How many Towns in Connecticut and Massachusetts I can run within during 2023.

Update for January & February, 2023.

DHD (Dark Heart Duo) record release on Bandcamp.

End of Chemo

Still a bit of snow cover on the trail, 3.4-miles of exploring in McLean Game Refuge. 

Granville in a light snow, with an unfortunate thin layer of ice underneath it.

5.4 slow miles.

Flag Rock

3-Miles around the ballfields etc after work. 

What Played in Ed's Head -- 

Music listened to for the time-period January 1st through January 31st, 2023:

On the drive back from running with the Old Goat in Stafford I noticed another Roadside Effigy.

Roadside Effigy - Route 190 Stafford

Completed another 24-Lecture Series on "The Great Courses" aka Wondrium tonight.

Excellent way to spend over twelve-hours learning about...

 "Lost Worlds of South America"

The lectures were taught by Professor Edwin Barnhart, Director of the Maya Exploration Center.

Just like last time with  "Ancient Civilizations of North America"\ I was totally immersed in each lecture.  Each could be a jumping off point toward further in depth study.  Highly recommended.

L01     The Unknown Story of Ancient North America .

Lecture 01    South America’s Lost Cradle of Civilization.

Lecture 02    Discovering Peru’s Earliest Cities. 

Lecture 03    South America’s First People. 

Lecture 04    Ceramics, Textiles, and Organized States. 

Lecture 05    Chavín and the Rise of Religious Authority. 

Lecture 06    Cupisnique to Salinar—Elite Rulers and War. 

Lecture 07    Paracas—Mummies, Shamans, and Severed Heads. 

Lecture 08    The Nazca Lines and Underground Channels. 

Lecture 09    The Moche—Pyramids, Gold, and Warriors. 

Lecture 10    The Moche—Richest Tombs in the New World. 

Lecture 11    The Moche—Drugs, Sex, Music, and Puppies.

Lecture 12    Enigmatic Tiwanaku by Lake Titicaca.

Lecture 13    The Amazon—Civilization Lost in the Jungle.

Lecture 14    The Wari—Foundations of the Inca Empire? 

Lecture 15    The Chimu—Empire of the Northern Coast.

Lecture 16    The Sican—Goldsmiths of the Northern Coast.

Lecture 17    The Inca Origins—Mythology v. Archaeology.

Lecture 18    Cuzco and the Tawantinsuyu Empire.

Lecture 19    The Inca—From Raiders to Empire.

Lecture 20    The Inca—Gifts of the Empire.

Lecture 21    The Khipu—Language Hidden in Knots.

Lecture 22    Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley.

Lecture 23    Spanish Contact—Pizarro Conquers the Inca.

Lecture 24    Remnants of the Past—Andean Culture Today.

Running in Granville with K2, 6.5-miles.

Split-Perched Boulder off Westfield Road

Split-Perched Boulder off Westfield Road

   Balanced Rock on east slope of Seymour Mountain

Balanced Rock on east slope of Seymour Mountain

Run with the Old Goat in Stafford.  5-miles of exploring.

Pond/Swamp along the trails

Also, on this day in 1995, the 1st Moby Dick Marathons were held.  This was my 5th marathon, with the 28-miles completed in 5:01:00.

It seemed like a good idea, but there are reasons why the event didn't last, especially as a 28 or 30 miler.  Bitter cold, difficult, no aid,  February on Greylock....  seems like there would be many additional "whys".

This run was really special for me, it cemented my friendship with Paul.  We ran the entire event together, and began to dream up our snowshoe series.  Paul and I ended up roaming the woods together for a very long time, we see the same things in nature.

 

 

Run in Granville today, 4.5-miles.

Waterfall upstream of Old Damn / Aquaduct (just off Wildcat Road)

From the Archives...

On this day in 1996 I completed my 9th marathon, the 2nd Annual Moby Dick.  It was a run on snow, and Georgie H and I wore snowshoes.  The event began at the Greylock Visitor Center in Lanseboro, Massachusetts, and ran up the snow covered road to the summit of Mt. Greylock, then down to North Adams, and back.  Covered the 28-mile version in 6:16:43.  

Sitting over Adams

Here is my old friend's recollection....

ODE TO REAL COLD MEN

So I thought I had seen and done it all vis a vis running in strange places for insanely long distances.  Then the farmer called to remind me of Mount Greylock and his plans to conquer the beast in sneakers.  I looked out the window that morning and groaned.  True dead of winter stuff here, folks.  Driving through northern Massachusetts I looked over at the grin on this guy’s face and knew I was in for it.  I mean he’s Fitzcarraldo, the windmill dude, Dr. Strangelove, all of the above when he gets this look in his eye.  I knew there’d be no stopping him on this quest.

We arrived at the visitor center around 9 in the morning and dodged obnoxious snowmobiles as we walked toward the hospitable lodge.  I sat on the couch and admired the pretty park ranger while Ed ran his hands over the diorama of the Mountain, mentally tuning his Zen state for that morning’s fun.  No kidding now.  This was really the last place on earth I wanted to be.  At least that’s how I felt when I saw that Ranger Sally had a wedding ring.  Then our fellow ghouls straggled in and I could see that this was a for real event.  So I disappeared into the bathroom to write some graffiti on the wall and hoped against hope that Ed would forget I had driven up with him.

SADDLE UP, EASY RIDER!  His voice shook the stall.  I fell off the seat.  Here we go again.  Fortunately the crew had left 5 minutes earlier in pansy ass sneakers.  We Bulls would be lashing Snowshoes for this trek.  Only problem was that I had never worn snow shoes.  It wasn’t a pretty sight.  The first 7 miles to the base of the summit were, however, quite beautiful.  Ed and I even managed to smoke Dion, Joe and the boys.  I should have relished the moment.  It’d be the only Moment that day.  Because Lord Greylock was readying some payback for the proud.

Leaving the protection of the trees below the summit was like getting hit in the chest with a sledge hammer.  Naturally, I wore my 1930’s issue wool hunting uniform and I was soaked in sweat.  50 mph gusts of arctic wind sift through those fibers and find your very white blood cells in no time.  I knew my number was up at the summit, mile 8.  Bob Dion joined us at the top, allowing me a chance to pullback from the duo a little while I waited for the downhill section.  So I waited and waited and waited.  Mile after mile after mile and the damn mountain wouldn’t go down.  Truly dispiriting.  So I did the old, walk, trot, jog, walk thing until I met up with Ed and Bob coming back up the turnaround.  They looked like Chechen Rebels home from a night at the front.

“You don’t want to go there.  Don’t do it,” they warned.  I would have gone, really would have done the upright thing, finished the steep section, real man and all that.  But they had good food.  I thenceforth trailed them like a beggar, picking up scraps they’d toss over their shoulder.  Believe me you lose your pride pretty quick out in no man’s land.  That’s why they call it no man’s land.

It was a mutually beneficial run from there.  Bob and Ed set the pace just ahead, providing me with a little motivation to put one weary foot in front of the other.  And I gave them that healthy fear of failure, of being passed by a highly competitive opponent breathing down your neck.  Yea right.

At the junction leading back to the summit, we stopped to discuss making the extra 3 mile run to the top and back.  I fiercely argued that we had to go the extra yardage and finish the quest or we couldn’t live with ourselves.  Ed said something about bad luck visiting a mountain top twice in a day. Bob kept looking down the hill with an insane smile on his face.  I decided that this crew really didn’t have the je ne sais crois necessary to reconquer Greylock so I took command and ordered my men down the mountain.  Of course I trailed at a good healthy distance in case either of them fell by the wayside.  A really good healthy distance.

Bob and Ed bounded down the hill like kids at the final bell.  I stayed behind and ran to the summit on my own.  And I did it extremely fast.  Extremely.  Extremely enough that I ended up finishing the race in about 7 hours.  The latter hour of which found me crawling on my hands and knees as women in thongs and fine tan lines whizzed by on flaming green and red snowmobiles.  I must have looked pretty scary because nobody stopped to pick me up.  By the time I hit the parking lot, Bob and Ed were fast asleep in their cars inhaling carbon monoxide.  I pulled off my socks in Ed’s truck and watched as my toenails came off in the process.  Seems the crusty buggers had snagged on my wet wool socks.  I hadn’t felt the pain because of the frostbite.

So here’s a healthy Bronx cheer to those of you who decided to opt out of the Greylock quest.  I’m going to say that you really missed out on the time of your lives, a unique opportunity to test your primal bounds, to run with the wolves, to gasp on the edge of being, to wake up around oh....  11:00 on a Sunday morning, lounge on the couch in the sunroom and browse through the paper, enjoy a piece, two pieces of cinnamon raisin toast, take a nap, take another nap, watch an old movie with a pint of ice cream and some cute thing.  Ahhhh heck.  So maybe I made all this up.  But maybe I didn’t.  If any of you get a mouthful of hair when some freak streaks by you this coming season, just look down at his mangled toes.  You’ll know where you should be next February.

Sharing a video...

"Gungywamp: Megalithic Mysteries in New England - Equinox Alignments in Ancient America".

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #04 for 2023...

"The Getaway Man " written by Andrew Vachss published 2003 .  

Cover Images

3-mile run after work on the road. 

Anniversary today for DL and I.

Bands and Live Performances I've been a part of:

#2.

During my sophomore-year of High School I played in the "Folk-Club".  We played a few performances, the first being at the Junior High School.

I recall playing a duet with a singer-guitarist (I played bass) for the Eagles "Best of My Love".

It seems as though we may have played "Stairway to Heaven", with added guitar and drums to the above duet.

I can remember playing "Smoke on the Water" with a large ensemble.

The rest is a bit of a blur, but darn fun times.

Drove out to Northern Berkshire County to visit my folks today.   

2023 Unsupported Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #5

Granville - Southwick "Reservoir Area" 17.7 km (11.0-miles)

To Granville with K2 for a 3-hour run.

Temperatures in the low thirties, with a bright shining sun.  More windy than not.

Ended up with 11.0-miles in 2:50:00 for an average of 3.9 mph (or 15:28 per mile, roughly).

Satisfied with the effort after yesterday's "fast" run and the climbs involved today (two lengthy events).

2023 Unsupported Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #4

McLean Game Refuge 5.8 km (3.6-miles)

Temperatures in the low fifties, with a bright shining sun.  I dressed light and ran hard.

Ended up with 3.6-miles in 33:00 for an average of 6.6 mph (or 9:10 per mile, roughly).

At 1.6-miles I was at 6.7 mph (14:14).  (8:54 per mile, roughly).

To Granby to continue last Friday's exploring (actual run was on Wednesday).

Completed 4.6-miles with a third of it on road.

Old News Department...  this day in 2020...

Nipmuck - Natchaug Marathon - February 8th, 2020
Ashford, Union,  & Eastford, CT

.

I met up with Andy Hillbilliage early to attempt a Nipmuck / Natchaug Marathon.  The Wuzzam was planning to meet up with us to ramble through the last 9 or 10-miles.

The route is fairly easy:

• Boston Hollow Road, Ashford, north on Nipmuck Trail to Bigelow Hollow (~8-miles).
• Return via the same route, opposite direction (~8-miles).
• South from Boston Hollow along the Nipmuck Trail to the turn onto the Natchaug Trail just prior to Ladies Room Rock, down to Moon Road (~4.5-miles).
• And then return along the same sections (~4.5-miles).

What isn't easy is the trail really rolls up and down.  A lot.  5760' of ascent and descent for the full gps measured 24.6-miles.  It was also somewhat cold (around 22-degrees at the start), but that didn't stop Hillbilliage from going with shorts and a short-sleeve top for the last 9+ miles (where it might have gotten to 32-degrees or so, outside the Hemlock forest).

We completed what we wanted, pretty much averaging 4.1 mph the entire day.  At 2-miles we were at 4.3 mph, at 8 the same, at 16 the same, at 20.5 we dropped to 4.2 mph, which we almost maintained to the end.  Very steady rolling.

Completed in 6:01:00, which I felt pretty good about.  It was really awesome of Wuzzam to meet up with us to help with the company, that I (we) really appreciated, as Andy and I were getting a bit tired by the last sections.  Great day, outstanding mileage builder!

This was my 58th completed marathon all-time.

On the drive through Stafford to meet the Old Goat on Sunday, February 5th, I noticed a cross slightly off Route 190.

Roadside Memorial in Stafford

"High Points" along trails during January 2023... 

Getting somewhat back to normal in January.

• Drake Mountain, Granville, MA
• Bigelow Hollow "Bigelow Pond Hill", Union, CT
• The Knolls, McLean Refuge, Granby/Simsbury, CT

Met up with the Old Goat to explore trails in Willington that I'd never seen or heard of, and the Old One was anxious to share with someone.

First stop was at the Fenton-Ruby Park and Wildlife Preserve, where we stuck to the "outside" trails for a nice exact total of 4-miles.

Second stop was just up the road a bit, at a section of Nipmuck State Forest off Polster Road with Lohse Road to the west.  This loop added an additional 2+ miles to our day, with an ending of about 6.2-miles total.

Fenton Ruby Park and Wildlife Preserve

Nipmuck Forest at Roaring Brook

DL and I drove to Clinton, Massachusetts today to visit Chloe, Chris and the animals.  Enjoyed a fantastic lunch and got home safely by 4:30 p.m.

It was in the single digits for temperature today, but I went out to explore Granby Land Trust Properties anyhow.

Drove out to Strong Road to hit the kiosk for the properties at the Old Messenger Road Preserves:

• Katan-Ensor Preserve
• Schlicht Preserve
• Garmany Preserve

Additionally, the area is home to a pair of old discontinued woodland paths... Old Messenger Road and Old Creamery Hill Road.

In November of 2021 and January of 2022 I had last been in these properties.  Today I would look for something "new".

The first image shows the route on a topo map - which is a bit old.  The second image shows the amount of development that has sprung up in this portion of Granby, Connecticut lately.

Rambled for 6.3-miles and kept from freezing solid.  Found a side-path that will work out better than sticking to Old Messenger Road the entire way out to Mountain Road (for connection to Mary Edwards Mountain Property).  Still a spur or two to explore further.

2023 Unsupported Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #3

Simons Skyline Loop 12.4 km (7.7-miles)

This was a difficult run from roughly the 4-mile point onward.

Actually, from the road crossing around mile 3.5 or so, it wasn't easy...

This is the old Wednesday Night Run organized by KS back in the late nineties and early two-thousands.  Occasionally, I get motivated to check it out again after a couple years.

The Skyline section went fine, but once across the road and on the climb to 880' I began to feel the hills.  I missed a couple paths along the way, mostly minor due to lack of use and heavy leaf duff.

Took the alternate western trail to climb Pine, and once descending that I felt decently good.

On the way to the road crossing to get back to Skyline, the muddy briar infested section was all it ever was.  Deep puddles of mud, ice and water surrounded by briars and thorns.  Not much choice but to travel right down the middle of the water, which I did not want to do.  I tried to go around and it was rough - I ended up with a dozen or more thorns stuck in my hands, arms and legs.

That took some of the joy out of the run, but I the worse was still to come.  Somehow, once in Skyline, I ended up on a trail that began to travel in the wrong direction (there are just so many new trails it makes it difficult).

Finally, I got back on track, but not the way I had wished.  I ended the last half-mile the same as the start, which is a rocky section and a bit dangerous on icy ground and tired legs.

Completed the 7.7-miles as 8.2-miles, in 2:06:00.  Much room for improvement!

Had an ending pace of  3.9 mph or 15:22 per mile.

On this day in 1998, the 4th Annual Moby Dick Marathons were held over Greylock. I completed my 19th marathon in 6:19:40, with Johnny Bandit.  It was the second time I wore snowshoes for the 28-mile adventure.  It would be the last time I would snowshoe this distance!

Overlooking Ragged Mountain

Memorial Tower