Skyline Ridge is gone?

[mweston]

I think it was listed for May 3, but now it seems to be gone.

Since I got into Miwok (May 2) and I live very very close to the Skyline Ridge course, I was thinking of volunteering. Oh, well.

[Pacific Coast Trail Runs]

We decided to take it off the schedule due to the limited parking at Skyline Ridge. We've added another event, but have tentatively added it the following weekend because of the timing with Miwok.

[mweston]

It seems to be back, on October 4. Cool!

My guess is that with the issues with state parks, runs in other jurisdictions are getting re-examined.

[atlantatrailsdave]

Yes, until recently Mt. Diablo was tentatively scheduled for that weekend (Oct. 3), which would have been in a state park. Skyline Ridge is not a state park as far as I can tell.

I don't know if all state parks are currently off the board or just some. I'm sure Wendell/Sarah would know. It seems that races are affected all over the place.

Hey Admins! What about Tilden as a possible race location? The race shirts could be tie-dye to fit the Berkeley theme!

[mweston]

Aug 5, 2009 13:48:14 GMT -5 atlantatrailsdave said:

Skyline Ridge is not a state park as far as I can tell.

Skyline Ridge, Long Ridge, and Russian Ridge (all of which the course goes through) are all part of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. It's primarily funded by a small percentage of the property tax collected within the district.

[mweston]

I did the 23K course yesterday, or at least as close as I could figure out between the description and the map. I had done almost all of the trails before at some point, though I had never been on the concave side of Horseshoe Lake before, and I think the last time I was on Long Ridge Trail was in the 1990's on a mountain bike. But I digress.

The trails are pretty nice, with the possible exception of a couple of hills in the Christmas Tree farm and another couple on Hickory Oaks. The sections of the Ridge Trail on either side of the Christmas Tree farm are some of the most pleasant trails I've been on: shady, soft, mostly smooth, and just calming in some way, at least to me.

Note that the 23K course is an out and back and only has one aid station, so that's an unusually long stretch without aid. So definitely bring enough water carrying capacity. The good news is that the 23K course will only be done at the start, so even those doing the 50K won't have to do it in the afternoon.

I didn't go into Russian Ridge yesterday, but everyone should know that there was a controlled burn there a few months back, so most of the grassland area around the course in that preserve is blackened and pretty desolate looking. That doesn't affect the trail, just the view.

[mweston]

Someone asked me privately if I saw any bees/wasps. I did not see any this last time, but in July of last year I got stung twice at one time on one of those "calming" trails in Skyline Ridge OSP. Which made it far less calming.

With large numbers of runners, I would expect at least a few stings out there. Hopefully not as bad as 2008's inaugural Skyline to the Sea (which was in late September, so about the same time of year as this one), but if you're allergic, you might think twice about this one.

[mweston]

It is currently 39 degrees F up here (I live on Skyline very near the 14K loop), in case you see this in time to pack an extra layer.

[mweston]

The weather was perfect: a bit too cold at the start, but great once we got moving. The only thing that one could possibly complain about would be the bees on the 23K course in Long Ridge OSP. I only saw them in two places, one of which (not far from the turnaround) was bad enough that almost everyone went off trail to avoid them (I heard one person say he had been stung 10 times there). Somehow I managed to avoid any stings, but I think most people on the 23K and above courses got a couple.

Thanks Sarah and Wendell, and all the volunteers!

[Atlanta Trails Dave]

I thought the temperature was awesome throughout. The 30s at the start were a gentle reminder to enjoy the perfect weather while we still have it. Rain is on the way! (actually, I like running in the rain).

I must have been the only one who didn't see the bees. Was too oblivious, I suppose. However, there were a number of deer just before/after the turn-around. They seemed very curious as to what was going on. ;D ;D