Running Uphill and Deer Spotting

Timing and location is everything. Running uphill last week, I not only spotted the usual architecture points of interest but also 3 deer!

For last Thursday’s run, I decided it would be fun to run uphill on Glen Oaks in the Linda Vista neighborhood of Pasadena, over the mountain and return down San Rafael. Not a long run, but an interesting loop that also includes running over the Colorado Street Bridge.

The idea for the route originated one day as I looked down at the Holly Street Bridge and to the homes on the hill across thinking it would cool to explore that hill. The logical thing would be to look up on a map the likely street to run up. Instead, I took a chance turn on Glen Oaks one day, willing to turn around if the road ended at the top. In this case, fortune favored the adventurous :)

Having run the route once before, I thought it timely to repeat. The second time always seems easier than the first because there’s less the element of surprise. You know what to expect or so I thought.

After hiking up a short distance, a rustling sound caugh my ear. To the right of the road, about 20 feet away, I caught a glimpe of a deer. We held gazes for a short while, then the deer crossed and scampered up the hillside. Having experienced deer crossings before in San Diego, I waited and was not surprised when a second deer appeared and also crossed the road to run up the hillside.

As for the residential architecture - the homes are built into the hillside, up or down, and not much is visible streetside except for the garage. Still, the views can be interesting as shown below: