EISPIRATEN

I'm looking for a trail or fire road to run that will give me approximately 13 miles distance and just 1300 feet elevation gain. Any suggestions?

Kathy,

The only thing I can think of right now that is close to fitting your bill is this route: starting at Switzer Picnic Area take the trail up to Red Box; at Red Box, cross the road and pick up the trail towards Lawlor and Strawberry Peak. At the saddle between these two, take the Strawberry Peak Trail towards Strawberry Potrero; you will cross Potrero and the trail will then take you up and around the north face of Strawberry. You will end up at Josephine Saddle (where the Colby Canyon Trail comes in). Continue another 1/4 mile to where the Josephine Fire Road meets the trail and take the fire road down to the Angeles Forest Highway. Go left on AFH about 100 yards and cross Angeles Crest Hwy. There is a signed trail to the left of the Clear Creek Info Station that traverses over to the road that drops into Switzer. Take the trail to the road and then follow the road back down to your car at the Switzer parking lot. This loop is about 15 miles, and the elevation gain is probably about 1000 feet. I use this loop when training for ultras. I realize you live in Redlands so this would involve a bit of a drive for you.

In years past when I've been visiting family and friends in Redlands and had enough time, I used to run from town over to Hwy 38 and up towards the Mills Creek Ranger Station. I would get in a 15-20 mile roundtrip. Of course, you have to contend with all the cars along the route. Another favorite was to run past the Hillside Cemetery down to the main road that goes through the canyon. As I recall, this is the road that, if you go right, connects to Barton Road. I would take a left though and continue into the canyon. Usually, I would do these runs very early Sunday morning so that traffic was always minimal.

Augie:

Thanks for the suggestion - I'll map it out and give it a try one of these weekends. There are some little peaks in that area that I'd like to do too, so I could combine a run with a bit of peak-bagging. Yes, Highway 38 is a good run but noisy - on Sunday I ran from my house to past the Rock Store on 38 in Mentone and back (8.2 miles/600 feet gain round-trip). That was my longest run to-date. I'm building up for my first half-marthon, which will have 1300 feet elevation gain. I'm planning on using Hwy 38 as my main training run, but it will be nice to be able to run on a nice quiet trail sometimes. I do some short runs on the fire roads in my area, but they are not that gentle and I end up walking up sections. Hopefully, I'll get to the point where I can run up steeper hills.

Thanks again,
Kathy

What half marathon and when is it?

Augie:

I'm going to give the Sedona Half-Marathon a try in the beginning of February - I know there are halfs a lot closer to home, but Sedona is so beautiful that I thought it would a great place for my first attempt at a half-marathon.

Another run that caught my interest is the Death Valley Trail 30K/Marathon they have in early February - I'd like to try the 30K run but it's already sold out for this year - so maybe next year. I probably need more time to train for a 30K anyway. I just think it would be wonderful running through Titus Canyon. I'm going to head up there over the winter sometime and try to run through part of the course through the canyon to see how hard it feels.

Kathy

Kathy,

The Sedona 1/2 sounds marvelous. I've made a note of it.

In your training for a half with some elevation gain, don't forget your local street ascents such as running up to Sunset. It is pretty good elevation gain from say Redlands Blvd. to Sunset.

Finally, for next year, keep in mind there is a 30k and 50K run on rolling terrain every first Sunday in December out in Ridgecrest. It's beautiful trail running.

Augie

Augie: Yes, running up to Sunset will be a good run. I printed out the course for the Run through Redlands 1/2 marathon they have in May each year and that course goes up to Sunset; so I'm going to try running the hill section of that course.

That Ridgecrest run sounds good - thanks for telling me about it - hopefully, I'll be ready for the 30K run by next December.

I'm thinking of joining the Loma Linda Lopers Marathon training program when it starts again next July - I think it might help me to have some peer pressure to push me to run a bit harder.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

Kathy