Big Bear, CA

I skipped my Wednesday track workout last week because of some plantar fascia pain on both heels. It was bothering me enough to hold on the track work, or even an easy run. I have found that if you start experiencing this type of pain, rest is the best medicine. I was still have some mild discomfort on Friday but it was much better.

We spent the weekend at a family reunion in Big Bear, CA. While the kids were napping on Friday Andi and I, along with my mom and sister, drove over to the north shore where they have a 3.2 mile paved bike path called the Alpine Pedal Path. We went out for 20 min and back for a total of 40 minutes. Andi and I were cruising at 8:00 pace and finished 5 miles.

In a previous trip to Big Bear I ran around the lake which turned out to be almost exactly 15 miles. I thought about doing that again, but after looking at some maps, I realized that the Pacific Crest Trail was not too far away. There was a trail, called the Cougar Crest Trail that took you 2.2 miles from the highway to the PCT. The trail head for the Cougar Crest Trail didn't look to far from our cabin. Actually, it turned out to be 3.5 miles away. I decided to get up early and go say hello to the PCT. I even talked Andi into coming along with me.

We left at around 5:45am and headed back to the Alpine Pedal Path and caught the Cougar Crest Trail. It started out as a wide dirt trail with a slow steady uphill grade. After about a mile the trail narrowed and became much more rocky. It got steeper and more technical until the top where the trail ends at the Pacific Crest Trail. We spent some time at the top looking back at the lake, and then retraced our steps back for a total of 12 miles (The trail turned out to be more like 2.5 miles each way).