A line of bibbed runners file past as we enter the Taneum Junction Campground parking lot in Cle Elum. This is not a good sign, but it’s what we expected. We had just made our way back down a windy, washboard-y gravel road, marked 3330 instead of the intended Forest Service Road 3300, confusing the similarly-numbered roads, that led us a mile or more towards Gooseberry Flat and away from the start.

Turns out, my newfound trail runner friend is not a great navigator. Neither am I.

To read JuLee Rudolf’s complete blog, Island Unseen, go to https://juleerudolfblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/cle-elum-ridge-run-25k-sometimes-you-just-have-to-show-up/