the tail will tell

i got my workouts mixed up and got home to realize that i had an 8-10 mile run vs. the track workout. so, not wanting to run the local roads for 10 miles, i headed onto the irvine company property behind our place. the most i've ever done back in there has been six miles, so this would net me a considerable bit more of exploration.

the first three miles were familiar, but after that, i was in new territory. the trail was really overgrown as a result of all the rain we've had this season, and i was constantly wondering if i was going to step on a snake in the high grass. i could hear things being startled along the trail, mostly bunnies and quail, but there was the occasional sound of slither vs. scamper.

not far after the three mile mark, i spotted a small lake that i never knew was there. pretty and tucked back behind a ring of hills. there's no way you could see it from any road, so i'm sure most people that live around here don't even know it's there. i continued along the rolling hills and eventually met up with the laguna canyon highway, but fortunately, the trail went under the road, popped up on the other side and ended right at a gate with a "native species reserve" sign.

ooh, adventure and wilderness! there was a gap in the gate for peds, so i went through and ran up the heavily overgrown gravel drive. i could see a kiosk, benches and parking area ahead, but everything was heavily overgrown and it was obvious that it had been years since this area was in use. i could just barely make out two handicapped parking signs sticking up through mature bushes. cool, i had found an abandoned wilderness park!

i continued to head up the overgrown trail until i spotted a long, shiny thing stretched across the full length of the trail. well, hello mr. snake! what kind of snake are you? i chopped my stride and stopped to take a quick look at the tail. no rattle, i was good to go. i trotted past him, startled him and he slithered off into the brush.

i kept climbing and heading further back into unexplored territory. i was startling more and more birds nesting in the brush. every family of quail that would fly of chirping their warning would send my heart racing. the trail began climbing up a very steep canyon and the higher the embankment became, the more i thought about my safety. smsmh had no idea where i was. this was not a spot that people frequented. if i were to fall, get bit or get jumped by a large cat, i'd be on my own.

exercising caution, i decided to turn around after about a mile and a half of climbing the canyon. on the return trip out of the park, i spotted a pair of turkey vultures, heads as red as blood, circling over the canyon and swooping down to get a better look at me. it was the first time i'd ever seen vultures in this area and a real treat. it gave me a sense of really being 'out there'. lions and snakes and vultures, oh my!

the run ended up being 9.6 miles, not quite the 10 i'd wanted but good enough, considering the hill climbing effort i put in while climbing the canyon. but the mileage was secondary to the joy of exploring the wild areas in my own back yard.