Purisima Creek Redwoods 32k lollipop loop

Trip Date: 28 Sept 2013

In a reckless, vaguely frustrated mood, last week I registered for the Skyline-To-The-Sea 50k trail run. I normally run about 10k on any given day, or about 30k-40k per week. Hmm. Better get some more trail under my legs.

I scoped out a loop in Purisima Open Space that I estimated at about 30k, including the lovely Craig Britton Trail, a twisty single track that starts up on a Manzanita covered ridge before dropping down into a canyon, and cavorts along redwood groves and creeks. The view from the ridge is lovely, the coastal range foothills and meadows spilling down to the Pacific:

The lollipop stick was a dead end piece of trail I'd never visited, out past Bald Knob and on to Irish Ridge Trail. Beyond that lies an unmaintained trail called Lobitos Creek Trail.

The trailhead elevation is about 2000', and Bald Knob elevation is 2102' by the map. Piece of cake, right? Umm, no. There is a natural law which states

"Beginning at point A, any trail connecting point A and point B in the Santa Cruz Mountains must first descend to the bottom of the nearest valley before reaching point B."

No exceptions here... Purisima Creek bottoms out around 600' in a beautiful forested canyon. From there I took Grabtown Gulch Trail up to Bald Knob Trail. Who the *__* names these trails? (Ohh, history does).

Bald Knob is a bald faced lie. The summit is completely forested. Its not all recent, either. This tree looked to be as old as Yoda:

I used 360 Panorama to make this image. Even so, its tough to tell in 2D that you are looking up a few hundred feet. From the summit I dropped down Irish Ridge. As I dropped, my legs cried out

"why are you doing this, its steep as shizz and its a fire road to boot, please don't do this."

and my spirit responded

"shush, we have to see where this trail goes, and what is at the end of it.."

The spirit won, but I wish that the legs had. At the end of Lobitos Creek Trail is a progressively narrowing series of overgrown patches, interspersed with signs warning of lack of trail maintenance. Like this one:

No pot of gold. No magical canyon or creek. Maybe I just didn't go far enough.

Coming back up Lobitos and Irish Ridge extracted a heavy price, with several sections too steep (for me) to run and other sections baking in the sun. Then it was a mostly gentle descent along Borden Hatch Mill Trail, back to the Purisima Creek bed.

On the way back to the car I followed Whittemore Gulch Trail, a lovely single track that eventually switchbacks pretty hard to help you on your way to point B. Or point A. It doesn't matter, the rule is commutative. I ran out of food and water with a few km to go (my specialty) and had to stop a few times to ease the burn in my legs. Perfect opportunity to enjoy the view:

That forested peak is Bald Knob :) and the drop down to 600' happens after the middle ridge. At the right edge you can see the cloud bank hanging over the Pacific.


Summary: basically a great loop in Purisima Creek Open Space Preserve. Lots of single track, but also a bit of jeep track. Great views of the Pacific and of the coastal Redwoods. Leg-abusing climbs.

Would I do it all again? Absolutely. I'd skip Irish Ridge and Lobitos Creek, but the trek out to the un-bald Bald Knob is superb.

Parting Shot: There is another natural law, at least in the Bay Area:

"Beginning at point A, any road connecting point A and point B in the Bay Area (on a weekend) must pass through a region of stopped traffic on the freeway before reaching point B."

Where were all you people today?? Never mind, I don't really care. Just keep it up... the trails don't need the traffic.

Job vacancies

This excellent literature review in The Economist surveys recent research into the role of bacteria in your gut (your microbiome) on your personal gravitas. The bottom line appears to be that a high sugar diet (glucose in particular) influences the character of the little organisms residing in your intestines. That character, in turn, influences your propensity to be obese, or to have other metabolic woes like diabetes.

Image credit: Nature Magazine

Dr Gordon of Washington University in St Louis coined the term "job vacancies" to refer to a dearth of helpful bacteria in a (typically obese) person's microbiome. Clearly, its real. Science magazine doesn't make a habit of publishing rubbish. But this avenue of inquiry exposes a massive rift in the collective mind of the typical American -- a rift of which anyone with a Trail Jones is aware.

What is it? The single-minded, obsessive focus on what you eat. You are what you eat. Eat only brown rice. Eat green leafy vegetables. One pill makes you larger, the other pill makes you small. I'm a vegetarian. I'm a vegan. I eat a paleolithic diet! I've given up alcohol. I never eat sugar; Mayor Bloomberg told me not to! You should try a juice fast. Detoxing is so rad.

Folks, you are kidding yourselves. Life requires balance, and the flip side of eating is exertion. Focus only on consumption and it will probably consume you. Focus on consumption AND exertion, maybe you'll find some zen. But exertion may as well be a four letter word for a lot of people. Why else is it a perennial new year's resolution? I'm gonna join the Gym this year. Statistics show you'll be done before the ides of February. That's sad... because getting out on an adventure, in addition to counting as exertion, is a damn good time.

Summary: "Job vacancies" of the microbiome are undoubtedly a correlated and central problem amongst obese people. But its not just "food, bacteria and genetics" as the Economist summarizes. Dig a little deeper and you'll see an even larger number of "job vacancies" in counting the number of people who are prepared to sweat a few drops in their leisure time.

Parting Shot: 18 years old, 5 weeks into a hike on the Appalachian Trail, I rolled into a small river resort in North Carolina. Starving, as usual, down to my last Jackson, I splurged on an over-priced pint of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia. Did I mention I'm allergic to dairy? The usual result of overexposure for me is a headache, stomach bloating and crankiness. Screw it, right?. As it turned out, it was a phenomenal experience. I didn't know cherries could taste so good. I never loved the dead, but Jerry and I had a moment there, over that pint. I had to lie down for 20 minutes to let it digest. Then I floated on down the trail.

postscript, Dr G, consider putting your caged mice on the treadmill - if not for the mice, for the Nature paper you'll likely get out of it :)