San Lorenzo River Crossing - New Route

[Martin Gaskell]

This evening (June 18), my nephew and tried to run the San Lorenzo River Trail Run half marathon course in preparation for next weekend's trail run. I have run the half San Lorenzo half marathon the last two years. Today we found that the normal San Lorenzo crossing point was almost unrecognizable because of the heavy flooding this last winter. There are many fallen trees and shifted boulders on either bank of the river. We could not identify the Rincon trail on the other side of the river and gave up trying to cross the river because of the much faster current and deeper water than in previous years. This year the river is not like the placid river in the photo on the race web site. I'm posting this information here so that the race organizers realize that some major work on the course with chain saws will be needed. The Rincon trail is also blocked by many fallen tres after you have first got down to the river after descending from Hwy 9 and the train tracks. Some heavy duty chainsawing would be helpful here.



There are also some problems with the directions. The name "Harvey West Trail" is now given to a trail that loops back to the starting point. A sharp turn is needed instead onto what is now called "Pogonip" trail (the sign is new this year) going to Lookout Trail. The lower end of Lookout Trail is now no longer marked where it meets the Pogonip Trail.

[Nancy]

Good to know. Thanks!

[coastaltrailruns]

Here's an update from Martin:

"HI Wendell,

glad you got the message!

This afternoon my nephew and I ran the other half of the course
starting from the usual turnaround at the N. end. Coming from that
direction (from the Felton side) one can see where Rincon Rd., comes
down to the San Lorenzo. From that direction we could see where to
ford the river. I successfully made the crossing about 20 or 30 yards
upstream from where the crossing has been the last couple of years.
This is done by going across to a new island in the middle of the
river (I don't remember the island being there last year), so there
are two river crossings in each direction -- e.g., from the S. shore
to the little island and from the island to the N. shore. The two
problems with last year's crossing route are a) that on the N. bank
the start of the Rincon Fire Rd., is VERY thoroughly blocked with
fallen trees, and b) the water is quite deep (well above waist
height). There might be a few other options but I thought that going
20 or 30 yards upstream was the best since Rincon goes upstream on the
N. bank.

I'd advise runners to keep their shoes on this year for the San
Lorenzo crossings and not to carry any items that might not do well
with getting wet."

I'm going down to check crossing/course tomorrow, too. Thanks, Martin! Wendell, RD

[coastaltrailruns]

Martin,

Your description was very accurate. Thanks! Yes, crossing about 20-30 yds upstream from the original point is a good option. From the S. shore, we'll cross to the new island where it is relatively shallow (~2ft) and the flow is slower. There are small/mid-size boulders so, for the 1st time, we agree (& recommend) that runners keep their shoes on. From the island to the N. shore, we'll cross where the bottom is sandy and the river is pooling (~3.5ft) and calm. A lot of runners like to submerge and cool off and that would be a great spot.

Thanks again for your help, Martin. See you Saturday!

Wendell, RD