Spring Work...and Ultrarunning

Image credit Gary of Mister Tristan (the 7 year old human being, not the blog) at the Reese Hollow Shelter spring

Now is the time of year when we Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) overseers have come out of hibernation and start, well, overseeing.  That means trail and shelter projects, so when I said "Spring Work" I was being quite literal.

At "my" shelter, the piped spring dumps its water into the splash pool that sometimes does not hold water.  When I see that has happened, I just toss a shovelful of sand into the pool and it temporarily plugs up the holes through which the water drains out.  That works for a couple months.  But having a reliable splash pool under the pipe is a desirable thing, to serve as a repository for food/beverage items that hikers and users of the shelter may wish to keep cool.

So with the help of Mister Tristan, a couple weeks ago we went up to the shelter to repair/create a better splash pool under the piped spring.  The semi-permanent fix for the splash pool was to install a piece of rubber lining left over from my water garden.  Then we rebuilt the surrounding stepping stones to make the spring look natural again.  

Oh, and the link to Ultrarunning?  The couple of times I've done trails runs here the spring water has been the sweetest and most refreshing on earth.  During or after a run, there's nothing like cold spring water.

NOTE: It should be pointed out that Mister Tristan absolutely did NOT get wet while working on this project (I also have a bridge in NYC I'd like to sell you).

Spring Harbingers...and Ultrarunnning

Image credit Gary

Well, the three essential ingredients of spring have hit here: the Eastern Redbuds are in full bloom, and I think the House Wrens have returned from their winter down south somewhere.  Oh, and number 3 is spring work projects, not pictured here.

I thought I heard one (a house wren) singing yesterday but have not confirmed that today...yet.  If not today, any day now.  We have a number of houses like the one pictured scattered around the estate, so they'll have their pick.  I like this one because the license plate roof came from my dear departed co-worker Dottie, and I always think of here whenever I walk by this particular wren house.

I wonder how they compete with the Carolina Wren, which we had overwinter here in 2014-15?

The connection to Ultrarunning is that I gotta get out for a backcountry run soon to see how the woodland flora are coming on.