THE SEARCH FOR PONCHO’S GOLD

{from the archives, 1996)

August ‘95, during the trail marking ceremony, the one for the Savoy 20 Mile Trail Race. Race director "Poncho" , Joe G and Joe Z picked me and my trusty canine companion "Dusty" up for blazing duties in Joe's shiny pickup. 

Trouble began immediately upon dropping Joe and Joe Jr. off at Tower 51, when Poncho asked me to grab something out of his pocket. As I reached into his pants, feeling kinda goofy about it, he told me that he meant the pocket to his backpack. Oh well.

The rest of the day went better, walking the course, and seeing it's dryness, had both of us assured that if anybody decent showed up, the course record would be busted. 

Well, it did and so did just about every other age group record on that day. This is when it went funky for me. Poncho asked me for his special container, the one he had me grab from his pocket the day before. Uh oh. I had just finished the 20 miles minutes ago and he was asking me for an elixir I couldn’t remember being responsible for. With tears in my eyes I told our President it was vanished, gone, forgotten.

Time passed by. Fall went and Winter came and with it massive snow falls. I had the elixir on my mind. I wanted to find it, if it meant traveling to the ends of the earth. Or at least Savoy.

The only way to get into the woods at this time of year would be with snowshoes. Big ones. Tubbs supplied the shoes, me the fuel. I checked the topo map, figured I could trek up the Hoosac Range from Adams, via Little Egypt. Hadn't been in it's wilderness since 1978. It would put me in the right proximity.

Leaving my folk’s house, I walked the pavement 1/4 mile to the snowmobile trail I knew so well as a youth. Put on the snowshoes and enjoyed the ease of running on a packed trail. Down I plummeted, crossing the Tophet Brook and seeing the trail head over to my Uncle's barnyard. This wasn't right. I needed to climb the mountain to the top, all the way to High Bridge. I couldn't believe that snowmobiles would bypass a wonderful mountain trail, surrounded by pines and hemlocks, to scoot through a barnyard and up a now paved road!! At least in the old days the road was rutted and dirt and never plowed in winter. Wimps. That's all it could be. With the price of Snowmobiles approaching cars, the people riding them must have got soft too.

Dusty and I scooted across the crooked bridge, he very delicately, to begin the climb up the mountain. No snowmobiles had been through, causing the depth of snow to reach mid-thigh. 

The snowshoes were a lifesaver, but slowed me down to a crawl as I struggled up the side of this hill. My dog bounced from shoe hole to shoe hole, looking at me in disbelief every hop of the way. 

2/3 into the climb I found out why no sleds had passed. A huge tree had fallen across the path, one side a steep bank rising upward, the other side a sheer cliff dropping straight down. No way for the sleds to get around, trouble for my companion and me. We used all our remaining strength to get ourselves around this obstacle, me pulling the dog by his collar at times as he dug in with all four wheels, churning and spinning wildly in the three-foot powder. Finally busting through around to the other side, happily seeing fresh packed snowmobile tracks lying molded into the snow. Hip Hip Hooray!

Now we could make up some time as I glanced at my watch approaching the 55-minute mark. "This snowshoeing was no walk in the park," I said aloud as I removed soaked wool hat and gloves from my perspired body. The easiness of running on a packed trail was a welcome change from breaking trail up the side of a mountain that climbed 650' in less than a mile, but perhaps not as pleasing. 

Being in an area that hadn't been disturbed by fellow man, snow untouched except by occasional animal tracks zigzagging across the narrow path I was at the time making, was both hypnotic and spiritual to me. Time passes both quickly and slowly, occurring simultaneously within my body and soul. Nothing exists but my footsteps in the three feet of snow. Tiredness is a prerequisite for this state. It leads to a deep relaxation that borders on self-meditation. Only when one travels outside the bond and restrictions of day to day grinding within communities and rat races everywhere can that person experience life in it's simplest form: breaths, sight, sounds and feeling within your own temple. 

I ran on past High Bridge to an open, swampy area on top of the mountain I recognized as part of the Savoy Mountain 20 Miler. A few steps down a pine tree lined section of trail introduced me to Brown Road, and with joy realized that from here I could end up anyplace I wanted in Western Mass!! 

How lucky I was to have found these connecting paths within this forest. I also realized how lucky I was to be able to have with me on most every adventure a running partner who never criticizes, complains, or whines. Most of all I was both lucky and happy to have found Poncho's magic elixir. 

All can find the potion; it's there for each and every one of us. The elixir is the peacefulness you will feel when you are "out there" on a journey in your own wilderness, wherever that may be. The wonderful aspect of trail running is that you can reach a point where the trail exist in your heart and mind, no one anywhere can take that from you. You will have reached the true Zenith. I had found "PEACE" that day. Poncho is kind enough to leave a bunch of it sprinkled along the Savoy Mountain course each year for others to discover. It is there for the taking, stop by and treat yourselves.

{02/01/96}

Took a drive to Soapstone Mountain and the Shenipsit State Forest to run with Wuzzam and the Old Goat.  Conditions were still a bit sketchy, some some and ice remain.

Completed a 4.4-mile run at a nice pace, and more importantly we stayed upright the entire time.  As a bonus, we visited the new tower on Soapstone Mtn for a few moments.

Another trip to western Mass, only made sense to explore some old routes I haven't been on in a very long time.

I did not wear snowshoes again, but unlike last weekend, I suffered for it this time.  The snow was giving way underneath, and it was still deep in most areas.  Snowshoes would have been much easier.

Regardless, I was pleased with the run (13.8-miles total) and the connective routes.  I have been on this entire section in the past, but some of it was a decade or more ago, and a bit of the other has changed.

From the south, the snowmobile trail has changed from the Sears Road crossing.  I was on the previous route in 2017, so this was pretty recent.  The new route drops down closer to the Spruce Corner Restaurant and sticks close to Stones Brook for a longer duration.

The section after the bridge over Stones Brook is a nice improvement from the old route along Barrus Road.  Actually, the old route was fine as well, but there were live cattle to contend with in the pasture.  Now, we stick to Paddy Hill Road a little further east before taking the wooded trail down to Stones Brook.

Nothing new along the old Meadow Road to the snowmobile trail adjacent to John Ford Road.  Managed to navigate along this route all the way north to Peppermint Park (formerly Berkshire Green Acres Campground, I believe).

Just prior to the Campground, I took a few minutes at Plainfield's East Street Cemetery, also known as the Baptist Cemetery and the Stockwell Cemetery. I was plenty tired at this point, so I took John Ford Road back to my car on Route 116.  I did not realize John Ford Road went through, I had thought it was a dead-end.  This is good to know for future loops as the road is dirt and unpaved, with minimal traffic or homes.

13.8-miles of tough going, not wearing the snowshoes was foolish today.  An additional plus is this route is very close to my route not finished on March 9th.

Bear Mountain off Old Meadow Road

Cellar Hold on Old Barrus Road

12' High Split Stones

Split Stones (these are massive)

Stones Brook from the snowmobile bridge

East Street Cemetery

East Street Cemetery

East Street Cemetery

East Street Cemetery

The rain didn't arrive as expected today, and the sun actually shone bright for a good bit of afternoon.  First run of the year in shorts and a tee-shirt.  3.5-miles on the Remington Loop.

3-miles on Main Street in the dark;  warm and pleasant with a beautiful star filled sky.

3-miler along Main Street just as the sun set.

It's a great day to remember a trail pal, Tippi.

Wuzzam & Tippi at the Granby - Suffield Metacomet Trail Marker

Music 2019...

Effort #11, "Psychotic Reaction".  Back to 1984 with the Primitives live on Burlingame.  The Count Five's classic.

Light, wet snow, then some ice, and finally rain throughout the day today.  Took a 3-mile run along Main Street around mid-day.

Between some running around western mass I stopped off in downtown Cummington for a run.  I was thinking of more or less re-creating a run I had done back on February 25th, 2008, from Cummington to Plainfield.

I did not wear snowshoes, due to three reasons:

• I had 6/10's mile from my parking spot at the Berkshire Trail Elementary School to the snowmobile trail,which would mean carrying the shoes twice (in and out), and then putting them on, which was unappealing today.

• I was hoping to cover a decent amount of mileage.

• It was 16-degrees for the start at 8:30 a.m., which would mean the tracks would be firm and stiff from last nights sleds running through.

The run back in '08 was pretty solid in my memory.  The one big concern was passing by one home along the route, which housed two loose dogs, one of which was limited to three legs and appeared to have an issue with Tippi and I passing through.  Well, that was eleven years ago, and it appears that our old three-legged friend has Given Up the Ghost as Tips has.

The route runs along side Mill Brook for the first 3 or 4 miles.  The Mill Brook is a tributary of the Westfield River.  The Shaw Tannery is an old historical site along the Cummington portion of the route.

Once crossing into Plainfield, there is another historical site, the Plainfield Mill Site.  The Plainfield HIstorical Society has some wonderful information available in two parts;  Part One and Part Two.

Running along Mill Brook is rewarding and refreshing, I hope to explore in the warmer weather to see what it looks like without snow on the ground.  Truthfully, it is very impressive during winter, and the snowmobile riders have an outstanding route here.

Interestingly, it looks like the old path in Cummington may be called Shaw Brook Road, before it turns into River Road in Plainfield.  My map sources name the brook "Mill" however.

Once into Plainfield, and a little jog along Union Street (basically unplowed in winter) until taking a sharp turn east into Red Fox Hill.  Steep climb up until crossing Plainfield Road just outside of town and then remaining on open fields for the most part.  Down to cross Route 116 and hit a turn-a-round point at the 7-mile mark, just a short way from the old Peppermint Park Campground.

On the return, I stuck to Plainfield Road all the way back to Cummington Center, and added the little snowmobile trail up to Route 9.  Ended the day with 12.8-miles of running on a fantastic day.

Old Stonehouse near Mill Brook confluence with the Westfield

Plainfield Mill Site Kiosk

Mill Site Foundations

Red Fox Hill

12.8-mile route

Airbag recall "replacement" afterwork, then 3.4-miles aruund the Bridge - Wisteria loop.

3.2-miles along Main Street south in the late afternoon.

Then, I assisted the "Woods Walker's" performance at the fist "Rock Show"of  2019!  This time, we presented at East Hartford's Raymond library.

Music 2019...

Effort #10, "Sunshine of Your Love".  The Reverend reporting from Georgia, as a Road Warrior for Christ, in 2018.  Partnerships are forever, miles don't matter.  Instrumental madness.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #7 for 2019.  Back to Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo for "Murder at the Savoy".  This was written in 1970.

Here is  what I've accomplished during February 2019.

February 2019 High Points:

• Peak / Copper Mountain, Metacomet Trail, East Granby, CT
• Orchard Hill, Natchaug Trail, Goodwin State Forest, CT
• Lewis Hill, Lewis Hill Bird Sanctuary, Suffield, CT
• Stony Hill, McLean Refuge, Granby, CT
• Soapstone Mountain, Shenipsit State Forest, Ellington, CT
• East & West Hills @ Ring Brook, Mary Edward
• Upper East Hoosac St, Adams, MA / Burnett Hill, Old Savoy 20-Mile Rte, Savoy, MA
• Davis Hill, Williamsburg, MA

So far so good in 2019, despite some setbacks.  I've continued to work the "long run" plan, completing a nine (9.3), ten (10), and twelve (11.9) miler for the month of February.

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

I hope I can continue on this path...