Disneyland

I am out in Anaheim California for a work conference. The conference is at the Disneyland hotel and really Disneyland is not as fun when you have to go to eight hours of meetings every day. Also, Anaheim is not conducive to running. The entire area is covered with big boulevards lined with parking lots catering to an endless stream of stores. It's similar to very congested areas of Jersey but continues on for miles.

I was hoping for a better spot to run than the Disneyland Loop so I jumped on google.maps and found a large park 10 miles due east. I hopped in the car with a bottle of water and some hastily written directions and was on my way. The first park I tried had a 3 dollar parking fee and of course I had two dollars so I continued on down the road a little let down. One mile later I saw some serious looking mountain bikers hopping on to a trail and my spirits were lifted.

I eventually found a place to park in "Irvine Area Park", a green gem in a very parched landscape. I started off in the general direction of where I thought these trails might be. With a little luck and the help of a mountain biker I hit the jackpot, miles of trails twisting and winding up steep hills with fantastic views at the top. It was way better than anything I had hoped for. The serious part of my loop started with "Goat Hill" and ended with "The Three Bitches". With trail names like that you know it was a good and difficult run. Much longer and steeper hills than anything I find in the Wissahickon.

In fact I went longer than I or my legs expected. After about 1:20 I was happy to be done. I might have to take another trip out there later this week.