Training Log Archive: Funderstormin

Trot around the neighbourhood trails with Allison as part of our last hurrah at my current residence...I am moving in two weeks!

C • Moving 3

Running trails in Little River State Park on a beautiful crisp and sunny morning. The park had emptied out quite early in the morning so it was wonderful and quiet and a perfect fall day for running.

I was so impressed by the parks and campgrounds in this area - the sites were cheap (around $20 a night), spacious and had incredible views!

When we went to Vermont last in February we wanted to climb Mt. Mansfield but we didn't have the right equipment so had to settle for Camel's Hump instead, which is the third highest in VT. Getting on top of Mansfield was high the priority list for this trip but it was also on many, many other people's lists! We chose to take a more difficult and less used trail to the top to try to avoid the crowds but the summit was pretty busy and unfortunately it was really cloudy so the views were limited. Took the Sunset Ridge trail down and could see why it was so popular! Once we got out of the clouds the views were spectacular! When we got to a point where the trail was runnable we had a lot of fun bombing down it.

Leaving the park, we were flagged down by a couple at a road intersection. They had ascended from the other side of the mountain but the girl had gotten scared and refused to go down the same trail. They didn't have a map and said that any other time they'd gone "trailing" the trails had been a loop. So they ended up on the other side of the mountain with one shoe bag with a bit of water in it, a dead cell phone and no idea where there car was. They were going to try to walk back, in the dark. We told them to hop in Earl and gave them a ride back into town and were baffled by some of their decision-making that had led them to ended up in that situation!

Took Earl on his longest adventure this weekend - 2550km of brewery visiting and trail exploring in MA and VT. Left Thursday after work and arrived at our campground in MA about 2:30 a.m. Friday was spent driving over to Boston and back to Monson to visit Trillium and Tree House, then partway into Vermont to get a head start on the next day's drive. Saturday involved trips to Hill Farmstead and the Alchemist and then finally settling into Little River State Park for a couple of nights. At this point we both agreed that there had been too much beer and not enough trails, so we headed out for a run in the dark and rain to stretch our legs. Partway through we realized that running on a trail we didn't know without a map and only one headlamp wasn't our best decision! We turned around and went back but were glad to have at least gotten a little leg stretch.

Still feeling kinda crummy but wanted to get out and enjoy the still warm mornings!