Temps were on the chilly side as we gathered at the Kanan Road trailhead for Backbone Ultra Training Run #2. I think someone said 28 degrees. It must have been that cold. Not only were the trailhead sign coated with ice and garbage can lids frozen shut, among the 20+ runners there wasn’t a bare arm in sight.
After taking a group photo run organizers Howard Cohen and Mike Epler sent us on our way with promises of hot soup and other delights at Encinal Cyn Road and Mishe Mokwa. (Delivered as promised!)
At first there was so much frost it was hard to distinguish between the frost and the pervasive bloom of bigpod Ceanothus covering the hills. Even so it didn’t take long to get warmed up and enjoy some excellent running on one of the more scenic sections of the Backbone Trail.
The title photo is a view northwest along Etz Meloy Mtwy at about mile 47 of the Backbone Trail. The highest peak on the skyline, right of center, is Sandstone Peak. Sandstone Peak marks the high point of the Backbone Trail and the start of an approximately 7 mile long, 2700′ descent into Sycamore Canyon.
Here’s a view southeast from the same vantage point along Etz Meloy. The runners are about 9 miles from the Kanan Road trailhead and have just done a moderately graded climb from Trancas Canyon, gaining about 1200′ over about 4.5 miles.
For more photos and info see the Coyote Backbone Trail Ultra web site and Facebook page.
Ladyface is the peak left of center. It’s west of Kanan Rd. just south of the 101 Freeway. Sandstone Peak, the highest summit in the Santa Monica Mountains, is in the distance on the right.
The sun was low and the shadows long when I reached the Cheeseboro Canyon trailhead. My watch read 6 miles. I wasn’t sure if I’d taken the shortest route from the Ahmanson Ranch Victory trailhead, but I did know it was going to be a challenge to get back before dark.
Gusty 15-30 mph northeast winds seemed to be growing stronger as the sun set and daylight began to wane. No crickets chirped and no coyotes howled. I pushed on, cursing the gusts and relishing the wind shadows.
Wait a minute — wasn’t there a moon? Didn’t I see a crescent just a couple days ago? Turning, I scanned the sky to the southwest. No moon. For a while I deferred the problem of the missing moon and continued to run.
But there had to be moon. I stopped to check. No moon. Finally, I looked up and found the first quarter moon 60 degrees high in the Winter sky, hiding above the brim of my cap.
February is a busy month for SoCal trail runners. The Ray Miller 50/50 is Saturday, February 2; the Bandit 50K/30K/15K/6K is Sunday, February 17; the XTERRA SoCal Series continues February 3 at Mission Gorge; and the Big Baz Winter Trail Run Series continues on February 2 & 16 at Blue Jay Campground.
Yesterday’s run to Mugu Peak included several of the trails on the Ray Miller Course, so this morning I got in some miles on the Bandit trails. The title photo was taken near the high point of the Bandit 50K and 30K courses in Rocky Peak Park.
This year, rather than doing two Chumash – Las Llajas loops, Bandit 50K runners will do a new out and back segment in Tapo Canyon Open Space to Tapo Canyon Rd. Both 50K and 30K runners we’ll run up Las Llajas Canyon — in the distance on the left — and then up from the old oil field to Rocky Peak Road. After a short downhill Rocky Peak Road climbs to “Fossil Point” the high point of the course.
Sometimes it gets chilly in Los Angeles. The temperature at Downtown Los Angeles (USC) dipped to 39°F last night. That’s about eight degrees below normal and only a couple of degrees away from tieing the record for the date.
It gets colder in the valleys. The temperature was in the mid-30s when I started my run at the ‘End of Reseda’ on the San Fernando Valley side of the Santa Monica Mountains. I was headed over the hill to Will Rogers State Park, then to Temescal Canyon, and then back to Reseda.
When you start a long run on a cool day just as the sun is coming up it’s hard to know what clothing you’re really going to need. In Southern California it seems more times than not the extra shirt goes into the pack a mile into the run and stays there.
The running was excellent on the Will Rogers segment of the Backbone Trail. I hadn’t been on this segment since last Winter and much work had been done on the trail. Even with yesterday’s rain the trail was in good shape.
This time I didn’t mind so much that I had an extra shirt in the pack. The day had dawned mostly clear with a few scattered and tattered clouds, but by the time I was headed back to the valley it was nearly overcast. It was breezy and cool and there were some big buildups to the south and east of the city. It looked like a shower might pop up at any time.
