On this day, February 28th, in 2002, I spent the day snowshoing in Dubuque State Forest, Hawley.  More Old Photograph time....

The Kiln from 15-years ago.

 Tippi loved the winter.

Running on the Metacomet yesterday was so enjoyable, I went back today after work.  3.5-miles of bliss.

Head-Cold or not, I got to the Metacomet today for a 3-mile run.  It felt fantastic, even though it was about 30 or so degrees cooler than yesterday (but still pretty darn warm for February).

Another very warm February day, high 60's at least.  Still struggling with a head-cold, but I managed around 3.3-miles on the road.

We hit mid '60's temperature again today, we've had a run of them.  3-miles along Main Street.

February of 1997 was the 3rd Moby Dick event on Mount Greylock.  The Old Goat was a regular participant during this time frame.

The Old Goat climbing a very cold, frozen Greylock in 1997

Normally around this time in February, we would hold the Greylock Covered Bridge and Hoxie-Thunderbolt Snowshoe Races.  This was the Farmer, ten-years ago in 2007.

And, from old gps data, I snowshoed around the Moody Spring course on this day (February 22nd) in 2007 - ten-years ago, most likely getting the course ready for a race?

Way back twenty years, 1997, we took a walk at the Laurel Sanctuary on Hill Street in Suffield.  DLV and our old spaniel Dusty.

Jogged into work (Holiday for us);  it's been a really long time since I've done this.  Wasn't bad, actually....  5.5-miles.

Took a nice relaxing 5-mile run at noon-time, crossing Stony Brook a few times on bridges.

On this day in 1995, the 1st Moby Dick Marathons were held.  This was my 5th marathon, with the 28-miles completed in 5:01:00.

It seemed like a good idea, but there are reasons why the event didn't last, especially as a 28 or 30 miler.  Bitter cold, difficult, no aid,  February on Greylock....  seems like there would be many additional "whys".

This run was really special for me, it cemented my friendship with Paul.  We ran the entire event together, and began to dream up our snowshoe series.  Paul and I ended up roaming the woods together for a very long time, we see the same things in nature.

 

 

On this day in 1996 I completed my 9th marathon, the 2nd Annual Moby Dick.  It was a run on snow, and Georgie Hendricks and I wore snowshoes.  The event began at the Greylock Visitor Center in Lanseboro, Massachusetts, and ran up the snow covered road to the summit of Mt. Greylock, then down to North Adams, and back.  Covered the 28-mile version in 6:16:43.  

Another addition of music for 2017...

Here is effort #4, Three Little Birds.

Managed a 3-mile run along Main Street, before attending STCC this evening.

The Hawley Kiln

The kiln was built in 1870 by a man named Albert Dyer. Mr. Dyer was building the kiln for a man named William O. Bassett, who in 1870 was Hawley’s most successful farmer. I don’t think at the time that Mr. Dyer thought he was building the most historical site in the Hawley State Forest. The kiln is also the oldest known flagstone charcoal kiln in New England.

The question is “Why was it called the Charcoal Kiln?” The word “kiln” is related to the word kitchen and is, in fact, a large heated chamber or oven made of brick or stone. The purpose of a kiln is to bake or dry wood. This process is called charring. What then is charcoal? Written like char-coal, we understand that wood has been charred to resemble coal. We see this in a fireplace when the wood is not completely burned. Charring takes place when air, particularly oxygen necessary for combustion, is excluded.

The kiln has three dimensions that are easy to remember, 25’ high. 25’ in diameter, and holds 25 cords of wood. Wood was carried in through the lower door and stacked as high as a man could reach. Loading was completed through a second higher door located on an embankment at the back of the kiln. After the fire was lit, iron doors sealed the openings. Burning was controlled by means of draft holes around the base which were plugged with bricks. Enough oxygen was allowed to keep a low burning fire that would remove the moisture and combustible gases, but not to burn the wood completely. The color of the smoke would indicate if the fire was the right temperature. Yellow smoke meant that the fire was about to burst into flames and needed to be damped down. The fire had to be watched every few hours, day and night, for the two days that it took for the wood to burn.

A tar like substance called creosote, obtained by the distillation of wood tar, blackens the inside walls of the kiln. At the end of two days, the charcoal is so brittle it can easily be broken into small pieces and shoveled out of the kiln. It may then be used in a fireplace, by the blacksmith for his forge or used for smelting or like copper. Charcoal burns with a slow, intense heat so a farmer like Mr. Bassett, who may have had several fireplaces in his house, would like to heat with charcoal instead of wood.

Coal and oil became more available by the end of the century so the life of this kiln as a charcoal producer was a short one, only thirty years. The kiln them became home to pigs and other livestock. In 1957 it was bought by the DEM and was restored to its original condition.

Throughout the years with the help of nature and vandals, the kiln was in desperate need of repair. Funding by the DEM at the urging of the Hawley Historical Commission and the Sons and Daughters of Hawley, work to restore the kiln got underway. Mr. Steve Striebel, a contractor, handled the work. Sonam Lama, a Tibetan stone mason, and Tenzin Norbu, helped with the newly restored kiln in 1993.

Celebrating our Anniversary on this day, DL & I.