JMT4: Ooh La La

On a late spring afternoon, I set out from the Railroad Grade gate without the ability to see ten feet in front of me. I snaked my way up the fire road for ~0.7 miles before turning off into the woods onto the Hoo-Koo-E-Koo Trail (not the same as the fire road, no). The single track rolls up and down and winds just below Railroad Grade, eventually turning seamlessly into Matt Davis Trail (a personal favorite) and carrying all the way out to the seaside community of Stinson Beach. Embedded within the side of the mountain, the trail opens up from the woods every once in a while to reveal some breathtaking views, even in the mist.

Sometime along my Matt Davis traverse, the rain started coming down, and things got muddy in a hurry, which was fun as always, even if I had to take extra care on the rocky and rooty terrain. One thing that I love about Matt Davis is that although it is a well known trail around here, you’ll often end up one of the only people on it. In the ~3 mile stretch from Railroad Grade to Bootjack Campground, I saw not a soul, and it was awesome. I felt like I had the mountain all to myself.

Matt Davis eventually meets up with Bootjack Campground, which is just off of Panoramic Highway, and shortly after I turned upwards onto the terribly named Easy Grade Trail. Seriously, whoever named that trail should be fired immediately, because it’s incredibly misleading to those who don’t know that they’re about to climb a very steep hill for a little less than a mile. During my ascent, I encountered a fallen tree in my path and had to crawl through it to keep on going.

At the top of Easy Grade, I arrived at the run’s main attraction: the historic Mountain Theater, a stone amphitheater carved into the mountain in the 1930’s and home of the even older annual Mountain Play, which has run since 1913. While the picture I took doesn’t do it justice, you can see how awesome it is to stand in such a place when it’s empty. It feels like you’re standing in the dragon pit from Game of Thrones, or like you’re Russell Crowe staring down the emperor in the Colosseum in Gladiator, or something along those lines. Whatever floats your boat.

From here, I started my journey back to where I began on Rock Springs Trail, which honestly is very similar to Matt Davis, as it winds its way back towards Railroad Grade, occasionally opening up to offer its traveler a breathtaking view of their surroundings. Still encased in the mist, I took the aptly named Rock Springs to its end where it meets the West Point Inn on Railroad Grade. West Point Inn is yet another leftover from the days of the railroad, and for what it’s worth, it’s one of my favorites. The overnight home for railroad travelers still operates today, and is a perfect out-and-back for many runners, hikers and bikers as a ~5.5 mile round trip.

And from there, I got to do my favorite part of every Railroad Grade run: the downhill. On the way down, the skies suddenly cleared and I even got to see a faint rainbow as I twisted my way back to where I started, another solid run in the books. See you tomorrow.

👊✌️

Jonathan