Trail Run: Morgan/Bear Canyon Trail

Yesterday was a special run with the Trail Runners Club in that we would be straying from the usual confines of the Santa Monica Mountains and venturing about an hour or so south down to San Juan Capistrano. It was also being held on a Saturday instead of Sunday, and we would also treat ourselves to a fantastic Valentine's Day brunch afterwards.

I picked up my girl Sara at 6am as we began the long morning drive south down the 405 and 5 freeway. We then exited and drove East into the Cleveland National Forest where we met the rest of the crew promptly at 7:30am, along with our blogger gal pal Danica, who would be running on the trails for her first time! The weather while cold, blessed us with rainfree skies. We all began together like a pack of ants marching up a hill (and it was a modest one at that).


We wound our way up the single-track switchback roads before coming into a clearing that revealed a lush valley of green as far as the eye could see. The sandpacked roads were a little soggy, but a far cry from the muddy mess of last weekend's trail run in Sandstone. I spent the first few miles of this out-and-back run with Danica, who seemed to be enjoying this unique change of venue and scenary. After a couple of miles, we found ourselves in denser woods continuing on the up and down single-track roads.


A little after 5 miles, we reached our turning around point which was an asphalt highway and a tremendous view of a cloud-covered valley floor on the other side. The group paused for a bit to snap a few pictures before making our way back the way we came. Sara and I pulled away from the group a bit and ran the majority of the way back. Since she is in far superior shape than me, I had to really push myself on the way back. Thankfully, the latter portion of the run was a downhill so I wasn't left gasping and wheezing when we reached the trailhead that we started from.

All told, we covered about 10.25 miles and we were grinning ear-to-ear when it was done. Once the whole crew was rounded up and accounted for, we made the windy drive back west into civilization and met up at Sarducci's for a most excellent brunch. We were all starving by that point so it was a much needed calorie-fest for this dirty but happy bunch. It was a great morning and a great way to start off this Valentine's Day.


After Sara and I bidded adieu, we came home to nap before cleaning ourselves up for a night out in the posh Hermosa Beach area. After grabbing some cocktails at a sushi joint, we made our way over to a french restaurant where we shared some wine and I attacked my filet while Sara had some ahi tuna.

It turned out to be a very good day.