Day 3 - Mtn Home Inn to Olema Inn

Today was Day 3 and although the sun wasn't shining as brightly, it was still warm and expected to be flat to downhill running. This will be critical as tomorrow it's back to the hills.

Our route today could be divided into 3 parts:

1. Coastal Trail (long ridge with all the grass above the coast)
2. Forested part of Bolinas Ridge Trail
3. Grassy part of Bolinas Ridge Trail.

This is at the start of the Coastal Trail.









Shortly thereafter, one of Mark.










Runner's World Guy (RWG) did 9 miles on Day 3. We did 16 miles which means we're either much cooler, dumber, or I need to get a new Map Guy. Today was the only day which required a cab ride to the trail head for it would have been far to long otherwise. So, how did we end up with 16 instead of 9 miles? I wasn't sure. If you know Map Guy, you know he is a man of accuracy and precision. And he totally knows his way around a GPS. That said, last night when he was finalizing our route for today like nights prior, I recall mention of something about maps having different mileage estimates and so he was never exactly sure which one would be more right. "Ok, I said. Let's just get close to RWG's mileage without going so far over like we did on Day 1 and 2". I swear he mumbled in agreement while his head bobbed up and down. But, my bad; I should have known he was up to something.

16 wasn't the number I had in mind exactly. But I am not Map Guy. After we were all done, I asked, "how far?", knowing it had to be at least 14. "16", says Map Guy. "Wow! How cool are we? Who would've thought?" And I let it go; chocking it up to the story I was fed last night.

We made it to the Olema Inn, I'd taken a long shower when the truth came out; RWG took a longer cab ride and started at the Bolinas Ridge Trail. Map Guy wanted to run the Coastal Trail but didn't want to mention this last night. Chicken! I will say this - it was a great run today. The Coastal Trail was worth the extra strain. But, keep in mind that it was relatively flat to downhill, I am post-run, showered, fed and curled up under some rad bedding as I write. And despite the line of bull I swallowed last night, I wouldn't leave home without Map Guy for about 100 reasons. After 20 years, he knows that I'm more of a "do now, deal later kind of gal" and figured he'd hedge his bets. Smart move. 16 miles! We'd planned on 42 TOTAL; not over 3 days. Feeling like a rock star!

Three shots from Forested part of Bolinas Ridge Trail.

Me going in, Mark somewhere in the middle and me coming out.






The last section was the Grassy part of the Bolinas Ridge Trail.


Me with a nice cow, because we just had to. Nan will say the cow is walking away because I do not smell so good. Well, he didn't either.







The Olema Inn is in sight. I think I'll sprint to the finish! NOT. But, you can't tell with a still, can you? Thank God we arrived.








Day 4 destination. Sometimes when traveling just the two of you, you must be creative when trying to both be in a picture.

Happy Trails.......