11/06/11 Another trip up to Santiago Peak with Dr. Rock, this time in the Fall. There was a chance of rain for the day, which ended-up meaning freezing cold temperatures and snowfall on the summit.
1 As we reached the ridge at the start of Upper Holy Jim, the clouds were starting to get dark, and it looked like the rain predictions might turn out to be true. I didn't end-up taking too many pictures on this trip because it was extremely cold from here on out, and it was tough to stop and fumble with the camera.
2 As we approached the summit, a light rain started, which turned into a heavy rain, which then turned into sleet/hail, which then turned into full on snow. By the time we reached the summit, there were big fluffy snowflakes in the air. It was cold enough that the snow was actually starting to stick, as seen here.
3 Dr. Rock making the final approach to the summit.
4 Made it to the top. The temperature is in the low-to-mid 30s and I'm only wearing shorts, a long sleeve t-shirt, and a light wind shell. It's uncomfortably cold, probably borderline dangerously cold given my lack of warm clothes. On the positive side, this was my longest trail run to-date in barefoot/minimal shoes, this time the Merrell Trail Gloves seen here. Overall, the minimal experience went well.
5 A video look at the heavy snowfall. Fairly rare for Santiago. We didn't spend much time on the summit since it was so cold, we had to keep moving! I was shivering even while running.
6 As we descended, the snow turned back into rain, which made it warmer but definitely wetter. The trail was a river running the whole way down Upper Holy Jim and part of Lower Holy Jim.
7 Running on single track while trying to straddle the river was an interesting challenge. Dr. Rock shows how it's done.
8 The wet conditions made the Fall colors particularly amazing.
9 Dr. Rock making his way down a technical section of trail.
10 There was a lot more water flowing on the way down than on our way up.
11 Back down to Lower Holy Jim and the rain had mostly stopped. We took the detour out to the waterfall, which looked amazing as usual.
12 Dr. Rock at the waterfall.
13 Evidence of a really muddy Trabuco Creek "Road".