O u t . . . T h e r e . . .: Outdoor Week Ending 7/1/12

The year is now half over. So far 161 hours running, slightly more than planned, and 100 hours of hiking. As far as run training for races, that has really not been my goal for this year, but I'm in good shape -- still somewhat fat though! My goal has been to get out there and enjoy the wilderness as much as possible, and I've been doing that, especially with my new form of outing, the run-hike, which has been a revelation. Whereas with normal trail running there has always been some hiking for me, as in up some hills; I've now given myself license to slow down much more sometimes and it really makes a difference in terms of enjoyment.

This week I got sore knees, particularly my left knee, when doing my medium long run on Tuesday, so I backed way off when it wasn't better by Friday and just hiked very easily on the weekend.

Run   Rclimb   Long Lclimb Hike Hclimb OnFeet
6:27    2585    2:35    1600    6:16    2760    12:43

25-Jun   run   1:09   400   6   stony brook
25-Jun   hike   0:55   450   3   stony brook

Sluggish heading up the stony brook valley, then turning away to the east up the pine meadow brook valley to the lake. Switched to a run on the easy but technical climb. I had thought the thunderstorms to be over for the day -- that's why I'd waited until later to run, but no, now I heard thunder and saw dark sky to the north and west of me, moving my way as I hustled up the valley to try to outmaneuver the coming rain. It's no big deal really, I had ziplocks for the camera and phone, but who wants to get soaked on a cool day?

I was moving pretty good as very light rain started to fall, and luckily for me, just as the heavy rain hit I'd made it up to the section of the trail that passes some giant boulders, so I tucked underneath one that had a nice overhang and waited out the storm, which only turned out to be 10 minutes. I stayed a further 5 minutes while the bulk of the rain dripped out of the trees before proceeding. The two couples I'd passed on the way up must have gotten drenched. I headed up to the lake and had it all to myself, which is unusual in summer.

After enjoying the after-rain cool and stillness at the lake for a little while, I heard voices from across the lake, loud talking if not shouts really. It was clear a group was on the dirt road across the lake, and from what I could make out they were discovering the lake for the first time. Happy surprise continued to emulate from this group that made it's way around on the dirt road. As they got closer I could see it was a group of young men, 6 or 7 of them. I would pass them at some point because I was going over that way to run the black trail. I chatted with the group -- 18 year olds maybe -- and they'd come from Kakiat park at the other side of Harriman, backpacks in tow, had gotten drenched in the rains. We exchanged thoughts about the rough and difficult-to-follow kakiat trail, and I pointed the way to the better camping sites.

After that I saw nobody as I ran the black trail to white, then back down the valley on the pine meadow trail, a refreshing return to running after Sunday off, getting the legs some action.

26-Jun   run   2:35   1600   5   stony brook
26-Jun   hike   0:35   200   3   stony brook

I had seen on the 10-day weather that Tuesday was going to be the coolest best day for a longer run, after a good deal of heat last week, so I planned a medium-long run for today, but I couldn't decide where to run it, either at Ramapo park in NJ, or southern Harriman park, both very close drives away. I found myself heading back to Harriman for a second straight day, but the beauty of both parks is the dense local trail network.

This time at Harriman, I did a much longer loop that took me away from my most familiar trails until the very end, and the weather was perfect indeed; it was low 70s temp with a very cool breeze blowing all over, but with a hint of humidity in the air I was still sweating. Because it was cool, I just drank some extra water before heading out, then carried only a liter bottle in my trusty waist pack, along with the usual food and the new camera.

I just got the Panasonic Lumix ZS19. It has 14mp, 20x optical zoom and full HD video, but opted to forgo the GPS function that the ZS20 has, which is otherwise the same camera. I loved my Lumix ZS3 (10mp, 12x optical, 720p video) for the last 3 years, and this one is a worthy upgrade. These small point and shoots are great for having out on runs, and I do think that big SLRs will largely go away as the electronics improve. Most SLR functions of today will be squeezed into these smaller units eventually. The portability is fantastic. I saw Olympus now has a much smaller camera with interchangeable lenses now; that's the future.

I headed up the yellow trail fully following the stony brook (normally I would turn off it sooner) until I hit the Tuxedo-Mt Ivy (TMI) red trail, which I then settled in on to run east across most of Harriman park. I've done this trail a few times, but not enough to know its miles very well, and I was again surprised just how technical it is. Maybe I shouldn't have worn the Nike Skylons... I thought a few times, but it was dry at least today, so the lightweight road trainers did ok for me. I just had to pay a bit more attention to my foot-plants -- for the whole run really.

The TMI trail is a great run, and I was on it for the better part of an hour before I started looking for the Suffern-Bear mountain yellow trail (SBM). The first time I came out this way I'd blown right past the trail junction, even though it's marked on the rocks, you just don't see the trail very clearly, so I was vigilant -- it was later in the day and I was at the farthest away point of my run. I always try to have a map with me on these longer runs, and I was checking the map to the features around me. The big swamp to the right signaled the trail junction would come soon so I became more aware.

I saw up ahead a few motley-looking guys standing around a fire, and it turned out they were right at the trail junction. Not the place to make a fire I thought, as I rounded them to turn right onto the SBM trail. Camping? No, just hanging out they responded to. Its funny what and who you find out there sometimes. You wonder a little what people make of you as you trail run -- I headed away from them on one of the nastiest parts of the SBM, hopping across very large boulders and disappearing over a small ridge. I can't help but think sometimes and so I thought as I ran away from them: they thought they were badass being out here making a fire on the trail with the day waning, and this guy (me) comes from the west, deep from the heart of the park, and turns south on the most rugged trail, taking it with ease, like a wild animal. No, thank you boys, I'm the badass out here! So goes the ego at times...

Indeed you never know what you'll find, as I found shortly when heading up a rocky outcropping: an immature timber rattlesnake, it's black skin only slightly showing signs of the more tan colors it will mature into. I saw it easily, and half expected to see one today, with very cool nights and a cool day, it made perfect sense it was sunning itself in the early evening sun. I'm sure it was loving these longest of days as much as I was, but it did start to rattle at me as I took out my camera. Sheesh! All the low shrubbery I had run through, and would have to run through later. Thankfully I've only seen and heard snakes mostly in more open areas, and this was about the 10th snake and 4th rattler I'd seen this year. I didn't tell my girlfriend about this one though.

Finally I came to the view spot looking down the eastern escarpment of the park, and stopped to eat. From there it was a very rough rocky run with a nasty descent until you meet up with the eastern side of the Pine Meadow (PM) red trail, which runs along with the SBM for a while, making it a can't miss junction, which is nice when you're tired and the light is starting to fade.

Once on the PM trail it's smooth sailing on more familiar ground for me, but still it's a pretty technical trail all the way back across the park, with only the SBM taking the technicality to another level. I felt good and ran hard today, enjoying the cooler temps and doing some challenging trails.

27-Jun    run    0:43    160    3    ram park
27-Jun    hike    0:42    500    3    ram park
28-Jun    run    1:13    225    4    142    stony brook
28-Jun    hike    1:03    470    2    118    stony brook
29-Jun    run    0:47    200    4    ram park
29-Jun    hike    1:01    400    2.5    ram park

My left knee got very sore after Tuesday's run, so I decided to let it rest over the weekend, and not run, but easy hiking was fine.

30-Jun    hike    0:57    400    1    ram park
1-Jul    hike    1:03    340    1.5    ram park

Here's photos from the week, including a video of the immature rattlesnake I saw!

Monday I hide under a giant rock when it rained for 10 minutes.