San Pablo Reservoir: Less than the sum of its parts.

San Pablo Reservoir
(Kennedy Grove- Bay Area Ridge Trail- Kennedy Grove)
(5.1 miles)

I soooo wanted this to be a cool run. After the surprise of the Briones Reservoir Loop, I had great hopes for San Pablo Reservoir. I had driven by the turnoff from San Pablo Dam Road, it seemed somewhat unknown, it was near a body of water-- it had all the potential for being a great run.

I started out thinking I would go from Kennedy Grove, as it was closer to my house than the San Pablo Reservoir parking lot, and it looked like you could find a trail from Kennedy Grove to the reservoir. Plus, I had pre-birthday celebration plans to eat here, and I wanted the chance to leisurely get ready beforehand.

First issue: as I drove on San Pablo Dam Rd, there was a sign telling me to take a detour to Kennedy Grove at Castro Ranch Rd. For some reason, I thought that the sign would be wrong, and by some inexplicable stroke of good fortune, *I* would be able to park at Kennedy Grove. Guess what? The sign was right. Given that I was on a two-lane fast-moving road, I could not turn around there, so I decided to go on and park at the San Pablo Reservoir lot and run back toward Kennedy Grove.

Second issue: It was impossible to find a place to get a parking permit. Every car I saw had a parking permit, so it's clear they were charging today, but the location was clearly a threat to national security, because it was well-hidden.

After an annoying drive all around the parking lots of San Pablo Reservoir Recreation Area, I decided to go back to Kennedy Grove via the detour.

Third issue: finding the Bay Area Ridge Trail in Kennedy Grove. I knew it existed, but finding it was another question entirely. I wandered around for a good 10 minutes trying to figure out where it was, all the time thinking about how my leisurely shower/getting cute to go out time was being sucked away by the lameness of the East Bay Municipal Utilities' District lack of trail markers. I was truly tempted to throw the towel in and head back to my house, but when you have a brilliant dinner ahead of you, il faut en profiter, if you will. I hate, hate, hate eating really good food when I'm not hungry, and I knew if I didn't run, I wouldn't be as hungry as I wanted to be.

For about 1/2 a mile, the trail is a fire road running up the back of the dam and then beside the reservoir. It was pretty. I was starting to hate San Pablo Reservoir a little less, and I was just beginning to enjoy the crimson of the poison oak lining the sides of the road, when suddenly I found myself ON the very road I had spent 20 minutes driving around on in San Pablo Reservoir. Yes, the "trail" on the map was really just the parking road at San Pablo Reservoir. How truly irritating.

Now, think not that I am a person who refuses to run on road. I'm not a huge fan, but if I have a road to run on, well, then, I'll run on it-- but when I was hoping for trail and found out I was running on a parking lot?

I did manage to find a random trail that led through the oak trees (paralleling the road) for about a mile, but that ended soon enough and I found myself back at the picnic area, forced to get back to the parking lot run.

(Random aside: the only other runner I saw today was a man who looked like he was running in his work clothes-- button-down short sleeve shirt, slacks and leather shoes. I wanted to take off my Sauconys and explain to him how much better running could be-- his poor feet! Like I said, this is not exactly the land o' the trail runners...)

Anyway, eventually I gave up parking lot running and ran back to Kennedy Grove, at least a little hungrier for dinner (which was superb, by the way-- one of the best eating experiences I've had in a while-- and I'm pretty fanatical about eating). While there were pretty moments in this run, and I think that both Kennedy Grove and San Pablo Reservoir would be great for picnicing, as a run this was pretty unsatisfying overall. Meh.

Oh yeah-- I think you can take your leashed dog on this run. If you wanted to run in a parking lot, that is.

Bon Tempe Gorgeousness

Bon Tempe Lake
Ross Commons- Natalie Coffin Greene- Phoenix Lake- Shaver Grade- Hidden Grove- Sunnyside- Shadyside- Pumpkin- Madrone- Fish Gulch- Phoenix Lake
(9.98 miles)

Alpine Lake might be my new favorite lake in Marin, but this run has the sentimental factor going for it. I have run this loop many times, and it's one of the tried and true runs in my book.

Getting started with this run is a big tricky, especially on the weekends. Natalie Coffin Greene should be the trailhead, but the parking lot is miniscule and trying to find parking on the weekend is a good joke. (Today there were at least three cars waiting for people to leave the lot when I went through.) Thanks to Ross' highly territorial parking restrictions (do not tempt them either-- I misread a sign and ended up with a $30 ticket once--more expensive than I generally want my runs to be), you are not permitted to park anywhere along Lagunitas Road until you get to Ross Commons, almost a mile from the trailhead. During the week, parking can be found by the tennis courts, but parking is prohibited here on the weekends. I don't get it, but in a county that didn't want Bart in the 1970's, I suppose it all makes sense.

From Natalie Coffin Greene, the fire road leads up to Phoenix Lake, following the lake until Phoenix Junction. At Phoenix Junction, I took Shaver up and up, past the Five Corners (six, actually) trail junction and continued up Shaver until crossing Sky Oaks road. The trail follows the road for a hundred yards or so until the tiny Hidden Grove trail forks to the left. It is possible to continue straight on the road and end up at Bon Tempe Dam, but I prefer Hidden Grove, both for the view of Bon Tempe coming over the hill, and also because it provides more time to run on the Sunnyside trail.

Sunnyside is, as its name promises, the hotter, sunnier side of this trail. It is also the side of the trail one is more likely to see fishermen casting from lakeside, dry grasses and big oak trees- a completely different ecosystem than Shadyside. I also ran past a man who looked old enough to be my grandfather (definitely older than my father) who was wearing what looked to be a Quad Dipsea shirt. Thank you sir, for reminding me that running a 50K in my 30s is not the pinnacle of greatness I can aspire to. Talk about upping the ante! Despite my irritation with Marin's parking pitfalls and its lack of trails where dogs can be off-leash, Marin has a long and glorious history of trail running, and it is sometimes possible to see people on the trail who might have been around for all of it and who are still out there running. This alone is enough to make me feel inspired while running in Marin--I run by someone who has obviously seen a few years (and a lot of miles) on the trail and I am reminded that even if I can't trip the light fantastic the way I could when I was 20, there are a lot more miles of trail spreading out ahead of me.

Back to the run-- the trail goes over the dam and then to Bon Tempe's Shadyside. Instantly, the temperature drops, making this a great trail to run on a hot day. It's hard to believe, looking at the picture to the left and the first one, that these microclimates are literally steps away from each other. (As an aside, Oakland's Museum of California has a marvelous permanent exhibit on the different ecosystems of California- no other state has as many!) Shadyside eventually winds around to the Lagunitas Picnic Area. If you want to add crazy mileage and elevation gain to your run, this is a great place to run up Mt. Tamalpais, but today I was not ready to add so much more.

From here, it's possible to head straight down to Phoenix Lake by way of Fish Grade, but I decided to add a little loop, taking Pumpkin Ridge to Madrone, then back to Fish Gulch which parallels Fish Grade and eventually ends up at Phoenix Junction, where I retraced my steps back to the car. This loop adds a little uphill on Pumpkin Ridge, but the downhill on Madrone is tons of fun, and the trees for which the trail is named (Pacific Madrones) are beautiful, with even smoother bark than Manzanita.

It is possible to take dogs on this trail, provided they are on leash. This is also a great picnic area--benches and gorgeous views abound, should one decide to stop the running for a snacky-poo. All in all, one of my favorite running routes in Marin. Highly recomended.

O Richmond, My Richmond...

Wildcat Creek Trail

(4+ miles)

First, that's the city, not the district (note the lack of article). Many people might not associate Richmond with trail runners... and you would be correct. There aren't a whole lot of us out here, and I think it's too bad, because Wildcat Canyon is a great place to run. It's true that it does not have the wealth of trails that grace Marin, for example, but it's a consistently underutilized area, so you can leave the VERY urban 23rd and Rheem, for example, and be running on a hill with no one around in a matter of minutes.

According to the East Bay Regional Parks website, Alvarado Park (the picnic area adjoining Wildcat Canyon's open space that is barbecue central on sunny weekends) used to have a pavilion and dance hall that later turned into a roller rink. I don't usually run around the park, but it's a great place to go back and have a picnic after a good run.

Additionally, Wildcat Canyon is pretty dog-friendly. Like Redwood, you must have your dog on a leash in developed areas, and clean up after them, but they can run free in undeveloped space areas, which is most of the park. The one caveat to running with dogs is the preponderance of cows once you leave Wildcat Creek Trail and head up toward the ridge, where the better trail running is. Neko and I have had a couple of "cow encounters" while running, particularly on the Mezue Trail.

I was going to post about the run I did last Sunday, but then I felt some loyalty to Wildcat Canyon and decided to instead to start with highlighting a very basic, midweek out-and-back 4+ mile run that follows Wildcat Creek until the intersection of the Mezue Trail and Wildcat Creek Trail. There is a drinking fountain with a dog bowl that makes a good turning point. This trail is basically flat, and true trail aficionados will grumpily point out that the first mile or so is actually on pavement. It's true, but it's still beautiful on days like today when the ceanothus is in bloom and the hills are covered with vetch, the purple flower in the first picture. It also makes for an easy no-thinking-necessary run when you just need to get some miles in to calm the border collie(s).

In another post, I'll give some ways to add a little more to your run as well as get off the road for a bit. I'll also cover Havey Canyon, Mezue and Conlon Trails, but I thought I'd start with the most basic of Wildcat Canyon options.