the Way of the Turtle

LAST SNOWSHOE RUN?
5.5 Miles Around Black Creek Park
Monday, March 19, 2007

map of Black Creek Park (PDF)

After four days of very little activity (other than some walking at Niagara Falls) I knew I needed to get out and run. Unfortunately, everything is still covered with snow and ice from last Friday's storm. So I broke out the snowshoes for what may be their last run of the season and headed over to Black Creek Park, which I knew would probably have decent snow cover all around and would definitely give me a good workout (at times it seems like the Black Creek trails are all uphill, regardless of what direction you travel on them...!)

Just as I arrived at the park, the wind started howling and the snow started flying. Made gearing up fun... especially trying to get my new Performance Bicycle Neoprene Booties on over my shoes. Despite ordering them 2 1/2 sizes larger than my shoes, getting them over my smallest pair of running shoes is a challenge. But it was well worth it - they kept my feet warm and dry throughout the entire run, even when I ended up with my feet partially underwater. I'll have to pick up another pair in a larger size next fall and use them when I snowshoe - other than the sizing issue, they're great!

Headed across the fields and up onto the wetlands trail along the southeast perimeter of the park. Snow conditions were about what I expected - rough. In most spots there was barely enough for the snowshoes, with a lot of ice under the snow, and some areas were totally bare. The snow was also fairly wet, which meant frequent stops to break incipient ice clumps off my cleats. In the end, I probably walked as much as I ran. Made my way around the southern end of the park and into the woods along the creek trail. Had an interesting stretch near the beginning, making my way across a 100 ft section that was flooded... broke through the ice a couple of times there and discovered that the neoprene booties do a nice job, at least during quick dunkings. Snow was a little more consistent in this section, but I also hit another long stretch of flooded path... made my way across the ice listening to it crack, but never went through (it was only 6-8" deep in any case.) As always, the final stretch along the creek was nice, but when I hit the trailhead I discovered that the last bit through the picnic area was totally bare, so I stopped and ditched the booties and snowshoes, and then walked the last 1/4 mile or so back to the car.

A tough run overall, between trail conditions and my not having done anything for the last four days and no snowshoeing for the past two weeks. Did see a deer disappearing into the woods at one point, and after I took my snowshoes off I stood and watched a woodpecker for a few minutes industriously banging away on a woody vine... hope he got something good to eat for all his hard work.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to run on the Keuka Outlet Trail on my way back to Albany... hopefully a regular run rather than snowshoes, but either way it should be nice, since I haven't been there in over a year.

JMH