I’ve always been a fan of the outdoors. But within about the last year or so, I’ve become a real enthusiast of the outdoors. Over that time, my favored outdoor activity has evolved from hiking to trail running. It’s a matter of conditioning. It’s not the trails, it’s me. I cut weight, got more wind & now love the sensation running through all that beauty & splendor that is Nature. & there’s a whole lot of that in Marin. In my ever-expanding quest to run the beautiful Earth, I found Yolanda Trail as a way to reach Phoenix Lake from San Anselmo. The point A was a bit out of necessity. Downtown San Anselmo has charging stations for my EV. The point B was a product of time & morbid curiosity. I hadn’t been out to Phoenix Lake in a while & had read online that it was badly depleted due to our historic drought. Might as well go for a run to check it out. Going this route meant taking Oak Ave., a steeply-inclined residential road that eventually led to a gate & private community beyond. At this point, cars are a no-go but hikers, runners & bikers are OK. So long as you don’t act like a total A-hole on someone else’s street. Oak Ave. ends at Worn Springs Road & then the trail begins right across. Be ready for the Sun & have enough fluids. From this point to Lake Phoenix, there’s partial shade in places but there’s a lot of exposure to wide open sunshine too. The trail itself is mostly narrow but not technical. I ran it in regular street running shoes(rather than hiking boots or trail running shoes) & did just fine. There are decent inclines/declines, but nothing too challenging for hiking & moderately challenging for trail running. From Worn Springs Road, the scenery stays interesting by constantly changing from valley vistas to hillside views to spread out tree canopy. Apparently, Yolanda Trail may also be a lesser-known route to Phoenix Lake as I didn’t come across many other folks. All the way, out & back, from where I parked the car was almost 8 miles. From Worn Springs Road to Phoenix Lake & back was about ½ that. It was a beautiful day. It felt great to be outside. It was a solid workout. Yolanda Trail is a nice addition to my ever-expanding catalog of ways to run the Earth.
