Just teleport from Firelane 1 to Firelane 3

I tend to create routes late on Friday night before our long run Saturday morning. So it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that I messed one up. I wanted to put some good climbs in, but not make Sally have to do them during her 14 miles with us, since she hadn't run in a while.

So we started at Saltzman, down Firelane 5, along Maple, up Firelane 3, then out on Wildwood where Sally turned around. Ann and I continued up to Pittock where we had our break, and turned around. Ann's husband, John, had told us that something crazy had happened to the Alder trailhead on Wildwood, so I made sure to take that down to Leif.

Gorgeous spring weather

Indeed, the top of the trail had been utterly altered. Large branches stuck jaggedly vertical, making it impassable. A tenth or two of a mile down Wildwood, there are now two new, beautifully graded trailheads that although unmarked, meet up with Alder. It's quite extensive, well-done work.

When we got to Firelane 1, I had an inkling that we should go up to Wildwood, but we would have had lots more miles on WW than I had written down. So we continued on to Firelane 3, which was additional miles on Leif. As we ran, we did the math and realized the extent of my mistake. We would still have too many additional miles for a taper, unless we continued on Leif to Saltzman.

While it wasn't the route we would have chosen (too many miles on rocky Leif), it's a great feeling to know the trails so well that we can calculate on the fly. Too bad the route didn't work for the distance we needed; well, it would if we could have teleported from Firelane 1 on Leif to Firelane 3 on Leif. Maybe in the (distant) future...

The top of the old Alder trail-- very much closed

First part:

• Start at Saltzman trailhead
• FL 5 to Leif (6.58)-- 1.1 miles
• Leif (6.58) to Maple (le 6.44)-- .14 miles (1.24 total)
• Maple to Leif (4.22)-- 2.66 miles (3.9 total)
• FL 3 to WW (13.64)-- .31 miles (4.21 total)

Sally's end (14):

• Sally turns around at WW (10.50)-- 3.14 miles (7.35 total)
• WW (10.50) to Saltzman (ww 16.01)-- 5.51 miles (12.86 total)
• Saltzman (ww 16.01) to car-- 1.12 miles (13.98 total) 

Original end (flawed):

• WW (13.64) to Pittock (ww 3.84)-- 9.8 miles (14.01 total)
• Pittock (ww 3.84) to Alder (ww 9.40)-- 5.56 miles (19.57 total)
• Alder(ww 9.40) to Leif (1.49)-- .84 miles (20.41 total)
• Leif (1.49) to FL 3 (le 3.03)-- 1.54 miles (21.95 total)
• FL 3 (le 3.03) to WW (13.64)-- .31 miles (22.26 total)
• WW (13.64) to Saltzman (ww 16.01)-- 2.37 miles (24.63 total)
• Saltzman (ww 16.01)  to car-- 1.12 miles (25.75 total)

Revised end:

• WW (13.64) to Pittock (ww 3.84)-- 9.8 miles (14.01 total)
• Pittock (ww 3.84) to Alder (ww 9.40)-- 5.56 miles (19.57 total)
• Alder(ww 9.40) to Leif (1.49)-- .84 miles (20.41 total)
• Leif (1.49) to Saltzman (le 6.2)-- 4.71 miles (24.63 total)
• Saltzman (le 6.2)  to car-- 1.62 miles (26.74 total)