the Way of the Turtle

15 Mile Run at Grafton Lakes State Park & Pittstown State Forest
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

I had a tough time getting out the door today and despite having planned to head east to Grafton for a couple of days... I almost stayed closer to home. But in the end a desire for a change of scenery combined with wanting to test a new pack I just got (a Go-Lite Rush hydration pack) won out and I found myself at the Mill Pond parking area at Grafton Lakes State Park a little after 4 PM, ready for an extended trek through the park and over to Pittstown State Forest and back.

The basic route of my trek was the same as last August - an 8+ mile loop starting at Grafton Lakes, then following an ancient road (the Kautz Hollow trail) down off the Rensellaer plateau to Pittstown State Forest and looping back up onto the plateau and to the park via another ancient road (the Old Ward Hollow trail.) I found the route in a mountain biking article by Gary Thomann in Adirondack Sports & Fitness a few years back. When I ran it last year I added a bit of the Spruce Bog trail to bypass a section of Long Pond Rd and also ran the trail around Shaver Pond to extend the distance a bit. I definitely found it a challenging place to run - the Kautz Hollow trail drops about 800 feet of elevation of 2.5 miles, and then the Old Ward Hollow trail gains all of that back over about 2 miles. Not to mention a plethora of rocks and roots - definitely technical terrain in a lot of spots.

I decided to mix things up a bit and ran around Shaver Pond first this time... that's a really fun trail to run, mostly non-technical and the pond is in view almost the entire time. Then I headed along the Long Pond trail on the northern shore of Long Pond. That was much tougher going - rocks, rocks, and more rocks, very technical and slow going, since I didn't see any need to risk wrenching an ankle or knee or falling and slamming into all those rocks.

Briefly headed the wrong way after the canoe launch, then headed back along the old road to what is now known as the Kautz Hollow trail, I think. It would be driveable using a 4WD truck with lots of undercarriage clearance, though it's steep and twisty enough that I wouldn't want to drive down it. Along the way I briefly spotted some kind of grouse off in the woods, and had several red squirrels that seemed a bit perplexed at what I was doing out there. Other than the road/trail and an old junked truck, there really isn't much to indicate any signs of so-called civilization, though there are lots of old stone walls that show the area was once cleared and settled.

After about 2 miles I came out on a road and unfortunately took a wrong turn which left me running about 3/4 of a mile downhill... and then of course hiking back up that same hill to get back on course. Should have trusted my feelings when it first seemed like I was going the wrong way (mainly because there were too many houses around.) Anyway, eventually I was back on track and making my way along the much less populated State Fire Lane through Pittstown State Forest. Along the way I kept my eyes out for the Pittstown trailheads - they're listed in my ECOS Natural Areas of Rensselaer County guidebook and I've heard numerous references to them from the local mountain bikers - but didn't see any until just before the turn that would take me back to Grafton Lakes. And of course at that turn, onto old Ward Hollow Road - the fun began. Because Ward Hollow Rd is an eroded bed of mud and rocks that climbs pretty much non-stop for about a mile and a half. In other words, an uphill hike.

As I trudged up the hill I saw plenty of evidence of work to clear the trail, as well as many signs of ATVs - don't know if the latter were for the work parties or "recreational" riders. The stream running alongside the path makes it all very scenic in spots, with lots of little waterfalls, a welcome distraction from the uphill slog. Eventually I reached something resembling the "top", and then it was decision-time: which way to go? In the end I decided to do something different and took off down the RPI trail, which according to my maps would intersect with the Kautz Hollow trail eventually and allow me to follow Long Pond Rd back to the car.

It was getting darker and darker as I made my way along the RPI trail... a lot of it was fairly level and I was able to run, though I was going slower and slower thanks to the decreasing visibility and my increasing tiredness. I also found myself wondering what kids of research RPI does in that stretch of woods... it was probably not the bet plan to have watched all three Jurassic Park movies over the past few days, since every sounds in the darkening woods made me think about scientists cloning viscious predators in secret...

Eventually I found myself back at the parking area for the Long Pond canoe launch. I paused the pull on my jacket, more for visibility though it was also getting a bit chilly, and then I hiked up the road to the point where it headed downhill. It sould have been easy going, running mostly downhill on a hard-packed dirt road, but that mile and a half seemed to take forever. I was awfully pleased to see the turn that I knew would take me the last half mile back to the Mill Pond parking lot and my car. And then it was just a matter of changing into some dry clothes and hopefully finding some solid food to eat on the way home - I really should have packed a sub for after the run.

So - a successful if somewhat slow-moving excursion. The new pack worked great; it's a worthwhile addition to my ever-growing pile of gear, and one that I think will see a lot of use on longer hauls. And one of these days I definitely have to get to Grafton Lakes early enough that I don't finish up in the dark...

JMH