the Way of the Turtle

WELCOMING AUTUMN
8.2 Mile Run at Thacher Park
Thursday, September 23, 2010

Finally got out for a run this week... it seems appropriate that it was the first full day of autumn. Debated a variety of possible locations and finally settled on Thacher Park, which turned out to be a good choice - very few people on the trails, and once I was away from the roads, very little traffic noise (one of the main drawbacks to the Pine Bush, which has all sorts of busy roads right nearby.)

Since I suspected it would be dark before I finished I parked on Beaver Dam Road and started out by going most of the way up the old ski run. Along the way I had some nice views of trees that have started to change to their fall colors, lit by the sun hanging low over the horizon. From there I looped down through the Hop Field trails and over to the hill above the Maintenance buildings, where I took a trail I've never been on before (and there aren't many of those at Thacher!) out to the road. Looking at the trail map, there's another trail in that section that I haven't explored - I'll have to check that out on a future trip.

As I ran through the Overlook area and along the escarpment it became fairly clear that I was running out of daylight... but I still chose to run the around the rim of the Horseshoe and up to the Haile's Cave picnic area, since I knew the worst that would happen is I'd end up going up Paint Mine Road in the dark, which is no big deal. And it turned out to be well worth it, since at Haile's Cave I looked out over the valley and was treated to a great view of the yellow-orange moon rising over the Helderberg Escarpment from behind the clouds. Spent a while trying to get some decent photos before heading back through the picnic and parking areas to Paint Mine Road, which I did end up climbing in the dark. But that had it's pluses too - I got to listen to an owl hooting off in the woods.

Once I got back to the car, the lure of being out in the fields in the moonlight was too strong, so I headed back up the old ski run for a short distance... if I'd had more time and my headlamp I might have gone all the way up to Roemer's High Point, because it was a gorgeous night. Instead, I reluctantly headed back to the car to head for home and the work I had waiting for me for tomorrow's classes.

One of the things that really stood out during tonight's run is how dry everything is... very few of the streams had more than a trickle of water in them. I may regret saying this if I end up running wet race after wet race this fall... but we really could use some steady rain (or lots of snow this winter, which would be welcome for an additional reason!) to replenish the water table for next year.

JMH