the Way of the Turtle

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