Training Log Archive: Fanatic

Drove to Woods Pond and walked/jogged on Woodland Road in the pouring rain. I mainly did some jogging to keep warm at the beginning, but it felt OK, so I kept it up, mainly jogging the flats and downhills and walking the uphills.

Hiking with Colette at Beartown State Forest. Our original plan was to hike up the paved road in the forest and then take dirt road up to the towers and keep heading left back to the paved road to the car. Alas, there was too much ice on the paved road, and Colette broke her arm four weeks ago, so we took an old logging road heading up to the west instead.

Once near the top of the ridge, I suggested that we head north and to the hiking trail that runs from Laura's Tower in Stockbridge to Beartown Mountain Road, the paved road where we had parked. This was a beautiful area to bushwhack through, with some nice pines and even a small brook to cross.

Past the brook, where we stopped for lunch, we hit an unexpected old road heading down to Beartown Mountain Road, so we took that and headed back to the car. There we left our excess clothing and decided to hike up the ridge that leads to Laura's Tower, mainly because we wanted more miles and there is a geocache at the top of the hill that hadn't been found for three years.

It's a nice trail, varying from a wide even trail to single-track as it gets higher. After a steep climb, we reached the flattish top where the cache was located. We looked around and did find it--more than three years since the last find.

Hiked up Reservoir Road to the top of the ridgeline and then down toward West Stockbridge for a little, before reversing. On the way back to the car, I did a short trail section to check out how much snow/ice was still around--not that much as it turned out, but there's still some icy sections that would be best done with microspikes or my Artic Claws.

Did an out-and-back on the bike trail from Amherst College, heading east to start. Pretty busy area, at least compared to the Berkshires. Managed to jog a half-mile, too.

Hiked the 5-mile loop that used to be used for the group runs at Kennedy Park, starting from the Arcadian Shop. Nice sunny day, but the trails were often wet and muddy, or snow covered ice, so I had to be diligent to stay vertical.

Working hike along the Unkamit's Path/Highlands Footpath from Route 20 in Chester and heading north to the Airplane Beacon on the top of Gobble Mountain.

The goal was to find and mark the trail with newly minted Highlands Footpath markers and clear the trail as best we could, using clippers and brute strength to move fallen limbs. The trail had been marked previously with white blazes, many of which were now faded or flaking off the trees, but the trail hadn't been cleared for some time. So the going was slow and pretty much uphill until the Beacon was reached.

The trail from the Beacon down to Middlefiled Road is short, but steep.

The upper body is a bit stiff and sore after today's work, showing how out of shape I am.

Walk with Colette out to Woods Pond and back. Very pleasant with sun and a warm temperature.