Early Bird
Active member
It was a great day for a trail run. The Wapack Trail isn’t in 100% best shape for running yet, but manageable nonetheless. Plus, the weather and company were fantastic.
After spotting a car at Miller State Park and cruising over to Ashburnham, Gig (also known as Anti-Zen for when on the trail he usually would rather be elsewhere
) and I began at a slow jog towards Watatic. Where the trail turned right and began to climb, we quit running and hiked quickly. This was the system we adopted for the length of the hike.
Reaching the Watatic summit, I eagerly anticipated the upcoming downhill run. Throughout the Wapack Trail this section has the longest down and then flat portion, therefore the most continuous running I get to do. On this northern descent though, there were still slick icy spots on packed snow. Wisely, we stepped carefully along the less slick edges when possible, not really running. This was typical of later northern descents, but at least later in the day the slopes were slushier so that we could still run and just hope our feet landed in a spot soft enough to hold the step.
Plenty of spots had patches of snow, ice, or mud, in the expected areas. Shaded areas held snow, snowmobiled trails were muddy. Plenty of areas were free of these elements, just right for a spring hike. The section north of Windblown Ski area to Nashua Road held about 4" of wet snow often with water flowing beneath. More times than I continued counting, I would break though wet snow or ice into the water, and immediately think did that soak into my trail runners? Two seconds later- Yep.
We had hoped to hike/run the trail in 4 hours, but with the conditions and Anti-Zen’s couple of hot spots, it took us 4 hours and 13 minutes. I guess I’ll have to get out there and try again. Good thing I like that close-by trail.
Birds seen or heard:
junco, yellow-rumped warbler, chickadee, yellow-bellied sap sucker, phoebe, blue jay
Also, something that repeatedly called what sounded like the first few notes of a winter wren’s song. It was near Binney Pond, which made me wonder if it was some type of flycatcher or other bird whose call I’m not solidly familiar with. (Will have to scan through my Stoke’s audio files) Or it could have been just a winter wren that didn’t finish singing its full melodious trills. Also it wasn’t in a coniferous forest, but it is migration time.
After spotting a car at Miller State Park and cruising over to Ashburnham, Gig (also known as Anti-Zen for when on the trail he usually would rather be elsewhere
) and I began at a slow jog towards Watatic. Where the trail turned right and began to climb, we quit running and hiked quickly. This was the system we adopted for the length of the hike. Reaching the Watatic summit, I eagerly anticipated the upcoming downhill run. Throughout the Wapack Trail this section has the longest down and then flat portion, therefore the most continuous running I get to do. On this northern descent though, there were still slick icy spots on packed snow. Wisely, we stepped carefully along the less slick edges when possible, not really running. This was typical of later northern descents, but at least later in the day the slopes were slushier so that we could still run and just hope our feet landed in a spot soft enough to hold the step.
Plenty of spots had patches of snow, ice, or mud, in the expected areas. Shaded areas held snow, snowmobiled trails were muddy. Plenty of areas were free of these elements, just right for a spring hike. The section north of Windblown Ski area to Nashua Road held about 4" of wet snow often with water flowing beneath. More times than I continued counting, I would break though wet snow or ice into the water, and immediately think did that soak into my trail runners?
Two seconds later- Yep. We had hoped to hike/run the trail in 4 hours, but with the conditions and Anti-Zen’s couple of hot spots, it took us 4 hours and 13 minutes. I guess I’ll have to get out there and try again. Good thing I like that close-by trail.
Birds seen or heard:
junco, yellow-rumped warbler, chickadee, yellow-bellied sap sucker, phoebe, blue jay
Also, something that repeatedly called what sounded like the first few notes of a winter wren’s song. It was near Binney Pond, which made me wonder if it was some type of flycatcher or other bird whose call I’m not solidly familiar with. (Will have to scan through my Stoke’s audio files) Or it could have been just a winter wren that didn’t finish singing its full melodious trills. Also it wasn’t in a coniferous forest, but it is migration time.
