The Backbone Challenge of 2012

The Backbone Trail - Santa Monica Mountains
I am a firm believer that Los Angeles' greatest assets are its beaches and the Santa Monica Mountains.  I have spend many many hours enjoying both of these great resources, with more and more time over the past 2 years spent hiking and trail running in various parks throughout the mountains.

Constructed in segments since the early 1980's, the Backbone Trail is a series of nearly interconnected (NOTE: NEARLY) trails that traverse 67 miles through the Santa Monica Mountains.  Starting at Will Rogers Park in Pacific Palisades, adventurous hikers, runners, cyclists, and horse back riders can cover portions of the trail to their hearts content.  I recently came across information about a group of trail runners who will be covering the trail by foot over 4 weekends this Winter, and the National Parks Service offers an 8-week series of guided hikes covering the trail system. 

The Challenge:
Over the past year, Tony has been mentioning wanting to put together a run to cover the entire 67 miles of the trail in one day. So when he mentioned it again as a challenge for 2012, I immediately said yes.  A few bloggers have detailed their day-long journeys along the trail, and I immediately was attracted to a challenge that so few have completed. 

Over the next few months, we will trace the route and build our strength - hiking the trail in segments, preparing ourselves physically and mentally for the day when we will take on the entire trail. 

Training Hike #1:  Kanan Dume Rd Trailhead to Yerba Buena Trailhead
Fast forward 7 days.  January 8th was set for our first training hike.  At first we agreed to a 5.5 mile segment that heads West from Kanan Dume Rd.  But the idea of an out-and-back hike was unappealing to both of us, so Tony selected a one way hike from Kanan Dume to the Yerba Buena trailhead.  Our handy blogger recap of the trail indicated that this segment was "around 13 miles".  This section of the trail included segments marked "proposed trail" so we knew some approximation was in order.  That's what preview hikes are for, right?

Sunday morning, we hopped in the car.  Phil, recovering from a knee surgery, agreed to join in the training as a great way to quickly get back in shape.  In no time, the 3 of us were at the Kanan Dume trailhead, camelbaks full, vague instructions in hand, ready to go.  

Here are Tony and Phil prior to the embarkation of our adventure.  I would have been in the photo, but aside from the numerous cars in the parking lot, there were no other hikers around to take a photo for us. 

Off we went, Tony merrily leading the way along the trail.  This 5 mile section of the trail was a clearly marked smooth fire road.  Soon we warmed up and this January day's mid-60 degree weather could not have been better hiking weather.  For miles at a time, it was easy to forget that we were just minutes from town in either direction.... 

As we approached the Mulholland Road crossing, the path flattened out and sweeping panoramic vistas greeted us.  Tony continually joked that it might be dark or raining at this point of the "Big Day" so we better enjoy it now. 

Coming up on the Mulholland Road crossing, we reached a fork in the road.  Looking down, a makeshift directional sign pointed us to the left fork.  Lesson #1:  Do we trust our fellow hikers, or do we curse them later on? 

The arrow trail led us over a quick hill and down into a fire station and a juvenile detention camp for girls.  A friendly fireman pointed us up the road to the real trailhead exit and the main road.  At this point, we had completed the first 5 miles of the hike, and after a little fumbling around, we found the trailhead to lead us to Yerba Buena.

The hours passed, we plowed along.  This section of the trail was a beautiful wide fire road that went on - and on  - and on.  At one point, some friendly cyclists let us know that we were 9 miles into the hike.  An hour to the car...or so we thought.

Two hours (and little detour caused by some confusion over a segment of "Proposed trail" that happened to cross Yerba Buena miles away from our car), we sighted the parking lot ahead where we had parked a second car to get us home.  "Right over there" proved to be another mile or more, but soon we emerged into the parking lot - happily completing our journey in 4 1/2 hours. 

Later that evening, as we all retreated to our various states of after hiking rest, Tony forwarded me an email from the trail running group who was covering the Backbone in 4 segments.  According to their GPS estimates, we had covered 16.8 miles of the trail!  A bit more than 13, but more reinforcement that our challenge is well within reach. 

Over the next few months, we will conduct hiking previews of the remaining segments of the trail, while getting ourselves in proper shape to tackle all 67 miles at once.  Phil will continue to train with us while deciding to either join us or to call us crazy and crew for us instead.  Hopefully other friends will join in the adventure as we go.  No matter how you stack it, this journey will be my greatest physical and mental challenge to date, and I can't wait to share it with you all.  And we need really cool t-shirts as our reward!

Bring on the Backbone!