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I think it’s a great idea. The trails can always use some help, and that’s especially true for the AC100 course this year after the devastating fires last year and the flood damage over the winter. It was also a great way for me to see a section of the race course. In a “normal” year I would be out training on the course, but the trails have been closed since the fires, so this was my first chance to see some of what I’ll be in for. Finally, it was a blast to get meet a bunch of people who are planning to run the race in August. As it turned out there were a lot of really experienced ultrarunners out there yesterday, including Jorge Pacheco (2008 Ultrarunner of the Year and former race winner), Guillermo Medina (9 time finisher and former race winner), Tom Crawford (2010 Leona Divide 50 winner) and a bunch of others. Everyone was really cool and approachable and more than happy to share advice and tips about Angeles Crest and other ultrarunning information. I also met a few people who will be racing at Bishop in May. They raced there last year and talking to them got me really excited about the race.

So, early Saturday morning, I got up and drove out to La Canada Flintridge to meet up with the group and spend the day working on the trails. There were about 30 people out there. The El Prieto trail is right near the end of the 100 mile course. We grabbed shovels, axes, mattucks and mcleods (I definitely didn’t know those words before Saturday!) and hiked out along the trail.

I’ve never been out on this trail before so it’s hard for me to tell whether (or how much) it’s worse than before the fires. But people who had been there before were shocked at how bad it looked. Creek beds that used to be pretty narrow were 20 feet wide and trails that were recognizable were all broken up and rutted. You could see where flood water had chosen “new” paths down the hillsides. And it was easy to see some damage like charred trees, fallen trees, washed out creek beds and broken dams.

A group of five of us stopped about a mile in to even out a small beat-up section of the trail. A larger group kept moving towards the end of the trail. This section was all torn-up and didn’t much resemble a “trail”.

After an hour or so of working on it, we had a really nice looking trail:

After we finished there, we just kept moving out along the trail, stopping periodically to “fix” sections that needed repair.

Doesn’t it look pretty after we worked on it:

This is me trying to look like a good trail maintenance worker. No time for smiles!

Eventually we met up with the group that went to the end. We spent a while clearing out a section around a small creek crossing, including removing some of the bigger rocks in the middle of the trail and marking the sides of the trail with rocks.

I think we actually finished up a little early. There was only a limited part of ht trail that the Forest Service allowed us to work on and with all the hands we had, we got it done quick. After we finished up, we all hung out at the trail head and had some cookies and drinks. It was a great opportunity to talk more with my fellow runners. It was hard work, but a really rewarding day.

Since I knew I wouldn’t be able to do my usual long run on Saturday, this week was a planned “light” week. But I still needed to go out today and get some in a bunch of miles. My usual trail running friends had other plans, so I went out for a long one on my own. I wanted to be done early, so I could spend the day hanging out with Elizabeth and the boys. I parked at Sunset and Mandeville at 7am and ran up Old Ranch Road (stopping to say hi to “Bird” the horse – I now “know” a horse, a dog and a girl named “Bird”!).

I took the trail up to Sullivan Ridge Road (check out the early morning fog) and from there ran to Mulholland, stopping at Nike Station to refill my water and catch my breath.

At Nike Station, I ran into a group of four runners. I overheard them talking about Bishop, so I introduced myself and started talking with them. It turned out, this was another really accomplished little group of ultrarunners. I ran with them down Westridge. The two guys I mostly talked with, Scott (10 time AC100 finisher) and Jeff (multi-100 finisher, including AC100) were really nice. They both ran the entire backbone trail (68+ miles) last weekend. The other cool thing is that all four of them will also be at Bishop in May. So I went from only knowing one other person who will be there, to knowing a whole bunch. Excellent. After getting to the bottom of Westridge, I went back up (mostly on the single track, which really kicked my ass and showed me why we usually run up the fire road and down the single track!), then went back on Mulholland, Sullivan Ridge, Sullivan Canyon and back down to Old Ranch Road and to the car. Phew. I’m listing it in my log as 21.5 miles, but it felt like further than that.

I finished up with a pretty nice “dirt tan” on my legs!

I got home and we spent the early afternoon walking around in Santa Monica with the dogs. I’m feeling pretty creaky tonight, but hoping to recover for a nice long one tomorrow morning… Wish me luck!!