Running in terrain 54:23 [3] 6.24 km (8:43 / km)
shoes: VJ Falcons #1
In The Cold. Down via the esker to the powerline trail, then followed the Mystery Blazes north all the way to where they hit the Friendly Trail just south of the narrow bridge, then back the entire length of the Mystery Blazes to Mulpus Brook, and back through the woods to the trail to Holman, and home from there.
So, today was an exercise day, but was I going to go out in the morning, or after work? Thermometer read 0.1 F in the morning, and it was Nancy's opinion that I was crazy if I went out in that kind of temperature. There was also a wind of Laramesque proportions blowing. So, I donned the following clothing and headed out:
O-shoes
thermal socks
long underwear
O-pants
long-sleeve synthetic top
long-sleeve T-shirt
short-sleeve T-shirt
light jacket
thick toque
lobster mittens
My chin was cold for the first few minutes, and my face got cold again for a little while when I was on the south side of the hill up by the border, where it's mostly hardwoods and more exposed, but otherwise I was nice and toasty. The running surface was actually very nice, since the refrozen snow smoothed over all of the bumps and dips, but was solid enough that I was able to run on top, with just enough give to provide great traction for the spikes. (I wore my newest pair of spikes today, because the old pair that I pulled out of the garage were so stiff from the cold that I couldn't get my feet into them.)
There was a fair bit of hesitation on the way north, because the trail was apparently blazed by someone heading south, and there are a lot fewer visible blazes when viewed from the south side, and the snowshoe tracks are almost invisible by now due to the melting. On the way back, I had better blazes plus my own footprints. And I spotted something that I had missed in the dark the other night: at the south end of the blazes, there's a notable feature, the oildrum teepee. Could be that it's the destination for the mystery blazes, although they do continue just past it to the brook. I had a better route up from the brook today, although the whole thing might be impractical if the marshes weren't frozen solid. I did see where I cross the blazes up north on the Lane-Horse-Seaver loop, and have a rough idea where I cross them after coming out of the laurel jungle.
When I got home, it had warmed up to a whopping 1.2F. But the shower spirits smiled on me, and granted me a fine allotment of hot water.