Training Log Archive: CleverSky

100 x sit

100 x sit, 30 x push

Across the street in the fading light. The tracks were there again, and I was thinking of retracing my route from the dark last time, but I spotted a better place to get across the brook, on a snow bridge, which took me on the normal Lane section. I looked for my tracks from last time, but we've had quite a bit of snow since then and it was unclear where they were. I did see something that looked like tracks, and if it was really them, it means that I passed within about two meters of the beer lean-to without seeing it in the dark. When I came out on the power line trail, I encounted another snowshoer coming toward me. We stopped and chatted for a few minutes, his name is Doug Pulsifer, and although he was coy about it, it was pretty clear that he's the guy who blazed the trails out there. (Time includes the bit when I was stopped, chatting with him.) I continued on the Mystery Blazes (no longer a mystery!), but at the top of the ridge, instead of continuing into Townsend, I followed Doug's tracks when they took a right-hand turn and headed back to the Hickory Hills land. When I was crossing the stream at the Xmas bridge, I saw him again (I was going CW, he was going CCW). Pretty hard work when I was breaking trail (for about half the time), and I kept up a pretty decent pace for the rest of it as well.

Strange thing when I got home: in the shower, both forearms broke out in hives. That's what I assume it was, anyway, itchy red spots that appeared very suddenly, and went away not too long afterwards. Never had that happen before.

90 x sit, 30 x push

80 x sit

70 x sit, 30 x push

60 x sit, 30 x push

50 x sit, 30 x push

50 x sit

30 x push, 50 x sit

100 x sit, 30 x push

Couldn't work up the motivation to spend four hours in the car driving to CT and back for the WCOC meeting, so I promised myself I'd get out for alternative exercise. Headed across the street at about 9:30 PM under a bright moon. Somebody else had been out on snowshoes earlier in the day, starting from about where I do, so I followed their tracks down the Lane Trail and into the flats, where they paralleled the brook. I crossed on a log (dicey!) and headed roughly north, figuring that I'd hit the Enigma Road pretty quick, or failing that, the powerline trail, which I knew would have snowmobile tracks. Well, I went for an astoundingly long time with no idea where I was, including a trip along the top of a big esker that I didn't know about. At one point I though I might be between the two boulders and the beer leanto, and I suspect that's true. I finally came out on the powerline trail a bit past the Horse turnoff — pretty surprising that I made it through to there without ever seeing the lights of houses on Holman Street. There's evidently a large piece of terrain that I really haven't explored yet. The usual route back from there. Temperature about 15F, but I was dressed plenty warmly, and was never even chilly. ABout half of this was breaking trail in fresh powder, so it was a decent workout.

C • Do you ever go out there in... 5

With David Ellsworth. In Mooers, out via the RR bed, back on Rte. 11, in the dark with flashlights. Slippery footing on the first part, so we opted for pavement on the return. Temperature in the low single digits, but we were dressed OK, so it was fine (no wind). The rest of the folks gathered thought we were nuts. Wheezing some, but not too badly.