CRITTERS GALORE!
4.9 Mile Paddle on Black Creek
Thursday, July 31, 2008

What a great place for paddling! We put the kayaks in at the boat launch near the Genesee River and headed upstream until we hit a blowdown that completely blocked the creek... at that point we'd been out long enough that we decided to turn around and head back rather than portage over or around the fallen trees to keep going (and then repeat the portage on the way back.)









There were a couple of spots where the creek passed close enough to civilization that we paddled past a backyard or two, but for the most part it would have been fairly easy to convince ourselves that we were somewhere in the wilderness, if not for the sounds of trains, planes, and cars off in the distance. But even with that this was a wonderful creek to paddle... a bit ticky in spots due to submerged logs, but nothing too difficult, and almost no discernable current.









Wildlife was abundant throughout the trip... great blue herons, green herons, and kingfishers, as well as the typical mallards. I started out making a short loop through a shallow area surrounded by water birds of various types, and convinced Ann to go through the same area on the way back, where we passed through a group of cedar waxwings swooping around catching bugs. We also passed plenty of turtles sunning themselves and even a couple of muskrats out looking for lunch.









Best of all, the rain held off until just after we got everything packed back up and were ready to head home... what a great way to spend an August afternoon!











JMH

6.3 Mile Run at Genesee Valley Park
Wednesday, July 30, 3008







Ann had a softball game at Genesee Valley Park, so the easiest thing to do was to drive her over there and run around the park while she played. Legs felt tired and creaky during much of the run... didn't really seem to loosen up until the last mile or so.









Along the way I ran along red Creek, the Erie Canal, and the Genesee River... passed a few other folks out walking or riding, and a group rowing at the Waterways Center. Also passed a couple of bunnies and even saw a flicker (who headed for high branches as soon as I stopped to take his picture.)







I used this run to test out my new hand-held water bottle (a GoLite Hydro Clutch)... I've generally liked my other handheld, a Nathan QuickDraw Plus, but I'm not that crazy about the Nathan bottle and my Golite bottles don't really fit the QuickDraw holder. Unfortunately, the Hydro Clutch doesn't seem to fit the GoLite bottle all that well either, but maybe I just need to get used to it.





JMH

11.5 Mile Ride Along the Erie Canal
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

BEAVERS!
9 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Tuesday, July 29, 2008

By the time I managed to get on the road again, there wasn't much time left for riding... but I stopped at the Rotterdam Kiwanis Park and did a short pedal west along the bike path into Rotterdam Junction, and then along the extension of the bike path on the west side of town. Given all the rain we've had recently, the water in both the old Erie Canal and the waterways alongside the bike path was higher than usual for mid-summer.







I had pretty much given up on spotting any beavers tonight when lo and behold, the same one I saw a couple of weeks back appeared, swimming in the old canal west of the Junction. I watched him for a while - he didn't seem particularly bothered by my presence - and then headed back toward town. Stopped when I heard an odd sound in the canal and spotted a second, larger beaver. This one ducked under with a loud crack of his tail on the surface of the water, guess he wasn't as comfortable around people as the other one. But best of all, two beavers means there may be hope for even more... maybe the locals won't welcome that but I do.











Made a brief jaunt east after passing back through the park and headed up onto the bridge over the Mohawk River, where I was fascinated to see dozens of spiderwebs in between the bridge railings and even a few spiders.







At that point it was getting dark enough that I decided it wasn't worth risking more riding, so I headed back to the car and continued on my way back to Rochester. Still, s short ride is better than none at all...

JMH

Randy Pausch & "The Last Lecture"
Tuesday, July 29, 2008

In Memorium (CMU)
An Enduring Legacy (CMU)

I've wanted to write something about Randy Pausch and his "Last Lecture" since March, when I first encountered him through a forwarded link to a Youtube video. As many people know by now, Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was asked to give a talk as part of a "last lecture" series (basic idea - what would you say if you had only one last lecture you'd ever be able to give.) In Professor Pausch's case, that concept was all too real, as he'd been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and been told he most likely had only a few months to live. He gave his talk, the video was posted online, and it became an incredible phenomenon, with tens of millions of people viewing it (and a myriad of related videos, including appearances on Oprah and Good Morning America) and commenting on how his words and his courage had changed their lives for the better. He went on to co-author a book, The Last Lecture, which discussed many of the thoughts and ideas he presented in his talk in greater detail, and to nobody's surprise it became a bestseller.

Professor Pausch lost his hard-fought battle with cancer last Friday morning. So I guess it's time I stop wondering what I can say that would ever do his story justice and actually do it.

more to come...

JMH

Walking the Genesee Riverway Trail at Turning Point Park
Monday, July 28, 2008

Walking at Ontario Beach Park
Monday, July 28, 2008

VISITING PENNSYLVANIA - Part 9
One More Time Around Presque Isle State Park
Sunday, July 27, 2008

VISITING PENNSYLVANIA - Part 8
4.2 Mile Paddle at Presque Isle State Park
Sunday, July 27, 2008

VISITING PENNSYLVANIA - Part 8
Discover Presque Isle Festival
Sunday, July 27, 2008

VISITING PENNSYLVANIA - Part 7
NOT-SO-LONG DISTANCE 2008 - Race #16
Discover Presque Isle Duathlon
Sunday, July 27, 2008

2008 Discover Presque Isle Duathlon results (PDF)

JMH

2008 Event Totals
Run 109.2 mi / 23 hr 46 min
Bike 32.4 mi / 2 hr 19 min
Snowshoe 45.7 mi / 13 hr 19 min

states visited: MA, NH, NY, PA, VT

VISITING PENNSYLVANIA - Part 6
Presque Isle State Park
Saturday, July 25, 2008

Presque Isle State Park official site
Presque Isle info site

VISITING PENNSYLVANIA - Part 5
Hard Workin' Civic
Saturday, July 26, 2008

VISITING PENNSYLVANIA - Part 4
Ricketts Glen State Park
4.4 Mile Hike on the Falls & Highland Trails
Friday, July 25, 2008

Ricketts Glen State Park official site

VISITING PENNSYLVANIA - Part 3
Hickory Run State Park
A Short Hike to Hawk Falls
Thursday, July 24, 2008

Hickory Run State Park official site

VISITING PENNSYLVANIA - Part 2
Big Pocono State Park
Thursday, July 24, 2008

Big Pocono State Park official site

VISITING PENNSYLVANIA - Part 1
Nay Aug Park
Thursday, July 24, 2008

Nay Aug Park official site
wikipedia article on Nay Aug Park

NOT-SO-LONG DISTANCE 2008 - Race #15
New Paltz Summer XC Series #3
Patterson's Pellet 3 Mile Trail Race
Monday, July 21, 2008

JMH

2008 Event Totals
Run 103.0 mi / 22 hr 43 min
Bike 20 mi / 1 hr 32 min
Snowshoe 45.7 mi / 13 hr 19 min

states visited: MA, NH, NY, VT

LOOK! AN EAGLE!
4.0 Mile Hike at the Hannacroix Creek Preserve
Monday, July 21, 2008

I had a friend going with me to Minnewaska tonight, so I couldn't get to the Gunks early and do some pre-race riding or hiking. Instead, I checked around for someplace to stop before we met up for the ride south, and finally settled on the Hannacroix Creek Preserve just south of Coeymans. The preserve sounded interesting for two reasons - one trail goes down to the edge of the Hudson River, passing by a small pond that has had abundant wildlife in the past, and another follows the Hannacroix Creek to 15 foot high Ravena Falls.

I started out hiking down to the river, following a somewhat overgrown trail from the parking lot down to Route 144. While both of my guidebooks (ECOS's Natural Areas of Albany County and Dunn & Delaney's Trails with Tales) described the need to carefully walk along the shoulder of the road to reach to trail to the river, apparently the New Baltimore Conservancy's been busy working on improvements - directly across the road a boardwalk has been erected and a relatively new trail has been cut through the woods to take hikers to the Hudson River Interpretive Trail without spending too much time dodging cars on 144.

The trail to the river is fairly short, and crosses the creek on a rather unusual bridge made of "lumber" formed from recycled plastic milk bottles. According to the sign near the bridge, 68000 bottles were used to make the bridge materials. I've seen similar materials used to make boardwalks through swampy areas and I think it's an excellent idea - the plastic "lumber" is durable and doesn't need to be replaced anywhere near as often as wood, and plastic is being recycled that would otherwise probably be taking up space in a landfill somewhere.

A little ways beyond the bridge the trail came out on the shore of the Hudson River. The tide was low, so the closest areas to the beach were exposed mud flats, but it was still a great view. After taking a few photos I stepped down onto the sand and got my wonderful surprise of the day - a large bird flew out of the tree over my head, and when I looked up it turned out it was a bald eagle! I watched him fly across the river, with a brief descent to water level to presumably snag a fishy meal, before he disappeared into the trees on the other side. How cool is that? A short while later another large bird flew out of the trees across the river and circled around the area repeatedly before heading upstream... I can't be positive, but in the photos I took the profile looks a lot like a turkey vulture.

As much as I enjoyed watching the river, I knew I couldn't stay too long or I wouldn't have time to hike to the waterfall and back, so I headed back out toward the road with a short detour down to the observation platform overlooking the small tidal pond near the plastic bridge. Unfortunately, there were no critters in view, possibly because the tide was low and there was very little water currently in the pond.

more to come...

RIDING IN THE RAIN
20.2 Mile Ride Along the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, July 20, 2008

Spent a while today trying to decide where to ride without having to do significant driving... and without having to deal with too many hills, because for some reason my legs were feeling just a bit tired... ended up heading over to Lock 8 west of Schenectady planning to ride out on the roads north of the river and then return on the bike path. But once I got there I changed that plan due to the dark clouds (complete with wind, thunder, and lightning) that were rolling in. Didn't want to get caught in a storm on the other side of the river, so I decided to mostly stick to the path.

I lucked out and the first storm blew off to the north, leaving me with just a couple of sprinkles of rain as I rode toward Schenectady. I crossed the river on the route 5 bridge, catching sight of a pair of cedar waxwings as I did so, and then spent a little while wandering around Freedom Park and Collins Park... while I ridden past both before I'd never actually visited either.

Heading back toward Lock 7, I could see more storm clouds rolling in, and it didn't look like this batch were going to pass by to the north. I actually lucked out - the rain started just as I reached the realtively new shelter near old Lock 23. So I pulled in under that, broke out my neon yellow rain jacket, and sat there enjoying the rain and waiting for the heaviest part of the storm to pass. The two soaked fellows who whizzed by on their bikes didn't seem to enjoy it as much as I was...

After five minutes or so the rain eased up, so I headed on my way, passing Lock 7 and heading west toward Rotterdam Junction. At one point it seemed like the rain had basically stopped, so I took off my rain jacket (which gets very warm in the summer... tough to appreciate not getting rained on when you're soaked with sweat!) Of course the rain picked back up a few minutes later and I ended up putting it back on. No surprise, I didn't pass too many other people... one guy walking, two kids riding, a group fishing in the old Erie Canal, and toward the end a runner...

Spotted two wood ducks with ducklings, a kingfisher, and the ever-present geese along the old canal. I'd been planning to ride through Rotterdam Junction and take the short path along the old canal on the west side of town (hoping to see the beavers again) but bagged that plan when I reached Scrafford Lane, it was too dark and rainy for me to risk the mile or so along route 5S, even with my neon yellow rain jacket. So I headed back through the steady rain to Lock 7 and a little bit beyond to the small park just east of the lock, to bring my mileage up to 20 miles. On the way back I interrupted what seemed to be a local catbird convention... about eight of them actually down on the path (and I could hear more in the trees and bushes... they are quite prolific!)

And then it was time to head home and get dry and warm.

JMH

NOT-SO-LONG DISTANCE 2008 - Race #14
Moonlight in Vermont 4 Mile Midnight Road Race
Sunday, July 20, 2008

Or should that be Saturday? I'm so confused...

Ann looked at me like I was even crazier than usual when I said I'd be doing a race at midnight in Vermont... on the other hand, when I first heard about the Moonlight in Vermont race a while back, I thought it sounded like a really fun thing to do. Back when I lived in the country I used to go out for runs in the dark on quiet back roads on a regular basis in the summer... it's a great way to beat the heat! I have a lot of good memories of running along roads in the dark and only seeing one or two cars over the course of 9 or 10 miles... those were the days! So there was no question that I wanted to do tonight's race over in Pownal, VT.

It did seem a bit strange to head out for a race at 10 PM, but as I drove down Madison Avenue toward the highway a just-past-full, orange-tinted moon was peeking through the haze of clouds and from between the tall buildings near the capitol. That moon kept me company all the way to Vermont, and even briefly put in an appearance while we were waiting for things to start... though not long after I arrived at the Pownal Fire Department the clouds moved in and blocked the moon from view. Oh, well...



On my way into town I drove up a long hill and thought "Don't see any markers - whew, at least we're not running up this!" Sigh. You'd think I'd have learned better by now - that's exactly what we did for the last mile and a half of the race... after already having run up a mile of hills...



After picking up my packet and gearing up, there was about a 20 minute wait until it was time to start. We all gathered at the starting line under the flashing lights of an ambulance, tried to hear what the very softspoken RD had to say, and then - off we went, into the night.



It was really quite surreal, following a crowd of runners adorned with glow bracelets and the occasional safety light down the dark road, lit by an occasional street light or house light. The first 3/4 of a mile followed the paved road downhill, and the pack spread out, so that by the time I reached the first turn (which was lit by the lights of the truck serving as a water stop) there were only a few runners visible ahead of me. After the turn the course followed a dirt road downhill for about another 3/4 of a mile. That was fun... essentially no lights other than the runners ahead of me and paper-bagged candle luminara's that had been placed along the edge of the road every tenth of a mile or so. About half way to the bottom of the hill we passed someone playing a violin in the dark; I also passed two youngsters ahead of me who didn't seem to comfortable in the dark. I was enjoying it immensely - heck, after some of the trails I've run at night the dirt road was almost as smooth as pavement! It was quite, though not very cool, and the humidity left me soaked for quickly.



All too soon I reached the next turn, marked by the flashing lights of another emergency vehicle, and started up the next dirt road. And "up" was definitely the order of the evening. Passed a couple more runners along the hill, and walked once or twice to regain my breath, but ran most of it... one big plus to running hills in the dark is you can't see how long they are, so I typically find it easier to convince myself to keep going. Though I really found myself wishing I'd known about the hills earlier - I would have stuck to the flats on my bike today! All in all, other than my heavy breathing, it was very peaceful...

Eventually reached more flashing lights at the 2nd water stop and then headed back to the start on pavement. Up and up and up and up... there were a few moments of level terrain and even a short downhill, but for most part the road climbed back to Pownal Center. Passed a few more runners, walked once or twice, and was very happy to finally reach the crest of that hill and run the relatively level quarter mile to the finish. Crossed the finish in 44:49 - not as quick as I'd hoped given the fast start, but not bad at all considering that more than half the race was climbing.



After that, I dried off, tossed my gear in the car, and waited for the last runners to come over the hill so I could head back down the road I'd just run up on my way back to Albany.

I had a lot of fun running in the dark tonight - I'm guessing it's really cool on a clear night with the moon lighting everything up. Even the hills were fun, in a way... I may not be as well-trained as I'd like this year, but I had enough juice in my legs to run the hills most of the time, despite having done a few hills on the bike five hours or so before the race. If the scheduling works out, I will definitely come back to this one again!

JMH

2008 Event Totals
Run 100.0 mi / 22 hr 11 min
Bike 20 mi / 1 hr 32 min
Snowshoe 45.7 mi / 13 hr 19 min

states visited: MA, NH, NY, VT

16.7 Mile Ride Along the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Saturday, July 19, 2008

I had originally thought I might head to the Berkshires this afternoon and spend some time hiking and riding before heading north to Pownal for the Moonlight in Vermont race at midnight. Between lack of sleep and god-awful heat and humidity, that plan quickly fell by the wayside, and instead I ended up taking a nap for part of the afternoon. But I didn't want to totally ditch getting outside during the day, so early in the evening I headed over to the bike path in Colonie for a short ride.

I took it as a good sign that one of the first things I saw when I got on the path was a deer... good timing, that. The path was surprisingly quiet... I expected to see more people out enjoying the evening but maybe the heat earlier and the threat of possible thunderstorms kept them away. That didn't seem to bother the heron I passed wading through the water chestnuts at the mouth of the Lisha Kill.

Other than an occasional lap up the hill along the old landfill in Niskayuna, and an occasional hilly loop over to the Colonie Town Park, I've been very remiss about pedaling up hills this year... so today I decided to ride the hills past KAPL and GE R&D in Niskayuna. After yesterday's rather hilly run I expected them to hurt a lot more than they did... it was a good reminder of how much I enjoy riding over there occasionally. I was briefly tempted to go down the very steep hill on the other side of GE, but decided that I didn't have the time (since I needed to leave for Vermont by around 10ish) and that I should leave something in my legs for the race later that night...

The ride back was uneventful... just a nice ride on a humid evening. Along the way I spotted several ducks hanging out on a log (I think they were mallards, but it's hard to tell... it was getting toward dusk, which makes it tough to get good pictures) and a female wood duck leading her brood of young ones through the weeds in the water. And I caught glimpses of a nice sunset over the Mohawk River... always a plus!

JMH

7.6 Mile Run at Thacher Park
Friday, July 18, 2008

I had a variety of thoughts about where I might go for a run today, with Plotter Kill and Grafton being top candidates... but then thunderstorm warnings started coming in, and I really didn't want to risk getting caught out in the middle of nowhere if a big one swept through. And then I got an e-mail with all sorts of final instructions for the Grand Island Trail Marathon, and that left me feeling more than a little bummed. So when I stepped outside and felt like I'd walked into a sauna, for a while I was pretty sure I wouldn't be running at all today.

But a brief storm did blow through, and managed to cool things down a bit, so that I started thinking I might head over the Five Rivers... but on the way, the Helderberg Escarpment started calling to me, and the next thing I knew I was at the Hop Field parking lot getting ready to run a few miles at Thacher.

I guess some days just call for running along the top of a cliff... not that the ones at Thacher are particularly risky, since they're securely fenced off and you'd actually have to put some effort into falling off! But the air was cool (initially, at least) and the trails were quiet... just what I needed.

Followed the escarpment trail all the way to the location of the old pool... of course, right now all that's there is a big fenced-off lot with the remains of a pool at one end. Initially word was the pool would be closed for two years while they rebuilt it, but there don't seem to be any signs of that happening this year. From there I headed back over to the Paint Mine area and up Paint Mine Road, a hill I've run many times between the Indian Ladder trail run, the first Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon, and numerous runs of my own. Stopped at the beaver pond in hopes of spotting one of nature's furry builders, but no luck.

From there it was a matter of looping around, along Beaver Dam Road and then down along the ever-muddy Hop Field trails. Pushed fairly hard along the last stretch of trail (because I wanted to get back to the car before the ranger showed up to lock the gate) but then at the last moment detoured onto the trail along the creek and over to the park maintanence buildings, where turned around and retraced my path back the the Hop Field picnic area... what can I say, I just didn't want the run to be over quite so soon.

I guess I needn't have worried about the ranger, because the parking area was a hubbub of activity... looked like a group was getting ready for some type of dusk hike or something. So I changed into dry clothes, tossed my gear in the car, and headed off into the sunset (well, actually, with the sunset at my back...)

JMH

A Visit to Schodack Island State Park
1.9 Mile Ride & 3.3 Mile Hike
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Schodack Island State Park official site

4.7 Mile Ride at Papscanee Island Nature Preserve
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Open Space Institute Papscanee Island site

Papscanee Island is one of two parks/preserves along the Hudson River just south of Albany that used to be an island, but due to dredging and filling is now an extension of the shoreline. The floodplain was farmed by the Mohican Indians until the mid-1600's, when Kiliaen van Rensselaer bought the land from the Mohicans. The area continued to be used primarily for farming, and in fact sections of the preserve continue to be used for agriculture today. (For more information see both the OSI Papscanee site and RTLC/ECOS's Natural Areas of Rensselaer County New York, 2nd Edition.)

I had been to the Papscanne Preserve twice before, but never ventured very far from the small parking lot. Since it turned out to be a fairly hot humid day I decided to do some riding instead of running, and packed my ATB to explore the trails at both Papscanee and Schodack Island State Park, which is just a few miles south.

The trails in the southern end of the preserve were fairly narrow and twisty, which made for some fun riding - fortunately no one else was there when I started out, as there was no room to pass! Took one trail down to an small open area near the river, which was nice. Heading north, the trails became dirt and grass access roads, which were much easier riding, though muddy in a few spots. I had two more opportunities to go down to the Hudson, with better views north and south along the water.

I might come back here sometime to go for a short run... it's a fairly nice area that would be easy running, the main disadvantage being that it's fairly small and one loop would only be five miles or so... but that's a decent short run.

JMH

THE YEAR OF THE DNS
No Grand Island Marathon for Me
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

A tough decision, but I think the right one... I barely finished the Nipmuck Marathon in 2007 and I was much better trained than I am this year. So Grand Island would have most likely been a miserable slog at best and a DNF at worst. Add in a lot of driving and a decent amount of money for rooms, food, and so on... and the trip to Michigan seemed to be making less and less sense.

For whatever reason, I just don't seem to have the motivation to pursue long distances this year... so I think I'll spend the rest of the year focussing on what I think of as mid-distance (10-20 miles) and see if I can build up a good base for some longer distances next year.

I've already found an alternate to Grand Island... that weekend I'll be heading to Erie, PA, for the Discover Presque Isle Duathlon. Should be a good time, and a good distraction from being bummed about deciding not to go to Michigan.

JMH

19.5 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The last few days had my legs feeling a bit tired, so I headed over to the bike path west of Schenectady for some easy riding. I got off to a late start, so I parked at Lock 8 and rode west to get in the road segments through Rotterdam Junction with as much daylight remaining as possible.

Today was the day for critters! I glimpsed a great blue heron on the bank of the old Erie Canal... of course, he flew off when I stopped, but in the process I spotted a fairly sedate female wood duck and her ducklings and two green herons. Later on I saw more wood ducks on the section of old canal west of Rotterdam Junction, and best of all - a beaver! I spent more than a few minutes watching him swim through the waters of the old canal (and trying to get a few clear pictures... it was getting dim under the trees) and then watching him snack on some plants on the bank. How cool is that? I very pleased to see the beavers are back over there... hopefully people will leave them alone and they'll flourish.

On the way back I also saw the same wood duck and ducklings from earlier, and spotted two kingfishers - one even had a fish in his mouth. Of course, he flew off before I could get a picture.

Since it was getting darker (and chillier) I hustled along the path from Lock 8 to SCCC and back, with only a couple of pauses to take pictures of the sun setting over the river and the nearly full moon rising.

Legs still feel tired... I'll probably take it easy tomorrow too... possibly with a trip to run at Schodack Island State Park on the Hudson River. Though who knows... if I'm feeling good maybe I'll go someplace more challenging like Grafton or one of the parks in Massachusetts. Just have to see how I'm feeling in the morning...

JMH

WHO KNOWS? 2008 - Race #13
New Paltz Summer XC Series #2
Lou's Run 4.4 Mile Trail Race
Monday, July 14, 2008

Wow, that was tough. We ran some of the same trails that are used for the Pfalz Point 10 mile Trail Challenge in September, but in reverse. Lots of rollers for the first part of the run, along the fields and then into the woods... and then the climbing began and didn't seem like it was ever going to stop! Up and up we went, until we finally reached the water stop... and then had to climb some more to reach the top of the hill and then loop back around. After that it was mostly a long downhill, which is tough in a different way, for me at least... but I pounded it out and made up some time I lost during all the uphill early on. Eventually we ran down through one of the fields bordering the road to the Spring Farm trailhead, and then had to run up the same road we had to walk up earlier to get to the race... that made for a tough finish! But I did a decent job, crossing the finish in 49 min 12 seconds... not a phenomenal pace for 4.4 miles, but not bad for this year, especially considering the hills during the first 2/3 of the course.

As always, the Gunks were beautiful... the drive to the mountains, with Sky Top and the ridges off in the distance, always takes my breath away, and the views of the Catskill Mountains from Spring Farm are always wonderful. I'm glad I decided to do the summer series this year... it's a bit of driving, but it also provides additional opportunities for me to visit a place I absolutely love. And it feels good to push hard over a shorter distance and not worry as much about running out of gas before the race is over.

Next up: the Moonlight in Vermont 4 mile Midnight Road Race... running a race in the dark should be a lot of fun!

2008 Event Totals
Run 96.0 mi / 21 hr 26 min
Bike 20 mi / 1 hr 32 min
Snowshoe 45.7 mi / 13 hr 19 min

states visited: MA, NH, NY, VT

14.3 Mile Ride Along the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail
Monday, July 14, 2008

Wallkill Valley Rail Trail website

I'm not 100% certain, but I think I first heard about the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail when I got my copy of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's Rail-to-Trails: New York guidebook. (Published in 2002 - can it be that long ago?!!! - it sadly seems to be out of print, probably because of the challenges in keeping such a guide up-to-date.) Originally the corridor for the Wallkill Valley Railroad in 1866, the line was finally abandoned in 1977. In the 1980's the idea for a multi-use trail on the railbed was proposed, and the trail was implemented in the early 1990's after the formation of the Wallkill Valley Rail-Trail Association. The trail is an interesting exercise in cooperation between a variety of groups - the WVRTA, the town of New Paltz, and private landowners in Rosendale who allow passage along the trail on their property. I was interested in the trail for two reasons. First, the description indicated that it's very scenic, passing through some gorgeous countryside and over a number of redecked bridges (including the partially redecked Rosendale High Bridge at the northern terminus.) And second, it's near an area I love to visit (the 'Gunks) and seemed like a natural side trip for one of my treks down there to run or ride in the mountains. Unfortunately, prior to this summer that had never really worked out, but my plan to run several of the New Paltz Summer XC Series races at the Mohonk Preserve and Minnewaska suggested several opportunities to get in some riding before doing one of the short trail races.

Unfortunately, I wasn't confident of my ability to ride 30 miles or so on the trail and then go run 4 miles in the mountains, so I decided to limit my ride to only half the trail starting at New Paltz. I decided to do the northern route first because I really wanted to see the bridge at Rosendale! So I parked at the municipal parking off Huguenot Street - in and of itself a very interesting historical side trip - and headed for the trail.

As with most rail trails, the path was basically level and mostly straight, though this one several portions with very gentle slopes (barely noticeable) and enough curves to keep things interesting. The surroundings were really pleasant - mostly wooded, shady and relatively cool. Initially I passed a number of other trail users (running, walking, and riding) but that dropped off after a mile or so. I passed a couple of nice views of the Gunks ridges, but for the most part all I could see were the surrounding woods - very nice!

Initially the path was a cinder doubletrack - exactly what a rail trail should be, a relatively easy surface to ride but not cleared and leveled to the extent that the Auburn and Lehigh Valley trails are out near Rochester. After crossing over the Rosendale town line (and technically leaving the "official" Wallkill Valley Rail Trail) the path dropped down in spots to singletrack, but still fairly easy riding, except in spots where I had to try to avoid mudpuddles.

The redecked railroad bridge across the Wallkill River was one of the best I've ever seen. In addition to the path across the bridge there were benches along both sides for people to sit and enjoy the view (or the sounds of the nearby shooting range, as I heard on the way back.)

As I neared the end of the trail, the railbed passed along some ridges and through some very impressive rock cuts - clearly blasted out to allow access for the rail line. At the northern end of the trail I rode out on the redecked Rosendale railroad bridge, high above the Rondout Creek and Rt 213. I'm not terribly comfortable with heights, though typically I'm OK if there are secure railings, etc... but this was high enough to make me a little anxious even though it was very secure. At the same time, the views were excellent!

Along the way I passed two young deer (young enough that they still had their spots) bouncing through the woods) and a number of the ubiquitous rabbits. At one point on the way back I stopped to take a drink of water and heard birds making a lot of noise in the bushes next to the path - it turned out there was a nest there with some very noisy, very hungry youngsters!

Stopping to take pictures slowed me down enough that I made it back to New Paltz just in time to change and head over to Mohonk. But I did stop to take pictures of a few of the stone buildings I passed on Huguenot Street... maybe next time I can explore the area a little bit more than I was able to today. I know I definitely want to ride the southern section of the trail and see if it's a nice as the northern part!

JMH

5.5 Mile Run in the Pine Bush
Sunday, July 13, 2008







A short run at the Great Dune/Madison Pinelands section of the Pine Bush... short because (1) I wanted to have something left in my legs for tomorrow evening's Lou's Run 4 miler at the Mohonk Preserve, and (2) my legs are still a bit tired from yesterday's long ride, and (3) I'm a wuss.







Weather-wise, today was an oddball... grey and raining in the morning, then sunshine in the afternoon... and by the time I got to the trails the clouds were coming back in. Felt some light sprinkles of rain at various poits during the run, until about a half mile from the finish when it started raining fairly hard. Perversely, that almost convinced me to add a mile or two... it felt good to be running in the rain... but decided to play it cautious instead and wrapped up as I originally planned.







I finally looked closely at the "trails closed" notice at the trailhead kiosk - apparently that's until the end of October! So much for the hope that they were only doing minor "habitat restoration" along the blue and yellow trails, and what I saw today confirms that. It looks like their stripping the entire hill overlooking the southern stretch of the yellow trail. Another shady stretch of trail that's going to end up opn and sunny... sigh. I understand the reasons for restoring the unique and endangered pine barrens ecosystem,and can even agree with them on some level... but it still bothers me to see trees being cut down and reduced to a pile of logs and wood chips.







JMH