Training Log Archive: bl

Event: CSU Lynn Woods Iltarastit #5
 

Boundary walk with Ken (&Z&M) of Old Johnson Rd. forest. Had not been on an OJR walk for maybe 5 years. Not blazed in the first section. We found a corner pin & then were pretty much set following yellow blazes. Very nice woods in places. One borderline encroachment. Excellent day, no hunters encountered on a Saturday pm. 305 lost satellites under a canopy which surprised me - first time I've seen that (I'd experienced same only in the White Mts). Would not reacquire until I turned it off & missed hardest part of keeping track of things.

Walk a

Walk b

A bit over the line

DP, calm & gray, light steady rain turned to moderate steady. M found some kind of food - thought it was a deer bone at first but it did not smell &, on closer exam, had grain-like food allurements stuck to the surface. When I threw it away, it easily broke into 3 pieces - a strange find in such a place. Wondered if it served as a bait of some kind - otherwise no ready explanation.

Y after work. Dreary, rainy day. 41F seemed cold.

SPS-Audubon wander, parked at latter. One faceplant on leaf-covered root or stone. Mid40s, situps by the water.

Bought rollerskis & bindings today to put my plastic where my mouth is:).

C • Plastic 6

AM DP, bright, windy, waving brown grass, moon. Stayed in and around the
Amphitheater.

At Y, nice to be there. Meeting at 3p & too dark for the mindset after.

Blustery day, wind made it feel colder than it was. Took the day off - nothing to gain by running - maybe the Y but didn't get there. Ate too much, undoubtedly burned a lot of calories in the past 3 days.

Blue dome am - what weather there was passed by overnight. Drove to Sebago Beach. Had the NAOC 2000 green X map, 13 years later. Entrance was closed - looked like Sandy damage has kept the area closed - virtually no sand on beach, some road damage, presumably flood damage to the bathhouse. But still the same lovely woods. However, plenty of mountain laurel and blue berry. Did not have gaiters or O pants. Temp was perfect & dismissed such wear in the hurry to get going. Considered breaking 60’ (vs the 45.5’ from 2000). Not NAOC wound, age is upon me, legs were somewhat leaden from the weekend & blueberry & mt. laurel contrived to slow & even cause course reversal which was not the case in ’00 (more laurel in the same areas). No problem with navigation, woods as open as can be where no laurel. Course is rather devoid of route choice. From 7 to 8 called for 2 more points in my opinion. Didn’t even break 70’. Beth went to the fishing area to while away the time. Good time had by all. Got Beth in home on time for start of a colonoscopy prep (4p), so her good time ends for the time being.

Harriman woods at their best

GreenX, day 1 - Splits

Event: NEOC: Brooksby Farm
 

Sunday - (an abbreviation as what I wrote initially went into the ether somehow...grr....). Looked for all the world like rain but fortunately not. Shucks, one bad egg spoils the lot and that was #6. Plan was to contour but climb slightly to the path & know to turn L when I got there (would have made more sense to contour & turn right), arriving at the key junction - anyway route depended on being on that path curving to the SE. Was sure I was higher, turned L, went 50m, but did not see the jct. So I went anyway - got on the ridge after mostly green. It was white there, went down a bit to a boulder & decided where I was & took a bearing from there but (particularly in retrospect) the route did not match up - did not cross an old road or path. Very soon, I could see the bottom path & river & then was on it. I saw a trail jct that I could not find on the map.... Or there was one a very long way away...had I done something like a 90 deg?

Moved NE a bit along the path, saw Rick W coming down from above & stupidly went that way...up, up & up...to nowhere. Now planless, I returned to the path. Went quite a way to the NE this time, far enough to see the valley/stream. So I turned back & again came to the same baffling intersection. This time, there were more runners (green) coming from the W & I could finally see that the baffling intersection was a point were the two paths were closest. Went west, noted the boulders I’d initially seen, spotted a small reentrant & went again uphill. PG was coming down, so that reassured me as to locale - but still got to the height & had to look more than I cared. Other points amounted to a B/B+ run.

Anaomy of a leg (5>6)

Nice meet! Thanks DVOA.

Stopped in Liberty Corner on the way home to visit Carolyn & Woody. Woody died in 1996, Carolyn in 2011. There they were, their names etched in granite, side by side again & at long last. I first met the English family in 1966 & shared virtually another life with them. Beth shared many times too in latter years. Toward the end, we spent many a pleasant eve with Carolyn in the farmhouse kitchen..a farmhouse that looks out on old ways but surrounded by encroaching modernity with all its crassness. Then away we went, down the byway to the 287 rushing highway all the way to the crescendo of Route 17 in Mahwah where we are holed up in a new, spanking clean Super 8. I have had an inkling of visiting Harriman tomorrow (brought a NAOC 2000 map) but with the weather forecast, it doesn’t seem likely. Parts of the Midwest were wracked with storm earlier today and a watered-down version of bad weather is expected tomorrow.

Geese at Liberty Corner

C • Anatomy lesson 5

Hay Creek - Day 2 Brown X - Splits