JMT15: Yearning for Pancakes

Today was tough. It was hot. I occasionally forgot where I was going. This is what happens when the Memorial Day Pancake Breakfast outside the fire station is canceled.

In case you’re wondering, it was extremely hot today. I set out with a plan to run long, but ended up improvising and running medium instead. However, I still got a good run in and checked off a few more trails as the end of my project goes closer and closer.

The first few miles were deja vu: I went up Tamalpa, over on Hoo-Koo-e-Koo, and up the Extra Point before realizing that I was on autopilot and going the wrong way entirely. Luckily, I realized this after only one wrong turn up the Extra Point - which wasn’t part of the plan - and headed back down to Blithedale Ridge, where I rolled up and down for quite a bit.

Things changed up when I approached a fork in the road: instead of continuing on Blithedale Ridge, I turned left onto Corte Madera Ridge. These two fire roads are sort of like Siamese twins, splitting off into different towns on nearly identical paths. As one might guess, Corte Madera Ridge travels into Corte Madera, but I only stayed on this path for a little more than a quarter mile before exiting onto the Huckleberry Trail.

The ~0.6 mile Huckleberry descent took me further away from Mill Valley and towards the towns of Larkspur and Corte Madera, where I popped out at the end gate of the Southern Marin Line Fire Road. I call this trail “Crown Road” for the road that marks the other end of the fire road. The original plan today was to make the journey over to the other end of the Southern Marin Line, but I had to change my plans just a bit to accommodate the heat.

Anyways, running on Crown Road was the flattest running I have done in weeks. It runs for ~2.7 miles, curving back just below Blithedale Ridge, but remaining flat the whole time. Almost exactly in the middle of the fire road, there’s a water fountain, which gave me a much-needed chance to refill my water bottles today. Perhaps more importantly, this is where H Line Fire Road begins, zig-zagging back up with two short switchbacks to Blithedale Ridge. H Line resumes on the other side of the ridge, taking me all the way back down to the bottom of Old Railroad Grade, where my run came to an end.

While I was a little disappointed that I didn’t complete the run I originally planned to today, I felt it was the right call. Part of running is knowing your limits, which is something that I have had to learn over the years. I’ll be back to check off those missed trails soon enough. See you tomorrow.

👊✌️

Jonathan