Rob: Mailbox Peak
Finally decided to try this, after hearing the horror stories for so long. We actually did this by accident. Went their looking for another trail that leaves from the same trailhead, bit couldn't find it, so we went back to the car and ditched our heavy gear. Definotely a leg burner... this is the same elevation as Big Si, but half the distance, so much steeper. Hard to fond any real trail once you hit the upper tree-line. People just blaze their own, so when in Rome...
Once you hit the halfway point, everyone pretty much grinds to the same slow pace, so you end up leap-frogging eachother the rest of the way. Slow and steady is about all you can do here, but it's worth it. Once you clear the tree line, it seems like the rocky outcropping is the peak, bit no... you get there and realize you're only halfway up. A final trudge rewards you with the old mailbox (i wanted to kiss the thing in triumph)!
Amaaaaaazing 360 degree views at the top, but enjoy the rest, because going down seems even harder at that steep angle. We ran small portions, but it's tough to run... with so many roots and so steep.