JMT11: No Title.

Allow me to start off this post by saying that every runner has one of those days. For me, today’s run was one of those days. It was not fun. I, along with my brother, got food poisoning from a pizza that we made for lunch, and I was unfortunate enough not to realize this until a few miles in. In short, my run was pretty miserable, and I don’t especially want to relive it and/or talk about it very much, so this will be pretty short. My sincerest apologies.

Today’s run guest-starred Max Sarosi yet again, and we started off in familiar territory as we headed from the Railroad Grade gate, past Double Bowknot, onto Gravity Car Road, and over to the Mountain Home Inn. But from there, we continued down the road a little bit further before turning onto Canopy View Trail to begin our descent into the legendary Muir Woods National Monument. We turned right at the first junction, onto the Lost Trail, and carried it to the valley floor and into the park.

Muir Woods, named for the famous John Muir, is very famous and is the biggest tourist attraction around. It’s awesome down there, but even still, growing up here I never spent much time here. It was simply more of a “tourist” thing to do. But today, with parks closed to driving, there was absolutely nobody there. Well, except for one guy. It felt almost apocalyptic, being the only people in a place usually packed to the brim with visitors. For as much as I did not enjoy this run, I couldn’t help but be awestruck by the situation.

After a short jaunt through the park along the Fern Creek Trail, we turned left, staying on the Fern Creek Trail for the ~1.7-mile climb back to the Mountain Home Inn. This climb is most definitely not to be underestimated, especially for people with a stomach ache. Keep in mind: what goes down must come up.

Fern Creek rejoins Canopy View for the final climb, and from there we retraced our steps back along Gravity Car Road and Railroad Grade. We continued past the gate and down to my front door, an especially painful run in the books. I was moderately upset, but I just had to remind myself: everybody has one of those days. See you tomorrow.

👊✌️

Jonathan