Almond Blossom 8k

There aren't many 8k races around so when I heard about the Almond Blossom Run in Ripon I had to sign up. There was a one mile race as well, both of which were part of the Annual Almond Blossom Festival. Entry fee was a reasonable $20 and included a long sleeve t-shirt. Only pre-registered participants got the shirt. The race's start and finish was at Mavis Stouffer Park which had public restrooms. There was limited parking in the park, most participants parked along the nearby residential streets. Bib pick-up was well organized and race timing was provided by way of a disposable timing chip atached to each bib. The one mile race started at 8:30am and took the racers along Manley Road and Spring Creek Drive and then back. The 8k race started promptly at 9am and also took the racers onto Manley Road and then onto Spring Creek Drive. The course continued to wind through residential streets before taking us along some almond fields with yup, you guessed it, almond blossoms! There were chalked mile markers for the first few miles and after about 3 miles we came across the one water station. More residential streets led us back to the park for the finish. The entire race was on fairly flat paved roads. Streets were not closed but the course was well marked and there were plenty of race volunteers keeping us on course. Once back at the park there was post race snacks such as water, orange juice, bagels and muffins. Race results were posted quickly saving people from having to stay until the awards to find out how they did. The weather forecast had predicted possible rain during race time but luckily it was completely dry. It was incredibly cold, but dry. The race was well organized and provided a rare opportunity to run an 8k race.

Race Results

Yosemite Valley Winter Camping

On our recent trip to Yosemite we camped one night at the Upper Pines campground in the Valley. During the winter there are only two camping choices in the Valley, Upper Pines or Camp 4, neither of which take reservations during the winter.We decided to go to Upper Pines. There was no ranger or volunteer at the entrance, simply a note to pick a campsite and pay for it in the morning. The recent storm had left a lot of snow in the valley. Only two loops in the campground were open. The first loop had nothing available but there were a few sites in the second loop. We picked one on the corner that looked good. We had to clear some snow just to be able to park our car. The picnic table was covered with snow and the fire ring was buried. As usual you have to go over to curry village for showers, but at least the restrooms in the campground are heated during the winter. We setup camp and walked over to Curry Village for some hot chocolate. Also stopped at the campground reservation office in the Curry parking lot and paid for the campsite since we would be leaving early in the morning. By evening all the sites in Upper Pines were taken. We are guessing that's pretty rare in the winter.

Upper Pines Campground

View of Half Dome from Sentinel Bridge

Yosemite Falls

Yosemite Snowshoeing

We had decided months ago that Presidents Day weekend would be a good time to head to Yosemite National Park to snowshoe and camp. With the recent storms we were really excited to see all of the fresh snow. But first things first. We had never snowshoed before so our first stop was REI the day before to rent snowshoes. We paid a total of $30 for two sets of MSR Ascents. We now had our gear so we just needed to decide which trail to do. Being new to snowshoeing we wanted something easy. We looked through the snowshoe guides that Yosemite puts online and decided to do the Tuolomne Grove. The trek is rated as easy and is just over 2 miles roundtrip. To reach the Tuolomne Grove trailhead we entered the park via Highway 120. Chains or 4WD were required. The sides of the roads and trees were covered in snow making the drive beautiful. We stopped at the Crane Flat gas station to fill up and use the restrooms. They were still in the process of digging out the station after all the recent snow. The trailhead for Tuolomne Grove is one mile past the gas station along Tioga Pass Road. The trailhead is actually as far as you can go along Tioga Pass during the winter. We parked and grabbed our gear. With snowshoes on we began the one mile downhill trek to reach the grove. Based on conditions of the trail only a few people had gone out before us. It was amazing to be out in all the fresh powder. All of the trees were covered and their branches were weighed down by all the snow. We followed the tracks of those before us into the grove. We circled through the trees to a large downed hollowed Sequoia, which we could see into. Not sure if that tree has a name or a story to it. We continued across a small creek to the Tunnel Tree. We took our photos and a quick break before continuing on. We finished our circling of the grove and headed back toward the trailhead, now going uphill. We passed many more people on our way back to the car. For our first time snowshoeing it was alot of fun. It was also quite tiring. We were definitely ready for some lunch by the time we got back to the car. We'll probably try to snowshoe once or twice each winter from now on. We might even buy our own shoes to avoid the need to rent.

Natural Bridges State Beach

This weekend we headed to Santa Cruz to enjoy the perfect weather. We decided to visit Natural Bridges State Beach. The small beach is noted for its natural bridge rock formation. Its a nice place for hanging out, playing in the sand or viewing shore birds. Further north along the beach there are tidepools for viewing various sea life such as starfish and sea urchins. There are lots of  picnic tables with shade just off the sand with restrooms nearby. Natural Bridges is probably most well known for its Monarch Butterfly grove. The grove of eucalyptus trees provides a home for the monarchs during the winter months from mid October through mid February. As many as 100,000 monarchs come each winter. Across from the visitor center in the park there is a handicap accesible boardwalk that leads to an observation area for viewing the butterflies. Currently most of the butterflies are gone for the season. As we began our walk we saw several monarchs fluttering about here and there but nothing like what you would see earlier in the winter. After the boardwalk we took the Monarch Trail and looped around the eucalyptus grove and back to the visitor center. While on the trail we saw a few more butterflies and several birds. A quick walk through the visitor center and we headed to the tide pools where we were able to catch a glimpse of some crabs and sea urchins. After the tide pools we headed to the beach to hang out. The weather was amazing, best we had ever experienced in Santa Cruz. It was around 74 degrees with no wind at all. After relaxing on the beach we headed to Capitola where we ate dinner and then to New Brighton State Beach where we camped for the night. Sunday morning we awoke early and went to Wilder Ranch State Park to take advantage of the still great weather. We went for a trail run on the Old Cove Landing Trail towards the ocean and along the bluffs, where the views of the coastline are amazing.

Natural Bridges State Beach
Directions: Take Swift Avenue west from Highway 1, or follow West Cliff Drive north along the in-town bluffs until it ends at Natural Bridges. Entrance fee is $10.

February Events

Here are a few things going on in February

2/6    Kaiser Half Marathon in SF

2/19  Bay Breeze Trail Run in San Leandro

2/20  Lake Chabot Trail Run

2/26  Redwood Park Trail Run

REI Free Clinics (all at 7pm)

  Snowcamping Basics

    2/10 Brentwood

    2/2 Concord

    2/2 San Carlos

    2/8 Berkeley

  Exploring Crystal Cave in Sequoia National Park

    2/2 San Francisco

    2/17 Santa Rosa

    2/24 Mountain View

  Top 10 Adventures to do Now: Bay Area and Nor Cal

    2/23 Corte Madera

    2/24 Saratoga

  Discover Yosemite in Winter

    2/2 Corte Madera

    2/3 Santa Rosa

REI Used Gear Sales (all at 10am)

    2/5 San Francisco

    2/5 Concord

    2/5 Mountain View

    2/6 Fremont

    2/6 San Carlos

    2/12 Corte Madera

    2/5 Saratoga

    

Mt. Diablo Hike - Falls Trail

It had rained a bit during the week so we decided to go check out Falls Trail at Mt. Diablo State Park, hoping to get a good view of the falls. The trailhead for this hike is at the Northeastern corner of the park, on Regency Drive in Clayton. There is very limited parking here as it is basically a dead end street in a residential area.  There were quite a few cars when we got there in the morning but there was still room to park. It was a busy trailhead with people coming and going. We walked down the hill to the dirt path leading into the park. Just past a metal gate the path split into two, we took the one to the left towards Donner Canyon Road. It was a wide fire road. We got to some mud soon after but it was manageable. The trail quickly climbed and it did so for the rest of the first half of the hike. We hit several other muddy spots with some of them encompassing the whole width of the road. Still, not too bad for a January hike. As we kept climbing in the mud we couldn't help but think about the hiking poles we had left at home, would probably bring them next time. The trail followed close to Donner Creek and as we passed a few junctions on our ascent we kept on the fire road.
The fire road is also open to bikers and equestrians, although we didn't see either on our way up. As we climbed we got better and better views of Mt. Diablo summit. Looking back we also got great views of Donner Canyon on this clear sunny day. Eventually the road ended at Cardinet Junction where we turned left onto Cardinet Oaks Road. Here the trail descended a bit before we had to cross a creek. The water was several inches deep and a hiking pole would have been handy here too. After the creek crossing and a few switchbacks we made our way to Falls Trail. At this point the road narrowed significantly, just wide enough for a single person.

After a short way on this hillside path we were able to see the falls in the distance. Although small, it was good to hear and see the rushing water. As we descended a bit we got closer to the falls. After several pictures and a break we continued on.

 Crossing the creek again led us to a few more falls, although smaller than the first. The path took us uphill then downhill again and as we stopped to take a picture of a small creek we noticed we were surrounded by thousands of ladybugs. They were on the ground, in the shrubs, mossy rocks, pine cones and trees. Had we not stopped for a picture we would have easily missed them. We had never seen anything like this before. Mesmerized by the large number of them, we took our time watching and capturing shots of the ladybugs before moving on.

Again we followed the path uphill before turning right onto Middle Trail. Middle Trail was narrow as well but the vegetation was much taller than on Falls Trail so views were obscured. After about half a mile we turned right on Meridian Ridge Road which delivered us back to the wide Donner Canyon Road. Thankful to be going downhill we retraced our steps on the fire road. We noticed that the mud had dried a bit and there were several more people out enjoying the trail compared to when we had last been on the road. We did encounter a couple of bikers on our way back to the trailhead. As we got back to our car there were cars waiting for a spot to be vacated. As busy as it seemed now, we were glad we had arrived in the morning. The total hike was about 5.5 miles long and took us up (and back down) 1200 feet. It took us just over three hours, which included a lengthy stop at the waterfalls and at the ladybug area.

Hood to Coast

Last night we headed to the movies for the special one night showing of the movie Hood to Coast. The documentary is about the annual Hood to Coast relay race in Oregon. The event is a 197 mile relay race from Oregon's Mt. Hood to the beach in Seaside, Oregon. Teams consist of 12 runners who each run 3 legs varying in distance from 3 to 8 miles. Hood to Coast is the largest relay in the country with 1000 teams each year. HTC was started by Bob Foote in 1982 and has been run every year since. The movie focuses on 4 teams and their journeys to conquer the race. From a team of beginning runners to a team of veterans who run the race every year. A team of women over 50 whose one member collapsed and nearly died doing the race the year prior and a team who runs in memory of a family member and friend who suddenly died the prior year. The movie is full of emotion, humor and inspiration.  The movie is great and I recommend everyone see it. These stories had me wanting to register for HTC as soon as I could get home. If you live in the bay area and don't want to have to head to Oregon there are similar relays close to home. "The Relay" happens at the beginning of every May and runs from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. The Ragnar relay will put on its first Nor Cal race in September running from SF to Calistoga. Now I'm off to find some teammates.

Hood to Coast Race
Hood to Coast Movie
The Relay
Ragnar Relay: Napa Valley

New Years Run

My first race of the year and my first trail race ever was the Brazen New Years Run at Lake Chabot Regional Park. There were 5k, 10k and half marathon races, being my first trail race I ran the 5k.  Entry fee into the park was $5 but there was plenty of street parking just outside of the park if you were willing to walk. Race entry fee included chip timing, race t-shirt, finishers medal and post race snacks. There was also an option for $5 off the entry fee to opt out of a t-shirt. There were park restrooms near the start/finish and two portapotties but more would have been helpful. The weather was less than ideal but what was to be expected for a New Years run, wet and cold. There was a ten minute delay for all race starts for reasons I never learned bout. All three courses started on a muddy grass area and then quickly onto a paved trail. The 5k was an out and back course on the East Shore Trail. With the exception of the start and finish, the route was completely paved. There were some rolling hills that could definitely slow you down but not bad for what I expected at a trail race, although I did overhear that this course did not have as much elevation change as typical trail races. There was one aid station for the 5k, just before the turnaround point. Luckily the rain stayed away while I was on the course. Once finished I was given my finishers medal and headed to the snacks. There was no shortage of food including fruit, bagels, coffee, hot chocolate, water, cookies, candy, etc. Age group medals could be picked up from the awards table once results were up so that was a plus. The course was good, weather was what I expected and the race piqued my interest in doing more trail running.

Brazen Racing

January Events

Here are a few things going on in January

1/2    Brazen New Years 5k, 10k, Half Marathon races at Lake Chabot
1/8    Winter Trails Day at Kirkwood
1/8    Andrew's Run for the Children 5k in Modesto
1/9    California 10 in Stockton, 10k and 10 mile races
1/11  Hood to Coast movie, one night only showing
1/18  Registration opens for EBRPD's 2011 Trails Challenge
1/22  St. Joseph's Run for Wellness 5k in Stockton
1/29  Coyote Hills 5k, 10k, Half Marathon races
1/29 Galt 4th Annual Winter Bird Festival

REI Free Clinics (all at 7pm)
  Snowshoeing Basics
    1/11 Fremont
    1/11 SF
    1/12 Concord
    1/13 Santa Rosa
    1/13 Mountain View
    1/19 San Carlos
    1/24 Saratoga
    1/25 Berkeley
  Learn How to Tune and Wax Your Skis/Snowboard
    1/3 Saratoga
    1/5 Concord
    1/11 Berkeley
    1/12 San Carlos
    1/13 Brentwood
    1/20 Mountain View
    1/25 Fremont
    1/26 San Francisco

REI Used Gear Sales (all at 10am)
    1/1 San Francisco
    1/15 Berkeley
    1/15 Corte Madera
    1/22 Saratoga