Ellen and I are currently in training for an ultra-marathon. 50 miles, 10,000ft of climbing, and as if that was not daunting enough, its at 8,500ft of altitude. Needless to say we have been eager to train as much as possible. Especially since we now live at sea level in Shell Beach, California. This is the story of our training run on 5/1/16.
We had to break todays run into two, mainly for the dogs sake. We ran 5 miles with them right off of our porch early in the morning and then headed out to Questa Ridge behind Cal Poly to rattle off 20 more.
This second run turned into quite the adventure.
Our route starts along a dirt road and quickly turns uphill on rocky trail, at the 1/2mi, mark. Frequented by downhill mountain bikers we had to keep our eyes peeled for the flash of riders zipping down the various flow sections groomed neatly into the hillside. As we made our way up Stenner Creek Trail towards the ridge some 1,200 feet above I began to feel the heat. Beach life definitely has its perks, but the ever-present ocean breeze keeps our home pleasantly cool. Questa Ridge, though only a few miles inland, is consistently 10-20 degrees warmer. This slight uptick in temperature was quickly sapping my reserves as we ascended for the next 3 miles. Due to my obvious suffering, Ellen made the suggestion that I play some music on my iPhone. Normally we make a habit out of mocking other trail goers who do this. We enjoy the natural sounds that come with exploring the wilderness. But today we broke from tradition and rocked some tunes as we ran.
Fortunately, near the ridgeline I started feeling better and was able to reel Ellen back in near the top of the ridge. From here we had planned to follow TV Tower road for 7 miles connecting the minor peaks progressing westward towards the town of Morro Bay, CA.
Sometimes you go looking for adventure, and other times adventure comes looking for you.
The views from here were incredible! 360 degrees looking down on the towns of Morro Bay, SLO, Atascadero, and even Pismo Beach off in the distance. We zipped along the tattered asphalt remnants of TV Tower road passing bikers and hikers as we traversed the ridgeline. Feeling rejuvenated by some much needed gels and killer tunes I fell into a groove and began to pull away. Not feeling so hot, Ellen started to have the first signs of trouble. Muscle aches and general fatigue was already setting in and we still had a dozen more miles to run.
Approaching the distant turn-around I was absolutely feeling great! Singing, a la Scott Jurek, I made my way up the final climb and out onto the cleared overlook. Enjoying the beautiful vista of San Luis Obispo’s Nine Sisters (or 7 depending on who you ask). Here I waited for Ellen as she finished off the last 50 meters of the climb. In looking back to cheer her on I noticed 3 rounded golden brown forms climbing out of the brush and up onto the road we had just past, 200 meters behind us.
Two things quickly go through our minds:
- That is a BIG BEAR…and it has cubs! – for those of you who are not familiar with bears, a single solitary bear generally is of no significant threat to your person unless provoked or scared. A momma with cubs however, is a merciless killer willing to act quickly and decisively in protection of her young.
- On an out and back trail, 200 meters behind, when standing AT the turn around, is equivocal to 200 meters ahead.
At this time the bears began to lumber towards us up the road. Instinctively we began yelling the terrifying and ancient battle cry of “Hey Bear! Hey Bear!” To our semi-relief the momma immediately took notice and did an about face and took her young down the hill along the road.
From here we were presented with some options; head back down the road, towards the bears, with only our quivering voices to fend off a fury of claws and teeth, or, head up a spur road to the tower station above to get a look down on the situation below. The decision was an easy one.
Plodding along the road to the summit, rocks in hand, singing and shouting our way we were greeted with a wonderful view of the valley below, but in the dense brush…no bears.
One would think that this is reassuring, however, reassuring would be seeing them a quarter mile downhill of the road high tailing their way, never to return again. In this case all we knew is that they were not presently immediately in front of us. The road ahead was going to be a dicey one.
Mustering up our courage we made our way down from the summit and out along the ridgeline. Blowing hard into the emergency whistles attached to our packs and yelling our already tired lungs out we tentatively run/hiked our way down the road.
Not letting our nerves settle until we were a good 4 miles closer to home we continued give a quick glance over our shoulders or holler out our warning cry. Fueling much of this excitement was a hefty dose of adrenaline. The wonderful thing about adrenaline is its sudden outpouring of energy to boost the fight or flight response. Now, when you are already bonking, 19miles into a hot run, and short on water, the reserves that adrenaline taps into are those same reserves that were originally set aside to make it home. To call it “hitting the wall” would be an understatement. Walking the uphills transitioned into walking the up and down hills, and a slow trot along the rest.
With 3 miles remaining we were out of water and had to descend a knee crushing 1,250 feet back to the car. Digging deep, delicately placing each foot fall to find some forgiving ground, and possibly venting emotions now left uninhibited due to exhaustion, we zig-zagged our way back down. Finally stumbling into the safety and refuge of our car.
After all of our countless mountain runs and extreme excursions, a simple long run in the highly-populated central coast of California turned into a great unexpected adventure. Sometimes you go looking for adventure, and other times adventure comes looking for you.
Call for comments: We would love to hear about your own unexpected adventures! Comment below!
Written by Stephen Stockhausen
*** “So this one time…” is a series of random stories that have popped up along our travels. Often wildlife related, these are a few of our favorite tales to share with family and friends.***
There’s bears in them there hills…sounds like The Revenant ……where’s your bear spray when you need it silly kids? ” Hey bear , Hey bear” too funny but I guess it wasn’t funny at the time. I’m sorry, I’d love to tell you about my day to day adventures, but mine are pretty lame compared to yours. Looks like I’ll just have to vicariously get a thrill out of reading your blog. Do it now while you can. One never knows what the future may bring. Never look back , always look forward. As the Nike folks say”Just Do It”