Skyline-to-the-Sea and back again, the other way around....

"I took too much and I've gone too far and
I might not make it.
I might not make it.  This time,
I might not make it."

Abel Tesfaye's unmistakable voice croons through my scratchy radio as I float around curves on my way through Gilroy.  The tight two-lane highway is heavy with traffic but moving quickly, California-driver-quickly.  Thoughts of a recent and tragic head-on collision in my own home canyon bounce around in the back of my mind.  Best to be numb and forget.

Two large cups of coffee, two large beers.  A typical cycle.  I'm left sleepless and tossing in my tent in a crowded KOA tent field.  As I finally drift off, the father in the site next to mine says "fuck off, nobody loves you" to one of his family members.  I'm filled with rage and sadness.  Rather than get mired in family politics, I simply pick up my tent and move it out into an open field adjacent to the campground.

In a dream, I am walking on a trail in Yosemite with my parents.  A thin film of volcanic glass covers the surface of the trail; stepping on this glass produces a fine crunching sound as we walk.

Waking realization: the crunching sound that has invaded my dream state is the sound of rain drops falling on my tent.  The rain fly is not on.  Lurch out, throw rain fly haphazardly over tent, lurch back in.  Rain stops immediately.

2 AM.  Can I sleep yet?  I'm running fifty miles tomorrow...I mean, today...

Images courtesy of redwoodhikes.com

5:45 AM:  Wake up, tear down tent, brew coffee and eat peanut butter sandwiches, chips and salsa.  Five-star breakfast.  Drive to Waddell Beach.

7:26 AM:  Ready to run.  Take first picture of trailhead sign and head into the forest.  Newts and banana slugs everywhere.  Sun-dappled here and there, but overall shady and cool.  60 degrees.  Perfection.

9:27 AM:  First time through Big Basin HQ.  Refill water and roll on.

10:18 AM:  Totally in love with the sandstone outcroppings and pine forest below the China Grade.  It feels like I'm back in Pisgah National Forest, where I first learned the dark art of trail running as a college student.

11:19 AM:  First pass through Waterman Gap Trail Camp.  I've done almost zero research on this route and so I'm entirely unaware of the water source.

12:40 PM:  Saratoga Gap trailhead parking.  A mountain bike manufacturer is having some demo party, complete with massive grill-out in the parking lot.  I'm too shy to ask for a hot dog but I want one really badly.  Time to turn around...

1:47 PM:  Second pass through Waterman Gap.  Could've used that water...

3:50 PM:  Second time through Big Basin HQ.  Zombie-style, my body carries me to the snack bar.  It's an out-of-body experience: I watch myself purchase a giant hot dog with relish and a cold bottle of sweet tea.  I reconnect mind and body with each bite of food.  Okay, now I can think again...

5:55 PM:  Back at the Waddell Beach trailhead sign.  One more picture, force a victory smile.  Total time for Skyline-to-the-Sea out-and-back: 10h29m.  A new FKT by an hour and a half.  Submerge legs in the ocean.  Pull out of the parking lot with Leor Pantilat on my tail in his Prius (hallucination?).

-- Rob Rives, 4/24/16 (run on 4/23/16)