3.58 miles in 1:34, 7,695 steps, 459ft gain
The first time I went up into the trails on the West side of the gulch, I emerged on 6th Street. It was very overgrown and pretty unpleasant, so I was hoping to come out today on one of the streets South of there. It was looking pretty good, but when I got to the area behind the nearest houses (point A), the trail pretty much went their back fences. The surrounding area was completely full of trees that had been cut down and chopped up, so I'm curious if that area will be clearer soon. I might have been able to make my way out, but it would have required walking right up against these back fences and maybe even holding onto them while I climbed over stuff. Wasn't into it.
So I turned back, and found myself heading out the way I didn't want to, headed toward 6th. I think it was even worse than the last time I was there. More growth, and maybe more stuff chopped down waiting to be pulled out. Or my angry mind could have been imagining it.
A walk on the beach sounded like a nice antidote to the overgrown trails, and there are only two ways in or out of there (points B and C), so the route I should take was very clear. I think that was actually the first time I took the main road all the way down, because I can't remember ever having such a nice view of the area.
I hoped that fog would creep all the way to the house, but no such luck. It's already extremely bright here and I'm sure it will be for the rest of the day. It was nice and cloudy all morning, though, which was great.
Someone left their glasses at the beach. Losing glasses is such a bummer because they're expensive and it's hard to find them unless you're wearing another pair. I noticed while I was there that it'll be a great place for gathering rocks. I was already planning on washing my gear when I got home, so I stuffed a few into the pockets of my hoodie. I'll have to head back soon with a bag. It's been ages since I tumbled a batch of rocks.
This is a huge pile of broken concrete slabs and rusty metal. Fun to see how well all these plants and flowers are growing there.
That's a view of the gulch from the main road near the parking lot. The tracks are just barely visible and give you some idea how huge the place really is.
No back pain at all during the walk, though the chair I'm in now isn't exactly comfortable. Might be time to add a little more stuffing in the lower back.
I'm now very determined to find the other ways in and out of the gulch from the neighborhoods. I'm going to either drive around in the area looking for them, or reverse the direction of the walks to try to find them on foot.