On this day in 2012, I completed my 47th marathon, Nipmuck.  My time was 4:46:30, which was good for 28th place.  This was the 9th time I completed this event.

Pretty great day;  drove out to visit my folks, with donuts and coffee for them.  I spent a couple hours visiting and picking beans, broccoli, potatoes, carrots and apples for us.

Back in Connecticut, I ran along the Metacomet Ridge for 3.4-miles, Phelps Road south.  Managed to avoid stepping on a 4 or 5-foot snake (black racer or eastern rat snake) spread out on the trail (my foot missed the snake by about 6").

A really nice morning, no humidity, bugs at a minimum, and no heat.  It seemed like a good time to check the last segment of the McLean Marathon.

I began at the end, on Canton Road, and rambled out to Barndoor Hill Road, crossing Salmon Brook.  Took the horse-trail around the meadow into Holcomb Farm Trails, and then up into the Weed Hill area near Carpenter Falls.  Managed Weed Hill to Firetown Road, where I had parked for yesterday's run.

The legs were a bit tired by the end, at 11.4-miles.  Still not 100% recovered from the Wapack End-To-End.

More planning at McLean, this time from the 12-mile mark on Firetown Road up and down the Westledge Trail for 3.4-miles.

Music 2019...

Effort #42,  The second piece from the July 21st, 2019  "Heat of the Day Session" by the Dark Heart Duo, "Nothing Hidden from It's Heat".

In Memory...  Rest in Peace Dusty (August 28, 1986 - September 25, 2000).

"Dusty" at Old Sturbridge Village, 1998

DL brought Dusty home at Christmas 1986, when we lived at Old Mill Pond in Arlington, Texas.  He was a cocker-spaniel, and a really great dog.

Once we made the move to Connecticut in 1989, we began hiking and backpacking.  Dusty loved the trail, and camping out in a tent.  As a spaniel, he also loved water, and even in December's winters, if the water was open, he was going in.

We began running in Shenipsit State Forest around 1992, after building up with the years of hiking.  We ran on the Metacomet three or four days a week, right up to a week before his passing.

I have been extremely lucky with the dogs I've had.  Not a day goes by that I don't think of them.  As I still ramble through the woods, I encounter hints and reminders constantly.  Those first explorations throughout Connecticut and Western Massachusetts were with Dusty,.  Rest easy, boy.

After sticking around for the installation of a new electric service (panel) at home, I enjoyed a 3.6-mile run in McLean.

The planning stage for a McLean Marathon is coming further together;  now I have the first stage of 8.1-miles field checked, as well as the first 3.9-miles of the second stage.

And, on this day, I enjoyed a really special run and adventure in 2006.  It was my 34th completed marathon, and it was at Mount Greylock. 

The Greylock Marathon's always mean a bit more to me than others;  this one was especially memorable due to the company I had for the entire route, my dad and my great friend Paul H, as well as Tips on her 10th completed marathon.  We finished at 7:29:23, just beating some heavy rain.  An unbelievable day!

Greylock Finish, 2006 

Very warm today, just under 90-degrees.  Did a good amount of garden-work for DL early, basement organizing for the panel change on Tuesday, and then a 4.5-mile run in McLean all before 1:00 p.m.

The planning stage for a McLean Marathon is coming together;  so far I have the first stage of 8.1-miles field checked, as well as the first 2.5-miles of the second stage.  The plan is to try to use as little trail over again once through.  I believe I can get pretty close.

Recovery run in McLean, 3.9-miles of easy running in temperatures of high eighties.

Recovery day after yesterday's adventure at Wapack.  Mid-afternoon drive to visit my folks with DL.  Picked an abundance of yellow beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, broccoli and apples.  Made it a memorable trip with a stop at the Williamsburg Snack Bar for a lobster roll on the return home (second week in a row!).

Back in Time...

On this day in 1997 I completed my 15th marathon in 5:03:39.  This was my first attempt at Pisgah, and I have it listed as 29.3-miles.

Wapack End-To-End Marathon
September 20th, 2019
North Pack Monadnock, NH to Mt Watatic, MA

Wapack Trail End-To-End with Wuzzam & Hillbillidge.

At some point late this summer, Wuzzam told me he was determined to attempt a marathon type event no matter what this year.  He also mentioned that he missed entering the official "Wapack End to End" event held in May...   he had finished it a few times years past.

It seemed like a perfect match to me, combine my friends two "wishes" into the one event...  an "outsider, do it yourself" attempt at the Wapack End to End.  Making things even better, in a conversation with the Hillbillidge, he too was "in".

We looked over the distances, the road-crossings (two main roads), aid station positions, and the driving logistics.  Settled on September 20th, as long as the humidity stayed low and rain was a non-factor.

Historically, according to Wikipedia...  "...The trail was born in a conversation in the summer of 1922 at the Shattuck Inn in Jaffrey, New Hampshire between Allen Chamberlain, who later became president of the Appalachian Mountain Club, and Jaffrey farmer Albert Annett while overlooking the Wapack Range, then known as the Boundary Mountains. The two talked about the possibility of a skyline trail along the ridge of the Boundary Mountains from Mt. Watatic to North Pack Monadnock.

Later, Albert brought the idea to fellow farmers Frank Robbins and Marion Buck of Rindge, New Hampshire. The three started cutting the trail near the end of the summer using hand tools. The trail was opened in 1923. Buck named it by joining the Wa from Mt. Watatic and Pack from North Pack Monadnock, and soon the Boundary Mountains became known as the Wapack Range."

I too had completed the End to End, twice actually.  Not at the officially held events that have happened regularly in the last decade, but in 1996 and 1997, with a time in '96 of 4:54:59, and no recorded time from the '97 run (it would have been pretty close to '96).  I ran both those with CP, and they were minimally organized by the Young Gulliver.

So, here we were in 2019 on a really perfect day, with morning temperatures around 40-degrees when I left Connecticut at 4:45 a.m.  As I drove north, it didn't warm up any.

The run, which is at times difficult to consider a "run" due to the technical portions of some down-hill, is a real gem.  Along the way there are numerous ups and downs, but the main climbs are as follows:

• North Pack, 2276'
• Middle Pack, 1968'
• Pack Monadnock, 2290'
• Holt Peak, 2045'
• Temple Mountain, 2045'
• Burton Peak, 1985'
• Barrett Mountain, 1841'
• New Ipswich, 1860'
• Stony Top, 1744'
• Pratt Mountain, 1811'
• Nutting Hill, 1621'
• Mount Watatic, 1831'

Ready to go at the Mountain Road northern trail-head, we were running by 8:00 a.m., with the moon still visible high up in the sky.

"Northern Trail-Head" Mountain Road, Greenfield, NH

8:00 a.m., 43-degrees, Moon in the west, northwest

The first section from Mountain Road to Miller State Park at Route 101 is incredibly beautiful.  We had three climbs, and for the first four-miles or so it was good going.  Then, we had to descend Pack Monadnock, which is the most technical section of the entire route, and massively slow.

We zig-zagged so much on the descent that the 5-mile section turned into 5.5-miles, and two-hours of time on our feet.

Looking back (north) from the climb up North Pack

Climbing within the first mile or so

Mount Monadnock in the distance to the west

Hillbillidge and Wuzzam less than an hour into it

From the summit of Pack Monadnock, looking north

A group was charting Hawk sightings from just below the peak

The old fire-tower on Pack Monadnock

View of Monadnock from Pack

Still looking great at the 80-minute mark

Coming down off Pack Monadnock

Coming down off Pack Monadnock

After crossing 101, it would be roughly a 7-mile section to Windblown and the Route 123/124 crossing.  We would be climbing Temple, Holt and Burton during this section, as well as doing some decent running as much of the trail in this section is runnable!

There were an incredible amount of stonewalls throughout the segment, which kept me occupied and fascinated.  Other than the long dirt/gravel climb at the start up Temple, it really wasn't all that difficult a section.  We managed to run the 7 or so miles in 2:12, give or take.  We had a good re-fresh at our last aid station drop at this point, sitting on an old stonewall and feasting on paydays, pretzels, pringles, and fluids.  We had over 12-miles completed, with roughly 9-miles to go.  By the time we began running again, we were already on our feet for 4:20.

View west off Burton Peak

Marker and an example of the stonewalls along the ridge

View south of Burton, of Conant, Wildcat and Kidder, which we did not visit

A "Sign" unique to our adventure

Excellent "bridge-work"

Excellent "bridge-work"

The last section is from Windblown Cross-Country Ski Area to the Mount Watatic Parking spot.  This the route of the official Wapack Trail Race, which has been run continuously since 1992.  I ran it the first 15 years, but I haven't been back since 2007.  Wuzzam and Hillbillidge have run it often, even lately.

We would be tackling 9-miles, and it would be a challenge.  The initial section has changed since I have been on it, heading west in a pretty good detour from what it used to be.  This new addition loses a lot of elevation too, which means we climb it back up.

I could remember much of this, which brought back some really good memories.  It is a really wonderful section, especially everything to Binney Pond.  We developed some trouble at the top of Pratt though...   two trails leading downhill just prior to the actual descent.  Hillbillidge couldn't recall which route to take (he had just completed the official Wapack Race a few weeks prior, but we were getting tired).  He went on the left option, I went right, thinking we would come out roughly in the same spot at the bottom.  I traveled 6/10-mile, began to turn back north, and turned around to re-climb up Pratt.  At some point, my friend decided his route was "wrong", and bushwhacked over to join the trail I was on...   but he never found a trail and bushwhacked all the way to Route 119, finishing about 20-minutes before Wuzzam and I made it.

The section from the south end of Binney Pond to near Nutting Hill is an abundance or dirt/gravel road and some open field.  I did not remember this being as prevalent from my old times here.

By the time I covered the extra 1.2-miles, Wuzzam was well on his way.  It took me until Nutting Hill to catch him, almost an hour.  We took a nice break on a rock, getting some plain water into Wuzzam.

We managed our way to the finish, the trail from Watatic down is very different from what I remembered.  I thought it was pretty clear from the old-days, but in 2019 it looks like there isn't one actual route up the steep stuff, just a basic adventure to do as you please.

It took 3:40 or so to complete this section.  The final tally was 8:04 total time, 7:04 moving time.  I recorded 24-miles on my gps, which included the "lost" portion.

Bent Tree Limb Seat on on Barrett

View along the Wapack Trail

Hillbillidge along the Wapack Trail

View of Monadnock along the Wapack Trail

View off Watatic

Along the Wapack Trail

Stone-Steps coming down off Watatic

Wuzzam navigating the steps, almost finished!

We finished, and found the Hilly-Billidge

After completed this, I believe I am counting this as a finished "Marathon".  I realize that it is not exactly "Marathon" distance, but the effort is there, and sometimes that is enough.  So, not only was this my 56th completed marathon, but I have re-evaluated the two additional finishes I had of this beast from the 1990's for inclusion.

... And On this day in 2009, I completed my 43rd marathon, the 2nd Curly's Marathon.  After feeling as though I was demolished at this event in 2008, I had a goal of finishing under 5-hours this time around.  In 2008, the event took me 5:54:36.  This would be a challenge, and something I do not usually stress myself with (having a "goal" time).

The day was tremendous, and I felt great.  Somehow though, in the first 5 or 6 miles, I missed a turn.  I ran a ways before I turned around.  By the time I re-entered the correct course, I was at the very back of the race.  After several minutes, I caught my (at the time) 70-year old father.  This was not great, but I felt so fantastically good that I wasn't really bothered by it.

A few miles later I caught Wuzzam, and we ran along the top and Berry Pond together.  I pushed decently down the Turner Trail, lost Wuzzam but got to half-way just after 2:30:00.  All I needed to do was run the same time for the second loop - yes, I would be tired, but I wouldn't have to run the extra mile or more.

I can still recall getting back to the top and knowing I would really have to push down the entire Turner Trail.  I did, and finished under my 5-hour goal with a 4:59:27.  I felt really, really good on this day.  I have no idea how far I went out of my way on that first loop - but judging where I came back out on the course and who I was behind at that point, it was meaningful minutes.  Keeping a positive attitude through it really helped, and I felt blessed.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #24 for 2019...  "Choice of Evil", Andrew Vachss' 1999 continuation of the Burke series.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime Edition Cover

 

Music 2019...

Effort #41,  The first piece from the July 21st, 2019  "Heat of the Day Session" by the Dark Heart Duo, "Bells".

3-miles along the Metacomet from Phelps Road south.

3-miles along the Metacomet from Phelps Road north.

Today is my Mom's 79th Birthday!

My Mom at Niagara Falls

It was an outstanding morning to be anywhere, but the woods would be even more incredible.  I took the short drive to McLean Refuge to run a solid 8-miles.  It was everything I thought it would be.

Despite it looking like rain, and the call for rain around noon or so, I drove out to Canaan/Cornwall to continue exploring Connecticut's Mohawk Trail.

This was the old Appalachian Trail until sometime in the 1980's I believe.  At that point, the trail was moved to the west of the Housatonic River, and the old path became the Mohawk Trail.

Today, I would park along Music Mountain Road and ramble slightly easterly toward last Saturday's stopping point at Yelping Hill Road, and return.

The section was very nice, with a small waterfall at the trail entry (Reed Brook, which is the water source that runs through Dean's Ravine as well).  The trail climbed along a high-ridge of Music Mountain, and passed through or over several large, impressive stonewalls to my turn-a-round point of Yelping Hill Road, at 3.1-miles.

There were a few spots that were confusing, due to blazes being non-existent, faded, or doubled up in two opposing directions.  At some point this section of trail had some re-locations itself, which appears to be great choices (once I placed the track on the map and compared to the old route), but the old blazes and paths still exist, which was confusing during the actual run through.

I returned to my parking spot at round 6.2-miles, and while the sky looked more grey, I figured I'd give going west a try as well.  Headed right down into Deans Ravine, which is awesome.  I did not take photographs of the ravine, as it was getting dark and it being a ravine and all, I questioned how the shots would look.

Came back out on the road, jogged west a bit and then jumped back onto single-track north to skirt around Barrack Mountain.  Over the high-point, and began my descent, and the sky opened up on me.  Turned at a trail-junction on a severe downhill, and went back to the car with a total of 9.1-miles (I ran the final road section rather than the Deans Ravine section on trail).

Looks like one more visit to tie this entire trail up, more or less.  I hope to have a brighter day so I can capture a few photographs of Deans Ravine, and find the northern terminus at the AT Junction.

Shelter along the Mohawk Trail

Reed Brook, Waterfall prior to Dean's Ravine

Reed Brook, Waterfall prior to Dean's Ravine

Old Appalachian Trail Marker on the Mohawk Trail

Looking off Barrack Mountain westward

Centennial Tree in Cornwall

Centennial Tree in Cornwall

Centennial Tree in Cornwall

Centennial Tree in Cornwall

Centennial Tree in Cornwall

On this day in 1999, I completed my 20th marathon at Pisgah.  Time was 5:47:30, and I am fairly certain this was a 50km event.  I missed a turn somewhere around 10-miles, and had to backtrack a bunch.