We have a trip to the Newark Earthworks planned for April of this year...  I am attaching a video that is really informative, and I am really looking forward to the trip.

Information from the Newark Earthworks website state that the Newark Earthworks are the largest set of geometric earthen enclosures in the world. Already a National Historic Landmark, in 2006, the State of Ohio designated the Newark Earthworks as "the official prehistoric monument of the state." 

The Newark Earthworks were built by people of the ancient Hopewell Culture between 100 B.C. and 500 A.D., this architectural wonder of ancient America was part cathedral, part cemetery and part astronomical observatory. The entire Newark Earthworks originally encompassed more than four square miles. Over the years, the growth of the city of Newark destroyed many of the Newark Earthworks, but three major segments survived because of the efforts of interested local citizens:

Great Circle Earthworks: Formerly known as Moundbuilders State Memorial, the Great Circle Earthworks is nearly 1,200 feet in diameter and was likely used as a vast ceremonial center by its builders. The 8 feet (2.4 m) high walls surround a 5 feet (1.5 m) deep moat, except at the entrance where the dimensions are even greater and more impressive.

Octagon Earthworks: Enclosing 50 acres, the Octagon Earthworks has eight walls, each measuring about 550 feet long and from five to six feet in height. The Octagon Earthworks are joined by parallel walls to a circular embankment enclosing 20 acres. 

Wright Earthworks: This earthwork consists of a fragment of a geometrically near-perfect square enclosure and part of one wall that originally formed a set of parallel embankments, which led from the square to a large oval enclosure. Originally, the sides of the Newark square ranged from about 940 to 950 feet in length, and they enclosed a total area of about 20 acres.

While we can never know with any certainty the Hopewells' purpose in designing the earthworks, one theory is that the Hopewell built these earthworks on such a massive scale for astronomical accuracy—long, straight embankments provide longer sight lines that increase the accuracy of astronomical alignments. In 1982, professors Ray Hively and Robert Horn of Earlham College in Indiana discovered that the Hopewell builders aligned these earthworks to the complicated cycle of risings and settings of the moon. They recovered a remarkable wealth of indigenous knowledge relating to geometry and astronomy encoded in the design of these earthworks. The Octagon Earthworks, in particular, are aligned to the four moonrises and four moonsets that mark the limits of a complicated 18.6-year-long cycle.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #5 for 2019.  Completed the 6th installment of the Burke series, "Sacrifice", from Andrew Vachss.  Written in 1991.

Met up with Wuzzam and  the Old Goat at Goodwin State Forest for a couple hour run along the beautiful trails maintained and monitored by the Friends of Goodwin State Forest.

Snowshoes were not necessary, and we had a fairly easy time of 9.3-miles.

Ten-Years ago during the winter months, I was able to take a couple of snowmobile rides, reenacting some of the old routes I rode as a young teenager.  

The first ride was on February 3rd, 2009, from Burlingame Hill in Adams to Notch Road in Cheshire.  This included a nice section over Stafford Hill.

The second of the two rides was a bit later, on February 16th, 2009.  This route left from Burlingame Hill. and traveled up to Little Egypt and the Tophet Brook, along the Hoosac Range.

The two rides covered a fairly large chunk of ground, and looking back causes me to wonder about exploring on foot in the near future?  In the meantime, here are the two routes together...

Back to McLean, but with snowshoes.  What a difference, I motored through 6.5-miles of bliss.

Return to running at McLean Refuge in the early afternoon,  Still a bit cold, maybe not even 20-degrees?  I should have worn snowshoes, but I didn't, and each step found me feeling every rough edge and bump along the route.  Managed 4.3-miles, very enjoyable for the mind.

Also, from the archives....   On this day in 1998, the 4th Annual Moby Dick Marathons were held over Greylock. I completed my 17th 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!

Goals 2019

One Goal I had set for 2018, which is returning for 2019, is to visit a dozen "The Trustee's of Reservation's properties".  I whittled my list down to eleven, and used as a final twelfth location Keystone Arches, a "non-TTOR site".  This is a spot I want to visit, and it is right in the vicinity of Chesterfield Gorge and Glendale Falls, so it makes sense to include it with this set of "goals".

The Trustee's of Reservations (11 total, plus a bonus site, average one per month)...

• Notchview                                      Windsor
• Bear Swamp                                    Ashfield
• Chapel Brook                                  Ashfield
• Bullet Reservation                          Ashfield
• Bryant Homestead                          Cummington
• Bartholomews Cobble                    Sheffield
• Peaked Mountain                            Monson
• Glendale Falls                                 Middlefield
• Keystone Arches                             Middlefield (non TTOR)
• Chesterfield Gorge                          Chesterfield
• Monument Mountain                      Great Barrington
• Tyringham Cobble                          Tyringham

Music 2019...

Effort #05, "I Had to Tell You", another genius tune from the 13th Floor Elevators.

"... I can hear you voice, Echoing my voice softly.  I can feel your strength. Reinforcing mine."

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #4 for 2019.  Completed the 5th Martin Beck detective series installment, "The Fire Engine that Disappeared", from Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo.  This piece was written in 1969.

Music 2019...

Effort #04, "It Don't Come Easy", from Ringo Star.

"... Forget about the past and all your sorrow."

It's the start of a new year, and that means time to begin tracking my peaks once again!  Here is  what I've accomplished during January 2019.

January 2019 High Points:

• Hampden Overlook, Hampden, MA
• Goat Rock, Hampden, MA
• Minnechoag Mountain, Hampden, MA
• Hill 880' (Bald Mtn, Hampden), Hampden, MA
• Pine Mountain, Hampden, MA
• Rattlesnake Hill, Hampden, MA + Somers, CT
• Perkins Mountain, Camp Ayapo, Somers, CT
• The Pinnacle, Shenipsit State Forest, Somers, CT
• Bald Mountain (Somers), Shenipsit State Forest, Somers, CT
• Hatchet Hill, Metacomet Trail, East Granby, CT
• "Nick's Hill", Metacomet Ridge, West Suffield, CT
• East Barndoor Hill, McLean Refuge, Granby-Simsbury, CT
• West Barndoor Hill, McLean Refuge, Granby-Simsbury, CT
• Peak / Copper Mountain, Metacomet Trail, East Granby, CT
• West Suffield Mountain, Metacomet Trail, Suffield, CT
• Lewis Hill, Lewis Hill Bird Sanctuary, Suffield, CT
• Stony Hill, McLean Refuge, Granby, CT

Fairly good start to the year, as last year at this time-frame, (January 2018), I only had 5-peaks attained during the month.

I also have managed to stick to the "long run" plan, completing an eight (8), ten (10), and twelve (12) miler for the first three weeks of the year, with this fourth week a recovery/easy week.

I also have been able to stay a bit ahead of my mileage goals per week, with an end-of-year total of 1200-miles of running planned.

So far so good for 2019...

TOMB CEMETERY

{from the Archives, 2000}

Many times on the way to visit my folks in Adams, I talk Donnalee into dropping me off at the Tomb Cemetery on Route 116 in Savoy.  It is only a couple more miles on the road to their house, but through the woods it is closer to six.  From the Cemetery you can connect to Brown Road (anyone who has done the Savoy 20 miler might have a light-bulb go off concerning that one) and then once at the "top" (about a 500' climb I think) it is a beautiful descent of 1800' down through "Little Egypt" to my folks house.  I am not making the "Little Egypt" stuff up; it is listed that way on the Cheshire Mass Topo Maps....  There are many reasons why the area I grew up in is called "Little Egypt"; my favorite is as follows:

1) The steepness of the terrain / hills on the Hoosac Range look like pyramids.  They are many and stacked up all over the place, with deep gullies between them rushing with brooks.

Anyhow, the run started off in knee-deep powder that took the energy from me quicker than Lipka freezing one of his extremities.  No snowmobiles had been through yet so it was a struggle, but wondrous.  An hour and five minutes found me finishing just a little less than 2.5 miles.  Channel 22 News had reported this area getting 11" of snow but I think they miscalculated some.  It usually takes me about 65 minutes to reach my folks house.  I started hoping that no search party was already out looking for me.

Once at the top, realizing that the hardest work is over, I start on a smile bursting as pronounced as a rainbow after a rainstorm.  The haul up to this point always makes me feel as though I have accomplished something.  It isn't necessarily a hard climb normally, but on this day it was plain difficult.  I allow myself to rejoice a little more than normal at reaching the high point on the route…

Beginning the descent chisels away a bit at my joy.  The snow is just too deep to run in well, even with the snowshoes.  Powdery snow this deep just sends you to another planet fatigue wise.  Thankfully, the Adams Sno-Drifters Snowmobile Club arrive along on their groomer cleaning the path for the upcoming rush of motorized traffic.  They look at me funny from the confines of the tractor like rig pulling the big sled... I was a real long way from any road.

Finally, the section run down past High Bridge and along the banks of the Tophet Brook really lifts my spirit; I have enjoyed this land since childhood.  Winding down the hill zigzagging switchbacks in the fine powdered packed snow again brings a smile to my tired face (along with the rest of me).  Before long, I am exiting the woods and hitting the open field, arrived and finished.  I walk the rest along the road, get to my folks house where my mother ask if I am hungry?  I am starving.  Seldom could it be better than this (especially for a Wednesday afternoon).  It has taken me two hours to finish this route today, I wish I had the energy to have had it last twice that.

January 26, 2000

Picking up the pieces from a flooded basement Thursday Morning, managed a 3-mile run along Main Street in the dark.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #3 for 2019.  Completed the 5th novel in Andrew Vachss "Burke" series, "Blossom", written in 1990.

Music 2019...

Effort #03, "Big White Cloud", a John Cale classic.

"... Days that came, years again."

Early morning run along Main Street, prior to work.  3.2-miles, 4 degrees.