Farewell to 2016: A Grasshopper Summit

Wintertime on the north coast is rainy. Contrary to last year's El Nino pattern of perpetual light rain, I welcomed a La Nina year with open arms. Instead of constant rain, it comes in drenching bursts. Our original plan was to begin 2017 with this run, but when the forecast looked dry and sunny for December 31st and absolutely drenched for January 1st, we called everybody up, changed plans, and packed our snacks one day early.

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From left: Matthew, Drake, Jeff, Dave, Mike, Rachel, Lanore, and moi.

Gathering shortly after sunrise, our group of brightly colored runners disappears into the hills. Despite the temperature being well below freezing, we warm up quickly. Grasshopper is always good to us like that.

Less than a mile into the run, I stop to take a photo. As of this moment, I've run 2,400 miles this year. The group pulls away as Matt and I commemorate the occasion with a photo. It takes us awhile to catch up, but we eventually do.

The air is crisp and frosty. We've had several chilly mornings on the coast lately and each one makes me smile. Frosty days mean no allergies and that is always something I appreciate. I expect the rare sunny spot to bring warmth, but it never does. Not this time of year.

We climb and climb. Then we climb some more. As creator and race director of a punishing 30K race on this route, I still maintain directing is more fun than actually racing it. I understand when all my friends say that they have a love-hate relationship with it. I move at a leisurely pace and often have that same feeling.

Six miles in, we are treated to the first views of the day. I remember back to the course walk/ride through with the ranger last May. Everything I can see from this spot is part of this park, the third largest in the California State Parks system and largest in Northern California.

As if we haven't had enough climbing, the trail treats us to even more. Yay! This is Rachel's first trip on the 30K course and I think she's a bit horrified by how hard it is and she says that she would like to sign up to be on my permanent list of finish line volunteers.

New to this trip is a burn area. In October, several prescribed burns were done in order to protect the lookout tower atop Grasshopper Peak. The area looks remarkably different and there's much more sunshine. Downed trees are everywhere too.

 

As we move along Grasshopper's very sunny and picturesque backside, we note dozens of downed trees and boulders. Another spot has a two foot deep trench where a clogged culvert washed down the hillside.

My running buddies think this is cool, but it makes me concerned for the race. Vehicle access is already limited. If I can't get a truck through here by June, there may not be a 30K. I snap a few photos of the debris and damage to send to the ranger. Surely he'll be able to fix it if I give enough notice. This is the only remaining road to the tower, I only hope more of it doesn't wash down the hillside.

View from the top, looking down onto the burn area.

Buddies huddled in the sun and away from the wind.

Soon we reach the shiny green lookout tower atop the mountain. Panoramic views reward us as we sit down for our snacks. Not one to take an actual seated break during my long run, I always do when I make a visit to the summit. There's no point in rushing back especially when it's nice out.

Rachel sure knows how to party shows off her aid kit.

The ladies.

The fellas, minus Drake who had to rush home and get to work.

Once a chill sets in, we agree it's time to head back down. We continue along the race course, bombing down the steep twenty percent descent. The discomfort in my hip lights up and I take smaller steps to alleviate it. Just as I'm about to wonder if I need a walk break, we reach our turn off the fire road and onto gently meandering singletrack. The trail loses elevation more slowly and passes through several small redwood groves.

Now tucked away on the northern side of the mountain, we encounter small patches of ice. Our breath creates a plume of steam with every exhale. This side has not seen any sunshine today. It's chilly and remarkably dark for two o'clock in the afternoon. Sunset isn't for another three hours but it's still too dark to take any photos.

We drop into the granddaddy of all redwood groves, those along Bull Creek. The largest continuous grove of old growth redwoods in the world resides here. I'm so lucky to be able to visit whenever I want.

One final climb just about unravels me. "Thank you for the walk break!" I shout up ahead to Rachel who is leading our runner train at the moment. My legs aren't tired, but my arms are. It's always surprising how sore my arms get on long trail runs. Is it the pack? Or do I hold them differently to balance myself?

Back at the car, we make quick work of assembling our snack area. It's almost an hour drive back to town, we'll need snacks, right? Each of us has something to share. I love that my friends aren't the type of runner to eschew junk food. A treat now and again won't kill us. I take one of Dave's peanut butter brownies, Lanore's cookies, and a handful of chips from Rachel's stash and then wash it all down with some (still hot, yay!) peppermint tea.

We're good at changing clothes immediately too. Not pictured: our comfy booties. Rachel C.photo.

Before we part ways and climb into the car, we say we'll run again together next year.

19.5 miles, 4:25 moving time, and 4,165 ft. gain.