The final stretch of my Backbone Trail adventure was this Sunday. If you haven't already read my first two posts, this was the third and final section of the Backbone Trail - a 68 mile trail that extends through the Santa Monica Mountains from Will Rogers Park in Pacific Palisades to La Jolla Canyon near Point Mugu. My friend and I divided up the trail into 3 sections and completed them on three consecutive Sundays - part 1 was Will Rogers to Piuma Road (23 miles); part 2 was Piuma Road to Encinal Canyon Road (20 miles); and part 3 would be Encinal Canyon Road to La Jolla Canyon (25 miles - though it actually logged in at 28 but more on that later). 

This final stretch was the farthest from my house and since we were dropping one car at the start and one at the finish, it required the most pre-hike commuting. The shorter days and our hike pace necessitated we have as much daylight as possible, so we opted to stay overnight in a nearby hotel, reducing our morning-of commute to only 45 minutes instead of nearly 2 hours.

The logistics of taking all my gear and SCD meals to a hotel for an overnight stay were more complex and so this post will go into how I prepared.  

While hiking 68 miles over 3 days is my idea of a party, I realize I may be in the minority. Only a few of my very active friends would consider such madness, and only one actually said yes. 

If you're reading this post, it's possible you are considering a similar extreme hike and if that's you I say, "Yes, yes yes, go for it! It's amazing and awful and you'll learn so much about yourself and what you are capable of". If that's not you though, maybe you are here for a different reason. 

• Perhaps you are interested in hiking the Backbone trail in smaller 'bite sized' pieces and are looking for some insight;
• or you're living with IBD or other gut issues and curious about how to support an active life while following a restricted diet;
• maybe you have a child who is very active and are looking for real-food options to fuel them during training and competition; 
• or you're one of my friends whom I have persuaded to read this.

​Either way, I hope this post will offer something for everyone and I am so glad you're here to read it.

,Backbone is a 68 mile trail that spans the Santa Monica Mountains from Will Rogers State Park in Pacific Palisades to Point Mugu near Malibu. Backbone is a stunning trail with a ocean views, tree canopies, dramatic boulders, creeks, and wildlife. It is well-maintained trails with mostly good trail signage (some areas not so much) and a few bathrooms/water fountains along the way. It is accessible from several canyon roads like Topanga, Kanan, and Latigo so an out and back hike can be an excellent option for someone wanting to explore just a few miles at at time.

Over the past few years, I've run and hiked much of the trail in these small bite-sized sections but have had my heart set on traversing the entire trail in a more methodical way. While I'd LOVE to do it all in one shot, a more realistic approach for me is breaking it up into 3-4 sections. That journey started yesterday, November 8, with the first 23 miles from Will Rogers to Piuma Road.

RESEARCH: Setting off on a 23 mile hike that would take a projected 9 hours and involve over 4000 ft of climbing, meant doing some research first. There are multiple resources for learning about this trail system including the National Park Service and the County of LA websites. I personally stopped by the Santa Monica Mountains Anthony C. Beilenson Interagency Visitor Center at King Gillette Ranch to buy the 3 Tom Harrison maps that I have pinned up on my wall, guide books, and to speak to a Park Ranger (as of 11/9 though they are still closed due to the pandemic). There are also multiple online blogs like Hikespeak and AllTrails.

In this post, I'm not going to recount the details of the trails, the views, or the terrain. As you can see above, there are plenty of resources for that and honestly, until you actually get out there, it's all a bit of an enigma. Instead I'm going to focus on what I packed and how I fueled my 9 hour hike following SCD principles - i.e. real food, no grains, no processed sugar.

High above sea level, the clouds, the hustle-bustle and noise of every day. Onto the intoxicating trails where the colors are deeper and the contrasts more dramatic, the silence is like music, a simple sip of water is like drinking nectar. It was like I fell *up* Alice’s rabbit hole.

Today kicked off a year of getting high, partying on the trails, and heart pounding ecstasy.

You see, my 50th is awfully close and instead of dreading it and hiding from it, I’ve decided to run head on into it. Celebrating life, the strength of my legs and heart, and all the beauty of this amazing planet by trekking into new trails every month – lifting my spirits and my vantage point.

It’s been a challenging few years since 2015 when I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (an auto immune disease that effects the colon), followed by a blood clot, then a