Off to Yosemite

Monday 28th October

Due to some complications with the hire car (and also because we were eager to get to Yosemite) we had to get up at 6.30am and head over to the airport to trade cars (long story, don't ask).  We were a bit worried about transferring all our camping gear, food and cases from one rental car parking lot to another but it was actually completely stress free thanks to a trolley and an elevator.

Once that was done we headed north up 880 before cutting across to the 680 and up to Dublin - where coincidentally we had picked up our hired RV on our first trip to California in 2008.  We stopped off to pick up a bagel and some coffee and continued west keeping an anxious eye on the sky, which at this point was still mostly blue and sunny.  The further we went the cloudier it got and the lower the external temperature became. After one slight detour through Jamestown (and back) when we missed the turning onto the 49 we started climbing into the foothills.  The next turn was onto the 120 and this was where the serious climbing and twisting began.  As usual I asked Martin to slow down as we hurtled round hair pin bends with no crash barriers and steep drops.....and as usual he ignored me......

The higher we went the worse the weather got and we started to glimpse snow higher up through the trees.  Eventually we reached the entrance to the Park to see the unwelcome sign saying "Chains Required".  We stopped at the kiosk and it was confirmed that we could wait for the "chain guy" to arrive and sell us chains at a vastly inflated price or we could go back.  We bought an annual pass (valid at all National Parks) in readiness for tomorrow, paddled through deep snow to the loo, turned the car around and headed back down the way we had just painstakingly climbed up.

It was at this point Martin decided it would be a good time for me to get used to driving a left hand drive car....I was fairly reluctant but at least there was very little traffic on the road. It's odd that it feels perfectly normal sitting in the passenger seat on the "wrong" side but driving in the left seat felt really strange.  At least we went back round the steep curves at a nice sedate pace.....

We drove down through bursts of really heavy rain and sleet and it was absolutely tipping it down when we reached Mariposa, where we had booked a motel room for the night after seeing the weather forecast yesterday!   As we were too early to check in we went to a local cafe for coffee and a sandwich first.  The motel was pretty good, it had an outdoor pool and hot tub so after we had settled in we went out (in the rain) to check them out.  Only one of us was brave enough to go in the pool (twice) but I must be honest the hot tub was the much better option!  As we soaked in the tub we could see the sky clearing and patches of blue sky developing.................

It seemed that the day had been a bit of a write off but in truth I was feeling a bit under the weather (in more ways than one) and I was grateful for the chance to relax and have a bit of a nap to try and make up for the lack of sleep the last few nights. Martin was like a child in a sweet shop playing with the remote and watching trashy TV.  We had a microwave, fridge and coffee machine in the motel room so we ate some of our camping supplies, sorted our gear, watched numerous weather forecasts and prepared for another early start tomorrow.

Running in Santa Teresa Country Park

Sunday 27th October

It was a bit of a shock to wake up to grey skies this morning but by the time we had finished breakfast and pulled ourselves together the sun was already beginning to burn through the cloud.

We made the short drive across to the Santa Teresa Country Park where we had planned to run today.  As usual we drove into the trail head parking area, saw that it was $6 to park, turned around and drove quarter of a mile up the road to a free lay by.  From here we could trot down the trail to the trail head, use the loo and pick up a trail map for nothing.......

The park was hillier than we had hoped for but we did a great 6.5 mile circuit keeping to the edge as much as possible and taking in the great views down to the attractive Santa Teresa golf course and the valley of concrete and freeways beyond.  There were some pretty good photo opportunities but we had both left our phones behind so this is the blog report with no pictures.  The park had the advantage of being very quiet despite being mid Sunday morning and we only met a few walkers and absolutely no mountain lions despite the warning signs. We hope to return again on a future weekend and do another longer and more challenging run in this beautiful area.

We headed back to Erica Court for lunch and then Sherry took us to Kohl's where I was hoping to get a new pair of shorts to replace the ones I have been wearing, which are pretty much see through on the behind due to far too much cycling.  I found two pairs, one pair denim, one pair cream cotton, both in the 70% sale....total price with taxes $13.05.  What a deal!  I managed to resist the temptation to buy anything else that I didn't need just because I'd got such a fantastic bargain.

In the evening we went to Pacific Catch a fantastic fish restaurant in Campbell with Sherry and Rich.  Out of all the delicious meals we have consumed this visit, my Hawaiian Teriyaki was definitely the best so far and they also had my all time favourite beer - Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat beer from Eureka, and then to complete a perfect evening there was a Trader Joe's next door (open until 9pm on Sunday evening - gotta love America!) where we could stock up on camping food essentials ready for our forthcoming trip to Yosemite.

Cycling to Los Gatos - the hard way!

Saturday 26th October

Returning to San Jose last night was like coming home and a weekend back at base will give us a chance to take stock of the lovely week that we have just had in Marin County and look forward to the adventures waiting for us next week in Yosemite.

The plan for today was a gentle pootle along the Los Gatos Creek Trail to meet Sherry and Rich for brunch at the lovely Los Gatos Cafe, a favourite haunt.  In order to get to the trail we had first to brave some local roads and then picked up a bike path along the Guadelupe Parkway, not a particularly thrilling experience sandwiched as it was between the road, a high chain link fence and a wall of concrete.  Fortunately we only had to follow it for a short distance and then back onto the road again before finally reaching the trail.

This was the best part of the ride and we enjoyed cycling side by side along this well used trail with other cyclists, runners and walkers. Just before the Los Gatos Creek County Park we crossed the river and cycled on through the park with the river on our left and the lake on the right. Unfortunately we left the trail a little too soon and cycled through local roads to our destination. Looking at the map after we had uploaded Garmin later we could clearly see that if we had continued on the trail we could have cycled through the very attractive Vasona Lake Country Park and ended up in exactly the same place!

We managed to arrive at the cafe at almost exactly the same time as Sherry and Rich.  Due to the popularity of the cafe we had to wait for a table but it was a beautiful sunny day in pleasant surroundings and it was no hardship to sit outside chatting and people watching until our name was called.

Choosing a dish from the huge selection of omelettes, scrambles, pancakes and bakery items proved the hardest challenge of the day.  I finally settled for the Gorgonzola scramble with herb potatoes and a pumpkin and cranberry muffin but it was a hard choice.  I need about another fifty visits to work through all the menu options!  After brunch we strolled around the very attractive town with it's unusual and expensive shops, including a visit to the Apple store to use an IPad to work out our return route.

I would like to state for the record that I wanted to go back along the creek trail and then find an alternative route back across to Erica Court.  However, Martin wanted to go east and eventually pick up the Coyote Creek Trail.  Much as I wanted to cycle some more along that lovely trail it worked out at about 20 miles and that was definitely further than I wanted to ride.  So of course that was the way we went.  What a nightmare!  Although there appeared to be a lot of bike paths (according to Google maps) these were all roadside and whilst they were quite safe it was so boring cycling block after block along straight 4 lane roads stopping at red lights every quarter mile or so. The real highlight was when there was no bike friendly route and we ended up on the freeway where I completely lost my nerve, a bit of a domestic ensued and we gave up our attempt to get to the trail and zig zagged through residential streets in stony silence instead.

By the time we got back to Erica Court we had done over 33 miles, it was nearly 5pm and my sense of humour had left the country.

A quiet night was all we had the energy for enjoying the hospitality of Sherry and Rich and the fabulous meal that Sherry cooked for us washed down with some seasonal Pumpkin Wheat Ale.

Farewell Friday

Friday 25th October

A sad start to the day - having to say goodbye to our lovely little cottage and the very kind Scott who was most magnanimous about the broken wine glass........It was however farewell and not goodbye because we will definitely be coming back to this lovely place.

We had decided to do another long bike ride today starting from Muir Woods. Due to the difficulty in getting the bikes in the car we put the smaller one in and I cycled the other one down whilst Martin drove. It was a 3 mile downhill swoop with hairpin bends, exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure, especially given the drop off at the side of the road and the lack of barriers!

Reunited with both Martin and "my" bike we set off up the Deer Park Fire Road which climbed relentlessly up and up until about 1200 feet, criss crossing and running parallel to the Dipsea Trail, until it reached the junction with the Coastal Fire Road and Coast View Trail. We turned down the Coast View Trail which was narrower and bumpier than Deer Park and which goes all the way down to Highway 1 just above Muir Beach. Just when the views became seriously stunning a well placed picnic bench tempted us to stop for a coffee break before we came out onto the road. The compensation for riding along the road was another exciting steep downhill rush to sea level where we paused briefly to admire the Pelican Inn - which looks just like an English country pub (except for the sunshine!).

The next challenge was following the Coastal Trail south of the very lovely Muir Beach. We had actually run this part of today's expedition in December 2011 when we did the North Face 50k ultra. This was the point, around 40k, where Martin gave up trying to keep up with me - although I can't believe that I actually ran up this trail. It was the first point that we actually had to give up pedaling and push the bikes, it was SO steep. Fortunately the views back to Muir Beach were so fantastic that we had to keep stopping to admire them!

Eventually we turned off the Coastal Trail and continued climbing up the Middle Green Gulch Trail heading west onto the Miwok Trail and then Coyote Ridge.

All of a sudden a fantastic view of Sausalito, Richardson Bay and the Tiburon Uplands Nature Reserve across the water opened out ahead and to our right and the tall buildings of San Francisco became visible between two distant peaks, and then we could see the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately I was so captivated by the view that I ran over a snake - I didn't even see it until Martin shouted at me. For some reason he was really cross with me, I pointed out that it was entirely accidental, I didn't seek the snake out and deliberately squash it. I also reminded him that in his time he has killed a deer and a badger whilst hurtling way too fast around country lanes.......

Point taken we continued on until we came to a little knoll which was absolutely the perfect place to stop for our lunch. We've been to some fantastic places and seen a lot of beautiful countryside in the last 2 weeks but this was surely the picnic spot to end all picnic spots!

After our break we rejoined the Miwok Trail. At this point we weren't sure of our route and Martin wanted to try to find a way across to a far distant ridge, which did look tempting but was going in totally the opposite direction to where the car was parked. I could feel my energy draining away just thinking about it so instead we continued down Miwok, then down the very steep County Drive which became a paved road and led down to the very edge of Mill Valley. More by good luck than judgement we came out onto the Shoreline Highway and cycled a couple of miles along this climbing steadily upwards until the Stinson Beach, Muir Woods split. Shortly afterwards we were able to pick up the Miwok Trail again which led up to the Dias Ridge Trail and this, I think, was my favourite trail of the day, firstly climbing up in gentle zig zags and then turning west with more fabulous views down to the coast before dropping in more challenging hair turn bends back down to the Pelican Inn on Highway 1 and then onto Muir Woods Road.

A short gentle stretch of road finished our 23 mile excursion, the only remaining challenges being getting both bikes back in the car and getting the car back to San Jose, via the Golden Gate Bridge and a lot of rush hour traffic.

Trailing Down Dipsea Thursday.

Thursday 24th October

Another slightly later start to the day, I think we have now fully adjusted to the time difference or maybe we're just tired after a couple of days of hard hiking and biking.  Either way early starts are a thing of the past and normal service is resumed.

For the first time since we arrived in California the sky was overcast and there was no sun. The fog which has shrouded the coast all week had engulfed us up on the ridge this morning too giving us the perfect excuse to linger over our coffee and relax for a while before finally getting our running shoes on.

We had planned a run down to Stinson Beach and set off along the Panoramic Highway for a short distance before cutting down to the Redwood trail and turning south. By this time the sun had broken through and the sky had resumed it's more normal colour. We followed this trail through the trees to the Sun Trail and eventually linked with the Dipsea trail which would take us all the way to the coast.

Whilst in the area we have discovered that there is the historic Dipsea Trail race which is held on the 2nd weekend of June and which has been run every year since 1905. It follows the Dipsea Trail from Mill Valley up the 500 plus Dipsea steps and finishes at Stinson Beach 7.4 miles away. It has a unique handicapping system - if, for example, we were to return to run it next year, as a 50 year old woman I would get a 13 minute head start. Competitors start according to their handicap time and not all at once. Naturally we both really want to do this race!

Today we meandered rather than raced. It's hard to remember that it is still only 10 days since we ran a hard marathon because we have done so much and it feels as though we have been here much longer.....but as soon as we encounter a hill (and there were plenty of those today) the legs immediately remind us that actually they'd really rather not run thank you very much.

It's also hard to try and describe the beauty of these trails as they wind and dip through the redwoods crossing streams and other tempting trails. I want to explore them all but for today we stayed on the Dipsea Trail and as we descended towards sea level we left the bright blue sky and sunshine above us and encountered much cooler air and heavy cloud.  We emerged onto the road in Stinson Beach after about 8 miles of running and immediately turned west to pick up the Matt Davis Trail which would take us most of the way back. We had walked the more westerly part of this trail on Tuesday and found it delightful and this section climbing steeply up from Stinson was, if anything, even more attractive zigzagging up through the forest. Unfortunately the unrelenting climb back up to about 1200 feet took it's toll on my legs and I effectively "hit the wall" which was a real shame because the route was so pretty and I wanted to enjoy it.

 Once we finally reached the Pan Toll Ranger Station we could at least have a drink of water which helped but what I really needed was some calories and some new legs! I tried to focus on how great the trails were to take my mind off how tired I was and this was partially successful as we headed off on the Alpine Trail. After a very short distance this brought us to the Bootjack Trail and a duplication of our hiking route on Tuesday. However we only repeated a short section: on reaching the lovely Alpine meadow, where we paused for a quick photo shoot, we turned up the Troop 80 Trail and followed this as it meandered along under the Panoramic Highway narrowing between the redwoods until it dropped down to the Alice Eastwood road.

We were both struggling now but it helped knowing that we only had a mile or so to go. Once we had climbed up to the Panoramic Highway we could follow the Panoramic Trail alongside it for the half mile or so back to the cottage. By this stage I was reduced to walking even the very slight inclines and I have seldom been more pleased to reach the end of a run - 15.4 miles with 1238m of climbing.   I would really love to run this route again when my legs have a bit more zip - in 4 days we have covered 63 miles of hiking, running and cycling and with the amount of climbing and so close to a marathon it proved too much for me.

After a shower and much needed lunch, again enjoyed in the sunshine on our little brick patio, but without the company of Max and Nepos, we took the lazy option and drove back down to Stinson Beach. For the first time all week the coastal fog had lifted and the beach was beautiful if a little breezy. We walked to the southern end and found a sheltered spot where we settled down to relax, read, practice juggling and head stands and paddle in the icy water.

On the way back we took the scenic coastal route and stopped at the Muir Beach Overlook. The beach is currently closed for maintenance work but from above in the late afternoon sunshine it looked beautiful.

In the evening we drove down to Mill Valley planning to eat at the Punjabi Burrito which we had found on an Internet search and which had great reviews. We'd been looking forward to this and had deliberately saved it until our last night.  Unfortunately our research did not include checking the opening hours and arriving at 8.15pm we made the sad discovery that it closes at 8pm! We walked around looking for somewhere else but eventually decided to go to Whole Foods where we picked up a couple of pizzas and a bottle of Chianti for a fraction of the price of a restaurant and returned to the cottage to enjoy them.

The long run had certainly worked up a healthy appetite and once again the number of calories in probably exceeded the number burned!

Wednesday on Wheels

Wednesday 23rd October

We had planned to get up early and run up to East Peak whilst the sun rose......but it was 7.20am when we woke up - the late nights, full days and early mornings seem to have caught up with us. I'd like to say we sprang from our bed, threw our running shoes on and rushed out the door.........but actually we snoozed for another hour or more before finally getting up and putting some coffee on.
Over breakfast we decided to spend the day cycling instead and planned a 12 mile off road loop with the help of a useful website that Martin found. Although it was bright and sunny again it felt chilly as we set off and there was still fog down in the valleys.

We set off down Panoramic Highway to the Mountain Home Inn and turned off onto the Gravity Car Road trail which climbed steadily but not too steeply upwards. It wasn't long before Martin had to stop and take off his fleece and any chilliness was soon forgotten as we pedaled steadily uphill. Despite our long walk yesterday I felt really strong but Martin was struggling to keep up with me. First he was whining that the bike was uncomfortable, so we swapped but that didn't make any difference, then he thought he might be coming down with something, then it was because he was carrying the backpack (containing his fleece!).

The trails made for excellent climbing, Gravity Car took us to Double Bow Knot Trail which in turn led onto the Old Railroad Grade and we followed this for several miles crossing both East and West Fork Fern Creeks down to the West Point Inn at which point we turned north and retraced the route of yesterday's walk up to Mount Tamalpais East Peak.

At the East Peak car park we stopped for a break and filled our water bottle at the drinking fountain, both the heat and the dust contributing to our thirst. We then headed down the Eldridge Grade Trail which was very steep, slippery and rocky requiring great care to avoid plummeting off the edge. It got slightly easier further down but was quite challenging for most of the way. Martin, of course, loved this and stopped behaving like a big girl. Now it was my turn to progress at 1 mile per hour with both brakes firmly on!

Eventually we turned off onto the Indian Road Trail and continued towards Mill Valley, our intention being to stop for coffee at the Depot. Unfortunately we turned slightly too soon onto the Hoo Koo E Koo trail (my favourite trail name!) and didn't realise our mistake until we completed our loop at the junction with Gravity Car. As it was now 12.30 we decided to go back to the cottage for lunch and ride down to Mill Valley later instead.

As we headed back downhill Martin charged on ahead and was soon out of sight. When I came to a fork in the trail I was unsure and took the left fork which very soon came to a dead end so I climbed back up and took the right turn. There was still no sign of Martin ahead and when I came to the next junction I turned left and followed the trail down. It looked familiar to begin with but then I started having doubts and eventually I came out onto a road and could see that I was headed in the wrong direction. I knew Martin would be really worried in case I had fallen off but I was so mad that he hadn't waited for me that I didn't care! It took a while to get back to the point where I had made the wrong turn (all uphill!) and then I continued on the right track. It wasn't until I reached the Mountain Home Inn that I met Martin coming back to look for me. Fortunately by this time I had calmed down a fair bit but he wasn't entirely off the hook.......

Back at the cottage and with 15.5 hard miles behind us we were more than ready for lunch. We had a visit from Max and Nepos, the rescued Basenjis (African hunting dogs) belonging to Scott and Derek, and they kept us company whilst we sat on the back patio in the sunshine having lunch. I can't pretend it was our company they were interested in, once the food had gone they disappeared!

After lunch we headed back out on the bikes and went down the Tenderfoot Trail which was lovely but quite tricky to navigate by bike initially. This went steeply down through woodland and then we free wheeled happily down into Mill Valley where we sat in the sun outside the Depot cafe/bookshop enjoying coffee and watching the world pass by in attractive Lytton Square. The building that houses the Depot used to be the railway depot for the scenic tourist line which ran just over 8 miles to Mount Tamalpais. Opened in 1896 it was known as "The Crookedest Railroad in the World" - for obvious reasons!  A quick trip into Mill Valley MarketMill Valley Market for a few delicacies for supper followed and then we were faced with the steep climb back up to Panoramic. We took a different route struggling up Summit Avenue, onto the Old Railroad Grade (which was where I ended up after my "detour" this morning!) finally arriving back at the cottage with a total of 23 miles cycled - seemingly not a huge distance but the terrain and elevation had made them much more challenging than the distance implies.

Another pleasant evening was spent in our delightful accommodation with an extremely tasty meal, crab cake, Japanese yam and steamed lentil and Edamame salad, more than adequately replacing any calories we had burned during the course of the day!

Tamalpais Tuesday

We were awake early and watched the sun rise through the trees at the rear of the cottage. Unfortunately there was still fog down in the valley and although it was bright and sunny up on our hillside it was too cold this early to enjoy breakfast out on the decking. In fact it still felt chilly when we set off for our day's hiking at about 9.30am and Martin "Englishman in California" did not shed his fleece until the temperature rose safely to the high seventies!

Just across the road from the cottage is a place where we can cut down to the Redwood Trail which runs parallel to the Panoramic Highway for half a mile or so and this was the route we followed, crossing the road at the Mountain Home Inn and heading up the Hog Back fire road as it climbed steadily up to the Old Railroad Grade.  A short distance along this wide stony track we turned off onto the narrow winding Fern Creek Trail which climbed steeply up through trees eventually emerging back onto the Old Railroad Grade which had meandered up the hillside in a much large and more gentle loop.

Our climb was almost over now and all that remained was the Plank Walk to the summit of the East Peak of Mount Tamalpais at 785m, a fact verified by my GPS which actually recorded it at 784m!  We paused here for a drink sitting beneath the fire watch tower and admiring the view.  The fog was still thick down in the valley but had cleared slightly and we could now see down to Richardson Bay although the views to the east and north were much clearer.  After a short break we retraced our steps down to the parking area and visitor centre and headed back along a short stretch of road before turning onto the Old Railroad Grade and following it downhill all the way to the West Point Inn perched on the hillside at a junction of enticing trails.

Although we had planned a route before we set out there are so many trails inter connecting that we soon deviated from our original plan and at this point we turned off onto Nora Trail for a short distance winding down through trees with the sun dappling the enticing path ahead of us.  A right turn took us onto the Matt Davis Trail and we followed this for several miles crossing streams with evocative names like Spike Buck Creek and Rattlesnake Creek. It was incredibly beautiful and so peaceful. Up to this point we had not encountered anyone on the trails, just a few people at the East Peak car park and at the West Point Inn.  I could walk for ever through beautiful countryside like this but eventually, as is normal, we were overcome by hunger and being unable to find anywhere particularly suitable to stop for our picnic we waded through some prickly plants (trying not to think about rattle snakes) and perched on some uncomfortable rocks in the full glare of the sun.

There was no doubt about the quality of the food even if the site of our picnic was not ideal.  We didn't linger, even for a sun seeker like me it was too hot and Martin resorted to using the paper bag which our sandwiches had been in as a hat to shield his head from the sun.....mad dogs and Englishmen indeed! Shortly after resuming our walk we came to the Bootjack Trail trail head, complete with picnic site, lovely comfortable benches in partial or total shade.  We consoled ourselves with the fact that there was one other couple already there which meant that it qualified as being "crowded" particularly since the woman was having a very loud and trite conversation on her mobile phone.  The only problem with enjoying so much solitary tranquility is that your tolerance to sharing with other people is lessened...or perhaps we are just becoming grumpy old people.

We crossed the Panoramic Highway and continued down the Bootjack Trail which we were only able to follow until it's junction with the Troop 80 and TCC trails as it was closed beyond this point for maintenance. The Troop 80 trail was the most direct route home....therefore, of course, we took the TCC trail south as Martin said that he wanted to walk another 4 miles (this turned into 7.....) and although my legs were beginning to know that they had done a fair distance it was so lovely that it was no real hardship to continue exploring.  The TCC trail zig zagged south and west for several miles (home was north and east of course!) until we finally turned onto the Stapleveldt Trail and thankfully this turned in the correct direction before intersecting with the Ben Johnson Trail and finally the Muir Woods Main Trail.  This is such a beautiful forest, the only downside being that we were now forced to share it and met quite a few other hikers.

In our hurry to leave this more populated part of our walk we turned too soon and instead of following a fairly direct route back to our cottage did another huge loop way too far west up to the incredibly isolated Alice Eastwood Campsite and then on up the Sierra Trail.  Even after the beauty of the way we had taken so far we were struck by the loveliness of this path....which was just as well because I was really flagging now as we slogged our way up the Alice Eastwood road and finally emerged onto the Panoramic Highway again. At least we knew that we only had a half mile or so to go now retracing our outward steps from this morning...although that seemed a long time ago.

It was a stunning walk and has just whetted our appetites to explore more of this outstanding area... the stats were: 14.32 miles with 1127m of climbing in 5 hours and 48 minutes........

Home sweet home!

Marin County Monday

Monday 21st October

It was with some reluctance that we left Lafayette after a leisurely breakfast with Nigel and Kimmen.  This trip is tinged with leaving lovely places behind us....but fortunately each new place we visit soon makes us glad to be there.

Today we drove across the San Raphael bridge and through Sausolito before heading across Mount Tamalpais State Park and down to Stinson Beach.  For the first time since we left England we did not have cloudless blue sky.  There was fog in the Bay and along the coast and although it was supposed to burn off by 11am, in fact it persisted all day.  Our run along Stinson beach therefore was not quite the experience we had hoped for.

Apart from the grey skies we had not figured out that the tide would be high and there was only a very narrow strip of wet sand which meant that we kept having to run through ankle deep soft sand dodging incoming waves which was really hard work!  It was just over 2 miles to the end of the beach and by the time we got there I already felt like I'd run a marathon.  We paused to look at the view of the lagoon before retracing our steps and by the time we got back to our starting point I had had enough.  Since our feet were already pretty wet and sandy we went straight in for a paddle, shoes and all!  It was not nearly as cold as I had expected but there was a very strong undertow and I felt not the slightest temptation to go any deeper than my knees.

As usual we were hungry so once dry and changed we went to the Parkside Cafe which looked completely unprepossessing from the outside but was actually really nice.  We logged onto their free wifi having been bereft of internet for 24 hours and enjoyed bottomless cups of coffee whilst we agonised over the endless choices on the menu. Eventually, since breakfast was served until 2pm, we both had "scrambles" - mine with avocado, spinach and jack; Martin's with shrimp. They both proved delicious and as usual far too much food. As usual we managed to eat it all.

Next we headed back across Mount Tamalpais State Park to the Panoramic Highway where our next week's accommodation was situated at 310 meters above sea level - and as we climbed up through the trees we left the fog behind and emerged into lovely bright sunshine and skies the colour that we have quickly become accustomed to.  We met our host, Scott, who showed us around the charming little cottage which was to be our home for the next 4 nights.  It was every bit as delightful as we had expected and then some, small but beautifully designed and equipped.  French doors at the back gave onto decking with views east down to the bay and at the front, just the other side of Panoramic Highway were the beautiful woods of the state park including Muir Woods which we have visited many times and love.

After some settling in we decided to walk down to Mill Valley, our nearest town for supplies.  It proved to be quite a long walk but most of it followed the Dipsea Trail and we discovered that the second Sunday of June there is a race, the Dipsea Trail race which starts in Mill Valley and finishes at Stinson Beach, 7.4 miles away, with three sets of steps totaling almost 600 steps (which we know because we counted them on the way back up!).  This gives us the perfect excuse to return to the area again.........  It was a lovely evening and downtown Mill Valley is particularly attractive.  We did our shopping at Mill Valley Market, a fantastic store which, amazingly, manages to be even more expensive than Whole Foods......and equally as full of temptation.

Due to the facts that anything we bought had to be carried back up the hill and was anyway probably twice as expensive as a more run of the" mill" supermarket, we restricted ourselves to necessities and began the strenuous ascent back up to Panoramic Highway.  The rest of the evening was spent relaxing in our lovely cottage, cooking butternut squash risotto and drinking beer, which of course is one of life's great necessities........

Lafayette and Mount Diablo State Park

Sunday 20th October

We were up early this morning to go out for a run before breakfast - something which is not likely to happen in Dorset.  As time was of the essence we drove to Hellyer Park, did a loop of the lake and an out and back on the Coyote Creek Trail.  Hopefully we will have time to explore further later in the holiday but today we had a deadline to meet and so it was a 5.5 mile run on familiar territory only.

After breakfasting on Whole Foods Almond Croissants (pauses to savour the memory) we solved the conundrum of how to fit two bikes, two suitcases, assorted running shoes and boxes of food into the back of the hire car.  This process involved some choice epithets and a lot of variations before we were finally successful.

Today we were leaving the delightful hospitality of San Jose and heading a little further north and east to Lafayette where an old school friend of Martin's lives.  We have enjoyed visits to Nigel and Kimmen's beautiful house on the hills above the town on previous visits and were looking forward to returning.  The house is set into the hillside with a sloping garden, a large area of decking, an inviting hammock, hot tub and any number of pleasant spots to sit in shade or sunshine and admire the view across the valley.

We arrived in time for Kimmen to give us a guided tour of the garden, about which she is both passionate and knowledgeable, before a delicious al fresco lunch.  They had managed to select many of our favourite things, really good bread with excellent olive oil and balsamic for dipping, cheeses, teryaki salmon and tomatoes all washed down with a delicious Malbec.

After lunch Nigel took us for a hike in Mount Diablo State Park where we did a fairly short but strenuous hike, only about 4 miles but with a ridiculous amount of climbing, affording some superb views. By the time we returned to the house the sun had already set and after a short pause we headed out on the pleasant 30 minute walk to downtown Lafayette where we enjoyed yet another delicious meal at a great restaurant, Chow.

All in all a perfect day but one further delight awaited us......the hot tub.  Nigel and Kimmen retired to a discreet distance so that Martin and I could fully enjoy soaking in the lovely hot water beneath the stars with the moonlight filtering through the trees - bliss!

Swanning around in sunny San Jose

Friday 18th and Saturday 19th October

Finally I seem to be adjusting to the time zone or maybe it's just the lovely comfortable bed and flannel sheets!  Arriving in San Jose was a bit like a punctuation mark in our holiday - giving us a chance to relax, kick back and recharge out batteries.  Last night we had a great meal at an Italian restaurant, Pasta Pomodoro, to celebrate Sherry's birthday, today we were planning to do......really not very much!

Our only expedition was out to nearby Hellyer Park where we enjoyed a short walk around the lovely lake in the hot Californian sunshine. Sherry and Rich are lending us their bikes during our stay so we sorted them out but otherwise we just relaxed......

In the evening we went to Kazoo, a sushi restaurant with some friends of Sherry and Rich.........it was my first experience of sushi and apart from the difficulty of getting it from plate to mouth with chop sticks, I'm not entirely sure I want to repeat the experience!

Saturday was another relaxing day. We're still getting up fairly early but at least I'm now getting some sleep at night and not falling asleep mid afternoon! After breakfast we headed out on our borrowed bikes to explore the Coyote Creek Trail. This is a cycle path which goes through Hellyer Park and continues south for about 18 miles. Tempting though it was to continue to the end, we had only planned on being out for about an hour so we turned off at the Silver Creek Trail, but as this proved to be a roadside cycle path we abandoned it and found a loop back to Hellyer Park. Continuing in the opposite direction we followed the path through a small golf course and then zig zagged through some side streets back to Erica Court.

It was definitely not far enough or strenuous enough to work off the calories that we have been consuming but with our legs recovering from the marathon we hope to rack up some running, hiking and cycling miles next week.

The rest of the day involved lunch at Panera with Sherry and Rich and then a visit to Whole Foods for grocery shopping, which may sound mundane but is definitely a worthwhile experience. Whilst Sherry and Rich did the serious business of sensible shopping, Martin and I sampled as many olives as we felt we reasonably could without actually buying any and then moved on to the cheese counter..........

Considering that we hadn't actually planned to buy anything we only spent about 40 dollars which is probably a world record for us.

Back at Erica Court I spent a pleasant hour sitting out on the porch reading and enjoying the hot Californian sunshine. It was far too hot for my pale and delicate husband to join me.

We spent a lovely evening sampling some of the Whole Food goodies as Sherry made a fabulous soup of mixed vegetables, purple potatoes and quinoa pasta served with four cheese bread and followed by crab cakes.

My jeans are already feeling tighter, I need to run!

Andrew Molera State Park recovery run

Thursday 17th October

We were awake early again today having gone to "tent" early last night. It didn't take long to pack up the tent and other gear and then we headed a few miles up the coast to the Andrew Molera State Park where we had planned to do our first post marathon run.

Our plan had been to run down the trail to the beach and then run a mile or so on the nice forgiving surface of sand. However, we had not counted on the tide being in and there being, unfortunately, no beach to run on. Instead we headed along the coast path for a mile or so until it became apparent that there was not going to be a convenient loop and so we turned back. At a divide we took the Ridge Path which climbed quite steeply and continued for a mile or so before forking left onto Hidden Trail. This cut down through a wooded valley and across the river to rejoin our outward path. There were signs up warning of mountain lion sightings in the area. I was concerned that I would not be ale to outrun a mountain lion on post marathon legs. Martin was much more relaxed as he figured that he only had to out run me!

We did an easy 6 and a half miles and I was very encouraged by how good my legs felt. A slight tightness in the left calf and some stiffness in the right Achilles but that's pretty much the norm these days and both eased out once we were warmed up. Martin had a slight muscle pull at the top of his thigh but nothing that a few more days of rest and recovery won't take care of.

After our run we drove a little further up Highway 1 and stopped at one of the many incredibly scenic vista points to brew up some coffee. Driving the route of the Big Sur marathon caused us some nostalgia and though we have a policy not to run the same marathon twice we both felt that we would like to return and do this one again some day.

We decided to drive up to Santa Cruz next and re-visit the Natural Bridges Beach on the northern side of the resort. This is a beautiful beach with big sections of flat rock dividing small picturesque and largely deserted coves. It was another lovely day but the breeze was quite strong and cool on the coast and it is amazing how much colder the sea is just a few hundred miles further north. I braved a mid thigh paddle but it was much too cold to stay in for long and there was a very strong undertow, I certainly would not have wanted to get out of my depth here.

Later we drove onto San Jose with one brief stop to pick up a birthday gift before going to Sherry and Rich's house. As always the welcome was warm - it always feels like coming home to arrive there.

Hiking the Tan Bark Trail

Wednesday 16th October

The camp site was amazingly quiet, especially compared with English sites where there seems to be no limit to how late selfish campers continue to make a lot of noise. Although I'm still out of sync with normal hours I did get some sleep before waking at the crack of dawn.

Our breakfast preparations were more successful, mainly because we could see what we were doing, and we feasted on scrambled egg, sour dough bread, muesli and bananas......and of course, caffeine.

Fortified ready for the day's activities we drove about 9 miles back down Highway 1 and parked at the start of the Tan Bark Trail. One false start meant we had to return to the car for a forgotten item after walking about a third of a mile, but it was still early and we had all day. 

We first visited Big Sur in 2008 when we ran the Big Sur marathon at the start of a 3 week holiday which included a trip to Reno to get married. Later that year terrible fires caused massive damage and devastation to the area and some of the trails, including the one we had chosen today, have only just re-opened. There is still much evidence of the fire but nature has largely done a marvelous job of rejuvenation. 

The trail follows Partington Creek to begin with twisting and turning through the giant redwoods, before climbing approximately 1600 feet to the Tin House, a derelict structure which apparently after completion was only ever occupied for one night before being abandoned. It was hard to imagine why anyone would go to the trouble and expense of building an ugly tin structure in such a beautiful, panoramic spot.........

From the Tin House we followed the fire road as it zig zagged back down through the forest. We stopped before we lost too much height and took advantage of a handy fallen tree to have our picnic and admire the view of the Pacific coast way below us.  Eventually the fire road came down to Highway 1 which we followed the short distance back to the car making one detour down to Partington Cove.  The temperature had risen to the high seventies and we really fancied a dip in the sea but alas, although the cove was very scenic, it was much too rocky for anything more than a paddle.

We headed back to our lovely camp site beneath the giant redwoods to relax for a while and although it would have been lovely to stay there and cook supper, if we had been properly equipped and if it hadn't been dark, we took the soft option and headed down to the Big Sur River Inn where we enjoyed the riverside location, excellent beer and tasty food.

Beach combing and Big Sur

Tuesday 15th October

A lovely comfortable bed coupled with total peace and quiet still I couldn't sleep, so annoying! Martin, of course, slept like a baby whilst I tossed and turned and my brain raced around in all directions. Finally, at 5am, I gave up and caught up on sending some emails home.

The hotel gave us complementary vouchers for breakfast at Jeanine's Bakery so we strolled down there for some buttermilk pancakes and coffee before packing up and moving on. We already seem to have amassed quite a lot of extra "stuff"......how does that happen?

 Our first destination today was just a short drive away - Leadbetter Beach. On a previous visit we had walked along the coast to Hendry's Beach and it had made such a lasting impression on us that we wanted to repeat the experience.  Today the tide was still quite high and we had to do some wave dodging around rocks to begin with. The sky was cloudless blue, the sun was shining and I felt an incredible sense of well being and happiness that only strolling along such an amazingly beautiful beach at the beginning of a long holiday can inspire.  After a couple of miles walking along barefoot, splashing through the shallows we decided to stop for a swim. The water had some shock factor at first but was not as cold as I had expected and it was lovely once adjusted to the temperature. 

Our legs were feeling much less stiff and tired today and immersion in the cool Pacific waters could only speed their recovery. We relaxed on the beach for a while before continuing another half mile or so to Hendry's Beach. This was more crowded and as we still had a long drive ahead of us we decided to turn back and retrace our steps.   Just when we thought our morning couldn't be any more perfect we were delighted to see some dolphins out in the bay. A couple of brief glimpses at first but later they came much closer in and wheeled and circled in full view over and again. 

Almost back at our starting point we climbed up from the beach to enjoy our picnic on the cliff with the most fantastic views of the beach, Santa Barbara harbour and beyond it the bay, Stearn's Wharf and the backdrop of the Santa Ynez mountains.  It was with great reluctance that we left Santa Barbara behind and headed north up 101 towards San Louis Obispo. We had booked a site at the Pfeiffer Big Sur camp for the next 2 nights and had a 200 mile drive to complete.  Our plan had been to arrive late afternoon but after stopping for provisions in SLO, we realised that we had continued on 101 instead of Highway 1 and had to back track.  It was already much later than we had intended and the twists, turns and climbs of the coast road slowed us still further but we tried to enjoy the stunning views of the sunset over the sea and banish our anxiety regarding our night's accommodation.

Eventually we reached the campsite at 7pm and checked in. The next hour was rather stressful as we groped about in the dark trying to find our site and get set up in pitch darkness with only head torches to help us see what we were doing. Fortunately our tent is simple to pitch and we were soon able to turn our thoughts to supper. We must be the worst equipped campers in existence and we struggled to cook salmon burgers on our tiny stove - one at a time! Washed down with red wine and sandwiched in lovely sour dough bread with liberal dollops of salsa they tasted fine and the jury is out on whether or not we get food poisoning. The corn on the cob never did cook, eventually we abandoned it and turned in for the night.

The recovery process begins

Monday 14th October

What a fantastic day it has been.  First off at breakfast Martin was leafing through a newspaper and discovered that there was a lovely article about us with the headline "English Couple Runs on Passion" and a photograph taken in the VIP tent!

We left our noisy home of the last few days and headed north, our eventual destination being Santa Barbara, but our route being far from the most direct. We did have one incident when we thought the car - complete with all our belongings  - was being stolen. We had stopped at the road side to admire the view and wandered 50 yards or so away when Martin glanced back and saw someone getting into our car!  We both ran back, much faster than was advisable on post marathon legs, shouting and expecting it to roar off down the road only to find a startled tourist who also had a black hire car and had mistaken ours for it. As Martin had foolishly left it unlocked the poor guy had pointed his fob at it, opened the door and climbed in before he realised his mistake.  I don't know who was more distressed but my heart rate was definitely off the scale.  I have enough trouble getting into America as it is without losing another passport!

Apart from that the rest of the day was pure stress free enjoyment.  We stopped off at Point Dume beach, had a stroll, paddled in the sea, which felt great on those aching calf muscles, relaxed on the beach for a while with a picnic and then carried on up the Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Barbara.  Our body clocks are still out of kilter and we had been awake from the early hours so by 3 pm we were ready for snooze. What a bonus that we could enjoy a dip in the delightful outdoor pool first and then rest in the sun for an hour or so afterwards.  The sky was bright blue and cloudless and the forecast is for even hotter weather as the week continues.

Rested, refreshed, showered and changed we headed for downtown Santa Barbara and took a walk out onto the historic Stearn's Wharf.  A top tourist attraction it may be but at 6pm on an October evening it wasn't overcrowded and we were easily able to ignore the shopping and dining opportunities and just enjoy the beautiful views of the coastline, the harbour and the beautiful sunset.

Another short stroll took us to the Brew House, where we enjoyed some great home brewed beer and a tasty meal before heading back to our hotel.  It was still fairly early but we are gradually adapting to the time zone and the lovely peace and quiet should enable a good night's sleep which will make a great change.

All in all it was the perfect way to spend the first day recovering from the marathon.

Marathon Day

Sunday 13th October

Another sleepless night, up at 2.45am for breakfast and left the apartment at 5.15am to walk to the start. I have never been so close to suggesting that we blow a marathon off. We were fortunate enough to get free entry since I met their elite criteria so nothing would have been lost.....

However, once we got to the start and started soaking up the atmosphere I began to think, ok, maybe I can do this. The start was delayed by 25 minutes which was not good. Finally at 6.25am we were off. Martin was in charge of pacing, my inclination is always to go off too fast and it was still just dark enough that I couldn't check pace on my GPS. Our target pace was 6.45 and it felt so easy for the first few miles as we crossed the river and headed down towards the Queen Mary. A few girls had gone off fast in front of me and it's a fairly good indication of how negative I was feeling that I didn't immediately give into the urge to give chase.

As we ran along the scenic area on the shoreline past the Aquarium we reeled in the girl in 3rd place and I was just congratulating myself on moving into the placings when another girl overtook me and opened up quite a lead. We stayed on the pace and started the long section across the beach gradually catching up and passing one other female. Just before the half marathon split we caught the girl who had overtaken us a few miles earlier and exchanged a few pleasantries as we passed her. It took a while to shake her off but now I was in 2nd place, I knew I had no chance of catching the leader but I badly wanted to maintain both position and pace.

The miles ticked off and it became apparent that our GPS were measuring the course long which meant that we weren't as well on pace as we had thought. We completed the out and back at the Marine Stadium and crossed the half way point in 1.29.33. It was already a given that we weren't going to achieve sub 3 today so I suggested we aim for 3.02 instead and hang onto the pace as long as we could. I could tell that Martin was struggling a bit already by his breathing and tried to encourage him to stay with me, which he gamely managed until after we had passed through the University campus but then he gradually began to drift backwards.

The lack of long runs in our training was already telling and our pace had dropped off still more. I hate feeling so tired with 6 miles still to go but there was nothing I could do except grit my teeth, dig deep and hope that I wouldn't be caught. A couple of times I tried glancing back, I could still see Martin and I was fairly sure there were no females closing in...but I couldn't be positive.

It was such a relief to hit East Ocean Boulevard and know that the end was finally within reach. Running past half marathoners gave me a bit of a boost but the tiredness remained and I so badly wanted to stop.  When the 3.05 pacer passed me with 2 miles still to go I really thought I'd blown it but he was finishing a bit fast and I crossed the line in 3.04.56 having maintained my second place.  Martin came in some 90 seconds later for the usual emotional reunion. I always find myself in tears at the end of a marathon!

As we headed away from the finish area we were intercepted by a volunteer who said she was to escort us to the VIP tent! How exciting and flattering was that! In addition to the very handsome finisher's medal and well stocked goody bag we were both given lovely Long Beach Marathon towels, I received my 2nd place trophy and we had a veritable feast of food and drink at our disposal. Sadly I can never eat straight after a hard run (although I always manage to make up for it later on) but Martin did his best to take full advantage of it.

Later we reluctantly left the festivities and headed back to our apartment for a much needed shower and change. On looking at the results which were already on line we discovered that Martin had finished 1st V55 so we headed back to pick up his medal and enjoy our courtesy visit to the Aquarium.

All that remained was to chose the venue for our evening celebration and as we really wanted some beer we went to the Beachwood BBQ and Brewery where we enjoyed a sampler selection of their finest beer and some excellent Albacore. What a day and how differently it turned out than expected.

I love Long Beach, who needs to sleep?!

Link to press report: Long Beach Marathon press report

The best laid plans.........

Saturday 12th October

I guess it was just too good to be true....something had to go wrong and last night it certainly did.  After a pretty successful and relaxing day we were busy congratulating ourselves on how clever we had been finding such great accommodation and feeling very smug.  We cooked a really nutritious meal, enjoyed it in the comfort of our apartment (a glass of wine would have been nice but plenty of time for that post marathon) and were ready to catch up on some sleep deficit when our upstairs neighbour arrived home.  The clumping around on a wooden floor in outdoor shoes was pretty annoying but we comforted ourselves with the thought that it couldn't last too long but then the TV came on...at full blast, and on it stayed.  We tried ear plugs, we tried ear phones with our own music, we tried knocking on the door, we tried shouting at the ceiling, we even, in desperation, tried calling our host.  Finally at 2.34am the TV went off and blissful silence descended but we were so wound up sleep did not come easily.

At 7am we gave up and got up.  We had planned on spending the day relaxing in the apartment but we badly needed some sleep so we headed for the hills in search of a quiet park where we could try to sleep. It proved surprisingly hard to find such a place and we did a lot of driving up and down various canyons (admittedly it was very scenic) until we finally found Borrego Canyon Overlook Park.

What a perfect little oasis of peace and tranquility.  A small but attractive park with great views and best of all, almost completely deserted.  We spent several hours in the sun alternately snoozing, reading and eating and were only disturbed by a few dog walkers and a couple of kids passing through.

Eventually we headed back to base only to find that the loud music was already blaring through the ceiling. It became increasingly loud and increasingly annoying to the point where my stress levels reached explosion point.........Martin again tried knocking on the door and this time got a response.  Ten minutes later the music stopped and currently there is just the normal late evening traffic and general noise.


Is the damage done?  With only about 6 hours sleep in the last 3 nights and a 2.45 am alarm call in the morning, I feel like my marathon is over before I've even laced my shoes.

An introduction to Long Beach

Friday 11th October

Martin and I are well known for not being "morning people" - however a change in time zone makes all the difference and we were on our way out for breakfast at 7.20am. Our intention in opting for an apartment rather than a hotel was that we would be able to ensure we had the right pre marathon nutrition, somewhere comfortable to relax and stay off our feet and also save some money on eating out.  However, we had managed to convince ourselves fairly easily that we deserved a treat on our first day, plus we needed to shop for provisions.....so some Internet research had us strolling the short distance to the excellent Berlin Coffee House for delicious coffee and in my case a vegetarian breakfast croissant which was almost worth flying 11 hours for!

I was already loving Long Beach and the cloudless blue skies and sunshine added to the experience. The morning was spent fairly mundanely in a shopping expedition to Trader Joe's for groceries but even that was more fun than the usual trek around the Dorchester Tesco.



Next on the agenda was the marathon Expo and number pick up. We walked from our apartment to the start - about a mile - and the usual race butterflies began when we saw that preparations were already well underway including an impressive row of porta loos stretching off into the distance in Rainbow Lagoon park! The all important numbers and race t-shirts collected it was time to stroll around the exhibitions and soak up the atmosphere and of course the free samples of the various drinks, energy bars and various concoctions guaranteed to improve performance which were on offer.  I must admit to falling for the clever marketing and buying a very fetching long sleeve Long Beach marathon t-shirt, Martin dithered over the vast array of 50 dollar running shoes but was more restrained than me.

With the very impressive expo thoroughly "done" the next stop was to check out the very long beach! The weather was perfect, a cooling breeze coming off the ocean and endless sand stretching east, mostly completely deserted.  It was a slightly strange feeling that after all the planning, training and anticipation, we were finally here and only a short time remained before we would find ourselves on the start line.

Martin, as always, is positive and confident that we will achieve our running goals. I am not so sure, I feel horribly under trained and fairly certain that I am not going to be able to sustain the planned pace. Do I always feel this unfit and tired just before a big race? I keep trying to convince myself that I do......I just want to get to the start, get running and see what happens.  Even having arrived in lovely sunny California I'm still marking time until Sunday morning at 6am!

London to LA........a marathon in itself

Thursday 10th October

I love America..........but I hate the process of getting there. After a very traumatic trip to Gatwick airport a few weeks ago which nearly resulted in a missed flight, we allowed plenty of time and the whole trip was uneventful and stress free. Martin loves flying, loves the movies and the whole experience. I, on the other hand, loathe it, stuck in one seat for nearly 11 hours, automatically eating whatever is put in front of me and desperately holding out for as long as possible before making the inevitable trip to the loo.

As usual on arrival in America I was diverted to the secondary immigration check so Martin went to get our bags whilst I sat in the holding room with some other, mostly dubious looking characters, waiting for my turn to be quizzed. Fortunately the delay was not too long, the immigration officer confirmed that the problem was due to my passport having been stolen in 2010, despite this being the 3rd trip to the US since then......

Eventually we reached the front of the car rental queue and left the airport......our body clocks were now on 4am and I had definitely had enough travelling for one day but we still had to find our way to the apartment in Long Beach.....all I can say is that it's a good job Martin has a better sense of direction than me. Tired and disorientated I would never have found the way, plus the number we had for our host went straight to voice mail so we weren't even sure we would be able to get in when we got there.

What a relief to find Lloyd and his partner Bill waiting to greet us, the apartment was as we expected and more.....some provisions were kindly provided and we were able to have a snack and a drink before getting some much needed sleep.

Total trip time door to door.............20.5 hours.