In the morning I waited for the complimentary bagels and fruit to arrive before heading out. Showering, sleeping in a real bed, and being around all of the artwork and open-minded people had refreshed and inspired me.
I headed out, running past Capistrano Beach, a beach I had driven to from Riverside once to explore and run, then Dana Point, and 1000 Steps Beach, where I got a picture looking down at the Ocean many steps below. I was moving into territory familiar to me after moving to Riverside two years ago. The beaches I passed were the sites of fun day trips I had taken alone to run the trail next to the beach, or with friends on vegan restaurant and new-age boutique or running outings.
I ran past Laguna Beach, where I had met with the director of the Laguna College of Art and Design about an MFA the year before. He had liked my work and wanted me to join the program but I decided to fulfill my obligation to the scholarship I had and wait for the clearance. Luckily I navigated the trail correctly through Laguna. At the beach I thought I needed to climb up a ledge, I almost got stuck, luckily there was a man down below who helped me off. I decided to hike up to the sidewalk -- which turned out to be where the trail really was! Soon I came to a huge CCT trail marker inlaid in the sidewalk with an arrow pointing to the left that said "Mexico 102," and an arrow to the right that said "Oregon 1,128."
I ran on to Crystal Cove, a little wooden resort town on the beach. I paused to charge my phone in a public restroom. Night had fallen and the restaurant looked to be closing, I made a beeline. All of the food was expensive and I felt out of place sitting in the nice dining area, so I grabbed a seat at the bar. The bartender was exceptionally nice. She was impressed with what I was doing. I ordered a beer, which I drank quickly. As I was getting ready to go the bartender returned with a paper coffee cup filled with a hot creamy soup -- it might have been clam chowder, and a handful of oyster crackers, which she put in a bag for me. She told me not to drink from the cup until I was off the property, that there were cameras and she wasn't allowed to give out free soup, but she wanted to help me out. As I walked out into the night, having run approximately twenty miles earlier and still hoping to get in another ten, I sipped the hot soup. I was hungry and the soup was divine, especially in the cool night air. I decided my policy for the trip would be vegan with the exception of free food offered by trail angels.
I meandered through trails in a park, then made my way toward Balboa Island. Closing in on Balboa I realized I would need to get a ferry. I doubted it would be operating at 1am and so mentally prepared for a night crashing behind a building or staying awake and waiting for the ferry office to open. When arrived, however, I was overjoyed to find that the ferry ran until 2 am!!
The ferry was operated by Captain Bruce Pierce, who had spent years sailing the ocean! and assistant Quiotee who lived out of his van near San Diego, went to school, and travelled. We talked for an hour, they were kindred spirits.
I ran past Newport Beach, where I had once left my car in a parking garage next to the Whole Foods so that I could run up to Long Beach some 20+ miles ahead and take the bus back.
And I made it to the mouth of the Santa Ana River. This was an emotional moment for me, as my favorite place to run in Riverside is the Santa Ana River Trail. It stretches ten miles north and ten miles south of Riverside. On the south side it breaks for the city of Corona, then restarts at the golf course at the edge of the city and goes all the way to the beach. One night I parked my car at the Corona golf course and ran the thirty miles to the beach. Arriving at that point on the Santa Ana River Trail, the mouth of the river, meant a lot to me, and I took a photograph to commemorate the occasion, even though it was blurry.
Exhausted, I saw a tent set up in front of a shallow cement wall along the beach, near a bathroom, just on the other side of the trail, and decided to lay out my bivy bag nearby, also in the shadow of the short wall. I saw a woman on a bike who had too much energy, she must have just been waking up for her 4am ride. I crashed for a couple of hours, sweaty and cold in my emergency space-blanket type bivy.
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