A great 20 mile out-and-back starting at the popular San Juan Loop trail then up to Chiquito Falls then out to the Viejo Tie trail junction and ultimately to Bluejay Campground and back. 20 miles and around 3300' gain. It's a tough climb up to the ridge, but then you're rewarded with some of the best single track in Orange/Riverside County.
1 San Juan Falls about a quarter of the way counter-clockwise around the San Juan loop. It probably gets to be a decent size in a wet year.
2 You can scramble down the small canyon all the way to the base of the falls and cascades. I went about half way down but didn't want to spend too much time here with a long run still ahead of me.
3 Off the San Juan Loop and onto the Chiquito Canyon trail.
4 Climbing up towards Chiquito Falls. I believe that's Sugarloaf Peak, my destination for another day.
5 Almost up to the falls. You can see Santiago in the distance and I believe Los Pinos closer and to the right.
6 Chiquito Falls. Unfortunately bone dry in what has been a very dry winter.
7 A look at the falls (wet streak) from the other side.
8 Beyond the falls is some fantastic single track. Easily followable the entire way, but not overly maintained. It's tight enough up here in places, that it gets a bit eery. I scared the crap out of a guy hiking alone when I came around a corner. He must have jumped 3 feet thinking I was a mountain lion or something :)
9 The creek along the trail was probably a torrent in the Spring 2011 storms. Would have been amazing to run this trail shortly after that.
10 Tons of poison oak up here. I've been lucky so far (knock on wood)...
11 There are even some sections with Dipsea style roots.
12 Not too bad for a local trail!
13 The Viejo Tie junction. More trail to explore for another day. For now, I head straight towards Bluejay Campground.
14 I question the accuracy of these signs. My GPS is actually showing much less distance from the trail head.
15 A big lizard.
16 Some great hill views from the ridge headed towards Bluejay Campground.
17 The last couple miles towards Bluejay are mostly exposed with little tree cover, but there's some more great single track immediately surrounding Bluejay. It's a web of short unmarked trails around here though.
18 Made it to Bluejay Campground. You can of course drive here via a small road off of Ortega Highway, but it's much more fun to run 10 miles to get here.
19 It's actually a very nice campground. It's now time to head back to the Candy Store. The highlight of my day was definitely randomly meeting Big Baz on the way back down. He's a legendary ultra-marathon race director in Southern CA (and some Northern CA races as well). He started the Old Goat 50M, used to run a race in Bluewater Canyon before it became a Wilderness Area in the 80's, and is probably best known now for running the famous Saddleback Marathon. I've heard and read plenty of stories about him and it was cool to meet him alone on the trail. He was picking up trail marker ribbons from a 50K he had put on the day before. He was running out of time to cover the whole course, and I happened to be heading down the exact course route, so he asked if I could pick up the rest (which I tried to do but didn't find many). Baz is the typical colorful character you would expect for a 70 year old ultra race director. It was a fun conversation. I got to hear some great stories about the days of having shotguns pointed at you for running across Irvine Ranch, etc. Big Baz is Australian and his real name is Barry! Evidently Baz is a common nickname for Barry in the UK and Australia. Learn something new every day!
20 Another trip to Chiquito, this time with Dr. Rock and Rufus.
21 Dr. Rock coming up the Chiquito Falls trail.
22 Rufus looking back for Dr. Rock. Anytime he would get too far ahead, Rufus would come back and wait for Dr. Rock. He definitely got anxious if he didn't see him for long.
23 Dr. Rock and Rufus at the top of Chiquito Falls, which was bone dry.
24 Rufus enjoying the narrow singletrack and tight foliage on the ridge above Chiquito Falls.
25 On the way back now, and Rufus is anxiously looking back up the trail for Dr. Rock.
26 Peekaboo ocean views over the hills, and the end to another great run in the Cleavland National Forest.