Sept 18, Marathon Heads South from the Headlands

Marathon is her own girl, and is not following Zoe's lead from 18 years ago (East Bay, through Salinas Valley).  Of course, maybe she's using Google Maps instead of the AAA maps which Zoe had to use.

Today, we were able to have 4 teams out on Marathon.  Four teams is a bonus since we can have 2 teams on highpoints (in this case, Barb on San Bruno Mt and Cheryl on Mt. Hamilton) and two teams mobile. Phil and Mike began along the East Bay Ridgeline (Grizzly Peak area) and Bill and Lorri were "on the bird" early in the morning.

So, Tuesday morning Marathon woke up and continued her journey southward by heading over the Gate, through the City, and past Barb on San Bruno Mountain.  Bill and Lorri were immediately playing catch up, but were able to get bearings as they also moved down the Peninsula.  Meanwhile Phil and Mike had great bearings as Marathon moved southward towards Los Gatos.  Add in the bearings from Mt. Hamilton, and I think we'll have a pretty good flight path for Marathon through the Bay Area.

Then Marathon flew into/through the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Cheryl, on Mt. Hamilton, maintained the signal for most of the day...... hoorah!  The 4th team was proving very valuable.  The other teams repositioned to Fremont Peak and other nearby highpoints with mobile teams trying to get crossbearings.  About 1500, crossbearings placed Marathon near Panoche Valley. One team traveling the area was unable to pick up her signal within the valley, so Marathon likely moved into the nearby hills.  That was the last crossbearing of the day.

Similarly, when the teams were tracking Zoe in 1994, they would lose her mid-afternoon and then the following morning she would pop up about 40 miles south. Where will Marathon pop up on Wednesday?  We'll all have to wait and see.

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