10 Mile Run at Thacher Park & on the Long Path
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
photo slideshow
Today was my 3rd annual "pre-Thanksgiving Day" run... and even though it was a damp, grey day I decided to take advantage of the daylight and make the trek through Thacher Park up to Roemer's High Point on the Long Path.
I've been running at Thacher since 1998, when I first ran the Indian Ladder 15k Trail Race (which at that point was run out of the Glen Doone picnic area and used many of the trails I ran today.) Last June I started running there on a more regular basis, and on several occasions last summer I ran up the Long Path to Roemer's High Point to get in some hill work. Thacher has definitely become someplace I love to run - there's a nice mix of both easy and technical trails, and lots of variety in the terrain. And best of all, it's far enough out of Albany that much of the time it's quiet, with no constant background hum of traffic.
As I drove over to the park, I could see the escarpment shrouded in clouds, and began wondering what I was getting myself into. Once I got to Hop Field and parked the car, I could see it was no big deal... a little misty, but nothing to be concerned about. So I geared up and headed out!
I started out by crossing the road and making my way down to the edge of the escarpment, then followed the paths and trail along it until I came to the upper Indian Ladder trail (the lower trail was closed for the season, not that I would have gone up and down all those steps in any case!) I could see everything around me clearly, but the more distant cliffs and the views off toward Albany and Guilderland were obscured by the clouds... it was both pretty and a little eerie at the same time.
From there I headed up the old Paint Mine Road to the top... definitely felt my lack of workouts there! At one point last year I was very proud that I could run all the way up that hill without stopping... not a prayer of that today! Followed the path along Beaver Dam Road for a little ways, then headed across the road and onto the long climb up the Long Path.
The path follows an old ski run, and it's very deceptive... it starts out with a very gradual climb, but then you round a curve and it just seems to go up and up and up! I hiked the last section, and was very pleased when the path finally entered the woods and leveled off for a bit. Unfortunately, that didn't last for long, and after starting another climb, this time on wooded singletrack, I had a surprise - the path had been re-routed. Where it used to follow a series of switchbacks to the top of the hill (in other words, periodic breaks from climbing) it now runs pretty much straight up almost to the top of the ridge, where it follows the edge for a while and then joins up with the section of trail that has been taken over by a logging road. Ran when I could, walked when I had to... and finally came out at the High Point!
Unfortunately, while I glimped some patches of sun as I crossed the road and started my long uphill adventure, the higher elevations were still completely covered with clouds... so I ended up at a great view point on a day when the only view was featureless grey! But no big deal... I took a couple of pictures anyway, and then made another discovery - another section of the trail had been re-routed.
At that point, my curiosity got the better of me, and I set off down the new trail. Not that it was much of a risk... I'd run the old trail from the High Point down to Elm Road, and knew I could run along the road back to Thacher. The re-routed trail was actually much easier to run on than the old trail, which was very uneven in some spots and overgrown in others. This one had very good footing, and after two switchbacks came out at Elm Road. I decided my best bet was the run along the road back to Thacher, and then finish running the trails there back to the car (and, truth be told, I didn't mind not running down some of the steep hills I'd hiked up on my way to the top of the ridge!)
Initially, visibility was poor along the road due to the fog (or low cloud cover...) but that cleared somewhat as I made my way back to the park. There I hopped back on the trails, and ran into three riders on horseback, bringing my total encounters with people up to four (I'd been passed by a mountain biker on my way up Paint Mine Road earlier.) After that I had the trails all to myself as I made my way around the top of the ridge and down into the Hop Field swamp, where there was lots of mud and water. I began to get a bit concerned about getting back to the car before the park closed, but I needn't have worried - even with a side trip to a very nice waterfall, I made it back with plenty of time to spare.
I'm very glad I continued my tradition of a pre-Thanksgiving Day run, and also that I finally made it up to the High Point this year. My legs definitely felt the effects of all the climbing (and probably the distance as well) - which tells me I need to get back to running and riding on a regular schedule!
And while I was out there today, I started thinking... the Long Path runs about 350 miles... wouldn't it be cool to run and hike the whole thing? Not all at once, of course, but over several years in small sections... hmmm...
JMH
