Getting up at 4:00 AM is highly unusual for me, but today was going to be a long, hard run and we wanted to beat the heat. For some reason, I wanted toast with Swiss cheese for breakfast, then topped it off with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. After meeting up with fellow
OCTR members Lauren, Kelly, Larry, Daniel and David, Lauren drove us all to the end of Silverado Canyon where we started up Maple Springs Road in twilight just after 6:00 AM.
The first 3 miles of Maple Springs Road is paved, then it becomes dirt (yay!). The climbing lasts for 7 miles, but it is mostly runnable, with the average grade somewhere around 7%. In the picture on the right, you can see the trail zig-zagging back and forth. The ridge in the background is the Main Divide. Silverado Canyon is down in the valley between Maple Springs Road and the Main Divide. We came up Maple Springs, circled left around to the current viewpoint, and continued around CCW on the distant trail atop Main Divide.
These 2 pictures are courtesy of Larry. The first one looks like it was taken on Main Divide shortly after passing Bedford Road. Bedford meets Main Divide at the top of the frame, just on the other side of the ridge, and drops down into Riverside County south of Corona. You can see some of us on the road below.
Here we are on Main Divide. There is a downward trend from Maple Springs to the Motorway, and it looks pretty flat from a distance. Dream on! Anyone familiar with ridge trails will not be surprised when I tell you there are some pretty steep climbs along the way. I was glad we were going north and not south because there would have been significantly more climbing.
After passing Bedford Peak, we finally reached the top of the final hill of the day. Here is a rattlesnake's view of our group at the top of Silverado Motorway. From here, the trail is single track which plunges nearly 2000 ft. down the side of the mountain in just 3 miles. There are a lot of loose rocks so you have to pay attention to stay upright, especially near the bottom when your legs become tired from the constant braking.
This was our elevation profile. Nasty! The total cumulative elevation gain was 4,068 ft. Distance was 16.4 miles. I brought 100 oz. of water and drank every drop. As always, I had a blast. Thanks for the great company, you guys!
Getting up at 4:00 AM is highly unusual for me, but today was going to be a long, hard run and we wanted to beat the heat. For some reason, I wanted toast with Swiss cheese for breakfast, then topped it off with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. After meeting up with fellow OCTR members Lauren, Kelly, Larry, Daniel and David, Lauren drove us all to the end of Silverado Canyon where we started up Maple Springs Road in twilight just after 6:00 AM.
The first 3 miles of Maple Springs Road is paved, then it becomes dirt (yay!). The climbing lasts for 7 miles, but it is mostly runnable, with the average grade somewhere around 7%. In the picture on the right, you can see the trail zig-zagging back and forth. The ridge in the background is the Main Divide. Silverado Canyon is down in the valley between Maple Springs Road and the Main Divide. We came up Maple Springs, circled left around to the current viewpoint, and continued around CCW on the distant trail atop Main Divide.
These 2 pictures are courtesy of Larry. The first one looks like it was taken on Main Divide shortly after passing Bedford Road. Bedford meets Main Divide at the top of the frame, just on the other side of the ridge, and drops down into Riverside County south of Corona. You can see some of us on the road below.
Here we are on Main Divide. There is a downward trend from Maple Springs to the Motorway, and it looks pretty flat from a distance. Dream on! Anyone familiar with ridge trails will not be surprised when I tell you there are some pretty steep climbs along the way. I was glad we were going north and not south because there would have been significantly more climbing.
After passing Bedford Peak, we finally reached the top of the final hill of the day. Here is a rattlesnake's view of our group at the top of Silverado Motorway. From here, the trail is single track which plunges nearly 2000 ft. down the side of the mountain in just 3 miles. There are a lot of loose rocks so you have to pay attention to stay upright, especially near the bottom when your legs become tired from the constant braking.
This was our elevation profile. Nasty! The total cumulative elevation gain was 4,068 ft. Distance was 16.4 miles. I brought 100 oz. of water and drank every drop. As always, I had a blast. Thanks for the great company, you guys!
3 comments:
Great pics Tom. I never got to run this loop. Probably partially because Maple Spring was closed the 6 months or so before I moved.. Great run!
Hey Tom,
Awesome blog, as a runner myself it was interesting to read about the routes around our area. I am also a race director for an upcomming Mud Run event. As you probably know it is a race much like a standard 10k and 5k but with mud obstacles such as pits, crawls, tires, barriers, and more. Just thought i would extend the welcome to your group of runners. The run raises money for official charities such as Wounded Warriors, Red Cross, Army Hospitals: Walter Reed Medical & Landstuhl Regional. The date is November 14, 2009. For more information please email me at austinluther10@gmail.com also check out my blog acompetitor.com. Thanks Tom!
That elevation gain makes my hilly marathon look like a piece of cake. Looks like a lot of fun though.
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