6.8 Mile Run in the Pine Bush
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
I had originally hoped to go for a run this morning, to leave a little more recovery time before tomorrow evening's Summer Solstice Run at Minnewaska State Park Preserve, but between crummy weather and my own lollygagging I didn't get out of the house until late afternoon. Since I was planning to head to the karate school afterwards, I decided to hit the trails at the Pine Bush Karner Barrens, out of the Pine Bush Discovery Center.
I'd walked some of these trails several times over the last few months, but I hadn't run them yet this year... today was a nice reminder of why I enjoy running these trails. There's a lot of variety to them - plenty of open, sandy pine bush, but also fields of pitch pine and scrub oak, woods, and a few swampy areas. A lot of the area is fairly level, but there are enough hills to get the heart rate going.
I had a bit of a surprise while running the trails through the fields of the west barrens - I turned a corner and there was a turkey sitting in the middle of the trail! When she stood up and walked into the bushes I found out why, as a group of chicks scattered in all directions. She ran around making lots of noise for a bit, I suspect to draw me away from the hiding chicks... I managed to get some pictures of her, but unfortunately missed shots of the little ones. When I came back through on a second loop a while later, they were nowhere in sight, though I'm pretty sure I heard her calling off in the bush.
At the end of my run I also came up on two rabbits alongside the trail... one scampered into the bushes at the sound of my camera turning on, but the other stayed where he was long enough for me to sneak closer and get a photo of him.
JMH
