Mommy are there catclaws in heaven?

I ran the esperrero loop with the TTR yesterday.

I am covererd in deep scratches. The "trail" I use that term loosly,was non-existant on the back side of cathedral. So me and 4 other fellas had to navigate our way down and over to Romero. Fortunately I got us to the right spot.
Total run time was like 6hour 30 minute.


It was funny really, like 19 people or so signed in @ the beginning and I ran in the #2 spot for about 2 hours then I dropped back behind a few people who had ran the loop before, then I dropped back into a pack of 4 guys, I still stayed 6th overall.

When I finished, supposedly everyone else was done? except for the two fellas behind me who were like 30 minutes back?

How was that possible? I didnt get passed.Perhaps everyone else turned around after the nasty climb right before cathedral? Weird, not a big deal though.

I would probably not do the link up/down the canyon to romero again, there is no trail, very bad , slightly dangerous.
Romero itself and esperrero/cathedral are both good but the link through the canyon to join the 2 is nasty.

Maybe a machete and full length Gaiters or blue jeans or armor.


I would like to stash some trail tools up there and maybe some ribbons and rework that bad portion of trail.

Getting to that part is Very difficut though.


So in summary It was a great bloody run and everyone who ran that day became blood brothers and sisters....
I spent about a half hour leaching the catclaw and manzanita/mesquite toxin from my legs using hot towels.

Oh it snowed and was windy too. I will never forget this run/hike/evil, ever,ever,ever.

I may do this again soon, but probably from romero to see if I can find my way up to cathedral, to see if the trail is easier to follow from down below.

I plan on just exploring the area in general any way It's amazing.