Every year 'Bent and I spend a weekend in Algonquin Park at Arowhon Pines, the lodge where we and our guests stayed for our wedding. Given that our normal excursions into the wilderness involve wading through swamps, guzzling mud-covered snacks, and bashing various body parts against rocks, it's nice to have this annual excuse to sleep indoors and enjoy yummy food in a beautiful place.
We ran the Centennial Ridges Trail today; a lot of Ontarians are familiar with this scenic trail near the Algonquin Visitor's Centre. If anyone is looking for a road trip, this trail (and all the park) will have spectacular autumn scenery for the next ten days or so. The colours changed during our time up there but next weekend will be the peak.
The visitor's guide for this trail warns that it will take at least 6 hours to do 10.8 km! No, it's not that tough although you could certainly get distracted taking photos and enjoying your lunch. A lot of it is rocky and rooty, and there are some good climbs and descents to get on and off the ridges. But it's all worth it for the incredible views to the west and the scenic ponds the trail passes enroute.
This is the top of the lower ridge. In the background is Whitefish Lake where 'Bent and I got engaged on skis.
The running was fun until about 60% of the way through when my left foot pushed off from the back side of a small rock that was sloping away from me. A small root arched across the lower part of the rock, and apparently my toes were underneath it as I pushed. There was a loud snapping noise as the root broke, which freaked out both 'Bent and me since it took a moment to determine that it wasn't one of my body parts. My toes ended up bruised, and the forward momentum pulled my ankle up away from the rest of my foot (ouch!). Then, because it was my bad ankle, it turned for good measure. OUCH!
Unfortunately, I'm so experienced at this stoopid ankle business now that I instantly rated it a 6/10, which probably meant no running for the rest of the weekend, possibly skipping Run for the Toad next weekend, and definitely feeling it at the Oil Creek 100K in three weeks. The sudden "lift" of the ankle was different - pain in new places - so I couldn't be sure. At least I'm glad it was my bad ankle since it hasn't got much further to go downhill.
After a few minutes, we returned to running very, very carefully. It's such a beautiful trail that even an injury can't ruin it! After our run, I checked my phone to see how Snowpants was doing at ARWC. Just as we lost cell signal on our way into the lodge, they were 500 m ahead of AXA Adidas near the finish of the race. Suspense! :)
[Distance recorded is official trail distance since my Garmin won't be as accurate on a trail like this.]