a legit trail.  This is looking back over to that cliff w/the bush I was at earlier.  If you follow the edge down you'll see the bush.

 

Guess what it led to?? An overlook on the edge of a cliff.  You can see the bumpy hills of Shell Ridge in the back ground.  At least I was able to get a good look at where I was and where I needed to be, but i was getting really irritated.

I finally found the edge of the hill that had a way down.  It was steep, but it was the only option I had seen all morning, so I took it.  It led to another trail that would get me where I needed to be.

I came down off that edge up to the left.

Then I went this way.

Eventually I made me way back to the car after connecting in with a trail we use all the time.  You can see the hill I started on in the distance.

Although I was irritated at times, it was a pretty awesome morning!! I really thoroughly enjoyed it all - getting lost, climbing up sketchy "trails", and down sketchier ones.  I'm really enjoying my 3-4 runs a week where I have 3 hours of freedom to roam.

Speaking of enjoying things.....I am thoroughly enjoying my last few hours of being 34......entirely because it means in most races, I age up!! I get to be the young'un in the 35-39 age division!  Yes, I still have about 20 years to go before my division will thin out enough to ever see a medal, but I'm one age group closer!

I am not, however, enjoying having a super sick 6 year old boy. The yearly seal bark, wheezing, 103 temp, headache, miserable sort of sick.  I was hoping to get a few hilly runs in this week leading up to the duathlon, but I'm going to have to settle for some time on the bike in the living room with the treadmill.