Some Good Trail Time

On Saturday I took Mister Tristan (the 8 year old human being, not the blog) along on a Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) work trip on the Alice Trail.  This is a feeder trail to the Tuscarora Trail just west of Mercersburg, PA.

We had a situation where the trail is mostly on PA State Game Lands, but a short section crosses private land where owner relations are a little precarious.  So the decision was made between PATC and the State to relate a 3/4 mile section of the Alice Trail (PATC maintains the trail in partnership with the State).

This was my first hands-on experience with trail building.  Mostly it was just clearing the footpath with rakes and blazing, although one sidehill section required digging out the uphill side to build up the downhill side, thus creating a more or less level footpath.

My main contribution was making and installing this trail sign:

Then the next day I took a nice long run along the C+O Canal near Sharpsburg, MD, where I noted the Virginia Bluebells are in full bloom:

[image credits Gary]

Decrepit Barn, Log Cabin...and Ultrarunning

Seen on the way to pick up Mister Tristan (the 8 year old human being, not the blog).  The barn is right off a busy highway:

Image credit Gary, near Martinsburg, WV

Not so another old building, this one a log cabin--which I was privileged to literally stumble upon in a back country run.  I previously posted about that log cabin back in the spring of 2013 in a post I called Getting "Lost" Pays Dividends:

It's interesting to speculate when this place was last lived in and by whom....

Thinking of Spring...and Ultrarunning

On cold, nasty winter days, this is one of the things that keeps me going:

Image credit Gary

A loved one got the us this orchid a couple of years ago and the bride's green thumb has helped it thrive ever since. The plant seems to like somewhat bright but filtered light conditions, so we've found our best winter location is on a mantle in front of a large east-facing window that is largely shaded by a tree outside.

In the summer the orchid resides on a table on our screen porch.

It gets multiple flowers on a stalk, size of each is perhaps 3" across.

Think spring...but remember my theory that some of the best runs you'll ever have are those undertaken when the weather, by any objective standard, sucks.  So when you head out into the teeth of the gale, or slog through snow that's deeper than your shoes, you are bound to be creating memories that you are likely to recall as good ones.

Where I Run: Harshman Road and its Chicory Display

I've probably used that title before, as that 5 mile road loop is my absolute favorite run.  It's comfortable as an old shoe (great analogy, don't you think?), mostly traffic-free, and just plain pretty as the route winds past various farms.

And did I mention the roadside wildflowers?

[image credit Gary]

This is chicory, a lovely blue flower that seems quite content to grow well in crappy roadside areas.  It'll reach near waist high, and bears numerous 2" wide flowers close to the stalks, all summer long.

The pretty blue flowers do not seem to like being used for cut flowers, as they quickly wilt, despite being placed in water.  So the place to enjoy chicory is out along the roads, where it often is in association with Queen Anne's Lace, creating a lovely blue and white pageant.  

Top-Heavy Hydrangeas

Image credit Gary

The bride loves hydrangeas.  No, that's not true: she LOVES hydrangeas.  They are beautiful plants, but in the bride's case there is a strong family component in that her grandmother was a hydrangea lover. We have numerous varieties scattered around the yard.

The variety shown above--Limelight--which will yield a volleyball-sized lime green flower head--is not quite in bloom.  Imagine such a large flower on the end of 6' long canes...then imagine rain.

Yes, the canes tip over, which is one of the drawbacks to this variety.  They require support, and in years past I have tried long pressure treated stakes combined with binder twine or that green horticultural tape that is used to stake trees.  With the plants winding up looking strangled.

So this year, I got some free bamboo (remember, your best bamboo is your free bamboo!) from a friend who was happy to pawn off some this invasive plant.  I pounded 4 stout pieces into the ground in a 4' square, then zip-tied the cross pieces.

The result is a natural-looking, aesthetically pleasing cage that holds up the plant very nicely.  If, when the flowers and the rains come, the canes still tip too much, I can raise the cross pieces or add another bar a tad higher up.

C+O Canal Run, In Which I Nearly Trigger a Road Rage Incident

Below photos are the highlight of my run yesterday.  I parked in Williamsport, MD at Cushwa Basin, ran the JFK road course in reverse for a couple miles, then cut down Falling Waters Road to reach the Canal.  All told about 6 miles road + 5 Canal (this makes an interesting loop as opposed to the typical out-n-back run along the towpath).

Flowers along the embankment; image credit Gary

Close-up, I don't recognize these guys and have not keyed them out yet; flower head is approx 2"-3" across.  Image credit Gary.

But you're wondering about the road rage, aren't you?

Whenever I run, which is frequently along rural roads, I am always amazed--in a negative sense--at just how much litter adorns the roadsides.  I usually flatten and carry home about 6 aluminum cans, though I'm more worried about the glass bottles I see.  These pose a hazard to the road, and to the food supply should they be processed into bales of hay, or be plucked up by a combine and wind up in corn, wheat or soybeans.

Can't carry bottles easily so I usually pick them up and deposit them at the next mailbox, trusting the resident to finish the Good Samaritan act that I started.

So...there was a funky, muddy beer bottle on the gravel just off the edge of the macadam that I picked up and carried up to the next house like I've done a thousand times before.  I glanced at the house: curtains drawn, a pickup truck in the driveway but no one in evidence, so I drop it beside the mailbox and run on.

I get perhaps 100 yards away and I hear some yelling from behind.  I ignored it for a sec, then realize it was probably the homeowner.  Yelling at me.  The guy continued to yell vociferously (I could not make out his words beyond "Hey!") so I just decided to continue running rather than try explain my litter control solution.

By now I'm a couple hundred yards away and the guy is now screeching.  That's the word that comes to mind, a screech, because the volume has not diminished despite me being twice as far away.  I accelerate a bit.

As I approach a full quarter mile, the screech becomes a full-blown scream, for the volume still stays level; I am imagining that this guy is now purple-faced.  I think of the scene in Blazing Saddles where the old codger is repeatedly trying to tell the townspeople that the approaching sheriff is black (he used another term), but a tolling bell kept drowning out his words.

Thankfully the road bends, I'm out of direct line of sight, and I take my planned right turn onto Falling Waters Road.  My back feels open and vulnerable; I'm waiting for the pickup truck to come roaring up behind me.  I get out my cell phone out of the pocket in my shorts, set it to Video and keep my finger in the button.  I'm ready to start instantly recording any encounter that might occur.

Then...nothing.  The guy was either not motivated enough to pursue...or perhaps he picked up the bottle, realized that it could not possibly have been one from which I had been drinking and tossed aside indiscriminately onto his lawn, and figured out that I was merely policing the roadside.

At any rate I didn't feel safe until 15-20 minutes had passed, and did not feel relaxed until I actually reached the C+O Canal towpath.  Then the soothing effect of the forest and river calmed my psyche.

First Wildflowers, Janet Christiansen, and Cemeteries

All image credits Gary

I went for a run yesterday morning after sleeping late. Finally the roadside snow is vanishing. These snowdrops are the first flowers I've seen outside this spring.  These were at a farm, but right along the road, so they got no benefit of sheltered conditions.  Just a tough, beautiful plant that I was SO happy to encounter.

This second series of photos immediately below is from Brown's Mill Cemetery that I run through near the end of the 5 miler. I noted several tombstones tipped over, not by the work of vandals, but just by the heaving of frost. Winter is hard on tombstones, particularly old ones.

Such a dichotomy: life and death, beginning and endings. There is a particular grave in this cemetery of a woman--Janet Christiansen--who was murdered by her abusive husband (I've blogged about Janet before, most recently here). 

I often pause there and reflect, so sorry for what happened to her but grateful in a sense that from her tragic death some nugget of good can result: I am reminded to live each day to the fullest and not to take anything for granted.  

Because life can change in a heartbeat, literally.

First Frost: About a Month Late

Well, here it is, 5 November 2014, and in south central PA we have yet to have our first frost.  We came close over the weekend, but the cloud cover and breeze sufficed to hold off the white rime. And it looks to be above freezing for the next several days at least.

So in the meanwhile these beauties are on display in our yard for our enjoyment:

Fall iris, image credit Gary

Anemone, image credit Gary

You just gotta love the optimism of fall flowers, hoping to attract bees right up until they are not flying anymore and stay snuggled in their hives.

Yellow Flowers on the Tuscarora Trail

I don't know what these guys are, but for a stretch they dominated the trail a couple weeks back when I took this shot.  I have a good Audubon wildflower guide, just lack the motivation to key it out.

[image credit Gary]

The plant was a single upright stem about waist high, terminating in these showy yellow posies.

Roadside Flowers...and Ultrarunning

I'm not fortunate enough to do all my running on trails; in fact, I only get out to a trail to run perhaps twice a month or so.  Most of the time I log my miles on the rural roads around my home north of Greencastle, PA.

Two of my favorite summer flowers are going crazy right now: Chicory and Queen Ann's Lace.  Here's a typical scene (all images by Gary):

Imagine waist-high blue (Chicory) and white (Queen Ann's Lace) flowers, mere feet away from the runner on the road, stretching literally off and on for miles.  And these guys are flowers that you just gotta admire for their pluckiness and toughness: they seem to do well in roadside ditches, in gravelly, wasted areas that bake in the sun in summer and get dosed with road salt in the winter.  

Nevertheless, the Chicory and Queen Ann's Lace seem to not only merely hang on, but to thrive where other plants cannot.  And up close each of these flowers are stunningly beautiful:

Actually, this roadside running can be nearly as satisfying as trail running...provided you have sights such as these posies.

Bloodroot is Blooming

[Bloodroot, image credit Gary]

Today I had the bride drop me off a few miles to the east, from which point I ran home, taking full advantage of a nice tailwind.

Along the way I passed a farmer's woodlot, a rocky knob that can't be cultivated, as the forest floor was just covered with clumps of bloodroot.  I have a bunch in my own yard in similar habitat, but mine are lagging this area by a few days due to its differing sun exposure.

The plant gets its name from its deep red roots, and is one of the early wildflowers here in south-central PA.  The leaves are deeply lobed and kinda reminiscent of watermelon leaves.  When I see it I know that spring is truly here.

DC's Cherry Blossoms...and Ultrarunning

Finally--after living within 100 miles of Washington DC for some 40 years now--the bride and I made it to see the legendary cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin:

[image credits Gary]

We had a great time being tourists, and the floral display was indeed stunningly beautiful.

The link to Ultrarunning, of course, is seeing posies on the trail.  The flat-out best display ever that I have been sites to is the Virginia Bluebells along Bull Run creek in northern VA (site of the 50 miler of the same name), and the same flower found along the C+O Canal in the vicinity of milepost 103, upstream of Williamsport, MD.

They should be blooming within a couple weeks.

Interesting Running Weather...and a Blue Flower

Happy Thanksgiving!

On Tuesday the bride dropped me off in Greencastle on her way to volunteer at Mister Tristan's school (the 5 year old human being, not the blog).  I first had to stop at the bank, then ran the 5 miles or so home. 

The east was getting lashed by a big rainmaking storm--the snow remained north of--but the temp hovered right at the freezing mark, yielding a freezing rain that stuck to anything above ground.  Thankfully, sidewalks and road were just warm enough not to ice up.

So, I needed a crappy weather run to rejuvenate my batteries.  See, whenever I run in poor weather, I ALWAYS have a great run.  It probably goes back at least partially to the notion of smugness (you're out there toughing it out while nobody else is).  Regardless, it was a great run.

When I arrived home I wanted to photograph a couple things.  First, a wren house in my front yard that I built from some old chestnut boards, today bearing icicles:

Then on the pergola out back, icicles hanging from the lattice and the outdoor (wet location) fan:

 

 

And then this reward.  I 've posted about this blue flower before, but I just love it.  Here we have a flower that I have to think is, well, optimistic, blooming as it does in late fall.  How cool is that?  Plus...it's blue, my favorite flower color ever.  What a treasure! (I should say that I seem to recall that the name is something with "alpine" in it, so it is a non-native for this area...and explains the late blooming).

 

First a shot of the clump, then an individual flower (about 1.25" across): 

 

 

 

All images by Gary.  Enjoy your next bad weather run!

 

 

Getting "Lost" Pays Dividends

While running a couple weeks ago near "my" trail and shelter over near the Tuscarora Trail (southern PA), I attempted a loop that wound up involving a poorly marked and maintained trail.  That trail also was affected by recent logging operations that obliterated some of it.

Bottom line was that I had to do some bushwhacking to reach the road that I knew was downhill, so no real problem, just an inconvenience.

But along the way I found this treasure.  It's interesting to speculate when this place was last lived in and by whom....

 

 

[photos by Gary]

 

 

 

Turnip Flowers for Janet

[image credit PlantCoverCrops]

In a fairly recent trend, I notice where local farmers are planting turnips as winter cover crops.

The pretty yellow flowers did double duty the other day as memorial for Janet Christiansen, a local woman, a murder victim, whom I have previously blogged about here and here, where I wrote:

Janet was murdered in 2005. Her husband, Raven, was charged with the crime in 2010. She left behind a 6-month old, Kaiden, and was pregnant at the time of her death.

She came to my attention last summer when I read in the local newspaper that her remains were to be exhumed to gather additional forensic evidence. Her grave is only half a mile from my home, and I frequently run through the Brown's Mill Cemetery. Once I became aware of the circumstances, I began leaving wildflowers on her grave whenever I would run by. Today was no exception.

 

I have no personal connection with Janet or her family, it's just that her life, cut short, somehow resonated with me to help make me a better person by NOT taking my life for granted.

Rest in peace.

 

 

 

Sitting on Benches...and Ultrarunning

 

[photo by Gary, bench on side trail off C+O Canal near Lock 38]

 

 

Along the trails we run upon we frequently encounter park benches of various types.  These occur most often along popular routes with easy access, as opposed to benches installed in the remote backcountry (of which I have seen none).

 

The fact that a bench exists means that someone went to some trouble to get approval for, to obtain, to install, and to maintain said bench.  That effort is worthy of respect and thanks

 

Accordingly, here is my philosophy: It is my sworn duty as an Ultrarunner to sit on any bench I encounter when I am trail running.  After all, it would be disrespectful NOT to spend a few moments enjoying such a labor of love.

 

The bench in the photo above is not well used--witness the yellow flowers growing up through the slats--but I managed to squeeze my butt onto the edge for a quick respite from the uphill slog.  Here's a close up in case any alert readers can identify the flower:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pocket Cameras, Flowers...and Ultrarunning

I came across a stunning new flower in my yard on Sunday.  Couple shots to illustrate a point about pocket cameras (or at least my pocket camera, a Nikon Coolpix):

Sunday was a flawless day without a cloud in the sky.  The first photo is in full sun and is tough to get the auto exposure right.  The yellow flower parts just get all washed out.  In the second shot I deliberately cast my shadow on the flower and got better results, but still not quite there.

I wish I had shot # 3 where it all comes together in a perfect exposure, but such are the limitations of my device.

Oh, and the flower?  This is from my vegetable garden, a variety of red potato, which I planted (and got away with) back in March when early spring hit here in south central PA.

With respect to Ultrarunning, I have often carried this camera on runs.  It is the size of a deck of cards and takes excellent photos.  As we've seen above, it has some limitations (full sun shots and close ups) but it covers 95% of my needs.