Another trip along the Metacomet in West Suffield, Connecticut.  3.5-miles along the traprock ridge.

Spencer Woods Wildlife  Preserve, intersection of Phelps & Mountain Roads.

 Deep furrowed bark...

View to the Quarry, or Manitook Mountain, in Granby, CT.  

 I noticed this roadside memorial a while ago;  Mountain Road - Route 168.

 

  

A big breezy day was forecast, I wanted to enjoy some woods-time.  Penwood is close enough, and rugged enough, to satisfy me today (and, allow a nice ninety minute loop to keep me on target time-wise).

I went out from Wintonbury Road again, it's out of the sun and busy enough with other park visitors that worries are minimal.  Interestingly, when I finished my 6.5-miles, I learned that a group of boy-scouts were in the first leg of an "adventure" race behind me, on the orange trail, riding mountain bikes.  Evidently, they mountain bike, run to the sycamore (I think), canoe down the Farmington River, and maybe one additional thing.  That is a pretty good adventure for young men 12 - 18 years old.

Penwood was nice;  this was my second visit this season, and the reminders of what a rewarding experience I had as a ridge runner here were many.

The Mountain Laurel ( Kalmia Latifolia) was in bloom, and it was worth the trip.  Located on the Blue-Blazed Metacomet (NET, New England Trail) about 1-mile north of the main parking area at Gale Pond.

The view from the Pinnacle, looking south to Hueblin Tower.

There is an incredible 1/8-mile or so of Mountain Laurel worth checking each May & June.

Blooming Mountain Laurel.

Mountain Laurel.

Mountain Laurel.

People have been stacking and shaping for a long while.

Effigy Site.

Close up.

Another.

Leading out, more Mountain Laurel.

Early start to beat the rain, K2 took the drive with me to meet  up with Wuzzam at Whitiker Woods in Somers, Connecticut.  This, and the adjacent McCann Farm, is really one of my favorite areas to run, the trails are fantastic...  well maintained, the network is extensive but not too busy, and it has decent climbing.

The stone walls are really worth exploring in these woodlands.  At the height of land within Whitiker's boundary especially.  There are some nice white pine sections, I noticed some red pine as well, and plenty of black birch.  

We did the final section of our planned marathon today, about 6.3-miles total in around 90 minutes.  

Wuzzam and Tedziu at the parking area.

Trail Markings are uniform and the network is understandable with a map.

Wuzzam splitting the lopes.

 At the height of land on today's run, about 621' on the map.

 Impressive Stone Wall network after height of land.

More Stone Wall, pictures don't do it justice.

A scheduled day off work afforded me the opportunity to get in a run along the Metacomet Trail, from Route 20 in East Granby, Connecticut.  Later on, Donnalee and I drove to the Berkshires to visit my folks.

It felt good to get out and run again, I am in the middle of antibiotic treatment for lyme.  So far so good.   The air has been very cool, and the leaf cover and early start kept the sun off me.

A view just under a mile out, at Copper or Peak Mountain.  This view is south, with Hueblin Tower and Talcott Mountain in the distance.  About 5-miles away, about right between where this photo was taken and Hueblin, is the Farmington River in Tarriffville.

The Geodetic Survey Marker from USGS at the top of Copper Mountain.

A bit further out along the ridge, with a view below of Old Newgate Prison,

This birch really competed with or aligned with rock.

Additionally, this day has found me completing two marathons in my past.  In 2001, I completed my 23rd marathon at Nipmuck, in 4:27:17.  This was a 35th place, and my 5th completed Nipmuck.

Then, on this day in 2012, Wuzzam, Tippi and I completed a Tunxis Marathon in 6:26:10.  This was my 45th Marathon, and Tippi's 16th.

Two throwbacks today...

On this day in 1998, I completed the my 4th Nipmuck marathon in 4:28:33, a 41st placement.  This was my 18th finished marathon.

Also on this day, in 2009, I completed my 7th Nipmuck Marathon in 4:37:03 (a fantastic 19th place).  This was my 40th marathon overall.

A great marathoning day in my history!

On this day in 2010, I ran the Nipmuck Marathon for the 8th time.  It was my 44th marathon completed, with a time of 5:07:28.  This was good for 34th place overall.

On this day in 1994 I completed my 3rd marathon - Nipmuck.  It was my first Nipmuck Marathon completed, and my time was 4:02:00, good enough for 23rd place.

Also, on this day in 2005, I completed my 25th marathon - also Nipmuck, with a time of 4:48:13.  This was good for 29th place.

Out to a local trail early to beat the sunshine (antibiotics and sun do not mix well).  Worked out to hit the Metacomet in Suffield, while Tippi was at the groomer.  Enjoyable 3.5-mile out and back, old reliable for me.  

First open lookout (west) with leaf on.

A look west toward the old Quarry.

Traprock ridge.

View west from the sign-in log;  1.8 miles south of Phelps Road trailhead.

A doctor visit tonight resulted in me being treated for lyme disease;  oh well.  A steady diet of Doxycycline for the next three weeks.

In the retrospective category, I completed my 11th marathon on this day in 1996 at Nipmuck.  I ran a 3:56:50 in the race, which was good for 15th place.

On this day in 1997 I completed my 14th marathon - Nipmuck.  It was the 3rd time I completed Nipmuck, and my time was 4:31:44, good enough for 42nd place.

Also, on this day in 2013, I completed my 49th marathon - Hawley Berkshire East.  I had Wuzzam with me for this one, which was a real beast.  We had a total time on feet of 7:45:15, which was the longest either of have ever been on our feet moving through the forest.  It was most likely more than a marathon distance.  By several miles...  (or more).

It had stopped raining enough, and the humidity was dropping a bit, so I wandered out for a short run on the Metacomet today, in West Suffield.  A quick quiet 3-miler. 

View from the high-point, about a mile north of Phelps Road / Mountain Road intersection.

 

View from the slightly north of above..

  

Lady Slippers along the trail (my wildflower ID technique stinks).

Looking up through a nice patch of Black Birch.

I brought a sapling branch back home with me, to present to Donnalee.  She loved the smell.

Additional Note:

On this day in 2009, Wuzzam and I completed a McClean Reservation Marathon in roughly five hours.   This was my 39th marathon completed.  I recall it being a fairly easy day for us.

Trying to stay out of the afternoon heat, and stick close to home, so I drove out to Penwood State Forest in Simsbury / Bloomfield, Connecticut today.

I've been running and hiking in Penwood since 1990.  It is a rugged landscape, with traprock throughout most of the trails.

I was fortunate to act as a volunteer with Connecticut Forest and Park's "Ridgerunner" program during the summer and fall of 2014 at Penwood.  I conversed with over 300 visitors that summer, gathering demographic data from them, and giving back park information and a positive attitude.

The big "selling" point of the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail from my 2014 Ridgerunning experience was that it had become part of the New England Trail (NET) network.  The New England Trail is a 215-mile long-distance hiking trail from Long Island Sound in Connecticut to the Massachusetts & New Hampshire border (no Monadnock or on to Sunapee for the NET!).

My plan was to go out on the Orange and Yellow Trails south from Wintonberry Road, and take the Blue Blazed Metacomet Trail back north.  I navigated the Yellow and Orange just fine, but when I arrived at the park road I was tuned out and took the park road to Lake Louise, missing the turn for the Blue Blazed Metacomet Trail.

I followed the park road to the summit, and from there grabbed the Metacomet for the remaining loop back.  6.5-miles in 1:23:00, with 1550' of climb.  It didn't get hot until the last mile or so.

On this day in 1995 I completed my 6th marathon, Vermont City.  I had trained for a year specifically to run sub 3:10 at a marathon, so that I would qualify and gain entry into the 100th running of the Boston Marathon.

I recall feeling awful for the first couple miles, and beat from around  10 - 13 miles.  At some point, my training kicked in, despite the heat, and I finished in 3:08.  Qualified for Boston!

It was such a rewarding run in Florida and Rowe last weekend, we returned to explore the "newer" Hoosac Tunnel Loop and Bear Swamp Trail.  Ended up with about 13.5 Miles in over 4 hours.  Tough going, 3500' climb, and the Bear Swamp and Hoosac Tunnel Trail are rough (more footprints and visitors would be a good thing).

Along Tunnel Road in the Rowe Land Trust Area.

Old Foundation remains.

Wuzzam on or near Pulpit Rock, with Dunbar Brook Start-Finish below.

On the Hoosac Tunnel Loop, near a swamp, there were several large stone effigy piles or mounds.  This one is about 5' tall.

 Stream outlet, stone bridge on Tunnel Road.

The View west toward Whitecomb Hill and Reed Brook.

Wrapping up the run along the single-lane bridge over the Deerfield.

On this day in 2006, I completed a Tunxis Marathon in 5:41:50.  I had Johnny Bandit along for company, as well as Tippi.  It would be my 32nd marathon completed, and Tippi's 8th.

John Scalise rambling through the meadow.

We rambled from Route 20 to Route 219 in East Hartland, Connecticut, and back for the first 19.5 miles.  We finished up with the Route 20 to Pell Road near the Massachusetts border for the final 6.5-miles. 

Small Waterfall on the northern section of Tunxis Trail.

Old Notes:  Another great day;  started out 45 degrees at the 9:15 A.M. start time.  It reached a high of maybe 60 degrees during the day, with majority in the mid 50’s.  Sunny and blue sky entire time, occasional strong breeze every once and a while.  Started the run at 9:15 A.M.

 Tippi taking a look down from the climb a mile from Pell Road.

John and I both felt that it was the easiest marathon either of us had ever done.  We finished strong, running all but the very start of Trillium Hill from mile 24.5 onward.  I believe we could have easily gotten thru another hour on this day.  Plenty of water for Tippi, no problems with her other than the porcupine around mile 18.  We escaped from that ok. 

 The Pell Road TurnAround.