The Los Trancos Trail is a 7.5 mile loop with great variety including rugged chaparral, hardwood forest, meadows, views, and the cascading Los Trancos Creek. On our hike we enjoyed wildflowers, vistas, waterfalls, and even a snake! Here are some photos of Los Trancos Creek and be sure to check out the Los Trancos Trail…
Category: Trail Running
Ohlone Wilderness 50k
I had a great time running the Ohlone Wilderness 50k which is a challenging point-to-point course stretching from Fremont to Lake Del Valle in the Diablo Range to the Southeast of the San Francisco Bay Area. The relatively cool weather helped me lower the course record by nearly 10 minutes to 4:29:45. Ohlone is one…
Yosemite Part II
Before heading to bed, I snapped a few photographs of evening light on Half Dome a few steps from the tent. We were awoken in the morning by a bear roaming through camp. The bear meandered and then walked off after finding no food. We saw the value of the bear boxes in keeping the…
Yosemite Part I
Serena and I visited the iconic Yosemite Valley on Memorial Day and camped overnight at the Lower Pines campground. We enjoyed a spectacular hike of Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls and toured the sights of the valley. I also ran the 13 mile Yosemite Valley Loop Trail. This was Serena’s first visit to Yosemite Valley…
PCTR Big Basin Trail Runs
I had a fantastic time at PCTR’s Big Basin Redwoods Trail Runs. Big Basin is one of my favorite parks so I was looking forward to this event. The weather was toasty and humid with temps at higher elevations starting at over 80 degrees at dawn only to get warmer as the sun rose. In…
Humboldt Redwoods
While Serena was running on the Avenue of the Giants, I took the opportunity to run on some single track amongst the giant redwoods. I chose the Bull Creek Trail North. This generally parallels Mattole Road where the race was taking place, but you can’t see or hear the road most of the way since…
Serena’s Avenue of the Giants Marathon
Serena ran The Avenue of the Giants Marathon on Sunday running a 3:57:29 for her first marathon. This road marathon is in a truly gorgeous setting of old growth redwoods. There is also a half marathon and a 10k option for those looking for a shorter distance. Serena felt good and came through around 1:56…
2009 Skyline to the Sea 50k
Another fantastic day on the Skyline to the Sea Trail with PCTR! I ran 28 seconds faster than my time last September finishing in 3:38:05. The amazingly narrow margin between the two performances is thanks to some tight and spasmy hamstrings in the last 7 miles that hampered plans to open it up for the…
Map of Big Basin Loops
Big Basin State Park is one of the best places for trail running in the Bay Area. The park is most recognized for its spectacular ancient redwoods, but the 18,000+ acre park also features an expansive wilderness with several beautiful waterfalls and gorgeous vistas of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Pacific Ocean. I have run…
Westridge Loop – Big Basin
I saw the West Ridge from the McCrary Ridge-Howard King Trail loop I did a couple weeks ago and really wanted to come back to run it. I was expecting a moderately steep climb up to a ridge followed by 5 miles of easier running on top of the ridge to Chalk Mountain. I got…
Leor Pantilat's Adventures