TURTLE ON THE ROAD, Part 5 -
ICE!
2.7 Mile Walk at the Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
TURTLE ON THE ROAD, Part 4 -
Driving Through the Adirondacks
Sunday, January 31, 2010
I love driving through the Adirondacks... lakes and mountains all around, and often long stretches of road with few or no houses... just wonderful nature.
The drive home from Eagle Bay was a blast from the past... it turned out to go past North Creek, where I've twice run Race the Train in early August. The stretch along the Hudson River was particularly nice... it was too bad the pull-offs with informational kiosks were unplowed, so I wasn't able to stop and get any good pictures of the river.
Passed a number of trailheads along the way... reminders of how many cool places there are to explore and how little time there is to do the exploring...
JMH
Driving Through the Adirondacks
Sunday, January 31, 2010
I love driving through the Adirondacks... lakes and mountains all around, and often long stretches of road with few or no houses... just wonderful nature.
The drive home from Eagle Bay was a blast from the past... it turned out to go past North Creek, where I've twice run Race the Train in early August. The stretch along the Hudson River was particularly nice... it was too bad the pull-offs with informational kiosks were unplowed, so I wasn't able to stop and get any good pictures of the river.
Passed a number of trailheads along the way... reminders of how many cool places there are to explore and how little time there is to do the exploring...
JMH
Saturday, January 30, 2010
TURTLE ON THE ROAD, Part 2 -
1.5 Mile Walk at Utica Marsh
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Once Ann arrived and got settled in we decided to get outside for a bit of walking before it got dark, so we headed over to the Utica Marsh trailhead. Unfortunately it's a much more interesting place to walk in warmer weather, when the water isn't frozen and there are plenty of ducks and herons around.
We walked down the powerline right-of-way to the tower and I climbed up to the top while Ann wandered around down below. For some reason she ended up over by the railroad tracks, so we followed them back to the canal path. Lots of footprints along the way - rabbits, mice, deer, and possibly a fox (or maybe just a dog.)
From there we walked down the canal path to the 2nd tower, and this time Ann climbed to the top too. Not that there was much to see - just the view out over the frozen marsh, with the center of Utica off in the distance.
When we got back to the trailhead I took a quick detour to snap some photos of the railroad bridge and the canal while Ann went back to the car to try to warm up... while it wasn't as cold as yesterday it was still pretty darn chilly.
JMH
1.5 Mile Walk at Utica Marsh
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Once Ann arrived and got settled in we decided to get outside for a bit of walking before it got dark, so we headed over to the Utica Marsh trailhead. Unfortunately it's a much more interesting place to walk in warmer weather, when the water isn't frozen and there are plenty of ducks and herons around.
We walked down the powerline right-of-way to the tower and I climbed up to the top while Ann wandered around down below. For some reason she ended up over by the railroad tracks, so we followed them back to the canal path. Lots of footprints along the way - rabbits, mice, deer, and possibly a fox (or maybe just a dog.)
From there we walked down the canal path to the 2nd tower, and this time Ann climbed to the top too. Not that there was much to see - just the view out over the frozen marsh, with the center of Utica off in the distance.
When we got back to the trailhead I took a quick detour to snap some photos of the railroad bridge and the canal while Ann went back to the car to try to warm up... while it wasn't as cold as yesterday it was still pretty darn chilly.
JMH
TURTLE ON THE ROAD, Part 1 -
Feathered Friends at Red Roof
Saturday, January 30, 2010
For a variety of reasons Ann and I ditched my plans to drive out to Rochester last night and decided instead to meet in Utica this afternoon. I had hoped to get out for a short run this morning but no such luck, especially after I lost a bunch of time trying to get my e-mail program working again... my guess is that sometime next week I'm going to have to restore it from an old backup and will lose the last 6 months or so of my stored e-mails. Hopefully there's nothing too important in there... it's particularly annoying because this is the 2nd time in a couple of months that this sort of thing has happened. Previously it was due to a fancy new upgrade to the software that I foolishly tried (if it ain't broke...) but this time around I have no clue what triggered the problem.
Once I reached the hotel and got settled in I decided to spend some time out on the walkway that ran along the outside of the 2nd floor... as it happened my room was right near the front of hotel, with several trees nearby, and a number of birds were flitting back and forth. I caught glimpses of a couple of chickadees and I think a rather quiet bluejay (I saw some flashes of blue but there was none of the usual screeching that they do.) There were also two male cardinals flitting around, and one spent enough time on the ground looking for food that I managed to get some pictures of him. A bit further off there were the ever-present crows cawing to each other. Not exactly what I was expecting at the Utica Red Roof Inn... but a welcome diversion nonetheless!
JMH
Feathered Friends at Red Roof
Saturday, January 30, 2010
For a variety of reasons Ann and I ditched my plans to drive out to Rochester last night and decided instead to meet in Utica this afternoon. I had hoped to get out for a short run this morning but no such luck, especially after I lost a bunch of time trying to get my e-mail program working again... my guess is that sometime next week I'm going to have to restore it from an old backup and will lose the last 6 months or so of my stored e-mails. Hopefully there's nothing too important in there... it's particularly annoying because this is the 2nd time in a couple of months that this sort of thing has happened. Previously it was due to a fancy new upgrade to the software that I foolishly tried (if it ain't broke...) but this time around I have no clue what triggered the problem.
Once I reached the hotel and got settled in I decided to spend some time out on the walkway that ran along the outside of the 2nd floor... as it happened my room was right near the front of hotel, with several trees nearby, and a number of birds were flitting back and forth. I caught glimpses of a couple of chickadees and I think a rather quiet bluejay (I saw some flashes of blue but there was none of the usual screeching that they do.) There were also two male cardinals flitting around, and one spent enough time on the ground looking for food that I managed to get some pictures of him. A bit further off there were the ever-present crows cawing to each other. Not exactly what I was expecting at the Utica Red Roof Inn... but a welcome diversion nonetheless!
JMH
Friday, January 29, 2010
COLD!!!!!
2 Mile Walk on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Friday, January 29, 2009
My plan was to go take some pictures of the crazy ice along the Mohawk while there was still daylight and then go for a 4-5 mile run in the woods, but the walk to and from the car after work convinced me to bail on the run... while the air temperature was bearable, the windchill was absolutely brutal. I bundled up fairly well and split my walk on the bike path into two parts with a car ride to warm up in between - and I still felt like an icicle by the time I was done.
The ice and water look to have receded a bit since Wednesday but it was still pretty cool all the same... ice, ice everywhere. Didn't see the beavers from Wednesday night - they were either back snug in their lodge or waiting for dark to come out - but I saw a few trees with gnawed bark, so that explains what they've been eating. For the most part everything seemed to be hunkered down waiting out the artic blasts that blew through every few minutes... though there was a chickadee that came flying over at one point and perched in a tree nearby chattering away. I wonder if he was hoping I had some seeds with me?
On the way home the moon came up... full moon on a basically clear night, pure magic for a winter night run. But unfortunately it's just too freakin' cold for me to risk it. But there'll be other nights...
JMH
2 Mile Walk on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Friday, January 29, 2009
My plan was to go take some pictures of the crazy ice along the Mohawk while there was still daylight and then go for a 4-5 mile run in the woods, but the walk to and from the car after work convinced me to bail on the run... while the air temperature was bearable, the windchill was absolutely brutal. I bundled up fairly well and split my walk on the bike path into two parts with a car ride to warm up in between - and I still felt like an icicle by the time I was done.
The ice and water look to have receded a bit since Wednesday but it was still pretty cool all the same... ice, ice everywhere. Didn't see the beavers from Wednesday night - they were either back snug in their lodge or waiting for dark to come out - but I saw a few trees with gnawed bark, so that explains what they've been eating. For the most part everything seemed to be hunkered down waiting out the artic blasts that blew through every few minutes... though there was a chickadee that came flying over at one point and perched in a tree nearby chattering away. I wonder if he was hoping I had some seeds with me?
On the way home the moon came up... full moon on a basically clear night, pure magic for a winter night run. But unfortunately it's just too freakin' cold for me to risk it. But there'll be other nights...
JMH
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
MUSKRATS & BEAVERS & OWLS, OH MY!
6.7 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Quads are still a bit sore from the weekend's workouts, but I bit the bullet and headed over to the bike path to get in a few miles of relatively easy running. The night was a lot clearer than I expected it to be and the waxing moon lit everything up to an incredible extent... even with all the snow gone there was no need at all for a light while I ran. I started out by heading east to the redecked bridge and the overlook at the bend in the river, then once I got back to the park headed west to a little ways past the bridge out to the penninsula. Took it pretty slow, and definitely felt my lack of conditioning during the last mile or so. Guess I just need to be patient... not the easiest thing to do but what other option do I have?
I've really got to try and get back there during daylight hours on Friday, maybe right after work... the water/ice levels are incredibly high everywhere along the path, and the whole time I was running I could hear the ice shifting and cracking all around. It's really quite unnerving... constantly sounds like some large creature is crashing its way through the ice. I'd love to get some photos before the water recedes back to something like normal levels.
There was a good-sized muskrat swimming in the open water under the redecked railroad bridge... it was too dark to see him clearly but I could still make out his shape gliding through the water. I heard a few other noises along the way that were most likely muskrats heading back into the water as I went by.
When I got back to the park the first time, I noticed a large, dark shape out on the ice that's currently covering the boat launch area. Didn't remember it from before, and as I got closer and heard gnawing noises I knew why - it was a large beaver up on the ice munching away on something. Eventually he got tired of me hanging around and slipped back into the water, giving a couple of those very distinctive tail smacks as he swam around. When I returned to the park the second time, he was back up on the ice gnawing away, and a second beaver was off in the water plants a little ways off. I watched them both for a while before once again the one up on the ice got tired of me hanging around and headed back into the water.
As I was heading west I also heard a very vocal owl hooting away - I may have even heard a second owl answering the first. On the way back to the park, only the one was calling. There were also ducks calling to each other in the flooded field near where I turned around. No question this was a good night for wildlife, even if I could barely see some of the more interesting critters.
JMH
6.7 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Quads are still a bit sore from the weekend's workouts, but I bit the bullet and headed over to the bike path to get in a few miles of relatively easy running. The night was a lot clearer than I expected it to be and the waxing moon lit everything up to an incredible extent... even with all the snow gone there was no need at all for a light while I ran. I started out by heading east to the redecked bridge and the overlook at the bend in the river, then once I got back to the park headed west to a little ways past the bridge out to the penninsula. Took it pretty slow, and definitely felt my lack of conditioning during the last mile or so. Guess I just need to be patient... not the easiest thing to do but what other option do I have?
I've really got to try and get back there during daylight hours on Friday, maybe right after work... the water/ice levels are incredibly high everywhere along the path, and the whole time I was running I could hear the ice shifting and cracking all around. It's really quite unnerving... constantly sounds like some large creature is crashing its way through the ice. I'd love to get some photos before the water recedes back to something like normal levels.
There was a good-sized muskrat swimming in the open water under the redecked railroad bridge... it was too dark to see him clearly but I could still make out his shape gliding through the water. I heard a few other noises along the way that were most likely muskrats heading back into the water as I went by.
When I got back to the park the first time, I noticed a large, dark shape out on the ice that's currently covering the boat launch area. Didn't remember it from before, and as I got closer and heard gnawing noises I knew why - it was a large beaver up on the ice munching away on something. Eventually he got tired of me hanging around and slipped back into the water, giving a couple of those very distinctive tail smacks as he swam around. When I returned to the park the second time, he was back up on the ice gnawing away, and a second beaver was off in the water plants a little ways off. I watched them both for a while before once again the one up on the ice got tired of me hanging around and headed back into the water.
As I was heading west I also heard a very vocal owl hooting away - I may have even heard a second owl answering the first. On the way back to the park, only the one was calling. There were also ducks calling to each other in the flooded field near where I turned around. No question this was a good night for wildlife, even if I could barely see some of the more interesting critters.
JMH
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
MY PLANS, THEY ARE A' CHANGING...
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Just got word that the EMS Beaver Lake 5k Snowshoe Race has been postponed until Feb. 13... so that's now off my calendar (I'm also signed up to run Camp Saratoga that day, and I'd much rather run that... though Beaver Lake does have the distinction of being the only race where I've ever finished in the top 10. Of course, there were only ten of us running...) This no snow thing is the pits... even the course at this weekend's Sidehiller race up in NH looks like it's going to need to be modified due to poor conditions.
I'm also 99% certain I'm changing my plans for the first weekend of February... still planning to run Northfield on Saturday, but instead of returning to Albany and heading up to Saratoga on Sunday for the Winterfest 5k I'm now looking at spending the night somewhere in VT and then heading to the Northern Vermont Snowshoe Challenge at Smuggler's Notch on Sunday in hopes that the race field will be small enough that I'll actually qualify for Nationals in March. And even if it's not, I'll get to run a new course in an area I've never visited before, which will help make up for my disappointment at having to miss Saratoga to do it.
JMH
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Just got word that the EMS Beaver Lake 5k Snowshoe Race has been postponed until Feb. 13... so that's now off my calendar (I'm also signed up to run Camp Saratoga that day, and I'd much rather run that... though Beaver Lake does have the distinction of being the only race where I've ever finished in the top 10. Of course, there were only ten of us running...) This no snow thing is the pits... even the course at this weekend's Sidehiller race up in NH looks like it's going to need to be modified due to poor conditions.
I'm also 99% certain I'm changing my plans for the first weekend of February... still planning to run Northfield on Saturday, but instead of returning to Albany and heading up to Saratoga on Sunday for the Winterfest 5k I'm now looking at spending the night somewhere in VT and then heading to the Northern Vermont Snowshoe Challenge at Smuggler's Notch on Sunday in hopes that the race field will be small enough that I'll actually qualify for Nationals in March. And even if it's not, I'll get to run a new course in an area I've never visited before, which will help make up for my disappointment at having to miss Saratoga to do it.
JMH
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Season of the SnōShū 2010 - Race #6
Curly's Record Run 4mi Snowshoe Race
Sunday, January 24, 2010
When I first ran Curly's Record Run back in 2008 I discovered what a beautiful place Pittsfield State Forest is and ever since I've welcomed any opportunity to go there. Brad Herder's question earlier in the week - did people want to try a new, rolling course or would we prefer the "classic" Curly's course - took me a bit by surprise and, I must admit, left me with mixed reactions. On the one hand, I love the tradition behind the race, especially the fact the we run down the Shadow Trail, where in 1944 Beth Herder's father "Curly" Voll set a downhill record of 1 min 12 seconds, and I also really enjoy revisiting trails and courses that I've run before. On the other hand, I also love exploring new trails, and my bad knees wouldn't miss going down the Shadow Trail one bit - I typically end up creeping down to the bottom at a snail's pace to avoid taking out one or both knees along the way. In the end I was happy to run whatever course Brad and Beth set up for us, though I wasn't at all surprised when the majority of responses preferred to keep the original course.
Despite glimpses of sunshine on the drive over, Pittsfield was under grey skies when I arrived - but not too cold, and at least it wasn't raining! Went through my usual pre-race prep and then hung around chatting with the usual suspects while we waited for things to get going. Looked like a bigger turnout than the last few years, which always raises the question of where to start... as a slower runner (a much slower runner) I don't want to end up in front of faster folks, but being behind a crowd of hikers also has its disadvantages. Of course, since the first stretch is uphill I wouldn't be running for long after the start anyway.
I don't know what Konrad had for the breakfast but he took off like a shot at the beginning and pulled ahead by a good bit once we turned on to the rolling trail behind the ski jump. Not long after we crossed Berry Pond Road the long climb started and then all of us toward the back slowed down. I have to admit that after yesterday's race and 2 1/2 miles on the trails at Savoy, I really wasn't looking forward to the mile or so climb up the mountain... but after the climb up the Turner Trail two weeks ago, this one didn't seem as bad as it had in the past. Still, I was very happy to make the turn onto the Pine Mountain trail with somewhat more runnable terrain.
Of course, that section is all brief, and before I knew it I was looking down the Shadow Trail, which looks deceptively innocent at first - a bit of downhill which disappears around a curve. Having gone down it twice before I knew what was ahead - down down down down down! I know plenty of runners love this stretch because they can scream down the hill and make up some of the time the hike up took. My bad knees always remind me not to do that, and today was no exception - even as careful as I was, one of them gave me two twinges on some of the steeper sections. I was actually pretty pleased at my pace - slow but not as slow as previous years - and at the fact that I made it a good part of the way down before a group of half a dozen runners came barrelling down the hill, led by Walter K, whose knees are even worse than mine! (He told me later that he picked up too much speed and didn't dare slow down because he would have crashed - all I know is he was flying!) I pulled over and watched them go by, and a bit later was really happy to finally see the bottom of the steep parts - while there's still downhill after that it's all runnable for me, and actually quite nice, since the trail runs through some evergreen groves and allow a brook for a while.
A number of folks have told me that one of the toughest parts of Curlys is what happens after the downhill and I agree - just when you think the race is pretty much over, there's still 1 1/4 miles to run over rolling terrain and on some narrow, winding paths through the woods. It looked like I had a possibility of breaking an hour today, so I pushed the pace as much as I was able for the last stretch - maybe a bit too much, since I ended up having to walk part of the way across the field just before the finish. By then it was clear that I wouldn't beat that elusive hour , but I did manage to cross the finish with a time similar to last year's... not so bad, considering all the miles I haven’t been running over the last few months.
Last year after finishing the race I changed into dry clothes and hiked up to Berry Pond via what has become one of the my favorite trails, the Lulu Cascade. It's not the easiest hike, there's a lot of climbing and winding singletrack involved, but it's well worth the effort, because the brook is filled with small waterfalls and cascades. I thought about doing the same thing this year but my legs quickly convinced me otherwise. Instead, I watched Brad shooting footage of four of our most esteemed comrades for his Shady Esperanto contest video... it's definitely worth checking out the results on www.berskshiresports.org. I know I laughed a lot watching them go through their paces...
So, another fantastic race put on by Brad and Beth and all their amazing volunteers - thanks, guys! We are incredibly fortunate that week after week we have people willing to do all the hard boring work so that we can have our fun. And while the current word is this may have been the last Curly's Record Run, who knows - "fun runs" are always a possibility (though fitting one into our packed weekend schedule might be a challenge) or maybe if we ask nicely and offer assistance pre- and post-race they can be convinced to stage a "double" race like the Hoxie Thunderbolt/Covered Bridge combo at Greylock and include at least part of the Curlys course in the mix. The possibilities boggle the mind - just imagine a Turner Trail/Curlys Record Run combo, for example...
(With luck someday Brad and Beth may forgive me for ever suggesting that...)
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe 22.5 mi, 5 hr 39 min
states visited: MA, NY, VT
Curly's Record Run 4mi Snowshoe Race
Sunday, January 24, 2010
When I first ran Curly's Record Run back in 2008 I discovered what a beautiful place Pittsfield State Forest is and ever since I've welcomed any opportunity to go there. Brad Herder's question earlier in the week - did people want to try a new, rolling course or would we prefer the "classic" Curly's course - took me a bit by surprise and, I must admit, left me with mixed reactions. On the one hand, I love the tradition behind the race, especially the fact the we run down the Shadow Trail, where in 1944 Beth Herder's father "Curly" Voll set a downhill record of 1 min 12 seconds, and I also really enjoy revisiting trails and courses that I've run before. On the other hand, I also love exploring new trails, and my bad knees wouldn't miss going down the Shadow Trail one bit - I typically end up creeping down to the bottom at a snail's pace to avoid taking out one or both knees along the way. In the end I was happy to run whatever course Brad and Beth set up for us, though I wasn't at all surprised when the majority of responses preferred to keep the original course.
Despite glimpses of sunshine on the drive over, Pittsfield was under grey skies when I arrived - but not too cold, and at least it wasn't raining! Went through my usual pre-race prep and then hung around chatting with the usual suspects while we waited for things to get going. Looked like a bigger turnout than the last few years, which always raises the question of where to start... as a slower runner (a much slower runner) I don't want to end up in front of faster folks, but being behind a crowd of hikers also has its disadvantages. Of course, since the first stretch is uphill I wouldn't be running for long after the start anyway.
I don't know what Konrad had for the breakfast but he took off like a shot at the beginning and pulled ahead by a good bit once we turned on to the rolling trail behind the ski jump. Not long after we crossed Berry Pond Road the long climb started and then all of us toward the back slowed down. I have to admit that after yesterday's race and 2 1/2 miles on the trails at Savoy, I really wasn't looking forward to the mile or so climb up the mountain... but after the climb up the Turner Trail two weeks ago, this one didn't seem as bad as it had in the past. Still, I was very happy to make the turn onto the Pine Mountain trail with somewhat more runnable terrain.
Of course, that section is all brief, and before I knew it I was looking down the Shadow Trail, which looks deceptively innocent at first - a bit of downhill which disappears around a curve. Having gone down it twice before I knew what was ahead - down down down down down! I know plenty of runners love this stretch because they can scream down the hill and make up some of the time the hike up took. My bad knees always remind me not to do that, and today was no exception - even as careful as I was, one of them gave me two twinges on some of the steeper sections. I was actually pretty pleased at my pace - slow but not as slow as previous years - and at the fact that I made it a good part of the way down before a group of half a dozen runners came barrelling down the hill, led by Walter K, whose knees are even worse than mine! (He told me later that he picked up too much speed and didn't dare slow down because he would have crashed - all I know is he was flying!) I pulled over and watched them go by, and a bit later was really happy to finally see the bottom of the steep parts - while there's still downhill after that it's all runnable for me, and actually quite nice, since the trail runs through some evergreen groves and allow a brook for a while.
A number of folks have told me that one of the toughest parts of Curlys is what happens after the downhill and I agree - just when you think the race is pretty much over, there's still 1 1/4 miles to run over rolling terrain and on some narrow, winding paths through the woods. It looked like I had a possibility of breaking an hour today, so I pushed the pace as much as I was able for the last stretch - maybe a bit too much, since I ended up having to walk part of the way across the field just before the finish. By then it was clear that I wouldn't beat that elusive hour , but I did manage to cross the finish with a time similar to last year's... not so bad, considering all the miles I haven’t been running over the last few months.
Last year after finishing the race I changed into dry clothes and hiked up to Berry Pond via what has become one of the my favorite trails, the Lulu Cascade. It's not the easiest hike, there's a lot of climbing and winding singletrack involved, but it's well worth the effort, because the brook is filled with small waterfalls and cascades. I thought about doing the same thing this year but my legs quickly convinced me otherwise. Instead, I watched Brad shooting footage of four of our most esteemed comrades for his Shady Esperanto contest video... it's definitely worth checking out the results on www.berskshiresports.org. I know I laughed a lot watching them go through their paces...
So, another fantastic race put on by Brad and Beth and all their amazing volunteers - thanks, guys! We are incredibly fortunate that week after week we have people willing to do all the hard boring work so that we can have our fun. And while the current word is this may have been the last Curly's Record Run, who knows - "fun runs" are always a possibility (though fitting one into our packed weekend schedule might be a challenge) or maybe if we ask nicely and offer assistance pre- and post-race they can be convinced to stage a "double" race like the Hoxie Thunderbolt/Covered Bridge combo at Greylock and include at least part of the Curlys course in the mix. The possibilities boggle the mind - just imagine a Turner Trail/Curlys Record Run combo, for example...
(With luck someday Brad and Beth may forgive me for ever suggesting that...)
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe 22.5 mi, 5 hr 39 min
states visited: MA, NY, VT
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Petersburg Pass, Pileated Woodpecker, & Packed Park Parking
Saturday, January 23, 2010
When I pulled up directions to Readsboro via North Adams on my TomTom, it tried to route me along route 2 through Grafton and over Petersburg Pass... since I've never driven that way before, I decided not to risk it on the way there. The trip home, on the other hand, was a different matter... especially since going that way would allow me to check out the view from the top of the pass and the winter parking at Grafton Lakes State Park.
There are a couple of organized bike rides in the summer that go up and over Petersburg Pass. I have trouble imagining ever doing that, but then I'm not a terribly dedicated rider. From the MA side it's a non-stop 4 mile climb, with an elevation gain of somewhere around 1600 feet, and then a similar descent down into NY. The first time I drove over the pass it was foggy and the climb seemed endless. At the top there's a large dirt parking area which provides access to the Taconic Crest Trail (TCT) which starts to the south near Pittsfield and finishes 35 miles later across the VT border north of Williamstown. I've stopped there a couple of times to take pictures, but never in the winter.
The parking area was a muddy, rutted mess with a surprising number of cars there. I took some pictures looking off into MA in the east, then walked south along the well-packed snow on the TCT for a little ways to try and get some photos to the west. Not much luck, though I did get some of the trail and the area around it. Once I got back to the car, I realized that the best views in the past were from the open hillside above the parking area, and as luck would have it -there was a well-packed path up there. So up I went to take a few more pictures before hopping back in the car and heading on my way.
As I was looking up at the hill above the parking area I noticed several cleared paths running to the top of the mountain... my first thought was "Looks like an old ski area." Apparently I was right... what's really surprising to me is that the ski area was operating until around 1980! I've only ever known this as a natural area, so it boggles my mind that only 30 years ago it was part of a ski resort.
Traffic was pretty light along route 2, and I was taking it pretty easy, since all my running and hiking earlier had left me a bit tired... which is probably why I spotted the pileated woodpecker swinging in a sumac tree alongside the road, presumably munching on sumac berries. I've never managed to get a decent photo of one, so I was tempted to stop and try, but there really wasn't anywhere to pull over, and no doubt he would have flown away when the car stopped. I'm always a little bit surprised at how big they are and how red their heads are... very cool indeed.
photo courtesy of wikipedia
Grafton is far closer to the border than I've ever realized, and not much later I turned off route 2 to check out the winter entrance to the park... actually, it's the same place I've always parked when I've gone there, the Mill Pond parking area. I suspected the lot would be packed with snowmobile trailers and I was right... there were a few cars there, but it was mostly trucks and trailers. I'd like to get over there to do some snowshoeing this winter; what I saw todays suggests that going during the week is probably a much better idea than the weekend (once again, that whole "working for a living" thing gets in the way of what's truly important...)
JMH
Saturday, January 23, 2010
When I pulled up directions to Readsboro via North Adams on my TomTom, it tried to route me along route 2 through Grafton and over Petersburg Pass... since I've never driven that way before, I decided not to risk it on the way there. The trip home, on the other hand, was a different matter... especially since going that way would allow me to check out the view from the top of the pass and the winter parking at Grafton Lakes State Park.
There are a couple of organized bike rides in the summer that go up and over Petersburg Pass. I have trouble imagining ever doing that, but then I'm not a terribly dedicated rider. From the MA side it's a non-stop 4 mile climb, with an elevation gain of somewhere around 1600 feet, and then a similar descent down into NY. The first time I drove over the pass it was foggy and the climb seemed endless. At the top there's a large dirt parking area which provides access to the Taconic Crest Trail (TCT) which starts to the south near Pittsfield and finishes 35 miles later across the VT border north of Williamstown. I've stopped there a couple of times to take pictures, but never in the winter.
The parking area was a muddy, rutted mess with a surprising number of cars there. I took some pictures looking off into MA in the east, then walked south along the well-packed snow on the TCT for a little ways to try and get some photos to the west. Not much luck, though I did get some of the trail and the area around it. Once I got back to the car, I realized that the best views in the past were from the open hillside above the parking area, and as luck would have it -there was a well-packed path up there. So up I went to take a few more pictures before hopping back in the car and heading on my way.
As I was looking up at the hill above the parking area I noticed several cleared paths running to the top of the mountain... my first thought was "Looks like an old ski area." Apparently I was right... what's really surprising to me is that the ski area was operating until around 1980! I've only ever known this as a natural area, so it boggles my mind that only 30 years ago it was part of a ski resort.
Traffic was pretty light along route 2, and I was taking it pretty easy, since all my running and hiking earlier had left me a bit tired... which is probably why I spotted the pileated woodpecker swinging in a sumac tree alongside the road, presumably munching on sumac berries. I've never managed to get a decent photo of one, so I was tempted to stop and try, but there really wasn't anywhere to pull over, and no doubt he would have flown away when the car stopped. I'm always a little bit surprised at how big they are and how red their heads are... very cool indeed.
photo courtesy of wikipedia
Grafton is far closer to the border than I've ever realized, and not much later I turned off route 2 to check out the winter entrance to the park... actually, it's the same place I've always parked when I've gone there, the Mill Pond parking area. I suspected the lot would be packed with snowmobile trailers and I was right... there were a few cars there, but it was mostly trucks and trailers. I'd like to get over there to do some snowshoeing this winter; what I saw todays suggests that going during the week is probably a much better idea than the weekend (once again, that whole "working for a living" thing gets in the way of what's truly important...)
JMH
HEY! WHERE ARE ALL THE RUNNERS?
2.4 Mile Snowshoe at Savoy Mountain State Forest
Saturday, January 23, 2010
I fell for the wildness of Savoy Mountain State Forest the first time I went there, back in August 1995. Last winter the usual snowshoe races there were cancelled due to trails being badly blocked by ice storm damage, and this year the location is being held in reserve as a backup in case one of the other races ends up with no snow. Since it was an absolutely beautiful sunny day, I decided a visit to Savoy was in order before heading back to Albany.
I actually ended up stopping at the Hairpin Turn on the way up the mountain to take photos of the mammoth icicles on the rocks alongside the road. Too bad some yahoo decided to shoot them with paintballs, but even with a few orange splotches they were still incredibly impressive. I stopped again on the way back down, for more icicle photos and a few shots of the view off into the valleys and over toward Greylock. Awesome!
There were only a couple of cars in the parking lot when I reached the North Pond picnic area - a definite change from every other time I've been there and the lots has been packed with runners' vehicles. Best of all, there was plenty of snow... now I just had to hope the trail was well-broken. After running the race this morning (and running for the past two evenings) I really didn't feel up to any significant trail breaking. I took it as a good sign that while I was getting ready a group from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts down in North Adams came back to their vehicle. At the very least the trail would be broken from them...
As it turned out, I had nothing to be concerned about. Other than the picnic area which was a bit churned up, the main trail was in fantastic shape, well-packed from snowshoes and XC skis. If anything, it was in better shape than some of the times I've raced on it. I started out on the North Pond trail, circling around the edge of the pond through evergreens and all the big rocks (just snowy lumps today.) The sun was filtering down through the trees and it was all absolutely gorgeous. Along the way I passed the 2nd of Savoy's Balanced Rocks - I visited the one in the eastern half of the forest back in 2005 and 2006, and I'm sure I've run past this one plenty of times and just never realized that it's also called Balance Rock. I decided to head out on the South Pond loop after about half a mile or so... the North Pond loop is a bit longer than I wanted to go for, and there's always a chance we'll be running it sometime in February.
My plan was to take the South Pond loop to the Tyler Swamp trails, walk/run around the swamp, and then head back on the rest of South Pond and finally back the way I came. Those trails are a muddy mess in the summer but there was enough snow today that it seemed like a good time to do them. Unfortunately, the Tyler Swamp loop was unbroken, and a few steps convinced me that I really didn't want to be breaking trail for 1.5 miles. So I just kept on the South Pond trail above the shore of South Pond. Followed some tracks down to the pond itself, and got to see South Pond up close for the first time. Fantastic!
Back at the intersection I made a short detour up the hill to the camp sites, but the road to the cabins had been plowed and apparently someone was in residence, so I headed back down to the North Pond trail and back to the picnic area. Walked over to the beach to get some photos of North Pond covered in snow, though the sun wasn't at the best angle and there were folks out on the ice at the far end of the pond. Still, altogether a nice end to a great short trek through Savoy State Forest... one of these days I need to get over there for a longer run in some parts of the forest we don't use for races.
JMH
2.4 Mile Snowshoe at Savoy Mountain State Forest
Saturday, January 23, 2010
I fell for the wildness of Savoy Mountain State Forest the first time I went there, back in August 1995. Last winter the usual snowshoe races there were cancelled due to trails being badly blocked by ice storm damage, and this year the location is being held in reserve as a backup in case one of the other races ends up with no snow. Since it was an absolutely beautiful sunny day, I decided a visit to Savoy was in order before heading back to Albany.
I actually ended up stopping at the Hairpin Turn on the way up the mountain to take photos of the mammoth icicles on the rocks alongside the road. Too bad some yahoo decided to shoot them with paintballs, but even with a few orange splotches they were still incredibly impressive. I stopped again on the way back down, for more icicle photos and a few shots of the view off into the valleys and over toward Greylock. Awesome!
There were only a couple of cars in the parking lot when I reached the North Pond picnic area - a definite change from every other time I've been there and the lots has been packed with runners' vehicles. Best of all, there was plenty of snow... now I just had to hope the trail was well-broken. After running the race this morning (and running for the past two evenings) I really didn't feel up to any significant trail breaking. I took it as a good sign that while I was getting ready a group from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts down in North Adams came back to their vehicle. At the very least the trail would be broken from them...
As it turned out, I had nothing to be concerned about. Other than the picnic area which was a bit churned up, the main trail was in fantastic shape, well-packed from snowshoes and XC skis. If anything, it was in better shape than some of the times I've raced on it. I started out on the North Pond trail, circling around the edge of the pond through evergreens and all the big rocks (just snowy lumps today.) The sun was filtering down through the trees and it was all absolutely gorgeous. Along the way I passed the 2nd of Savoy's Balanced Rocks - I visited the one in the eastern half of the forest back in 2005 and 2006, and I'm sure I've run past this one plenty of times and just never realized that it's also called Balance Rock. I decided to head out on the South Pond loop after about half a mile or so... the North Pond loop is a bit longer than I wanted to go for, and there's always a chance we'll be running it sometime in February.
My plan was to take the South Pond loop to the Tyler Swamp trails, walk/run around the swamp, and then head back on the rest of South Pond and finally back the way I came. Those trails are a muddy mess in the summer but there was enough snow today that it seemed like a good time to do them. Unfortunately, the Tyler Swamp loop was unbroken, and a few steps convinced me that I really didn't want to be breaking trail for 1.5 miles. So I just kept on the South Pond trail above the shore of South Pond. Followed some tracks down to the pond itself, and got to see South Pond up close for the first time. Fantastic!
Back at the intersection I made a short detour up the hill to the camp sites, but the road to the cabins had been plowed and apparently someone was in residence, so I headed back down to the North Pond trail and back to the picnic area. Walked over to the beach to get some photos of North Pond covered in snow, though the sun wasn't at the best angle and there were folks out on the ice at the far end of the pond. Still, altogether a nice end to a great short trek through Savoy State Forest... one of these days I need to get over there for a longer run in some parts of the forest we don't use for races.
JMH
Season of the SnōShū 2010 - Race #5
Hoot Toot & Whistle 3.3mi Snowshoe Race
Saturday, January 23, 2010
The Hoot Toot & Whistle snowshoe race is a relatively new entree in our snowshoeing buffet. Organized by Bob and Denise Dion (of Dion Snowshoes) assisted by what appears to be a significant portion of the population of Readsboro, VT, it was first introduced last year after several races were indefinitely delayed due to ice storm damage. Bob described the course as a fairly flat run along the Deerfield River, so I suspect most of us showed up expecting a relatively easy run - and were surprised by one of the toughest courses of the season, thanks to loose powdery snow and an abundance of very gentle uphill grades. So the question was - would this be a repeat of last year, or would the HTW treat us a bit more gently this time around?
The drive into Readsboro is gorgeous and I once again I found myself wishing I lived someplace like that... maybe someday. I've driven in from North Adams both times - one of these days I'll have to make the drive over from Bennington instead and check out the scenery through the Green Mountains. Just as last year, the number of folks that were directing traffic and helping get us checked in was impressive; it's great to see so much local support for the race. I changed into my running gear and jogged the 6/10 of a mile from where my car was parked to the race finish at the trailhead where the Catamount Trail meets route 100.
The course is actually pretty cool, since it mostly runs along the Catamount Trail, a 300 mile XC ski/snowshoe trail that runs across VT from the MA border all the way to Canada. This particular section also has a lot of history behind it, since it runs along the bed of the old Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington Railroad, built in the mid 1880's as a connection to the rail line running through the Hoosac Tunnel south in MA. The HT&W ran to Wilmington until 1937, continued running to Readsboro until 1971, and provided an important link between the network of railroads to the south and various local mills, especially for the paper industry. Apparently the locals referred to the railroad as the Hoot Toot & Whistle, which is where our race gets its name. (For more information about the HT&W I recommend both http://www.htandw.com/ and a short article found on wikipedia. Marc Howes' excellent http://www.hoosactunnel.net/ also has a section on the current state of many sections of the old railbed as well as some nice historical data.)
We started out all clustered near the start/finish banner just off the road, but then Bob had us walk down to the clearing we started in last year and gave us a quick briefing about the course and what to do once we finished. Shortly after that he gave the word and off we went... only to come to a halt a few moments later when the crowd hit the start of the mostly singletrack course. But we managed to get ourselves in line pretty quickly, and within the first half mile or so things the group had stretched out to the point where none of us at the back were on anybody's heels.
About a mile in we started dodging the front runners on their way back, so I was very happy to see the "turnaround loop" break off to the right another quarter mile or so later. At least, I was until I discovered that the trail along the stretch was the toughest so far - the railbed was somewhat packed, but the side loop through the woods was pretty loose and, for me at least, difficult going. I was definitely glad when we rejoined the railbed and started heading back!
The run back was an exercise in keeping up my pace as best I could and not blowing up before the finish... for the most part I think I succeeded, though there were a few spots where I had no choice but to stop and walk. As I ran the final stretch through the evergreens along route 100, I'm certain I heard the chickadees having a good laugh at all the crazy people gasping their way below them. All I can say is I was might pleased to finally round that last curve and cross the finish, and in a decent time (for me) to boot - 46:06, an improvement of over 10 minutes over last year (like I said, I found the course mighty hard last year!)
I have to admit to something of a love-hate relationship with this course. There's a heck of a lot I like about it - the link to the history of the area always appeals to me, and the surroundings are wonderful, from the many views of the rock-strewn Deerfield River to the icicles hanging down the sides of the rock cuts and the sunshine filtering down through the rows of evergreens at the point where we turn around to come back. I also think its wonderful how welcome everyone makes us feel. But at the same time, the course is relentless, with no real opportunities to take a break climbing up or running down a long hill - it's just go, go, go the whole time, much of it on very gentle grades that look like they should be easy to run but are actually deceptively tough, at least for me. Can I really look forward to a course that makes me suffer like HTW does? Well, OK, I can, and I plan to keep coming back as long as I'm able. Thank you, Bob and Denise and all the fine folks of Readsboro who have worked so hard to make it possible for us to have so much fun suffering on a beautiful sunny January morning!
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe 18.5 mi, 4 hr 36 min
states visited: MA, NY,VT
Hoot Toot & Whistle 3.3mi Snowshoe Race
Saturday, January 23, 2010
The Hoot Toot & Whistle snowshoe race is a relatively new entree in our snowshoeing buffet. Organized by Bob and Denise Dion (of Dion Snowshoes) assisted by what appears to be a significant portion of the population of Readsboro, VT, it was first introduced last year after several races were indefinitely delayed due to ice storm damage. Bob described the course as a fairly flat run along the Deerfield River, so I suspect most of us showed up expecting a relatively easy run - and were surprised by one of the toughest courses of the season, thanks to loose powdery snow and an abundance of very gentle uphill grades. So the question was - would this be a repeat of last year, or would the HTW treat us a bit more gently this time around?
The drive into Readsboro is gorgeous and I once again I found myself wishing I lived someplace like that... maybe someday. I've driven in from North Adams both times - one of these days I'll have to make the drive over from Bennington instead and check out the scenery through the Green Mountains. Just as last year, the number of folks that were directing traffic and helping get us checked in was impressive; it's great to see so much local support for the race. I changed into my running gear and jogged the 6/10 of a mile from where my car was parked to the race finish at the trailhead where the Catamount Trail meets route 100.
The course is actually pretty cool, since it mostly runs along the Catamount Trail, a 300 mile XC ski/snowshoe trail that runs across VT from the MA border all the way to Canada. This particular section also has a lot of history behind it, since it runs along the bed of the old Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington Railroad, built in the mid 1880's as a connection to the rail line running through the Hoosac Tunnel south in MA. The HT&W ran to Wilmington until 1937, continued running to Readsboro until 1971, and provided an important link between the network of railroads to the south and various local mills, especially for the paper industry. Apparently the locals referred to the railroad as the Hoot Toot & Whistle, which is where our race gets its name. (For more information about the HT&W I recommend both http://www.htandw.com/ and a short article found on wikipedia. Marc Howes' excellent http://www.hoosactunnel.net/ also has a section on the current state of many sections of the old railbed as well as some nice historical data.)
We started out all clustered near the start/finish banner just off the road, but then Bob had us walk down to the clearing we started in last year and gave us a quick briefing about the course and what to do once we finished. Shortly after that he gave the word and off we went... only to come to a halt a few moments later when the crowd hit the start of the mostly singletrack course. But we managed to get ourselves in line pretty quickly, and within the first half mile or so things the group had stretched out to the point where none of us at the back were on anybody's heels.
About a mile in we started dodging the front runners on their way back, so I was very happy to see the "turnaround loop" break off to the right another quarter mile or so later. At least, I was until I discovered that the trail along the stretch was the toughest so far - the railbed was somewhat packed, but the side loop through the woods was pretty loose and, for me at least, difficult going. I was definitely glad when we rejoined the railbed and started heading back!
The run back was an exercise in keeping up my pace as best I could and not blowing up before the finish... for the most part I think I succeeded, though there were a few spots where I had no choice but to stop and walk. As I ran the final stretch through the evergreens along route 100, I'm certain I heard the chickadees having a good laugh at all the crazy people gasping their way below them. All I can say is I was might pleased to finally round that last curve and cross the finish, and in a decent time (for me) to boot - 46:06, an improvement of over 10 minutes over last year (like I said, I found the course mighty hard last year!)
I have to admit to something of a love-hate relationship with this course. There's a heck of a lot I like about it - the link to the history of the area always appeals to me, and the surroundings are wonderful, from the many views of the rock-strewn Deerfield River to the icicles hanging down the sides of the rock cuts and the sunshine filtering down through the rows of evergreens at the point where we turn around to come back. I also think its wonderful how welcome everyone makes us feel. But at the same time, the course is relentless, with no real opportunities to take a break climbing up or running down a long hill - it's just go, go, go the whole time, much of it on very gentle grades that look like they should be easy to run but are actually deceptively tough, at least for me. Can I really look forward to a course that makes me suffer like HTW does? Well, OK, I can, and I plan to keep coming back as long as I'm able. Thank you, Bob and Denise and all the fine folks of Readsboro who have worked so hard to make it possible for us to have so much fun suffering on a beautiful sunny January morning!
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe 18.5 mi, 4 hr 36 min
states visited: MA, NY,VT
Friday, January 22, 2010
BACK TO THE GERBIL WHEEL
4 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Friday, January 22, 2010
Ordinarily I wouldn't go for a run the evening before a race... but for whatever reason, I really wanted to run tonight. So I headed over to the bike path for an easy 4 miles in the dark.
Long time readers of my ramblings might remember my referring to a section of the bike path as the Gerbil Wheel after training for the Eastern States 20 Mile Road Race back in 2007... basically there's a 2 mile stretch of the path from the Niskayuna Lions Park to Lock 7 Rd that's plowed in the winter, and I needed to put in a lot of miles on pavement, so I spent many nights running back and forth, back and forth... hence the name.
I ended up wishing I'd brought my camera when I pulled into the parking lot and discovered that there's a lit Christmas tree in the front window of the old Niskayuna train station (the bike path runs along the old railbed.) Very pretty... I'll have to get to back there soon and get a photo at night.
One of the things I enjoy about running at night in the winter is how still it can be... another is how bright it can be with even a little moonlight. Didn't need a headlamp at all, and I could see the path clearly the whole time. The river is mostly frozen over, but I still heard ducks off in the distance when I neared the point to turn around.
It was a nice clear night so I could see plenty of stars and constellations, though Orion and the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) were the only ones I recognized. Mars was shining redly in the east, and what I thought was a planet to the south turned out to be Sirius (actually, Sirius A... Sirius B is a tiny white dwarf star that orbits Sirius A and isn't visible to the naked eye.)
If not for the race tomorrow I probably would have stayed out for another 2 or 3 miles, but instead I forced myself to stop when I got back to the park... last year the Hoot Toot & Whistle snowshoe race was one of the toughest ones of the season, so I definitely want to have some juice in my legs for tomorrow morning...
JMH
4 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Friday, January 22, 2010
Ordinarily I wouldn't go for a run the evening before a race... but for whatever reason, I really wanted to run tonight. So I headed over to the bike path for an easy 4 miles in the dark.
Long time readers of my ramblings might remember my referring to a section of the bike path as the Gerbil Wheel after training for the Eastern States 20 Mile Road Race back in 2007... basically there's a 2 mile stretch of the path from the Niskayuna Lions Park to Lock 7 Rd that's plowed in the winter, and I needed to put in a lot of miles on pavement, so I spent many nights running back and forth, back and forth... hence the name.
I ended up wishing I'd brought my camera when I pulled into the parking lot and discovered that there's a lit Christmas tree in the front window of the old Niskayuna train station (the bike path runs along the old railbed.) Very pretty... I'll have to get to back there soon and get a photo at night.
One of the things I enjoy about running at night in the winter is how still it can be... another is how bright it can be with even a little moonlight. Didn't need a headlamp at all, and I could see the path clearly the whole time. The river is mostly frozen over, but I still heard ducks off in the distance when I neared the point to turn around.
It was a nice clear night so I could see plenty of stars and constellations, though Orion and the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) were the only ones I recognized. Mars was shining redly in the east, and what I thought was a planet to the south turned out to be Sirius (actually, Sirius A... Sirius B is a tiny white dwarf star that orbits Sirius A and isn't visible to the naked eye.)
If not for the race tomorrow I probably would have stayed out for another 2 or 3 miles, but instead I forced myself to stop when I got back to the park... last year the Hoot Toot & Whistle snowshoe race was one of the toughest ones of the season, so I definitely want to have some juice in my legs for tomorrow morning...
JMH
Thursday, January 21, 2010
4.3 mile Run in the Albany Pine Bush
Thursday, January 21, 2009
Dumb, dumb, dumb. You'd think by now I'd know to have the snowshoes in the car, just in case there's more snow than I expected... like tonight, when I hit the trails near the Pine Bush Discovery Center expecting them to be a mix of packed snow and bare ground, and instead find several inches of crusty snow, lots of footprints, and some very icy spots. Would have been easy going on snowshoes... ended up being a very tough run using my screw shoes, tough enough that I cut it short. Oh, well. Lesson learned, I guess... at least until next time...
JMH
Thursday, January 21, 2009
Dumb, dumb, dumb. You'd think by now I'd know to have the snowshoes in the car, just in case there's more snow than I expected... like tonight, when I hit the trails near the Pine Bush Discovery Center expecting them to be a mix of packed snow and bare ground, and instead find several inches of crusty snow, lots of footprints, and some very icy spots. Would have been easy going on snowshoes... ended up being a very tough run using my screw shoes, tough enough that I cut it short. Oh, well. Lesson learned, I guess... at least until next time...
JMH
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
COMING SOON TO A NYS PARK NEAR YOU -
Park Closures?
Wednesday, January 20, 2009
NYS Governor Patterson released his proposed 2010-11 budget recently... and it's not looking good for NY State Parks. According to the budget documents, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) oversee nearly 4.9 million acres of open space statewide, including 2.6 million acres in the Adirondack Park and nearly 288,000 acres in the Catskill Forest Preserve. Additionally, the State park system comprises 214 parks and historic sites. The proposed budget cuts the funding for both by 12.5 - 13 % as one of many attempts by the Governor to close the enormous budget shortfalls being faced by New York State.
In and of themselves, these reductions don't seem terribly extreme. The problem is, the OPRHP has already seen their budget cut by 25% over the past 18 months. According to a press release from Parks & Trails NY, this has resulted in the loss of nearly 1000 permanent and seasonal staff. The additional cuts seem likely to force the state to reduce services and close at least some state parks, at a time when we need affordable options close to home for outdoor relaxation and vacations. Some reports estimate that $5 in revenue are gained for every $1 the state spends on parks; sadly, the understandable attempt to reduce the budget shortfall seems likely to not only cost us access to some of our outdoor areas, but also to cost the state and local communities much needed revenues.
I don't know what the right answer is - the budget needs to be balanced (or at least brought closer to being balanced) but we also need our parks and green spaces. PTNY has information on their site about contacting the governor and state representatives to let them know how important this issue is. Perhaps investing in our parks could be a way to add much-needed jobs and revenue in NY, at a time when they are most definitely needed. Only time will tell just how much of a commitment NYS is willing to make to our wonderful park system... though I suspect we're likely to see less rather than more.
JMH
Park Closures?
Wednesday, January 20, 2009
NYS Governor Patterson released his proposed 2010-11 budget recently... and it's not looking good for NY State Parks. According to the budget documents, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) oversee nearly 4.9 million acres of open space statewide, including 2.6 million acres in the Adirondack Park and nearly 288,000 acres in the Catskill Forest Preserve. Additionally, the State park system comprises 214 parks and historic sites. The proposed budget cuts the funding for both by 12.5 - 13 % as one of many attempts by the Governor to close the enormous budget shortfalls being faced by New York State.
In and of themselves, these reductions don't seem terribly extreme. The problem is, the OPRHP has already seen their budget cut by 25% over the past 18 months. According to a press release from Parks & Trails NY, this has resulted in the loss of nearly 1000 permanent and seasonal staff. The additional cuts seem likely to force the state to reduce services and close at least some state parks, at a time when we need affordable options close to home for outdoor relaxation and vacations. Some reports estimate that $5 in revenue are gained for every $1 the state spends on parks; sadly, the understandable attempt to reduce the budget shortfall seems likely to not only cost us access to some of our outdoor areas, but also to cost the state and local communities much needed revenues.
I don't know what the right answer is - the budget needs to be balanced (or at least brought closer to being balanced) but we also need our parks and green spaces. PTNY has information on their site about contacting the governor and state representatives to let them know how important this issue is. Perhaps investing in our parks could be a way to add much-needed jobs and revenue in NY, at a time when they are most definitely needed. Only time will tell just how much of a commitment NYS is willing to make to our wonderful park system... though I suspect we're likely to see less rather than more.
JMH
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Qualifying for Nationals...
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
... or not qualifying, in my case. Sunday the preliminary results looked good, with my squeaking into the last spot, but the official results have been released and I guess there were USSSA members who hadn't been counted, because now I'm too far down the list.
I'm planning to run the Camp Saratoga race in mid-February which is another chance - but it's a big enough race that my chances of qualifying are probably slim. And I don't know that I want to skip one of the other races I'd been planning to do (mostly local events where I get to see my friends) just to drive a long way to a qualifier where the result will probably be the same as this past Sunday.
In the grand scheme of things it's pretty insignificant... but I did find the idea of running at Nationals exciting (even though I'd no doubt be far behind everybody else) so finding out today that I didn't was a bit of a bummer. So it goes...
JMH
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
... or not qualifying, in my case. Sunday the preliminary results looked good, with my squeaking into the last spot, but the official results have been released and I guess there were USSSA members who hadn't been counted, because now I'm too far down the list.
I'm planning to run the Camp Saratoga race in mid-February which is another chance - but it's a big enough race that my chances of qualifying are probably slim. And I don't know that I want to skip one of the other races I'd been planning to do (mostly local events where I get to see my friends) just to drive a long way to a qualifier where the result will probably be the same as this past Sunday.
In the grand scheme of things it's pretty insignificant... but I did find the idea of running at Nationals exciting (even though I'd no doubt be far behind everybody else) so finding out today that I didn't was a bit of a bummer. So it goes...
JMH
Monday, January 18, 2010
1.3 Mile Walk on the Ontario Pathways Trail
Monday, January 18, 2009
Lots of ice with a bit of slush and a few stretches of snow covered the path, so not the easiest walking I've done recently... I'd have been smarter to use my screw shoes. Fortunately it was short enough and flat enough that while slow going it wasn't a problem. The recent rain and snow melt had the stream running well, so the waterfalls were looking pretty good. All in all, not a bad walk on a cold, grey, damp day... and the Phelps trailhead is close enough to the Thruway that it didn't take me too far out of my way on the drive back to Albany.
JMH
Monday, January 18, 2009
Lots of ice with a bit of slush and a few stretches of snow covered the path, so not the easiest walking I've done recently... I'd have been smarter to use my screw shoes. Fortunately it was short enough and flat enough that while slow going it wasn't a problem. The recent rain and snow melt had the stream running well, so the waterfalls were looking pretty good. All in all, not a bad walk on a cold, grey, damp day... and the Phelps trailhead is close enough to the Thruway that it didn't take me too far out of my way on the drive back to Albany.
JMH
Sunday, January 17, 2010
CRITTERS, CRITTERS EVERYWHERE...
Sunday, January 17, 2010
While I was running Ann walked down to the trailhead we parked at a few weeks ago and spent some time feeding the chickadees... good thing too, because when we went back after the race not only was there a small crowd of people there with seed, but the little guys were apparently pretty full, since they weren't nearly as quick to come to us for food.
And it wouldn't be a trip to Mendon with seeing at least a few deer... there were two in the woods near the trailhead when we pulled up, and then later as were were leaving the park there were about half a dozen foraging right near the park office. Traffic was pretty busy at that spot, what with all the events going on for the annual Mendon Winterfest, so I didn't get any photos.
I did stop when we passed a small, mostly frozen pond on the way home and saw geese all over the ice... once we pulled over we saw why, one end was open water and some of the geese and a few ducks were splashing around. I suspect Ann just shook her head at my stopping to take more pictures of geese and ducks, but for whatever reason the scene struck me enough that I was willing to delay lunch for a few minutes to get some pictures.
JMH
Sunday, January 17, 2010
While I was running Ann walked down to the trailhead we parked at a few weeks ago and spent some time feeding the chickadees... good thing too, because when we went back after the race not only was there a small crowd of people there with seed, but the little guys were apparently pretty full, since they weren't nearly as quick to come to us for food.
And it wouldn't be a trip to Mendon with seeing at least a few deer... there were two in the woods near the trailhead when we pulled up, and then later as were were leaving the park there were about half a dozen foraging right near the park office. Traffic was pretty busy at that spot, what with all the events going on for the annual Mendon Winterfest, so I didn't get any photos.
I did stop when we passed a small, mostly frozen pond on the way home and saw geese all over the ice... once we pulled over we saw why, one end was open water and some of the geese and a few ducks were splashing around. I suspect Ann just shook her head at my stopping to take more pictures of geese and ducks, but for whatever reason the scene struck me enough that I was willing to delay lunch for a few minutes to get some pictures.
JMH
Season of the SnōShū 2010 - Race #4
Mendon Winterfest 10k Snowshoe Race
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Another fun but challenging event put on by Mort & Tim of Goose Racing/RoadsArePoison and their excellent crew of volunteers. Mendon Ponds park is one of the most beautiful parks in the Rochester area (which is saying a lot, given all the fantastic green spaces they have out that way) and one which host many of the trail and snowshoe events in the area. This was my third time running this course, so I knew what to expect - lots of hills! Course conditions were pretty much what I expected, given the warm weather we've had for a couple of days and the fact that those trails are used by a lot of skiers when there's snow - the trails were solidly packed down, some spots were more ice than snow, and in a few places they had to re-route the course to keep us on snow. On the plus side, packed snow usually means fast times and I have no doubt that contributed to my fastest time yet on this course, just under 1 hr 22 min. On the minus side, the pounding means my knees were a bit sore afterwards, but that will pass...
As we were standing around waiting for the race to start (apparently there was a local runner who was on his way) I was surprised to see Bob Dion of Dion Snowshoes come walking up. We chatted a bit about this and that, and he told me about an orienteering race he and Denise did at Mendon last winter, wandering through the full variety of terrain that Mendon has to offer (something about snowshoeing through a swamp...) I guess in retrospect I shouldn't have been surprised to see him, since his company is one of the sponsors and Medved Running & Walking is the local distributor for Dion Snowshoes... but having seen him yesterday running at Greylock I wasn't expecting there to be anybody other than me who made the trek west to be at the race today.
A bit of additional uncertainty about today's race was added after I spoke to some of the folks yesterday about how today was a qualifier for Nationals in March and they were very quick to say that my qualifying wasn't nearly the long shot I thought it was. Checking the results from the previous two times I ran this, I discovered that both times I would have qualified had I been a member of the United States Snowshoe Association... by virtue of the fact that the top 5 in each age group qualify and there were fewer than five runners in my age group. So I came to today's race wondering if that trend would hold for a third time. Only an uncertainty, not any additional pressure - this is a fairly fast crowd so I knew the result would only depend on how many USSSA members ran in my age group, not on how quickly (or more appropriately for me, how slowly) I finished. And once the official results are tallied... I'll know whether I'm running the 10k championship or 5k citizens race in Syracuse on March 6...
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe 15.2 mi, 3 hr 53 min
states visited: MA, NY
Mendon Winterfest 10k Snowshoe Race
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Another fun but challenging event put on by Mort & Tim of Goose Racing/RoadsArePoison and their excellent crew of volunteers. Mendon Ponds park is one of the most beautiful parks in the Rochester area (which is saying a lot, given all the fantastic green spaces they have out that way) and one which host many of the trail and snowshoe events in the area. This was my third time running this course, so I knew what to expect - lots of hills! Course conditions were pretty much what I expected, given the warm weather we've had for a couple of days and the fact that those trails are used by a lot of skiers when there's snow - the trails were solidly packed down, some spots were more ice than snow, and in a few places they had to re-route the course to keep us on snow. On the plus side, packed snow usually means fast times and I have no doubt that contributed to my fastest time yet on this course, just under 1 hr 22 min. On the minus side, the pounding means my knees were a bit sore afterwards, but that will pass...
As we were standing around waiting for the race to start (apparently there was a local runner who was on his way) I was surprised to see Bob Dion of Dion Snowshoes come walking up. We chatted a bit about this and that, and he told me about an orienteering race he and Denise did at Mendon last winter, wandering through the full variety of terrain that Mendon has to offer (something about snowshoeing through a swamp...) I guess in retrospect I shouldn't have been surprised to see him, since his company is one of the sponsors and Medved Running & Walking is the local distributor for Dion Snowshoes... but having seen him yesterday running at Greylock I wasn't expecting there to be anybody other than me who made the trek west to be at the race today.
A bit of additional uncertainty about today's race was added after I spoke to some of the folks yesterday about how today was a qualifier for Nationals in March and they were very quick to say that my qualifying wasn't nearly the long shot I thought it was. Checking the results from the previous two times I ran this, I discovered that both times I would have qualified had I been a member of the United States Snowshoe Association... by virtue of the fact that the top 5 in each age group qualify and there were fewer than five runners in my age group. So I came to today's race wondering if that trend would hold for a third time. Only an uncertainty, not any additional pressure - this is a fairly fast crowd so I knew the result would only depend on how many USSSA members ran in my age group, not on how quickly (or more appropriately for me, how slowly) I finished. And once the official results are tallied... I'll know whether I'm running the 10k championship or 5k citizens race in Syracuse on March 6...
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe 15.2 mi, 3 hr 53 min
states visited: MA, NY
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Hawk in the City
Saturday, January 16, 2010
For once I spotted a hawk while driving and was in a place where I could safely pull over, get out, and try to get some photos.
Though what this beauty was doing in the middle of Albany (besides getting harassed by an upset group of crows) I have no idea...
JMH
Saturday, January 16, 2010
For once I spotted a hawk while driving and was in a place where I could safely pull over, get out, and try to get some photos.
Though what this beauty was doing in the middle of Albany (besides getting harassed by an upset group of crows) I have no idea...
JMH
Season of the SnōShū 2010 - Race #3
Greylock Glen 3.7mi Snowshoe Race
Saturday, January 16, 2010
There's just something about Greylock that always has me excited to be going there to run. I was also looking forward to today's race because, while I've run all the trails we'd be on in a number of other races, I'd never actually run the Greylock Glen snowshoe race before this season. Add in sunny weather and word from Ed that the conditions should be pretty good, and I came expecting a good morning. And as usual, I wasn't disappointed.
With construction in the Glen moving race HQ from the gazebo to the hilltop across the road, I actually ended up parking up the road from the start of the race, with a nice view of the mountain. Checked in, geared up, and headed to the start to chat with friends and wait for the fun to begin. It was tough to tell exactly where to start - there were a lot of new faces around. But Ed had said the first bit was pretty wide, so with luck that would all sort itself out before we hit the singletrack. And then, with little fanfare (we are a pretty low-key group after all) off we went.
Having run the trails before I had a pretty good idea of what to expect... some rolling terrain early on and then climb, climb, climb. Not as bad as last week's haul up the endless Turner Trail switchbacks, but still more than enough to keep my heart rate up, especially since I'd decided to try and keep Bill and Konrad in sight this time around, and that proved to be a challenge on the long climb up to Old Adams Road. One of the things I love about that stretch of trail is the brook bubbling away off to the right as we wind through the evergreens - I was tempted a couple of times to slow up and take some photos, but decided to push my pace instead and settle for enjoying my surroundings with quick glances. One of these days I need to hike through there so I can take my time and really enjoy it!
When we finally reached Old Adams Road I took advantage of the long downhill and headed down as fast as I could (not that many folks would consider it very fast, but for me I was tearing up the trail.) Ah, snowshoeing, where even tearing downhill can leave you gasping for air at the bottom! No great surprise I slowed up quite a bit as we made our was back through the woods at the base of the mountain, running through some wonderful stands of evergreens and white birch on our way back to the start. But I think my favorite spot along that stretch is the field just past the West Mountain Rd parking area, where once again Greylock dominates the horizon. I ran through there back in June while sweeping part of the half marathon course and was surprised to see the War Memorial shining away in the dusk - I didn't realize it was lit at night. Today the sight was no less awesome, with the mountain frosted with snow and the clouds just beginning to clear away from the summit. No matter how many times I run through there it always takes my breath away (or maybe that's just the running...)
From there it wasn't long before we were back on the rolling terrain we ran out on... that final climb was tough, and Brad had a camera rolling at the top so I actually had to run the last bit and at least try to make it look good. Crossed the finish in good time (for me)- 53:04 - between the warm weather and the good snow conditions I had a good run, tired but not totally fried, and only hacking up half a lung this week - guess the cold that kicked my butt two weeks ago really is on its way out. I actually packed up pretty quickly and headed out, since I needed to get home and get ready for the second trip of the weekend out to Rochester, NY (where I ran into Bob Dion at Sunday morning's Mendon Winterfest 10k snowshoe race, but that's another story.)
Congratulations are due to Laurel Shortell for finishing not only her 100th WMAC race today but her 100th consecutive race - and doing so with her ever-positive attitude and smile. There's also no doubt we owe a huge thank you to Ed for his work organizing the race at a time when he had a lot on his plate, marking the course, and cooking warm food for us to enjoy, and Beth and Brad Herder for handling timing, taking photos and video, and all the folks who helped with the myriad other tasks needed to make today a fun time for all of us out playing on the trails.
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe 9.0 mi, 2 hr 32 min
states visited: MA
Greylock Glen 3.7mi Snowshoe Race
Saturday, January 16, 2010
There's just something about Greylock that always has me excited to be going there to run. I was also looking forward to today's race because, while I've run all the trails we'd be on in a number of other races, I'd never actually run the Greylock Glen snowshoe race before this season. Add in sunny weather and word from Ed that the conditions should be pretty good, and I came expecting a good morning. And as usual, I wasn't disappointed.
With construction in the Glen moving race HQ from the gazebo to the hilltop across the road, I actually ended up parking up the road from the start of the race, with a nice view of the mountain. Checked in, geared up, and headed to the start to chat with friends and wait for the fun to begin. It was tough to tell exactly where to start - there were a lot of new faces around. But Ed had said the first bit was pretty wide, so with luck that would all sort itself out before we hit the singletrack. And then, with little fanfare (we are a pretty low-key group after all) off we went.
Having run the trails before I had a pretty good idea of what to expect... some rolling terrain early on and then climb, climb, climb. Not as bad as last week's haul up the endless Turner Trail switchbacks, but still more than enough to keep my heart rate up, especially since I'd decided to try and keep Bill and Konrad in sight this time around, and that proved to be a challenge on the long climb up to Old Adams Road. One of the things I love about that stretch of trail is the brook bubbling away off to the right as we wind through the evergreens - I was tempted a couple of times to slow up and take some photos, but decided to push my pace instead and settle for enjoying my surroundings with quick glances. One of these days I need to hike through there so I can take my time and really enjoy it!
When we finally reached Old Adams Road I took advantage of the long downhill and headed down as fast as I could (not that many folks would consider it very fast, but for me I was tearing up the trail.) Ah, snowshoeing, where even tearing downhill can leave you gasping for air at the bottom! No great surprise I slowed up quite a bit as we made our was back through the woods at the base of the mountain, running through some wonderful stands of evergreens and white birch on our way back to the start. But I think my favorite spot along that stretch is the field just past the West Mountain Rd parking area, where once again Greylock dominates the horizon. I ran through there back in June while sweeping part of the half marathon course and was surprised to see the War Memorial shining away in the dusk - I didn't realize it was lit at night. Today the sight was no less awesome, with the mountain frosted with snow and the clouds just beginning to clear away from the summit. No matter how many times I run through there it always takes my breath away (or maybe that's just the running...)
From there it wasn't long before we were back on the rolling terrain we ran out on... that final climb was tough, and Brad had a camera rolling at the top so I actually had to run the last bit and at least try to make it look good. Crossed the finish in good time (for me)- 53:04 - between the warm weather and the good snow conditions I had a good run, tired but not totally fried, and only hacking up half a lung this week - guess the cold that kicked my butt two weeks ago really is on its way out. I actually packed up pretty quickly and headed out, since I needed to get home and get ready for the second trip of the weekend out to Rochester, NY (where I ran into Bob Dion at Sunday morning's Mendon Winterfest 10k snowshoe race, but that's another story.)
Congratulations are due to Laurel Shortell for finishing not only her 100th WMAC race today but her 100th consecutive race - and doing so with her ever-positive attitude and smile. There's also no doubt we owe a huge thank you to Ed for his work organizing the race at a time when he had a lot on his plate, marking the course, and cooking warm food for us to enjoy, and Beth and Brad Herder for handling timing, taking photos and video, and all the folks who helped with the myriad other tasks needed to make today a fun time for all of us out playing on the trails.
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe 9.0 mi, 2 hr 32 min
states visited: MA
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
A NIGHT FOR OWLS
5.5 Mile Snowshoe in the Pine Bush
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
I ended up running most of the Albany Running Exchange's Brave the Blizzard course from the past few years... don't know if they're using the same course this year or not. Snow conditions were basically the same as last week... snow on most of the trails but very packed down. The best snowshoeing was actually in the woods between the Pine Bush and Guilderland Elementary... no big surprise, not as many people go back in there.
Much like Monday night, I ran most of the time with no lights... the overcast sky was pretty bright and the snow both reflects enough light to make it easy to see the trail and smooths things out enough that there's much less to trip over. Running at night in the woods without lights is definitely one of the things I really enjoy about running in the winter.
I heard an owl twice tonight! The classical "who, who, who-who-who" that they always use on TV or in a movie for an owl call... I'm guessing a great horned owl from the calls on www.whatbird.com. Interestingly, every time I heard him call, a short time later I heard another animal calling in the trees as well - I originally thought it was some kind of nocturnal squirrel, though that didn't make a lot of sense to me, but listening to the owl calls on Whatbird has me thinking it may have been a short-eared owl. Very cool...
JMH
5.5 Mile Snowshoe in the Pine Bush
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
I ended up running most of the Albany Running Exchange's Brave the Blizzard course from the past few years... don't know if they're using the same course this year or not. Snow conditions were basically the same as last week... snow on most of the trails but very packed down. The best snowshoeing was actually in the woods between the Pine Bush and Guilderland Elementary... no big surprise, not as many people go back in there.
Much like Monday night, I ran most of the time with no lights... the overcast sky was pretty bright and the snow both reflects enough light to make it easy to see the trail and smooths things out enough that there's much less to trip over. Running at night in the woods without lights is definitely one of the things I really enjoy about running in the winter.
I heard an owl twice tonight! The classical "who, who, who-who-who" that they always use on TV or in a movie for an owl call... I'm guessing a great horned owl from the calls on www.whatbird.com. Interestingly, every time I heard him call, a short time later I heard another animal calling in the trees as well - I originally thought it was some kind of nocturnal squirrel, though that didn't make a lot of sense to me, but listening to the owl calls on Whatbird has me thinking it may have been a short-eared owl. Very cool...
JMH
Monday, January 11, 2010
1.9 Mile Walk in the Pine Bush
Monday, January 11, 2010
I'd been planning to do a short walk on the bike path tonight but the sky was overcast enough that with the snow on the ground it was bright enough for me to walk in the Pine Bush... so I ended up doing a short loop through the Karner Barrens behind the Discovery Center. Took my headlamp just in case but never turned it on... most of the trails I walked are open and it was plenty bright without it.
It's s shame the Thruway is so close - the road noise never really goes away - but other than that it was a nice quiet walk on the trails. After spending close to a week sick it feels good to be getting outdoors again.
JMH
Monday, January 11, 2010
I'd been planning to do a short walk on the bike path tonight but the sky was overcast enough that with the snow on the ground it was bright enough for me to walk in the Pine Bush... so I ended up doing a short loop through the Karner Barrens behind the Discovery Center. Took my headlamp just in case but never turned it on... most of the trails I walked are open and it was plenty bright without it.
It's s shame the Thruway is so close - the road noise never really goes away - but other than that it was a nice quiet walk on the trails. After spending close to a week sick it feels good to be getting outdoors again.
JMH
Sunday, January 10, 2010
2.1 Mile Snowshoe to No Bottom Pond
Sunday, January 10, 2010
From Harvey Mountain I drove over to nearby Beebe Hill State Forest, which in addition to a number of hiking trails has two points of note - a fire tower on the top of Beebe Hill itself and in almost exactly the opposite direction No Bottom Pond, so named because tradition has it there's one point where soundings don't give a depth. Since it was getting late in the day I decided to visit the fire tower another time and settled for hiking out to No Bottom Pond.
No Bottom Pond has a certain degree notoriety for two reasons. The first is that is periodically disappears. Apparently there's a small drain in one spot which, when the local water levels start dropping, allows the pond to drain down to a small puddle, so at any given time a visitor might find anything from a full pond to an almost empty one. This has apparently happened since the first recorded observations of the pond. The second is an association with an infamous figure in local history, Oscar Beckwith, sometimes referred to as the cannibal of Columbia County. As detailed in Patricia Clyne's Hudson Valley Tales and Trails, Beckwith was a miner living in Austerlitz in the 1870's who murdered and dismembered his business partner. The unexpected return of his victim's landlord resulted in the crime being discovered before Beckwith could dispose of the remains; parts of the body were found in his stove and a pickling barrel, the liver was in a frying pan on the stove, and later at his trial Beckwith admitted he'd planned to eat parts of his victim, though it's not clear that he actually managed to do so before being discovered (but then, "the intended cannibal of Columbia County" isn't nearly as alliterative.) A posse from nearby Alford, MA, came to Beckwith's cabin to arrest him, but Beckwith had fled. They followed his tracks through the snow to No Bottom Pond, where the tracks vanished and the pursuers concluded that Beckwith had hidden in one of the many caves near the pond. They gave up the pursuit and Beckwith escaped to Canada, only to be brought back almost 4 years later and finally tried and hung two years after that.
According to my trail map there are three routes to the pond, two on a loop road (used as a snowmobile trail this time of year) and one a hiking trail. I opted for the easiest choice, the shorter side of the snowmobile loop. It was pretty easy going for a while and then went up and up... not tremendously steep, but also not a welcome climb after my trek in Pittsfield yesterday and my hike up Harvey Mountain today. Just over the top of the hill a hiking trail climbed a bit further and then dropped down to the shore of the pond. I was very glad for my snowshoes along that stretch - it had been hiked by folks without snowshoes and was a mess of post holes.
Not much to see at the pond, no great surprise - its frozen over and snow covered - though at least it looked like it was close to full. I hiked around the east end to get to some of the rock formations across from the spot where the trail ended... pretty cool, I'll have to get back there in warm weather and get a better look. There were also a lot of signs of beavers around the edges of the pond... gnawed trees and quite a few that had been dropped by the little guys.
After that it was just a matter of hiking back out... up the hill to the snowmobile trail, and then back down to the car. I actually ended up running down the hill I'd hiked up earlier - it was easier than trying to walk down it - and thankfully didn't have any snowmobiles go through while I was there. Once I got back to the car I really wished I'd brought dry pants to change into... I'll have to remember next time to dress like I would for XC skiing and bring extra clothes (which I would just naturally do if I was planning to go for a run.)
JMH
Sunday, January 10, 2010
From Harvey Mountain I drove over to nearby Beebe Hill State Forest, which in addition to a number of hiking trails has two points of note - a fire tower on the top of Beebe Hill itself and in almost exactly the opposite direction No Bottom Pond, so named because tradition has it there's one point where soundings don't give a depth. Since it was getting late in the day I decided to visit the fire tower another time and settled for hiking out to No Bottom Pond.
No Bottom Pond has a certain degree notoriety for two reasons. The first is that is periodically disappears. Apparently there's a small drain in one spot which, when the local water levels start dropping, allows the pond to drain down to a small puddle, so at any given time a visitor might find anything from a full pond to an almost empty one. This has apparently happened since the first recorded observations of the pond. The second is an association with an infamous figure in local history, Oscar Beckwith, sometimes referred to as the cannibal of Columbia County. As detailed in Patricia Clyne's Hudson Valley Tales and Trails, Beckwith was a miner living in Austerlitz in the 1870's who murdered and dismembered his business partner. The unexpected return of his victim's landlord resulted in the crime being discovered before Beckwith could dispose of the remains; parts of the body were found in his stove and a pickling barrel, the liver was in a frying pan on the stove, and later at his trial Beckwith admitted he'd planned to eat parts of his victim, though it's not clear that he actually managed to do so before being discovered (but then, "the intended cannibal of Columbia County" isn't nearly as alliterative.) A posse from nearby Alford, MA, came to Beckwith's cabin to arrest him, but Beckwith had fled. They followed his tracks through the snow to No Bottom Pond, where the tracks vanished and the pursuers concluded that Beckwith had hidden in one of the many caves near the pond. They gave up the pursuit and Beckwith escaped to Canada, only to be brought back almost 4 years later and finally tried and hung two years after that.
According to my trail map there are three routes to the pond, two on a loop road (used as a snowmobile trail this time of year) and one a hiking trail. I opted for the easiest choice, the shorter side of the snowmobile loop. It was pretty easy going for a while and then went up and up... not tremendously steep, but also not a welcome climb after my trek in Pittsfield yesterday and my hike up Harvey Mountain today. Just over the top of the hill a hiking trail climbed a bit further and then dropped down to the shore of the pond. I was very glad for my snowshoes along that stretch - it had been hiked by folks without snowshoes and was a mess of post holes.
Not much to see at the pond, no great surprise - its frozen over and snow covered - though at least it looked like it was close to full. I hiked around the east end to get to some of the rock formations across from the spot where the trail ended... pretty cool, I'll have to get back there in warm weather and get a better look. There were also a lot of signs of beavers around the edges of the pond... gnawed trees and quite a few that had been dropped by the little guys.
After that it was just a matter of hiking back out... up the hill to the snowmobile trail, and then back down to the car. I actually ended up running down the hill I'd hiked up earlier - it was easier than trying to walk down it - and thankfully didn't have any snowmobiles go through while I was there. Once I got back to the car I really wished I'd brought dry pants to change into... I'll have to remember next time to dress like I would for XC skiing and bring extra clothes (which I would just naturally do if I was planning to go for a run.)
JMH
3.7 Mile Snowshoe on Harvey Mountain
Sunday, January 10, 2010
I've been aware of a state forest bordering Route 22 in Austerlitz for years, having seen the markers alongside the road as I drove back and forth to Albany. But it was only in the last year or so that I found out that there's actually two state forests along that stretch of road, Harvey Mountain State Forest on the east side and Beebe Hill State Forest on the west, and that there's a fairly extensive system of trails at both. The Harvey Mountain trail goes, not terribly surprisingly, to the summit of Harvey Mountain, which lies on the border between NY and MA.
Last winter I read an article posted on Rich & Sue Freeman's NY Outdoors Blog that described a local newspaper writer's hike to the summit of Harvey Mountain in January. No great surprise, I also have the trail guide mentioned in the article (AMC's Best Day Hikes in the Catskills and Hudson Valley by Peter Kick) which gives directions for the hike. So naturally I've wanted to do the hike ever since! I even tried heading over there once before, at the end of October, but ended up staying closer to home when rain moved in.
Today I had thought I might drive down to CT for the first Manchester Running Company snowshoe race in Vernon, CT (last week's race was cancelled due overall poor conditions.) When I woke up this morning I was suffuciently sore from yesterday's trek up and down the mountains of Pittsfield State Forest that I decided a 4 1/2 hour round trip to run a 5k in barely enough snow just didn't make sense... but I did still want to get outside, and from that thought it was only a few moments before I decided to give Harvey Mountain a try, with possibly trips to No Bottom Pond and the Beebe Hill Fire Tower afterwards.
I found the directions in Kick's book a little bit confusing, mainly because I ended up turning on the north end of East Hill Rd rather than the southern end - so all the driving distances were a little bit off. I was surprised the find the parking lot almost full (ie. four vehicles already there) - I'd been expecting to have the place pretty much to myself. Walked across the road to the trailhead and decided that snowshoes were in order - the path had been well packed by other snowshoers and at least one XC skier, but there was no telling what it would be like further on.
There's a steep climb right at the start but then the trail wanders along a fairly level grade through the woods for a while, before travelling along the edge of a cleared hill and then down, down, down into a gully with a very nice stream bubbling away at the bottom. Easy walking, for the most part, and no real wind in the woods.
Of course, what goes down must then go back up... and in this case, the final half mile or so to the summit proved to be the challenge, as the trail climbed up out of the gulley and up the side of Harvey Mountain. Sometimes steep, sometimes not so steep, but uphill all the way. Two hikers in snowshoes passed me on their way out; they asked me briefly about my "running" snowshoes before heading on their way. My legs weren't thrilled with the climb, especially after yesterday's 2-mile long uphill slog, but I took plenty of quick breaks and made it to the top with no problem.
The summit was basically bare, with nice views off to the west and also toward the southeast into the Taconics. Catamount was clearly visible off in the distance; I suspect the view is particularly splendid in the fall when the leaves have turned. The wind was blowing pretty briskly, so after taking some pictures I wandered around a bit. There were ribbons that seemed to be marking some sort of possible path, and other snowshoe tracks, but none seemed to lead anywhere other than into the woods to the east. No additional views, unfortunately. Since I wasn't sure where those woods led to, and the snow cover was very uneven (at one point I took a step and sunk up to mid-thigh in a drift I didn't realize was there) I decided to head back out in hopes of still having time to visit Beebe Hill State Forest.
The hike back out was a lot easier - I definitely preferred descending from the summit! Made it back to the stream much more quickly than the hike up, and the climb back up out of the gully wasn't bad at all. After that it was just a matter of hiking through the woods back to the trailhead, tossing my gear in the car, and heading over to the Beebe Hill trailheads.
Speaking of gear... my bicycling booties did a great job of keeping my feet dry during the hike, I'm really glad I'd left them in my snowshoe bag. Unfortunately all of my snowshoeing so far has been geared toward running so I really didn't think to dress right for the hike - I really should have worn one of the pairs of pants I XC ski in rather than jeans, which got pretty damp once the snow on them melted. The lightweight pair of tights I wore under the jeans kept me from getting too cold... but it really would have been nice to be able to change into dry clothes once I was all done walking for the afternoon. Definitely something to remember for next time...
JMH
Sunday, January 10, 2010
I've been aware of a state forest bordering Route 22 in Austerlitz for years, having seen the markers alongside the road as I drove back and forth to Albany. But it was only in the last year or so that I found out that there's actually two state forests along that stretch of road, Harvey Mountain State Forest on the east side and Beebe Hill State Forest on the west, and that there's a fairly extensive system of trails at both. The Harvey Mountain trail goes, not terribly surprisingly, to the summit of Harvey Mountain, which lies on the border between NY and MA.
Last winter I read an article posted on Rich & Sue Freeman's NY Outdoors Blog that described a local newspaper writer's hike to the summit of Harvey Mountain in January. No great surprise, I also have the trail guide mentioned in the article (AMC's Best Day Hikes in the Catskills and Hudson Valley by Peter Kick) which gives directions for the hike. So naturally I've wanted to do the hike ever since! I even tried heading over there once before, at the end of October, but ended up staying closer to home when rain moved in.
Today I had thought I might drive down to CT for the first Manchester Running Company snowshoe race in Vernon, CT (last week's race was cancelled due overall poor conditions.) When I woke up this morning I was suffuciently sore from yesterday's trek up and down the mountains of Pittsfield State Forest that I decided a 4 1/2 hour round trip to run a 5k in barely enough snow just didn't make sense... but I did still want to get outside, and from that thought it was only a few moments before I decided to give Harvey Mountain a try, with possibly trips to No Bottom Pond and the Beebe Hill Fire Tower afterwards.
I found the directions in Kick's book a little bit confusing, mainly because I ended up turning on the north end of East Hill Rd rather than the southern end - so all the driving distances were a little bit off. I was surprised the find the parking lot almost full (ie. four vehicles already there) - I'd been expecting to have the place pretty much to myself. Walked across the road to the trailhead and decided that snowshoes were in order - the path had been well packed by other snowshoers and at least one XC skier, but there was no telling what it would be like further on.
There's a steep climb right at the start but then the trail wanders along a fairly level grade through the woods for a while, before travelling along the edge of a cleared hill and then down, down, down into a gully with a very nice stream bubbling away at the bottom. Easy walking, for the most part, and no real wind in the woods.
Of course, what goes down must then go back up... and in this case, the final half mile or so to the summit proved to be the challenge, as the trail climbed up out of the gulley and up the side of Harvey Mountain. Sometimes steep, sometimes not so steep, but uphill all the way. Two hikers in snowshoes passed me on their way out; they asked me briefly about my "running" snowshoes before heading on their way. My legs weren't thrilled with the climb, especially after yesterday's 2-mile long uphill slog, but I took plenty of quick breaks and made it to the top with no problem.
The summit was basically bare, with nice views off to the west and also toward the southeast into the Taconics. Catamount was clearly visible off in the distance; I suspect the view is particularly splendid in the fall when the leaves have turned. The wind was blowing pretty briskly, so after taking some pictures I wandered around a bit. There were ribbons that seemed to be marking some sort of possible path, and other snowshoe tracks, but none seemed to lead anywhere other than into the woods to the east. No additional views, unfortunately. Since I wasn't sure where those woods led to, and the snow cover was very uneven (at one point I took a step and sunk up to mid-thigh in a drift I didn't realize was there) I decided to head back out in hopes of still having time to visit Beebe Hill State Forest.
The hike back out was a lot easier - I definitely preferred descending from the summit! Made it back to the stream much more quickly than the hike up, and the climb back up out of the gully wasn't bad at all. After that it was just a matter of hiking through the woods back to the trailhead, tossing my gear in the car, and heading over to the Beebe Hill trailheads.
Speaking of gear... my bicycling booties did a great job of keeping my feet dry during the hike, I'm really glad I'd left them in my snowshoe bag. Unfortunately all of my snowshoeing so far has been geared toward running so I really didn't think to dress right for the hike - I really should have worn one of the pairs of pants I XC ski in rather than jeans, which got pretty damp once the snow on them melted. The lightweight pair of tights I wore under the jeans kept me from getting too cold... but it really would have been nice to be able to change into dry clothes once I was all done walking for the afternoon. Definitely something to remember for next time...
JMH
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Season of the SnōShū 2010 - Race #2
Turner Trail 5.3mi Snowshoe Race
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Last year we were lucky enough to have several new races added to the schedule, including the Turner Trail race in Pittsfield State Forest which ended up fast-tracked to replace a race at Savoy that had to be cancelled due to all the damage caused by the December 2008 ice storms. RDs Brad and Beth Herder developed the race in part to showcase the newly re-routed Turner Trail - thanks to the efforts of the local mountain biking club, the badly eroded and relatively straight trail down Berry Mountain was replaced by one featuring 40+ switchbacks. After years of sending on a screaming descent down the nearby Shadow Trail (an old ski racing trail) during Curly's Record Run at the end of January, it was only natural that Brad and Beth would have us winding our way down 2 miles of switchbacks during their new race. And some of us liked it so much that we even came back for more as part of the trail race series...
This year's early information indicated that the course would be different and we would actually be climbing the Turner Trail to the top of the mountain and eventually taking the much more straightforward Honwee Trail back to the finish, with about a mile added to the length of the course. A bit grueling for those of us who are still pretty out of shape this early in the season, but how could I pass up a chance to run in the beautiful Pittsfield State Forest, despite the fact that I was still coughing crud up out of my lungs as a remnant of the cold that knocked me off my feet the weekend before.
And after a lot of clouds during the preceeding week, what a beautiful day it turned out to be - bright and sunny, with ample snow covering the eastern slopes of the mountains. Listening to the weather reports I expected it to be colder, but it really didn't seem that bad (at least for those of us treking around on a trails - I suspect it felt a lot colder to the folks who were there to help the race run smoothly.)
As usual, geared up and caught up with everyone while we waited for the fun to start. Eventually Beth called us over to the start and we discovered that instead of running up the snow covered road for a bit we'd be taking the Telephone Trail over to begin the climb up the mountain - that turned out to be a nice warmup for the long hike that followed. Beth said a few words about how the trail was marked and then off we went. Nice wide rolling trail to start, which after about a quarter mile turned off onto the Turner Trail... and then the fun began. Maybe the folks who are really good at this stuff ran up that trail, but for those of us at the back it was a long, slow, sweaty slog, winding our way up the mountain, with everyone packed in pretty tightly at first and then the line gradually spreading out as we climbed and climbed. Along the way I found myself thinking that an aerial photo would probably have been pretty cool - a string of brightly-clothed racers twisting its way along the side of the mountain like holiday lights against the white of the snow.
Despite the hard work to get to the top, it was a gorgeous day to be out in the woods, and once the trail leveled off up near the summit we were treated to a true winter wonderland, with white snow coating every available surface and gleaming in the sunshine. The snow-covered branches against the clear blue sky were simply fantastic... it's at times like that I'm glad I'm slow and can take a few moments to take in the beauty of the surroundings.
Of course, all too quickly the course started descending and I had to pay attention so that maybe I could avoid taking out one of my knees. There were a couple of steep drops early on that had me wondering if I'd end up going head-over-heels to the bottom, and then some nicely rolling terrain to get us to the top of the Honwee Trail. I had hiked up that trail last year, so I had some idea of just how long and unrelenting that hill would be... what I hadn't counted on was how much fun it would be to run down it! For the most part of the slope was fairly gradual, so I was able to let gravity be my friend and pick up the pace a bit without worrying too much about my knees. It definitely felt good to let loose a bit - I can only imagine how the top runners hammered down that trail. Of course, even running downhill is work on snowshoes, and I spent a lot more time gasping for air than I did taking in the sights. And as much as I enjoyed that mile and a half of downhill running, I was mighty glad when I saw the trail drop down to the road, since that meant it was only a little bit further to the finish. And finish I did, staggering across the line in just under 1 hr 39 minutes... not a great time, but not horrible, all things considered.
After crossing the finish, I spent a moment or two doing my best to cough up a lung and then headed back to the car to change into dry clothes. As always, the chance to spend a few minutes visiting with our happy crew of snowshoers was a real treat. My only real regret is that I didn't have enough juice left in my legs to go back out and hike along the Lulu Cascade trail - Honwee's narrow winding cousin that follows closer to the Lulu Cascade and provides a great view of the many waterfalls along that brook. Maybe after Curly's Record Run later this month or one of the other races over this way...
As always, major kudos and thanks to Beth and Brad and their intrepid volunteers who put on a top-notch event and not only made sure we were all well taken care of but that we'd have lots of pictures to look at to remember a fun day. The places we run are by and large absolutely wonderful... but it's the people who really make our snowshoe series as special as it is.
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe 5.3 mi, 1 hr 39 min
states visited: MA
Turner Trail 5.3mi Snowshoe Race
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Last year we were lucky enough to have several new races added to the schedule, including the Turner Trail race in Pittsfield State Forest which ended up fast-tracked to replace a race at Savoy that had to be cancelled due to all the damage caused by the December 2008 ice storms. RDs Brad and Beth Herder developed the race in part to showcase the newly re-routed Turner Trail - thanks to the efforts of the local mountain biking club, the badly eroded and relatively straight trail down Berry Mountain was replaced by one featuring 40+ switchbacks. After years of sending on a screaming descent down the nearby Shadow Trail (an old ski racing trail) during Curly's Record Run at the end of January, it was only natural that Brad and Beth would have us winding our way down 2 miles of switchbacks during their new race. And some of us liked it so much that we even came back for more as part of the trail race series...
This year's early information indicated that the course would be different and we would actually be climbing the Turner Trail to the top of the mountain and eventually taking the much more straightforward Honwee Trail back to the finish, with about a mile added to the length of the course. A bit grueling for those of us who are still pretty out of shape this early in the season, but how could I pass up a chance to run in the beautiful Pittsfield State Forest, despite the fact that I was still coughing crud up out of my lungs as a remnant of the cold that knocked me off my feet the weekend before.
And after a lot of clouds during the preceeding week, what a beautiful day it turned out to be - bright and sunny, with ample snow covering the eastern slopes of the mountains. Listening to the weather reports I expected it to be colder, but it really didn't seem that bad (at least for those of us treking around on a trails - I suspect it felt a lot colder to the folks who were there to help the race run smoothly.)
As usual, geared up and caught up with everyone while we waited for the fun to start. Eventually Beth called us over to the start and we discovered that instead of running up the snow covered road for a bit we'd be taking the Telephone Trail over to begin the climb up the mountain - that turned out to be a nice warmup for the long hike that followed. Beth said a few words about how the trail was marked and then off we went. Nice wide rolling trail to start, which after about a quarter mile turned off onto the Turner Trail... and then the fun began. Maybe the folks who are really good at this stuff ran up that trail, but for those of us at the back it was a long, slow, sweaty slog, winding our way up the mountain, with everyone packed in pretty tightly at first and then the line gradually spreading out as we climbed and climbed. Along the way I found myself thinking that an aerial photo would probably have been pretty cool - a string of brightly-clothed racers twisting its way along the side of the mountain like holiday lights against the white of the snow.
Despite the hard work to get to the top, it was a gorgeous day to be out in the woods, and once the trail leveled off up near the summit we were treated to a true winter wonderland, with white snow coating every available surface and gleaming in the sunshine. The snow-covered branches against the clear blue sky were simply fantastic... it's at times like that I'm glad I'm slow and can take a few moments to take in the beauty of the surroundings.
Of course, all too quickly the course started descending and I had to pay attention so that maybe I could avoid taking out one of my knees. There were a couple of steep drops early on that had me wondering if I'd end up going head-over-heels to the bottom, and then some nicely rolling terrain to get us to the top of the Honwee Trail. I had hiked up that trail last year, so I had some idea of just how long and unrelenting that hill would be... what I hadn't counted on was how much fun it would be to run down it! For the most part of the slope was fairly gradual, so I was able to let gravity be my friend and pick up the pace a bit without worrying too much about my knees. It definitely felt good to let loose a bit - I can only imagine how the top runners hammered down that trail. Of course, even running downhill is work on snowshoes, and I spent a lot more time gasping for air than I did taking in the sights. And as much as I enjoyed that mile and a half of downhill running, I was mighty glad when I saw the trail drop down to the road, since that meant it was only a little bit further to the finish. And finish I did, staggering across the line in just under 1 hr 39 minutes... not a great time, but not horrible, all things considered.
After crossing the finish, I spent a moment or two doing my best to cough up a lung and then headed back to the car to change into dry clothes. As always, the chance to spend a few minutes visiting with our happy crew of snowshoers was a real treat. My only real regret is that I didn't have enough juice left in my legs to go back out and hike along the Lulu Cascade trail - Honwee's narrow winding cousin that follows closer to the Lulu Cascade and provides a great view of the many waterfalls along that brook. Maybe after Curly's Record Run later this month or one of the other races over this way...
As always, major kudos and thanks to Beth and Brad and their intrepid volunteers who put on a top-notch event and not only made sure we were all well taken care of but that we'd have lots of pictures to look at to remember a fun day. The places we run are by and large absolutely wonderful... but it's the people who really make our snowshoe series as special as it is.
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe 5.3 mi, 1 hr 39 min
states visited: MA
Thursday, January 07, 2010
AT LAST!
4.9 Mile Run in the Pine Bush
Thursday, January 7, 2009
Tonight's run reminded me of how much I've been missing get out in the woods... even if I did hack up all sorts of gunk from my lungs while I was out there.
I probably should have worn snowshoes - at least a few spots would have been easier going if I had - but for the most part the paths were sufficiently packed down that my screw shoes were fine.
The clouds even parted for a little while and gave me a great view of Orion shining overhead - spectacular!
JMH
4.9 Mile Run in the Pine Bush
Thursday, January 7, 2009
Tonight's run reminded me of how much I've been missing get out in the woods... even if I did hack up all sorts of gunk from my lungs while I was out there.
I probably should have worn snowshoes - at least a few spots would have been easier going if I had - but for the most part the paths were sufficiently packed down that my screw shoes were fine.
The clouds even parted for a little while and gave me a great view of Orion shining overhead - spectacular!
JMH
Monday, January 04, 2010
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Season of the SnōShū 2010 - Race #2 DNS
Frozen Assets 3mi Snowshoe Race
Saturday, January 2, 2010
No race for me today, thanks to this darn cold that's been kicking my butt for a little over a day now. I had originally considered driving down to CT tomorrow for the Manchester Running Company's 1st race in their Sunday snowshoe series... but right now it looks like there won't be enough snow for them to even hold the race, even if I had been healthy enough to run it. With luck we'll get enough this week for the Turner Trail race in Pittsfield next Saturday... and maybe the CT race on Sunday.
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe
states visited:
Frozen Assets 3mi Snowshoe Race
Saturday, January 2, 2010
No race for me today, thanks to this darn cold that's been kicking my butt for a little over a day now. I had originally considered driving down to CT tomorrow for the Manchester Running Company's 1st race in their Sunday snowshoe series... but right now it looks like there won't be enough snow for them to even hold the race, even if I had been healthy enough to run it. With luck we'll get enough this week for the Turner Trail race in Pittsfield next Saturday... and maybe the CT race on Sunday.
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe
states visited:
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