Spark Notes: ~27 miles, 2400 ft up, 5000 ft down, 5.5 hours
Depending on where exactly you start and what source you read, the Skyline to the Sea trail is somewhere between 27 and 30 miles long, and runs from Saratoga Gap down to the Pacific Ocean at Waddell Beach. There are more eloquent trail descriptions out there, but here's the short story: 8 or 9 miles winding back and forth across the highway, another 10-15 miles through the spectacular redwoods of Big Basin State Park, then 6-7 miles of relatively unremarkable multi-use trail to get to the beach.
I had plans to visit Monterey and Santa Cruz on Sunday, so the goal was to pack in a full Saturday, and keep it close to home. I've been planning on taking Kat backpacking down the trail over a two or three day weekend. Naturally after thinking about it for a little while, doing the trail in the day seemed like a good way to get an idea of its difficulty before taking Kat out. A little Googling, and the fact that the Western States 100 was going on at the same time, made me think that a bit of running could be fun. (No, I don't really run at all.)
Thanks to Kat, I started at 7:30. I had no expectation of running the trail when I started, but a half mile in or so, running just seemed like a good idea. So I did. Despite the proximity to the highway, the first several miles were really quite fun. Actually the whole trail was great: winding single track in an ever more aesthetic setting (except for the last 6 miles, which were bearable only because they finished the trail). The miles disappeared underfoot and time flowed by...it was just great to move! And so, about 5.5 hours later, I found myself making change to use a pay phone to let Kat know that I had arrived a bit early (having predicted 8-10 hours on the trail). The world has a way of working out though...in this case, for a trio of girls who had just finished the trail over 4 days and needed a lift back to San Jose.
The hardest part was the pounding on my ankles. I wasn't exactly moving fast, so cardiovascular fitness wasn't an issue, but the constant pounding definitely took its toll. I wanted to stop for a few minutes at Big Basin HQ (~15 miles in), but my ankles/lower legs hurt more and more the longer I stopped. So, after stuffing down a Clif bar, I kept on my way. That bar, a sleeve of Shot Blocks, and 2L of water was enough to get me through. Of course I carried a nice big lunch all the way that I got to enjoy at the beach. Oops.
Would I do it again? Sure, though I would take less water (plenty of fill up stops) and might get a new pair of shoes first instead of using a 2 year old pair that I wear only occasionally. It would also be nice to go faster, or maybe do the loop that makes it a 50k. In any case, it's kind of nice running a marathon without the hassle of training or an organized race (apparently the previous two weekends had seen events on the trail that I was fortunate to avoid)...Forest Gump might be proud.
Depending on where exactly you start and what source you read, the Skyline to the Sea trail is somewhere between 27 and 30 miles long, and runs from Saratoga Gap down to the Pacific Ocean at Waddell Beach. There are more eloquent trail descriptions out there, but here's the short story: 8 or 9 miles winding back and forth across the highway, another 10-15 miles through the spectacular redwoods of Big Basin State Park, then 6-7 miles of relatively unremarkable multi-use trail to get to the beach.
I had plans to visit Monterey and Santa Cruz on Sunday, so the goal was to pack in a full Saturday, and keep it close to home. I've been planning on taking Kat backpacking down the trail over a two or three day weekend. Naturally after thinking about it for a little while, doing the trail in the day seemed like a good way to get an idea of its difficulty before taking Kat out. A little Googling, and the fact that the Western States 100 was going on at the same time, made me think that a bit of running could be fun. (No, I don't really run at all.)
Thanks to Kat, I started at 7:30. I had no expectation of running the trail when I started, but a half mile in or so, running just seemed like a good idea. So I did. Despite the proximity to the highway, the first several miles were really quite fun. Actually the whole trail was great: winding single track in an ever more aesthetic setting (except for the last 6 miles, which were bearable only because they finished the trail). The miles disappeared underfoot and time flowed by...it was just great to move! And so, about 5.5 hours later, I found myself making change to use a pay phone to let Kat know that I had arrived a bit early (having predicted 8-10 hours on the trail). The world has a way of working out though...in this case, for a trio of girls who had just finished the trail over 4 days and needed a lift back to San Jose.
The hardest part was the pounding on my ankles. I wasn't exactly moving fast, so cardiovascular fitness wasn't an issue, but the constant pounding definitely took its toll. I wanted to stop for a few minutes at Big Basin HQ (~15 miles in), but my ankles/lower legs hurt more and more the longer I stopped. So, after stuffing down a Clif bar, I kept on my way. That bar, a sleeve of Shot Blocks, and 2L of water was enough to get me through. Of course I carried a nice big lunch all the way that I got to enjoy at the beach. Oops.
Would I do it again? Sure, though I would take less water (plenty of fill up stops) and might get a new pair of shoes first instead of using a 2 year old pair that I wear only occasionally. It would also be nice to go faster, or maybe do the loop that makes it a 50k. In any case, it's kind of nice running a marathon without the hassle of training or an organized race (apparently the previous two weekends had seen events on the trail that I was fortunate to avoid)...Forest Gump might be proud.
