A gorgeous day for a trail run, ok jog walk, ok hike. The early shots are from the summit of Rough Ridge above Ship Rock about 4.5 miles into the 13 total. Notice the relatively fresh faces and smiles. The middle part of the Tanawha Trail runs like a dream. Especially if you do it from Beacon Heights towards Price Lake. It's basically a long gradual descent for a gorgeous 5-6 miles. You feel like a trail running hero on this stretch. Unless of course you get way spread out and one of your party gets off trail and mildly lost. Good thing I was doubling back because Wayne would have probably topped out on Calloway Peak otherwise. But seriously it was a gorgeous four hours in good company to be outside and loving where we live.
Zircon...
5 comments:
Hey I tried to call you at school yesterday but you were at my old fav - rec fitness - he gave me the DL...and had me rolling when he described the off-trail run. I'm going to try to get my gluts back on track - I've been way unmotivated recently... hoping for a delay...
So this is the real story of this trail crawl...I was rollin' way to slow for Zircon so we decided to run at our own pace and meet up at a checkpoint. All was cool until I noticed that I was all by myself 15 minutes after almost being malled by a pack of wild dogs on leashes. So I was running...clear head, tunes in my ears and every once in a while I noticed a wet foot print on a rock so I continued thinking that I must be going the right way. On and on I go until I begin to notice that the pile of leaves that I have been running in is getting deeper and deeper...no big deal. Soon the leaves are up to my ankles, then knees and then waist. "Crap! I think I'm off the trail." "RUSS"...no answer. All of a sudden my hands become cold and I begin to get hungry. My first thought...Russ has my gloves and my only food in his Camelback. My next thought was that of the weather report...a snow storm is expected to move into the area later on tonight. Now my thoughts turn to the movie "Alive"...do I begin by eating my hand, comtinue on the trail or just begin to cry like a 2nd grader. I stop and turn only to find that the everything looks exactly the same. Now I'm lost!! "RUSS" I call again with a slight crack in my voice. "Yeah, I'm over here." I follow the stream down about a quarter of a mile to find Russ, my gloves, food, and on ramp to I-95. My adventure of being lost in the woods lasted a total of 6 and a half minutes, but in that time I processed how I would need to build a fire and gather food for the winter. Nonetheless, it was an awesome run and the picture prove it.
OSTAF
Zircon's version...
So I've been running for about 20-30 minutes feeling great and scanning the trail for junctions or other areas where Wayne might wander. I finally come to a boardwalk area and decide it might be a good idea to double back and pick him up and make sure everything's fine. I know I opened up a gap in the last little bit but I figure I'll run into him in a minute or two. At four minutes plus I start getting a little worried. About a minute later I guess I heard the first "RUSS!!!" Although I was coming around a point and wasn't sure if that is what I heard. It sounded a long way away and way uphill. I drop to a walk and do a 360 scan. The trail section I'm now on contours into a cove crosses a creek and comes out the other side before diving into a rodo thicket. I'm fully expecting Wayne to bust out of the rodos at any time when I clearly hear the second "RUUUSSSS!!!"
CRAP!!!
This time there's no mistaking it. It is way the heck above my level and sounds pretty far off but it is definately Wayne. A quick scan uphill reveals nothing. I shout back "Down here Wayne"
Now I'm trying to figure out how in the heck he got that far uphill. The trail had been intermittently covered in leaves and I did have the advantage of having been here before and generally knowing where it should go (namely flat or downhill in trend). I'm figuring he must have followed a game trail that gradually led him above me. We kept talking so he could find his way down to me. It took a good couple of minutes before I finally spotted him a good 3-400 feet uphill. I checked the trail right in front of me at the creek crossing and see the small disturbances that suggest this is where he left the trail and apparently run almost directly uphill. Granted we were on the most isolated section of the trail but the Parkway was still within sight if you knew to look for it. Not alot of traffic was cruising by on Saturday but I was just imagining Wayne's sense of isolation on a quiet wintry hillside off trail. Needless to say Wayne stuck with me for pretty much the rest of the run. ha ha...
Hell yeah I stuck with him. I was on him like stink on a monkey; like sink on a ship...I didn't care how tired I was or had gotten, there was no way I was going to be that kid on the news who wonders away from his parents when he's eight at Sears only to be found when he's 36, married and has 3 kids. I was on his butt for the rest of the day.
OSTAF
Hey - where is the "I'm a crooked gimp" blog?
Speaking of that, Maureen said that the root cause of the lat spasms is still probably a joint problem...that doctors just love giving out muscle relaxers and not dealing with the problem...
How do you feel?
Thanks for the bday message, the brews would be perfect shared after a long run? Feel like running this weekend?
Steve
Post a Comment