Easter Sunday run at Bear Hole in fifty-degree temps and sunny.

5.8-miles at 5.5 mph pace.  Pretty good after yesterday's 13-miles.

Got a decently early start at Granville, hoping to use some of the forest roads I'd noticed on an old topographical map.  I designed a "sort of" loop that would be about 10-miles.

The running went extremely well, with an average speed of over 5 mph right up to about mile 9.  Then, I ran into some serious logging activity that pretty much ruined the old forest road I had been on in May of 2010.  I tried some optional paths, which were ORV made, and those were not great as they tended to loop into loops and were nothing much other than mud bogs.  The route may have been called Mud Bog Trail, actually.

I made it back to the car in 12.9-miles, and 4.9 average for mph.  Pretty close to 12-minute miles for the duration, which kept me happy.

Most of the route was on old forest and perhaps watershed property, with a couple miles past Howell Pond as paved.  The paved section was nice, with only a house or two through the entire section, so pretty remote.  The logging section was the only disappointment.

Drove out to Tolland, Massachusetts, right at the Granville border on Route 57.  I had been noticing a forest road (gated) that appeared to be part of the Hull Forest network.  As happens often, I was curious whether this connected to anything within the "circled world".

There were many warnings of shooting and firearms, and after completing this adventure I now know why.  Starting from about a mile in, there are numerous hunting blinds / tree stands.  Many of these.

The road was really good running, and a sidepath lead me down to Hall Pond, which looked fantastic.

I explored many side-trails, but these either looped back to the main forest road or ended at another tree stand, so not much use going foreward.

Ended with 6.9-miles.

"Non" Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #11 for 2024...

"Wyoming" written by Barry Gifford, first published in 2000.

3-miles to the soccer bubble and back.

Having been born in 1962, and liking and listening to music from the early sixties onward, I thought it might be fun to attempt a listing of my favorite albums each year since birth.

The initial post for this series of ideas began on December 26th, 2023.  You can look it up....

I present my favorite Jazz albums of 1965...

Jazz Albums released 1965:

1.    John Coltrane                                       A Love Supreme

2.    Rashaan Roland Kirk             Rip Rig and Panic      

3.    Larry Young                                          Unity

4.    Miles Davis                                           E.S.P.                       

5.    Joe Henderson             In 'n Out

6.    Pharoah Saunders             Pharoahs First                                     

7.    Albert Ayler             Spiritual Unity

8.    Dexter Gordon                                     One Flight Up

9.    Jackie McLean                                     Consequences

10.  Sam Rivers                                           Fuchsia Swing Song                     

Jazz Honorable Mentions, 1965:

11.  Grant Green and Larry Young I Want to Hold Your Hand

12.  Jackie McLean                  Right Now

13.  Wayne Shorter              Soothsayer

14.  Archie Shepp          Fire Music 

15.  Sam Rivers          Contours

16.  Don Cherry          Complete Communion

17.  Lee Morgan          Cornbread

18.  Sun Ra          The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One & Two

19.  Wayne Shorter          The All Seeing Eye

20. Jackie McLean                  Jackknife                     

Drove to Adams early to visit the folks.  

Did a bit of exploring on the way, checking some snowmobile crossings in Cummington, tying to tie some things together for the future.  Seems like I noticed some things that might work.

After a lengthy visit with my parents, we loaded 50 Bales of Hay onto Pop's Chevy and we drove in tandem to the auction in Whately for unloading.  Another fine visit.

Met up with Old Goat,  JEvil and K2 at Granville.

Wound around the (very wet) forest for 12-miles of enjoyment.

Having been born in 1962, and liking and listening to music from the early sixties onward, I thought it might be fun to attempt a listing of my favorite albums each year since birth.

The initial post for this series of ideas began on December 26th, 2023.  You can look it up....

This time, I present my favorite albums of 1965...

Albums released 1965

  1.    Jackson C. Frank                             Jackson C. Frank

  2.    The Fugs                             The Fugs First Album

  3.    John Fahey                              The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death

  4.    The Who                              My Generation

  5.    Them                             The Angry Young Them (US)

  6.    The Sonics                              Here Are The Sonics

  7.    Bob Dylan                              Bringing It All Back Home

  8.    The Pretty Things                             The Pretty Things

  9.    The Kinks                              Kinkdom (US)

10.    Fred Neil                             Bleecker & MacDougal

Honorable Mentions (11 thru 20)

11.    The Yardbirds                             Having a Rave Up with The Yardbirds (US)

12.     The Kinks                             The Kink Kontroversy

13.     Bert Jansch                             Bert Jansch

14.     Bob Dylan                             Highway 61 Revisited

15.     Vince Guaraldi                             A Charlie Brown Christmas

16.     The Zombies                             Begin Here

17.     The Animals                             Animal Tracks (US)

18.     Beatles                                     Rubber Soul

19.     The Rolling Stones                     Out of Our Heads

20.     The Pretty Things                             Get the Picture?

Honorable Mentions (21 thru 33)

21.     Richard Farina and Mimi Farina     Celebrations For a Grey Day 

22.     The Beau Brummels             Introducing The Beau Brummels

23.     Beatles                                     Help!

24.     The Rolling Stones                     December's Children (And Everybody's (US)

25.     The Paul Butterfield Blues Band     The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

26.     The Byrds                     Mr. Tambourine Man

27.     Donovan                     Fairytale

28.     Beau Brummels                     The Beau Brummels, Volume 2

29.     The Yardbirds                     For Your Love

30.     The Hollies                     Hollies

31.     The Byrds                     Turn! Turn! Turn!

32.     Donovan                     What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid

33.     The Lovin' Spoonful             Do You Believe in Magic

Jazz Albums released 1965 (coming soon)

Jazz Honorable Mentions (coming soon)

Exited work early enough to drive to Granville and manage a decent 8.7-miles.

I tried to explore a bit off Old Westfield Road, exploring the Tillotson Brook basin up toward Tice Hollow Road and the intersection with Sullivan Road 

A magnificent Waterfall revealed itself on Tillotson, along with some interesting stonework..

 

Cowles Park at 5:30 p.m. for 3.4-miles.

Third meeting with our Financial Advisor / Fiduciary, continued planning of our future. 

DL and I took a mid-morning drive to Whately.  

We assisted with the Hay Delivery at auction with my folks. 

Once finished at auction, we stopped at Yankee Candle and did a bit of browsing (and shopping).

Later, I explored 5-miles in Granville, from Holden Hill area into Phelon Forest and back.

Negotiations at work.  Longish session with some ideas to sort through.

Met up with J Evil and K2 in Granville.  

Weather mentioned clearing by 9:30 a.m. and it was splendid.

50-degrees and very sunny.

7.8-miles, with a stumble upon a little loop of a new trail being worked on.

8.8-miles in Granville, nice sunny day with several new paths to explore. 

Prior to work, I managed a decently steady ramble on the Metacomet from Route 20 to the Notch.

Total of 5.8-miles, with a mix of cloudy and sun, fifties. 

High sixties temperature today, drove out to Cowles around 5 p.m. for a 3.4-mile run. 

The Return of a great big Black Bear to our patio around 11:30 p.m. tonight.

The Beast spent some time tearing up an empty birdseed bag.

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

#15.

Primitives, Private House Party (Burlingame), late summer 1984 (another guess).

Stick a fork in us, we were done.  

LM was unable to drum, Wheatbread attempted to.  

Mike G tried to sing.  Al didn't.

Vango played a bit.

It was over.

"Non" Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #10 for 2024...

"The Devil Knows You're Dead " written by Lawrence Block, first published in 1993.

This is book eleven of the Mathew Scudder Series.

Joined the gang for a run from Crow Hill in Stafford, with aspirations to hit a turnaround point at The Trustee's of Reservations "Peaked Mountain" site.

Old Goat and I managed 5.6-miles, and a successful finding of Peaked's Peak.

K2 & JF got close to "Rattlesnake" Peak, with a nice effort at the finish.

Early day spent with having three locks replaced, with a fourth key being furnished for my vehicle.

Mid-day drove to Granville and managed a effort driven 8.4-miles in around two-hours.

Farmington River Park run on a bright, warm sunny day.

4.6-miles, enjoyable adventure.

"High Points" along trails during February 2024... 

Trying like a beast...

• West Suffield Mountain, Metacomet (NET) Trail, West Suffield, CT
• Talcott Mountain Ridge, Metacomet (NET) Trail, Bloomfield, CT
• Laurel Hill, Simsbury, CT
• Bashan Hill, Worthington, MA
• Knowles Hill, Worthington, MA
• Parsons Hill, Worthington, MA

"Non" Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #09 for 2024...

"The Witcher:  The Sword of Destiny" written by Andrzej Sapkowski, first published in 1992 (Polish) and in 2015 (English).  It is considered the 2nd installment of "The Witcher" series.

What Played in Ed's Head -- 

Music listened to for the time-period February 1st through February 29th, 2024:

Weekly drive to Adams for a visit with the folks.

Early on I stopped in Windsor at Notchview Reservation to complete a 2.2-mile jog on Hume Road and Hume Brook Trail before the final destination in Adams.

Had a great visit with my folks including DL's homemade macaroni and cheese, with Kielbasa slices from Perkarski's.

On the drive home, I stopped in Cummington to explore the snowmobile trail from Route 9 toward Dodwell's Road (which I had been on once before, with Tippi, on February 25, 2008).  

I managed another 2.7-miles round trip, but came up short on completing the route to Dodwell.

The snowmobile trail was lost at roughly the high point of land, in a meadow that was fairly grown in with briars.

Looks like I will need to try again and look at the Dodwell entry point, but with the two combined efforts I managed 4.9-miles of jogging through some awesome woods.

Joined the gang for a run in the Bear Hole Reservoir Basin, with a northerly route to Ashley Pond.

Old Goat and I managed 8.8-miles, K2 & JF got out and finished the "pond".

Excellent day, shorts were fine, two tops were not as the temperature reached over sixty-degrees.

Hit Farmington River Park in Bloomfield early morning to beat the rain.

Completed 6.8-miles, avoided the rain, and may have explored some paths previously unfamiliar.

DL and I attended the Jonathan Richman Concert at the Academy of Music in Northampton, Massachusetts this evening. 

At the end of the workday, I completed 3.2-miles around the "Point".