Subject: Las Trampas 50K -- changes! Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 17:55:31 -0800 From: Eric Robinson Due to ongoing construction in the park, we will not be able to use the normal start/finish area in Bollinger Canyon. Instead we will start/finish just outside the main park gate. Access to certain trails has been restricted, so the course has been rerouted somewhat. You will pass by your car only ONCE (at 30K), but there will still be water approximately every 10K. There is a bit less elevation change, but as you might expect, the course is still pretty hard :-) -Eric LAS TRAMPAS 50K Updated: 1/22/99 **************************************************************************** QUICK FACTS ----------- Date: Saturday, February 6th Time: Start anytime between 6:30 AM and 9:30 AM. Location: Las Trampas Regional Wilderness, one of the East Bay Regional Parks, near San Ramon, CA, at the northern end of Bollinger Canyon Road. To reach the park from I-580 in Castro Valley, take Crow Canyon Road north to Bollinger Canyon Road and turn left. From I-680 in San Ramon, take Crow Canyon Road west to Bollinger Canyon Road and turn right. Format: Two stages. Finish the first stage (30K) by 12:30 PM, and the second stage (another 20K) by 4:30 PM. Start each stage as late as you dare. Finishers that make both deadlines will be ranked by their starting times. Permit: None. This is an informal birthday run, not an official event. Course: Steep trails and firetrails. Over 20,000 feet of elevation change. Mud, probably in plague-like quantities. Markings: None. See detailed course directions below. Please provide your mailing address for a copy of the park map and elevation profile. Aid: Limited. Water every 10K. You will also encounter your vehicle once at 30K; I will probably have some additional stuff at this same location, but no guarantees. Contact: Eric Robinson 5644 Oak Grove Ave Oakland, CA 94618 510-652-2183 ejr@uclink4.berkeley.edu SUMMARY OF CHANGES FOR 1999 --------------------------- * Start/finish just outside the main gate, the one with the big sign indicating Las Trampas Regional Wilderness. * No need to worry about the gate locking or unlocking, since everyone should park outside of it. * You will pass the new start/finish only once at 30K. At 20K and 40K, you will pass the old start/finish, now just a water stop. * The course is no longer a figure eight. It's a big loop, done twice. On the first loop, we do the three out-and-backs like last year. * The Las Trampas Ridge section is mostly the same, but concludes by descending the Bollinger Canyon and Creek trails, not the Chemise trail. * The Rocky Ridge section goes down Sycamore trail and up Devil's Hole trail (opposite of last year). This section ends by descending on Elderberry trail. WHEN SHOULD I START? -------------------- Earlier than you think. Participants in this run have a history of underestimating the difficulty of the course. You can probably expect to spend almost the same amount of time as a flat fifty miler. Once you’ve got an estimate of how much time you might require, you may want to consult the pace chart below: STAGE I TO GO 10.0H 9.5H 9.0H 8.5H 8.0H 7.5H 7.0H 6.5H 6.0H --------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- Start 18.64 6:30 6:57 7:14 7:32 7:49 8:07 8:24 8:42 8:59 South Ave 12.26 8:30 8:50 9:02 9:13 9:25 9:36 9:48 9:59 10:23 Old Start 6.30 10:22 10:38 10:44 10:50 10:56 11:02 11:07 11:13 11:25 Finish 0.00 12:20 12:30 12:30 12:30 12:30 12:30 12:30 12:30 12:30 STAGE II TO GO 10.0H 9.5H 9.0H 8.5H 8.0H 7.5H 7.0H 6.5H 6.0H --------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- Start 13.10 12:20 12:33 12:46 12:58 1:11 1:23 1:36 1:48 2:12 Old Start 6.30 2:30 2:36 2:42 2:48 2:54 3:00 3:06 3:12 3:24 Finish 0.00 4:30 4:30 4:30 4:30 4:30 4:30 4:30 4:30 4:30 Times shown are time-of-day. The chart adjusts for terrain, and assumes a nominal 1.8% slowdown from the first stage to the second. Keep in mind that most people tend to slow down much more than this. Sunrise is at 7:08 AM; sunset at 5:37 PM. COURSE STATISTICS STAGE I STAGE II TOTAL ----------------- ------- -------- ----- Miles 18.64 13.10 31.74 Kilometers 30.00 21.08 51.08 Elevation Gain 6060’ 4213’ 10273’ Elevation Loss 6060’ 4213’ 10273’ Elevation (Start/Finish) 960’ 960’ 960’ Elevation (High) 1960’ 1960’ 1960’ Elevation (Low) 360’ 520’ 360’ Grade (Average) 12.3% 12.2% 12.3% COURSE INSTRUCTIONS ------------------- Make sure that your departure time is recorded on my clipboard. Run north on Bollinger Canyon Road until reaching the temporary construction gate that blocks the road. Turn right and get on the Chemise trail, the one that switchbacks steeply up the grassy slope. Stay on Chamise for only about 100 yards (where the grassy slope ends and the trail encounters scrub and trees). Turn right on Mahogany, a very narrow trail which immediately descends into trees, first crossing a horse-proof barrier, and further down hill, a small stream. Mahogany then climbs to an intersection with Trapline. Turn right on Trapline, which eventually climbs across the top of Las Trampas Ridge. Continue straight, crossing the Las Trampas Ridge Trail, to descend on Sulphur Springs trail. At the bottom of Sulphur Springs is an animal trough, and indeed, a smelly spring. The trail angles to the right and widens to firetrail. Climb to the saddle with Del Amigo Trail. Turn left on Del Amigo, which soon curves to the right and descends, VERY steeply. Continue on Del Amigo straight past the single track Virgil Williams Trail, but make a note of it’s location, since we will be returning to Virgil Williams after making the out-and-back to Starview Drive. Continue on Del Amigo as it becomes a single track easement which leads past a creek and behind some private property to end on Starview Drive. Turn around and return to Virgil Williams. Turn right on Virgil Williams, which descends gently at first, rolling through a pleasant woodlands. The trail gets steeper and emerges on the Madrone Firetrail. However, go straight across Madrone, hugging the fenceline as Virgil Williams curves around the former estate of playwright Eugene O’Neill (The Iceman Cometh). The trail then curves sharply left and descends, crossing a creek before re-emerging further along Madrone. Turn right on Madrone, climbing half a mile until reaching the Y-intersection with the Corduroy Hills firetrail. Take the right fork to stay on Madrone and start an out-and-back segment to South Avenue. Half a mile later is another intersection between two firetrails. Turn right to descend on the one marked "To South Ave". About a quarter mile later (not 0.59 as the map suggests), the trail enters a few sharp curves and then intersects with the single track portion of the South Avenue Trail. Turn left onto the single track and descend past a stream, up the opposite bank, then down again to turn around at the paved driveway at the end of the trail. There should be an unmanned water stop located here. Turn around. Return all the way back to the intersection with Corduroy Hills and turn sharply to the right. Climb on firetrail for about half a mile to what appears to be a Y-intersection. Actually, both branches rejoin each other in a short distance to form a cul-de-sac. Follow either branch around to the rear (i.e. top) of the cul-de-sac, and continue uphill on the single track portion of the Corduroy Hills trail. The trail is narrow in places, and gets a little tricky near the top of Eagle Peak. Just before the summit the trail briefly traverses a rocky slope, almost a cliff, then cuts left to climb several steps. The vegetation changes radically as the trail emerges into a stand of shrubs. The correct trail bears to the right, behind one of the clumps of shrubs, and then drops steeply through a short section of rock formations. (The incorrect trail goes straight, eventually climbing to a park bench situated on the summit). Cross the saddle between Eagle and Vail Peaks, and emerge on the Las Trampas Ridge Trail near Vail Peak. Turn right. Watch for the intersection between the Las Trampas Ridge trail and an unnamed trail marked "0.17" on the map. The right hand trail stays on the ridgeline, while the left hand trail drops down into Bollinger Canyon. During the first stage, we stay right; during the second we turn left. First stage instructions: stay right to start the final out-and-back, this time to Las Trampas Peak. Stay right again when the trail merges onto a firetrail. Continue on the firetrail for another half mile (including a sizable descent and steep climb) to another junction on Las Trampas Peak. Turn left on firetrail and climb about 30 yards to the summit itself before turning around. Retrace your steps to the intersection between the firetrail and the single track portion of the Las Trampas Ridge trail. At this point the course differs from last year: CONTINUE on the firetrail down the hill. This firetrail is sometimes called Grassland trail. Second stage instructions: turn left onto the unnamed trail. This is a shortcut to the Grassland firetrail. When you reach it, turn left and go downhill. Go down Grassland to a T-intersection with the Bollinger Canyon firetrail. Turn left, still going downhill. Stay on the Bollinger Canyon firetrail for less than a quarter mile. Watch carefully for the turn onto Creek trail; turn right on this single track and cross the stream. Follow the Creek trail to the torn up parking lot at the old start/finish. This is now a water stop. Record the time of day on the clipboard. Turn right on the paved Rocky Ridge trail. Climb for half a mile to the intersection with the Cuesta Trail. Do NOT make the "hard" left turn onto Cuesta, but instead make the "soft" left onto the trail that cuts straight up the slope to re-encounter the paved trail further up the ridge. Turn left onto the Upper Trail, which crests the ridgeline in another quarter mile. Continue south on Upper, paralleling the boundary fence for about half a mile. The fence eventually falls away where the single track becomes firetrail. Stay on this firetrail for only about 100 yards. Look for the wooden post that marks the Sycamore trail. Unlike previous years, we descend on Sycamore. Turn right onto the very faint trail. If it's foggy, it's easy to lose this trail as it crosses a grassland bowl, interected by various cow paths. The correct trail descends gently, crossing the bowl and reaching some exposed rock formations about a quarter mile away. (Try to avoid the false paths that drop steeply leftwards into a ravine). After the rock formations, Sycamore descends steeply and eventually crosses Cull Creek (most likely a wet crossing). A bit later, Sycamore ends at Devil's Hole. Turn left on the well-named Devil's Hole firetrail. Odds are, we get to contend with some especially nasty mud. Climb the firetrail all the way to the top of the ridge again, where it joins with the Upper trail. Turn right on Upper. After descending along the spine of the ridge for about half a mile, turn sharply left onto the Elderberry firetrail. Follow Elderberry as it first descends, then rolls, then descends again to a large picnic area named Corrals. A right turn quickly leads to the completion of the first stage at the park's main gate. Congratulations. Record your arrival time on my clipboard. For the second stage, repeat all of the above, but don’t include the three out-and-backs that were used for the first stage. Experts: running the course in the reverse direction is allowable for either or both stages, but please note what you are doing on the clipboard before departing. Eric Robinson ejr@uclink4.berkeley.edu