Somewhere on Observatory Mesa...

It was a warm and breezy spring day as 11 runners (Chris,
Clare, Shea, Sabrina, Rhiannon, Mackenzie, Heather, Susan,
David, Bruce, Mike) and six dogs (Petzl, Josie, Wyatt, Annika,
Bob, Dharma) headed up into the snow & the slop on of Observatory Mesa. Breaking into 3 groups at the top, only Chris and Mike braved the entire 11-mile route. Bruce and Sabrina ran to the base of the loop and Bruce got them lost coming back, coming out at Westridge! (You had to be there.) The rest of the crew went south from the gate a ways.

Mars Hill Trail from Thorpe Park to the top of Observatory Mesa was in pretty good shape considering the amount of snow received this winter. A few patches of snow remained but these were easily dealt with either bypassing them altogether or
running on top of the still firm morning snow.

At the west end of the trail, the group split with some heading west onto FR515/FR506 and the others heading south along Tunnel Springs Trail and then back to Thorpe Park. The forest roads along the mesa top were wet and muddy and there was even an
abandoned and deeply-mired-in-the-mud truck. Tunnel Springs Trail, on the other hand, was mostly dry.

The groups rejoined at Thorpe Park and made a beeline for coffee at Late for the Train. (Thanks to Bruce and David B for the combined report!)