Dropped the Subaru off  at Small Town, and jogged home along Suffield Stree for 4.6-miles.

Out to Ashfield to run along Ashfield Trails with K2 & Wuzzam.  We had heard that the temperature was supposed to reach 60-degrees, but that did not happen during our run, and the sun never actually came out either.

We ran from Route 116 at Sanderson Academy to Smith Road before turning around.  We topped out at Peter Hill, and enjoyed the Trustee's of the Revervation's Bear Swamp property.  Ended the day with 11.3-miles, with two fantastic climbs.

The story of Peter Wells, and Peter Hill

Birch within Bear Swamp

 Bear Swamp

Meadow at Bear Swamp

Old Graveyard in the forest 

 Huge Oak along Ashfield Trails

Stonewall along Ashfield Trails

 Tablet at the Picnic Area, Bear Swamp Meadow

Wuzzam approaching the Meadow

 Bear Swamp Kiosk

To lead off, it is my Pop's birthday today!

Back in the midst of our racing days... Monroe/Dunbar 2006 with our friend Paul.

After work today I drove out to Williamsburg to complete the Hyde Hill to Route 143 section.  Excellent weather and excellent news as I followed the old path perfectly today.  Ended the run with 7.1-miles and feeling good.

Cellar Hole #1

Cellar Hole #2

Swamp (Headwaters of Town Lot Brook?)

Balanced Rock

Marker Tree

Early morning run along North Main Street, 3-miles.

... On this day in 1992, I completed my first marathon, Bay State, in Lowell, Massachusetts.  I ran 3:35:00 and my parents drove out to watch me finish.

In Memory...  Rest in Peace Tippi (August 2000 - October 17, 2016)

Two years ago today we said goodbye to Tippi.  She was a rescue we were blessed with for over 16-years. She was my trail partner for somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 miles (we didn't keep track), traveling together in the car all over Connecticut, New York, Vermont and Western Massachusetts to run in the woods we both loved so much.  Together we finished 17 marathons.  She could run all day, season didn't really matter.

Often, as DL and I drive home from Adams back to Connecticut, she will ask as we pass large forested areas "... did you and Tippi ever run through there?"  The answer is almost always "Yes".  We connected huge tracts of land in northwestern Massachusetts.

I continue to think about Tippi everyday. Often on a hike or run, I come to a spot in the forest that helps me feel her presence.  The recent photograph below is one of those spots/times, along the Spruce Mountain Trail in Monroe, where my old dog's spirit overwhelmed me.

We love you Tippi, rest easy girl.

Tippi, August 2000 - October 17th, 2016.

Another completed Black Lizard / Vintage Crime novel, back to Sweden with Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo.  This time, "The Man Who Went Up In Smoke", the second Martin Beck novel, published in 1966.

Newer Cover Art

My Copy, Cover Art

Music 2018...

Effort #42, "You Blister My Paint"...  an electric version with the full Primitives in 1984.

Visited DAR with K2 to explore more of the proposed marathon route I've been working on.  Rambled through the snowmobile trails, to see how easy they are to follow without snow.  

Finished with 8.4-miles, and I was somewhat successful following the route I had hoped to.  The trails that I explored accidentally are "yellow" on the map below, and the original route I had hoped to follow in "red".

West Branch Mill River

Standing Stone along Snowmobile Path

Stonewall along Snowmobile Path

Old News...

On this day in 1995 I completed the 2nd Hartford Marathon in 3:42:02.  This was my 7th completed marathon.

Made it back to Connecticut from our 5-day / 4-night cruise on the Disney Dream.  An outstanding adventure for DL and I.

Ran along Main Street just after dark, 3-miles.

Old News...  On this day, October 13th, 2012, Wuzzam and I ran the Conway Covered Bridge Marathon in 6:33:15.  This was my 48th completed marathon.  

Very Old News...  15-years ago today, October 13th, 2003, I was running along the Appalachian Trail in Salisbury, Connecticut and snapped a few photos from Lions Head.

View off  Lions Head

Sign on Tree

Another Black Lizard / Vintage Crime novel enjoyed, this time Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep".  Novel was published in 1939, and the film with Bogart and Bacall was released in 1946.

This was the first appearance of Philip Marlowe as a private eye.

Still in the North Atlantic Ocean...

Our accommodations for the week

Music 2018...

Effort #41, "Sermon at Tallassee"...  Rev. King in November of 2017, Preaching the Blues in Alabama.  I added a fingerpicked blues in G in late September of 2018.

Somewhere out in the North Atlantic Ocean, aboard the Disney Magic, I ran 3-miles around Deck 4 in wonderfully cool breezy conditions!

Outside, water, water everywhere...

Amtrak into New York City to board the Disney Magic, for a sea adventure with DL. 

also... on this day in 2013:

DAR to Bullitt Reservation Marathon
October 9th, 2013 - Goshen & Ashfield, Massachusetts

The DAR Marathon (Daughter's of the American Revolution).

Tippi and I ran a DAR State Forest Marathon today in 6:10:00.  This was my 52nd completed marathon, and Tippi's 17th.  

We began in Goshen, at the Daughter's of American Revolution State Forest, and ran out to Bullitt Reservation, and back.  We enjoyed views from Chapel Ledge and Chapel Falls.

Tippi on Chapel Ledge

Tippi looking off Chapel Ledge.

Tippi on Chapel Ledge.

Chapel Falls.

Chapel Falls.

Tippi cooling off in a pool at Chapel Falls.

Course with Tippi's track as well

4.3-miles of "quick" running in McLean Game Refuge.

I was back at the same location where the previous day's run ended, West Road in Ashfield, Mass.  I hope to attempt a marathon from Bullitt Reservation to Williamsburg Depot sometime in early November.  I verified that Section One from Bullitt to the West Road crossing was right around 5-miles yesterday.

Today I would run through the Second Section, from West Road through the Daughter's of American Revolution State Forest to Lower Highland Lake, at East Street in Goshen.  It was foggy again, but no drizzle today.  It was very humid to start, despite the cool temperatures.

The run along the Ashfield Trails section to the feeder to the Long Trail was in decent shape, with some high water levels early on.  Some of the mountain bike bridges are submerged due to the wet weather we have been having.  The Long Trail was in great condition, I've been on it recently enough, as was the trail to the entrance at Upper Highland Lake fishing area.

From here, I had planned on using the Boat Launch Road Trail to the Sunset Trail.  This was were Tips and I had parked in 2013 for our Marathon, that dog really loved the DAR woods.  The Sunset Trail looks like trouble right now, as at about a half-mile in dozens of white pine have fallen as blow-downs.  There is the beginnings of a "go-around" to get through the mess, but it is much scrambling and climbing over massive trees for a quarter-mile or so, with the trail difficult to follow.

I bushwhacked up to Camp Howe Road to join Camp Howe Trail and the White Pine Trail, and realized that I'd have to avoid the Sunset Trail, despite my desire to use it.  The easy alternative will be to avoid the last bit along Upper Highland Lake, and head south along the Boat Launch Road to Camp Howe Road, to the Howe Trail & White Pine Trail location.  It may end up losing a half-mile off the total of the run, so nothing severe.

The rest of it went fine, intersected Headquarters Road off White Pine and witnessed the large gang of men gathering for their annual Dungeons and Dragons Festival at Camp Howe.  This is the second time I've run into these guys, it is great to see young people having fun in the woods.

On the way back, I ran through the campground, and I recalled all our years of camping and how much I miss it.  Someday, we'll be back, I hope.  It looks like the end of the season, as only about a fourth of the spots were occupied.  I took the Darling Trail back to Moore Hill Road, and noticed a cellar hole along the way, which I'd never noticed before.

Ended the day with 9.4-miles, and really good scouting regarding the condition of the Sunset Trail.  I have time to adjust going forward.

Section 2 of the planned Bullitt - DAR - 'Burgy Marathon

Beaver Dam along the Ashfield Trails section

Gazebo along trail at Upper Highland Lake

Upper Highland Lake

Cellar Hole along the Darling Trail 

Sections 1 & 2 of the planned Bullitt - DAR - 'Burgy Marathon