The South Ridge trail on Tahquitz Peak has a southern extension, which is in the area where the fire hit. I went over there the other day wearing nylon mesh running shoes and a pair of Dirty Girl trail running gaiters with the intention of running up it. Although May Valley Road is in great shape, the trail is now overgrown with grass and basically not discernible. When I tried to walk up it, I got massive numbers of foxtails in my shoes. I'm thinking of trying to get up the trail and maybe start getting it beaten back in, maybe in the fall when the weather is cooler. It doesn't look like thick, tall chaparral, just lots of grass and stickers. However, the slope looks fairly steep on a topo map, and finding where the trail used to be might involve some keyhole GPSing.
The only leather boots I currently own is a pair of La Sportiva mountaineering boots. They're not that tall, and they're quite heavy. I was thinkling of buying a pair of cheap cowboy boots, but I've never hiked in a pair of those. I'm imagining stuffing a pair of Levis inside the boots.
FS 5S21 is May Valley Road. Near the top of the map is the dirt and asphalt road that goes up through the yellow post sites to the normal place where people start up the South Ridge trail. The destroyed portion of the trail is the east-facing slope marked 1.4 mi.
Have you tried running in those Vibram or barefoot shoes? The material is rubber or smooth synthetics. I get the feeling that foxtails won't stick to them as much. You might have to be more careful though placing your feet in overgrowth.
My understanding of the scientific evidence is that for running injuries, your body will tend to adapt pretty well to most things if you give it time, but the highest risk for injury is when you make a sudden change in what you do. So I have zero interest in trying that style of shoe.
Perhaps wrapping your normal shoes in medical gauze would do the trick. Then just remove the gauze afterward. Wouldn't running in cowboy boots be a sudden change for you?
Sean wrote: ↑Perhaps wrapping your normal shoes in medical gauze would do the trick. Then just remove the gauze afterward. Wouldn't running in cowboy boots be a sudden change for you?
I'm not talking about running it in the boots. I'm talking about reestablishing the trail, which would probably take a long time and multiple visits, slowly making my way through the vegetation and keyhole GPSing to find where the trail is supposed to be. The hillside probably has steep scree at this point.
