Ever since running Tahoe 200 back in June, my running has been in a state of limbo. I had no other big races on the calendar for 2025 because Tahoe 200 was such a large endeavor physically, mentally, and financially. Without a big goal on the calendar, my running life felt a bit lost, a sentiment shared by many runners. Without a goal, what are we working towards? Where is the finish line?

I was very glad to have completed Tahoe 200; it was a goal of mine since I found trail running. However, I also felt a bit unsettled in the days after the race. I knew I could have ran a better race if I was a bit more prepared. I had never done a true high-altitude mountain race before, or any official 100 mile race. I dove straight into the deep-end of the 200-mile distance.

Within a couple days of finishing Tahoe 200, I knew wanted to try again at the 200+ mile distance. The multi-day event is what inspires my running, and this has been the case for several years. I just had to work to get to this level. But I’d like to get to a higher level than just finishing a multi-day race. In my blog post #19 (blog #19:reflections on tahoe 200), I realized that one thing I need to get better at is taking care of myself and being efficient during the race. I made the plan to do two 100 mile races in 2026 with no crew. This would force me to move efficiently in and out of aid stations and to keep myself motivated on trail.

As the summer turned into fall, my running had several false starts. I would have a good week and then a knee or hip would start hurting or I’d twist an ankle, or I would get poison oak. I wanted to get one more big effort in before the end of 2025 but was having trouble building fitness.

Finally, in late October, I started to feel some momentum come back to my running. I needed to find a goal to direct this momentum. Earlier this summer, I made an attempt to run the Camino Cielo Loop, and ended up bailing because I did not bring enough water. The route had been high on my list for about a year since I first heard about it. I decided the route would be a perfect way to end my 2025 running.

The Camino Cielo Loop is a route, created by John Parsons, that encircles the mountain ridge behind Santa Barbara. It connects all the “frontcountry trails” with the “backcountry” trails. The front side basically follows the Nine Trails race course (a brutal SB 50k race, organized by Louis Escobar) and then connects with the rugged, less-traveled and maintained backcountry trails. The loop is 47 miles and about 13,000 feet of vertical gain.

In late October and November, I did several long runs on the route to familiarize myself with the sections I had not run and to scout water source locations.

I knew I wanted to attempt the route in the unsupported style and hopefully set a somewhat fast time on the route. According to fastestknowntime.com, no one had completed the route in the unsupported style. That meant I would get the FKT no matter how fast I ran, but I still wanted to run to my potential.

To fit the run into my schedule, but still give myself enough time to train, I chose to attempt the route on the first Saturday of December. This would be the last weekend before my life would get a lot more complicated. My wife is 37 weeks pregnant with our first son, so we are about to have a newborn keeping us busy around the clock.

In the days before the run I got quite nervous about being on my own in the Los Padres National Forest for half a day. My goal was to complete the route in under 12 hours. Thats quite a long time to run in the wilderness solo. That is how the backcountry section feels – Wild. There are very few hikers that make the trek to those trails. I decided to ask my friends to be on standby just in case I needed to call for help to pick me up, or in case my wife needed help.

On Friday night, I spent several hours putting together everything I thought I would need for the run. For nutrition, this consisted of about 10 servings of Open Fuel drink mix, six NeverSecond gels, a homemade concoction of maple syrup and ginger, a big bag of potato chips, a big bag of Trolli gummy worms, and a couple Nutella sandwiches. For gear, I packed a headlamp, a light windbreaker, my trusty Salomon Adv Skin 12 Liter pack, a portable charger, and my Leki trekking poles. I would wear my Topo Athletic MTN Racer 4 shoes, Injinji toe socks, Janji half tights, and my cropped Nike t-shirt.

I went to bed early for a 2:30 am wake-up call. I aimed to get on trail at 4 am.

The Run

For breakfast, I did my normal routine, a bagel with some kind of nut butter and black coffee. It took me a bit longer to get out the door than planned; I got to the trailhead a few minutes after 4 am. As I put my pack together, I realized I left my two Nutella sandwiches at home. Damn, that sucks.

I snapped a quick photo of the big rock with a memorial to Dick Smith, the start and end point of the loop. My official start time was 4:17 am.

I started trotting down Jesusita trail in the light of my headlamp. This trail is a frequent training run for me, so the footing was familiar. However, every trail has a slightly different rhythm and vibe in the dark.

I played music out loud on my phone (Goose’s new album Live at Madison Square Garden) as an attempt to make my presence known to any creatures that might also be moving through the night. I would rather not accidentally sneak up on a big animal. Occasionally, I would speak out a “Good morning Creatures.”

The Jesusita trail winds around a creek and through a private property before starting a gradual climb up to Inspiration Point. I made decent progress through this section, running nearly the whole climb and then trotting down the descent. The next climb up Tunnel Trail would be a bit more intense, with a steeper climb and rockier terrain.

As I started up Tunnel, I kept my running pace for a few minutes but eventually pulled back to a fast hike. I kept my hiking focused and efficient to not lose too much momentum. One goal I had for the run was to try to average about 4.5 miles per hour. This meant I would need to stay efficient when hiking and run whenever the trail allowed. On the Tunnel climb I started to do short 3-5 minute intervals of jogging up the trail in between hiking. I made decent time up the Tunnel climb and trotted down the next descent on Rattlesnake trail. Still in the dark, I started the next climb up the Rattlesnake connector to Gibraltar road.

The climb up to Gibraltar road is quite steep but less than a mile. Still, it is very hard to run and I was starting to feel a bit tired from the climbs I had already done. At this point, I was about 6.5 miles in and had climber nearly 2,000 feet. I continued a power hike up to Gibraltar, but saw on my watch that I was cutting it close to making my 4.5 miles in the hour. But I knew once I reached Gibraltar I had a sweet 3 miles of easy descending.

Once I connected with Gibraltar I turned the running legs back on. I had a 1.2 mile descent of paved road and then another 2 miles of smooth descending singletrack. It was glorious.

I made it down to the creek at the junction of West Fork and East Fork before seeing the sun. I decided to filter some water and refill a bottle of drink mix here. The process took way too long, likely 10 minutes. I had to pour scoops of drink mix into my soft flask, which proved to be a disaster; a lot of the powder ended up in the creek. I should have brought a funnel or practiced this process before the day. I finally finished up and continued on up East Fork trail.

I was still on a 4.5 mph pace, and was a little over 2 hours into the day. The sun was starting to come up. On the East Fork climb I kept my strategy of 3-5 intervals mixed in with hiking. Once I hit the saddle, I saw the sun in all its glory. A little too much glory; I did not have sunglasses. This was another mistake. For the next several hours, the route would lead right into the sun and all I had was my hat to provide some protection from the brightness.

I made my way down the rocky descent of Hot Springs Trail, crossed the hot springs, and connected with the catway service road. I kept a running pace over the sneaky, rolling dirt road.

I was treated to one more glorious, steep descent down “the wall” before reaching the San Ysidro creek. I continued on toward the very steep Buena Vista trail. This climb is always super tough no matter when I run it. On this day, it was mostly a hike up. My pace definitely slowed down a bit. Once I reached the top, I got back into a trotting pace for the descent down to Buena Vista creek.

On the next climb I tried to work back in some intervals of running. However, it was getting tougher to run uphill. My calves were feeling the numerous big climbs of the day. Once I reached the top, I trotted back down to connect with Romero creek. I knew the next climb was going to be steep and long.

The climb up Romero trail would be a tough 2.5 mile climb with nearly 2,000 feet of vert to take me up to the top of the mountains. As I moved through this climb, I sprinkled in some more 3-5 minute run intervals. About halfway up, I took a break to switch out flasks of water. This took a few minutes.

I made it to the top, reaching mile 20 in about 4 hrs 40 min, and over 7,000 feet of vertical. I was starting to slip below the 4.5 mph mark, but was happy with how I felt. I sent a text off to my friends to update them on my progress and then started the descent down the backside of the mountains on Blue Canyon trail. I knew from this point on the trail would be much more rugged, overgrown, and washed out. The miles would not come easy.

I made it to the bottom and connected with Forbush trail. I remembered there was a very pretty meadow next to a campsite on this trail. I continued on running.

The views on the backcountry were amazing; 360 degrees of mountains, greenery, interesting rocks, and no signs of civilization other than the loosely carved trail. The footprints of various creatures were imprinted in the dried mud terrain.

Eventually I connected with Cold Springs trail. The trail had become quite overgrown, making running hard even if the grade was moderate. I had my poles out to cut through the tall grass and hanging tree branches. I still got cut up on my arms and legs.

I arrived at the beautiful “infinity pools”, thinking I might stop to filter water but ultimately decided to skip. I remembered how long it took the first time, so I decided to wait until Devil’s Canyon.

A little further down the trail I connected with Gibraltar trail. This section would be about six miles, with the first four being very overgrown and washed out in some sections. I knew it would be slow.

As I pushed through the tree branches I started talking out loud to myself and whatever creatures were around. I told myself this was a test of grit and courage. Completing this route solo would be tangible evidence that I have the strength within myself to push through hard challenges, both mental and physical. The type of challenges I encountered at Tahoe 200. I also spoke about my soon-to-be-born son, Basil. I need to be able to show him what it is to be strong, courageous, and confident. To be a good dad, there is some “growing up” and maturing I will need, much like my aspiration of being a good multi-day runner. I need to learn to have the responsibility to take care of myself, even when I am feeling super depleted, with no more energy. Like a dead battery. In reality, there is always a reserve of energy to tap into. I just have to be able to find it.

I finally made it out of the thick brush and was able to open up into a running stride. I got to the old Sunbird Quicksilver mine, close to the Gibraltar Reservoir. I knew I had a couple of more runnable miles ahead, so I ran. It felt good to increase the leg turnover. After running around the south side of the reservoir, I connected to a service road that would bring me to the bottom of Devil’s Canyon. I stopped to filter some water, as I had drank up all my bottles.

This process took way too long. By the time I got all my bottles refilled with drink mix and water, about 18 minutes had ticked away. Frustrated, I continued on.

Devil’s Canyon Trail is a tough section, maybe the most frustrating of the whole route. The lower section goes up the creek, crossing back and forth several times. Each crossing requires some careful footing and occasional route finding. Its slow going. Once the trail finally moves away from the creek, it climbs up the side of the canyon. There are several washed out portions. When I came to a wash out, I had to toss my poles to the other side so I could use my hands to grab onto branches (or whatever was there) to carefully step across the gap. One time, I threw my poles with a bit too much force and they went over the side of the trail, falling down a couple feet. I had to drop down onto my stomach to reach down to pick them up. This got me pretty frustrated. After about 2.5 miles, I finally reached the intersection with Matias trail, which would continue to take me west, slowly working me around the big counterclockwise loop.

Matias trail is a mix of rolling terrain with some overgrown areas, about 5 miles in length. The miles would not be easy and I was starting to feel pretty cooked from all the bushwacking. I started to speak a phrase that was inspired by a hiker I met back in September when I did my week of Arlington Peak summits (blog #20: a week on a mountain). “We are not conquering the trail, we are bonding with the trail.” I don’t run in the mountains to conquer or “beat” the terrain; I want to adapt and become part of the terrain. I should be grateful for the beautiful place I have the privilege to run. I slowly got through the section, mixing some running into my pole-powered hiking. My pace had dropped below the 4.5 mph pace, but I was not too focused on pace anymore. I just wanted to get to the Arroyo Burro service road, which would climb me back up to the top of the mountains.

Finally, I reached the service road where I could open a run stride. However, this road would climb 1,100 in about 3 miles. So, it was not a flat run. I ran for several minutes before reverting back to my hike/run strategy. I finally made it back to the top of the mountain ridge.

I took a couple minutes to rearrange my pack and sent another text off to my friends to let them know I had 5.5 miles left. The Arroyo Burro singletrack trail would take me all the way back down the frontside of the mountains and back to the start to close the loop. I started on down the super steep descent.

As I worked my way down, my quads totally blew up. My calves were fully cooked from all the climbs of the day and my quads were wobbly from the descents. This route was just constantly up and down. My legs locked up in cramps multiple times on the way down, causing me to yell in pain. This added another few minutes of stopped time, which was quickly adding up.

I finally made it to the bottom of the descent, knowing I only had about a mile left. I ran the last bit with every running power I had left. At last I made it back to the trailhead where I started my day. My official time was 11 hours 44 minutes 32 seconds. I achieved my goal of going under 12 hours.

Thoughts

I am very glad to have completed the Camino Cielo Loop in the unsupported style. I gained some confidence in my ability to get myself through a hard day on my own. It is also gave me one last project to end my 2025 running calendar. I knew I had built a decent amount of fitness going into Tahoe 200 earlier in the year, and I wanted to use it again before the end of the year. This route was a great use of my fitness.

Looking back at my watch data, I had one hour of stopped time. This is an area of improvement for me. I could definitely get better at transitions and logistics, such as packing my vest more intentionally, to minimize time searching for things. I also need to dial in my water stops.

I enjoyed the unsupported style and would like to try more routes in this way, potentially a multi-day route.

I think this route was a good step toward my 2026 goal of completing a couple 100 mile races with no crew. I am strongly considering Coyote Two Moon 100 mile in May 2026.

This run is dedicated to Basil, my soon-to-be-born son. Your mom and I cannot wait to welcome you into this world.

Recent Music Selections

Goose’s new album Live at Madison Square Garden

Kate Bush’s 1985 album Hounds of Love

Spafford 12/5/2025 Peoria, IL. Thanks to taper: Michael Frasca.

Greensky Bluegrass 11/12/2025 Cocoa, FL. Thanks to taper: Z-Man.

Neighbor 11/21/2025 Portland, ME. Thanks to taper: Brandon Smith.

Zeds Dead album Return to the Spectrum of Intergalactic Happiness.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard 11/6/2025 Tilburg, NL. Thanks to taper: Tora Tapes.