In awe

Category: hikes

  • [681] July 4 Hike – BP (TWOT)

    I have been on the Twot loop, as it is known among us local runners but its real name is the Wild Oak Trail, many times either hiking, running, racing what not, except for biking and swimming boating or fishing.  

    It was the trail that I earned my backpacking badge.  It was my earliest known trail even before I hiked Signal Knob or Massanutten or Bull Run or the Seneca Creek trail. 

    I don’t write about it specifically, because the two races there the TWOT 100 or 200, and the Grindstone 100, I was not able to do yet to this day (to finish with an official time) even though I have run so many hundred mile races.  It does rub the wrong way for me to be on my home court and couldn’t finish it.  The trail is way harder than the Massanutten.

    But I have run, hiked, trained, and camped there many times.  Hone Quarry is near there and I visited it during the past late winter and spring this year.  (Hone Quarry 40, preview run, Grindstone 100).

    The Wild Oak Trail (TWOT) is located in Spokeville, VA, about 10-ish miles from Harrisonburg and Staunton.

    It is a place I prefer more than the Shenandoah, mostly to avoid the crowd since we are so close to the cities in east coast, primarily the DC area.  

    The AT is fine place to hike, camp and run, but the TWOT is my favorite place.  The views are just as good if not better than many places.

    Last weekend, just off the cuff, I wanted to go for camping. I did have an ulterior motive.  Since I DNF’d at the last Grindstone race, I wanted to go back to know and experience again why I did not do as well as I anticipated in it.  I knew already from my race report, but I wanted to walk back on the ground to see if there any stones I should uncover or memorize.  So it was going to be a holy experience for me.  I had intended to go back there several times after my race last September but whatever the reason I was not able to until the Fourth of July weekend.  I dragged my friend along for the fun of it. Misery loves company they say.

    I have not done a real backpack trip since summer 2021, when I visited the Smoky.  I don’t remember if I posted any about it.  Usually, I don’t like doing a write-up for things that are not running related.  If I find it, I will link it here in the future.

    I really wanted to get back into hiking/camping.   One of my big goals and always have been, is to backpack the one of the very long trails, like the AT, PCT, or CDT, or the one that goes from east to west of the country, for thousand of miles long.  The mountain is always calling me.  Except I just don’t have time.  Running have taken over my life the last few years.

    This year July 4th fell on a Friday and it was a great opportunity to do it for a long three day trip.

    I had in mind to check out or have refresher of the Grindstone 100 course, and the race is coming up in a month or so.  I would like to have a weekend on the course. 

    The short version was everything kind of worked out.

    Thursday night, Campsite unknown

    I left work a little later than I wanted.  We did not get on the road until after 8 pm.  I knew the campsite would be hard to find after dark.  Indeed, I could not find it, the one I camped at in November.  In the end it was already midnight, and we were tired. 

    We drove in the park over an hour turning at one wrong turn after another arriving at who know where.  I actually reached the place where we were supposed to leave our water around halfway through the course.  The original plan was to drive there in the morning to drop off water first before starting out. 

    We could have gone without leaving water since there is a creek nearby and a gas station too about a few miles away, but that would leave some uncertainties and extra hiking to seek water. 

    Since I had a friend with me, I did not want to cause an alarm about not having water.   (As luck would have it, we did run out of water, or due to poor planning on my part, we leave that later).

    At the moment we were in middle of the night without a camp, so the first order of business is still have a place to sleep.  We could sleep in our car until morning, which is kind of bad because we intended to do “real camping.  So I pulled the car into a place at a trailhead and dropped off the water jugs.  Then I decided to hike a little bit into the trail in the middle of the night, from memory there should be a place to camp.  I was unsure how far though.  We lugged all our packs along just in case we needed our things but I knew we would come back to the car in the morning to head to the real trailhead we original intended to go.

    We might have got to our camp after 1 am.  Then quickly set things up and went to bed.  First night was uneventful.  The night was hot.  Moon was out.  So were stars.  We just did a hike that got our blood flowing.  Now we needed to sleep.  I kept the canopy open, we slept under the stars, till it got colder and then I went out to close it.  First night usually is hard to fall asleep for me.

    Friday, the next day. A real hike.

    The next day was our first long day.  We had some decisions to make.  Since the course was a loop, we could actually start from where we camped.  However, the rest of our trip, and where we stay, and where we get water would need to be adjusted.  I felt that was too many things to change on the fly.  Again, if I were on my own, I don’t mind, but since I was with someone, we had filed a flight “plan”, we had to stick to it, you know in case something happened, people can search for us.

    We headed back to our car and drove to the orignal trailhead — the Twot Lot, and started from there. In broad daylight while driving back, we saw all the campsites we missed the night earlier.

    I signed in at the guestbook, noted other people on the trail that weekend.  Not too many maybe two other parties and we did not encounter them at all.  My friend later commented, that Frozen Ed (a famous runner in our community) checked in there a few weeks ago. It is interesting to know who has been there.

     We then prepared our breakfast in the Twot parking lot.  It seemed like cheating and not real camping experience, but we needed our calories.  The day would be long.

    A little past 8 o’clock, we started our hiking for real, going clockwise. As my convention, I gave my friend a choice of going either left or right.  I decided beforehand already of going “left”. This was to climb Lookout Mountain first instead of the Grindstone Mountain.  I have done in the counterclockwise many times but seldom hiked in the clockwise direction except for the Grindstone 100 race.  I actually like this direction because the camping and water points work out fine, as also more ways to change midway.

    The planned course was a 50 mile-ish trip.  Later, once on the trail, wisdom dictated to cut it down to half, which was part of the plan too, a plan B.  This course has several ways of making it shorter, such as heading to Camp Todd or to the start at Twot parking lot by road if needed to instead of on the trail.

    First, we went up onto Lookout Mnt, then crossed over on Hankey Mnt, was to descend to Doswells Draft, and to cross over to Chimley Hollow, then up on Crawford Mnt, down into Dry Branch, climb to Elliot Knob, to descend into Cold Springs, and hike on forest road back to Crawford to climb it second time, backtrack to Chimney Rock, up over Doswells Draft to Hankey again, (we skipped all those) but continued on the TWOT counterclockwise loop to Magic Moss, climbed up on Dividing Ridge to Grind Spring Ridge and passed over Big Bald, descended to Camp Todd, up Little Bald, and was to travel to Reddish Knob if time permits then find our way back to the Todd Lot either on Tilman Rd or through one of those trails like Reservor or Tower trail. It is a lot for the weekend.  Generally, would have to run it to cover everything on the Grindstone 100 course in 4 days instead of 2. For those who want the GPS file, they are available on the Grindstone 100 mile race website.  For future trip, if we want to make it longer, it could join up with the Hone Quarry 40 loop, to make it into 140+ mile adventure.

    So actuality, we stayed on the Twot loop our whole weekend, just 25 miles and cut out all the Crawford loop and Reddish Knob loop. 

    There were no rush for us since we had three days to do it, even out to about 9 miles a day.  I realized we couldn’t do 25 miles a day for three days straight.  I had on near 50 lbs pack.  So it was not going to happen to push the pace.

    By noon on Friday, we just reached the top of Lookout Mountain, maybe about 4-5 miles.  We decided to stop for lunch. I unpacked and had a proper hot meal. I calculated we likely reached our campsite by 4 pm. 

    After lunch we continued climbing up to up on Hankey Mountain.  By 3:00 pm we reached Doswells Draft Trail.  I was out of water by now.  I estimated it might be 3 miles to descend off the mountain to a water point (where I did the water drop the night before) or we could continue climbing up Hankey to a place I know there is a very nice campsite.  Valley always bring to mind flies, gnats, ants and other bugs.  And the place we stayed the night before seemed to have lot of ants.  I was trying to avoid it.

    After talking over with my friend, who had some water left, we went up the ridge to set camp.  There were about two liters of water shared between us.  We still had to cook plus over 16 hours left before we reached our next water source.

    There were no water to clean or wash anything.  The climb up was extremely hard but we were glad we made it. Yes, had to go to bed sticky and dirty.

    I was tired so the first thing of business was to set up camp (the tent) and then changed into dry/clean clothes.  Then I had a small meal since water was lacking, and everything I cook needed a lot of water.  I did not want to make a fire since there was no water to put it out if in an emergency we needed to (Yes, I was taught by others to pee into the fire to put it out if necessary, generally not an appealing task to do). 

    It just meant we headed to bed early.  A slight passing rain came through but nothing was really wet.  In a sense, I was hoping to refill our bottles from the rain, but it did not rain very hard.

    The next day, we headed off to an early start skipping breakfast.  I wanted to head to our water source first before having breakfast.  A side note, our mountain camp was full of spiders and ants, exactly the kinds of bugs I wanted to avoid in the first place.  The view though made it up. Plus the night was cooler. Air smelled better.  We were not disturbed up on the ridge.

    Saturday, 2nd full day.

    We descended back to where we left our water (2 Gal) Thursday night.   The water crisis was now resolved. The two water jugs were still there and in good condition.  I might have stayed two hours here to cook and rested.  The campsite actually did not have any bugs and we could have descended the night before and stayed here. It was a fairly big site for two of us and could have fit 4-5 people.

    After the big breakfast/lunch we headed up to Big Bald. This was our first hard climb of the day.  While climbing up we saw some race ribbons, likely from a past race or something.

    The afternoon was uneventful.  We friend pointed out the Bear Bog, called Bradley Pond (not the same one on Bradley Rd).  I never recalled there was a bear bog here, but I have not been this way for a long time since Grindstone course doesn’t go through here.  We took some photos and continued on.

    We reached over the other side, which was Camp Todd.  We filtered our water (actually a full gallon, 4L).  We probably needed 6L, but 4 L would do.  We then lugged the water upto Little Bald where would be camping for the night.

    It was 4:30 pm as we started off from Camp Todd.  I knew it would take a very long time to get up to the Ridge, and was hoping no more than 3 hours. 

    It was just constant climbing.  We arrived around 8 pm, backpacker midnight some call it.  We set up camp, cooked, cleaned, by the time I went to bed it was 9:30-10 pm.  It was very late and I was tired.  I think I immediately felt asleep.  This site though had very little insects, but we were drenched by the heavy dew.  So the tent was very wet the next morning.

    Sunday, last day of the trip

    Sunday, we had 7 (but felt like 8) miles remaining.  It would be all descending.  I estimated probably took us 4-5 hours to descend.  I had a lot of food left over, so instead of carrying them back down the mountain, it was good to eat them. I had a feast.  My friend had a meal package left (intended for me).  I had maybe 1.5-2 days of food myself, even after I had my big breakfast. 

    The descent was fast initially.  But the day wore on. Sun shone down. At the last part, it was not all descending but some climbling too.  Maybe we got to two miles at the end, we had to climb up maybe a mile.  That really worn us down.  We did reached the parking lot around noon and that was a good feeling we got the weekend wrapped up early. 

    We had plenty time to head home, then we cleaned up and then enjoyed a good Korean BBQ before the day was over.  There was nowhere better than home.

    Conclusion.  Backpacking doesn’t have the excitement of getting to the finish line like in a race.  It is something that takes a lot of time to plan, prepare and execute.  Like running, sometimes we have to make decisions on the fly, such as what to do when running out of water, or that we are carrying too much food, or what if we got lost. 

    Time seems to flow differently while on the trail. Like with running, a four day weekend seems like only one or two days, yes, I wish I would take a day or two off to make it into a 5 day weekend trip. 

    The TWOT loop was like my backyard kind of camping trip.  It provides just the right amount of challenge but also nearby. In no time we were home and back to the society.

    Afterward, another friend of mine reached out, asking if I be interested in backpacking in Colorado and if I have any backpacking experience.  Do I!? 

    I won’t claim myself to be an expert but I am all for going out to Colorado.  I have not done something like that, other than going to the Smoky, Patagonia or the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.  I am looking at 60,000 ft climbs and descents and 100+ miles, with the highest point at 15,000 ft. 

    We haven’t settled on how many days, we would do it in.  Likely 4-5 days or 6-7 days, plus couple days to get acclimated. (Location is the famous Silverton for the Hard Rock 100). If the trip is successful, I will do doing a lot more stuff out in the west.  Montanta, I’m looking at you and Grand Canyon.  I have plenty of trips I want to do in the high sierra, slot canyons, JMT, etc. Mt Elbert too. Until next time.

    I don’t think I ever did a proper twot write up, so I did it here for memory and reference. And indeed, some day, if I have a week time, to attempt a 140-150 mile backpacking trip at Twot.

  • Hike [day547]

    (old post, but some might enjoy this).

    Last weekend I went to Sky Meadow for a hike with couple of my buddies.

    They have been one of the closest buddies since the pandemic.

    Over time, you know friendship changes. I can’t remember what my friend circle was like before I started running.

    I guess I was involved with church fellowship back then. Once I stopped going to church those circles and friends slowly faded away. It was like running last weekend. I was with a pack at the beginning and slowly everyone drifted away at their own speed.

    This current set of friends came to be from my hiking and running activities. We do a 5k race together every year.

    One even ran with me last year at the JFK50. I wrote about that.

    We were going to meet four months ago. 4 months — how time flies. I am not a very good at doing friend stuff. They forgave me.

    However, that day I had a 100 mile race. Like how you can have a 100 mile race and not tell your friends?

    When they found out, they felt it was better to postpone our get together, since I would be too tired to do anything after the race. They were right. I couldn’t even drive home that day much less meeting up to hang out. We were going to eat out! I thought a steak dinner would be wonderful after the race. Little did I know, I was knocked out from lack of sleep. Food was the last thing I wanted. Anyway, the event was rescheduled and morphed into a hike this past weekend.

    One of them came out to support me at my race and he crewed for me. I wrote about it. It is a cliche to say, I couldn’t have done it without my crew. Indeed, my friend was a tremendous help in getting me across the finish line. I love my crew.

    We said we were going to meet. So finally after four months, we (or I) finally got well rested and our schedule worked out. We went to hike at the Sky Meadows State Park. Note, pictures posted in the last entry.

    Hiking the at Sky Meadows, possibly on the the AT

    The cool thing about this hike is it takes you up to the Appalachian Trail. This runs from Georgia to Maine. For us, we only hiked just a small section, a mile or so.

    There was a lot to catch up. We talked of all things. For me, it was soul searching.

    I just finished a 100 mile (four months ago) but it was still like yesterday. I was thinking about it and it was the highlight of my last four months.

    I did many other races since, and even the day before, I just ran a 50k before the hike. It was still fresh on my mind. You know all the races just lump together in my head. I will run another 100 mile soon in a week or so. And I am asking myself, why am I doing this.

    I wrote about this a few times. I know I did it because I enjoy it.

    I wanted challenges. Six years ago, when I first started running, I thought 50 mile race was so cool and near impossible for me at the time, but of course now it is not so hard any more.

    I could do more 100 mile races. In fact, it is in the work, I might try to run a 100 mile in every state. This is up-ing the ante of running a marathon in every states. I only have 12 marathons done.

    My friend suggested I should do some traveling. Indeed, that has crossed my mind. I mentioned the Gobi desert, or Atacama desert race on here.

    I don’t know. I would like to do something exotic. In the end what is my goal and who am I try to impress.

    I never wanted to say wow look at me. I do want to feel impress by the races done and places I have been.

    Don’t know. I don’t have an answer. Two entries ago, I did a 10 miler. I was very impressed by the race. This week, I ran a 50k and I was filled to brim with excitement. It was worth the run.

    Conclusion: There isn’t any. Life is maddening crazy as I try to look into a crystal ball trying to find out what should I do next.

    Today (March 14), also Barkley Marathon started this morning. It is a crazy race. I won’t likely ever be able to do it. I would still do it if I have a chance. I run and do all the things I have the opportunity to do.

    In life, I hope to do some crazy things. Yes, this coming weekend I will definitely doing some crazy stuff. I have a 35 mile training run, plus the next day, I have a marathon. More to come. I will stop for now.

  • Day535 TWOT run (full report)

    I happened to check last year, Day463. This time it is almost the same. I had my training etc, but it was so satisfied. I wrote a short version hopefully captured what I wanted to say. Here is a much longer version of what I mean having a good life, that is, to be out on the trail and run.

    Happiness is brief and hard to grasp. Often time, stuff at work and life drove me to insanity. Respite comes when I am out at the trail all by myself. Sometimes, I don’t even know why I am out there. But being out there seems to calm me and solves all my present problems. True, it is an avoidance mechanism, but one that works.

    Last week, I was at the Wild Oak Trail. I mentioned it a few times before and wrote about it maybe couple posts back when I went out to the trail few weekends ago, but in the end called it quit after going 7 miles in.

    This week, I went back out. It was the TWOT official race day. The 200 mile race started on Wednesday. The 100 mile started on Friday and the 25 mile version took place on Saturday. As mentioned before, I got to know both the RD (Race Director) and a 200 mile runner. It was like meeting my idol or a heavenly being. Never in my life, I thought I would meet someone like that. Not only do I get to know them, but the exciting part is they know me now. I was wondering, oh, is that how they said we should make connections back when I was in college.

    Anyway, I like this race for a weird reason when I had my first backpacking trip back in 2017. That time, we encountered runners running loops around us. I believe they were practicing for the Grindstone. Yours truly will also be running the Grindstone this year, and hence the reason why I was at the Wild Oak this weekend.

    My friend and I finished the loop too in a single day with a 40-lb bag on back the whole way, because we made a dumb decision of not stopping before nightfall. We ended up doing the whole thing without camping at all. However, we met a runner who looped us couple times that day.

    On surface this seemed like easy because we were able to do it in a day. However, it was not so. This was the hardest hike I did in 2017 and even subsequent years, the loop has not gotten any easier. Sure, they flattened and straightened the trail at a few places, but over all, it is still 8000 ft of climbing in 26-ish miles in one loop. Runners do multiple loops to have their fill.

    At the time I was not a trail runner. I didn’t start running seriously on trails until 2019, when I did the JFK 50, and that was not even a true trail run. It was not until 2021, when I did Laurel Highlands, I could say I dabbled into trail running. 2022 was the year of MMT, and that I have fallen completely into this mountain running thing. You can say, I went hardcore.

    When I learned people actually race on this trail, I wanted to do it too. Full disclosure, I haven’t able to truly run on it yet (actually it’s ability-challenged, not an opportunity problem). I applied last year to run in it, but I did not get in. I did not mind, because I did not get into many other races too. It was no big deal.

    Couple weeks ago during a MMT Training run, I met the TWOT race director and also one of the guys (Tony) who was running in the 200 mile race of this year. It hyped up my interest once again.

    This weekend, I went out. I did not want to interfere with the actual race, so I only planned to show up afterward, thinking they already should be over.

    I messed up with my math and arriving at 7:30 pm, which was only 35 hours into the 100 race. Their last person finisher did not arrive until past midnight (40-ish hours) and that is a very good time. It might have taken me more than 48 hours to do them if that even possible.

    I saw a blazing camp fire. I walked to it, but for some unexplained reason, I did not recognize the RD, and was thinking he was Tony, and was there just relaxing after the run.

    It was then two runners came in finishing their 100 mile run. RD told me two more runners were still out on the course, plus another one doing a fun run. It was then I realized I goofed up. RD handed out awards. I said my goodbye.

    RD was seriously thought I was going to run that night, because why not, everyone who showed up there is capable of doing it. I had no intention though to run it even as a “fun” run that night. Since, I think it is rude to bandit his race. The race was supposed to have no aids, no crew, no spectator, no pacer, no bailing, no rescue, etc. It was a hardcore, you by yourself and the trail. I did not want to spoil the atmosphere by running and meeting other runners. They deserve their bragging rights of being along in the dead of night while everyone is sleeping.

    So I hiked up the opposite direction to the first peak on Grindstone Mountain, orginally I was aiming for Little Bald, 7 miles away, since there is a nice open place to camp. After a mile hike, I came across a camp site on Grindstone. I totally forgot this spot. It was perfect. By then it was around 9 pm. If I had continued on, I would not have reached Little Bald after midnight and by the time I could sleep, it might be 1 AM or later. And planning-wise would have ruin my next day event, had I continue to Little Bald..

    It was a good choice to stop early because temperature was dropping. The night was beautiful. The stars were bright. I set up my tent. It took me a few tries because it had been a while since I went camping. I already ate, so I did not need to cook. I hung up the bear bag, not that I needed to, but rules are rules (not like bears would be arpund in the winter). By the time I finished everything, it was past 10 pm. I crawled into my sleeping bag. Then I remembered I had to use the restroom. I didn’t want to get back up. I cursed at myself of not doing it earlier before getting into the tent. I tried to sleep. I know I have good bladder control and in the past I had slept through the night without needing to go.

    After couple hours, it became worse, like I was about to explode. I had to get up even though it was freezing. It was not any colder, but still getting up was not fun. I put on my clothes, layered up, added a jacket, gloves, wooly hat, socks and shoes. Actually, I couldn’t make it to the socks and shoes. l had to rush out the tent barefoot and tried to find the nearest tree and almost didn’t make it because I felt it was leaking out while I was still in the tent. Cursed at myself. Hobbled to the nearest tree but couldn’t reach it and quickly pulled down my pants, doing it off the cliff, finished my business and crawled back in for a good night sleep. Again normally, I could hold till morning, just not this time.

    Next day, was pretty much a normal day. It was a beautiful day. It dawned early. I woke up around 7 am at first light. I actully slept in a bit, but knew I had a long day, I got up. Cooked breakfast. Packed the tent. Ate. Ate while packing up. Here I am mad at myself for forgetting my spoon here and did not packed it out. I knew when I left I should do a person-equipment check and police the place, but I did not.

    I had an excuse because during packing, I had a strong need to use the bathroom, and this time, it was number 2. I quickly got out my cleaning kit (toilet paper and stuff), digging tool, and rushed off to the side of the mountain. Luckily the ground was easy to dig. But I couldn’t get it deep enough. I think 4-5 inches is the requirement, a cathole. After like two inches, I hit rock. It just had to do, I was about to burst again and there was no time to find a new spot with deeper soil. Pulled my pants down and did what I had to do. I was alone on the mountain with a good view of the valley below. After I done, I covered it with dirt and put a rock on top. The rock was probably over doing it, to prevent people or animal of stepping on it. Of course, I still packed out my used toilet paper.

    I am proud of myself. This is the second trip that I actually digged a hole. Note, I thought I was so smart to stop at a rest area before arriving at TWOT and used the facility first. Little did I know, that I needed to go again so soon. When you need to go, you need to go.

    By the time I got down from the moutain, everyone (runners from the previous night) had gone home. I saw they cleaned up well. The fire ring was gone. They took care of the ashes. They poured a bucket of ice over where the fire ring used to be. The ice were still there when I arrived. RD said he left at first light, so I think maybe 7 or 8 o’clock. It was now 9 AM. I put away my camping things. I put on my running hydration pack. I still planned to run on the trail, since that was the whole purpose of me being there. Camping was just incidental. I had drank all the water while on the mountain that night so I needed to refill my hydration bag with water I had in the car.

    I wanted to run on the mountain, to do a loop of the Wild Oak Trail. I wanted get some early training for the Grindstone 100. This time, I was three hours ahead than I was there two weeks ago. I was hoping I could do the loop in 10 hours and finish it by 7 pm that night. In hindsight, I was mad at myself that I didn’t start the run even earlier like at 7 am instead of 9 am.

    I started climbing up on Grindstone again, this time without the 30 lb pack. For some reason, I like doing this trail in counterclockwise direction. It was so easy now in the morning. At night, I stepped on every puddle there because I couldn’t avoid them, but in the daylight I could see them clearly and it was easy to step on the rocks.

    It took me almost the same as last time to reach Little Bald. It was noon by then. I was 7 miles in and already used 3 hours. I hoped to reach Camp Todd by 1 pm. Note there were a lot of blow downs. It took a bit time to navigate past them.

    When I got to Camp Todd, the River was too wild to cross. I could cross it, but it would be hell. And why risk being swept by it? I wanted to keep my feet dry too. RD said if I go to the right I don’t have to wade across the river. So I went back up on the trail and saw where the trail the split and followed that for about half a mile and indeed, I avoided the river crossing, except I was now half a mile out. It put me on the road. I ran down the road was not too bad. By the way, I met a cyclist and a runner on this section. Later, I met two more hikers. These were all the people I met that day.

    From Camp Todd, I hiked up to Big Bald continue on a counterclockwise direction. It was not the hardest climb but it took a lot effort. One of the thing I regretted was I did not fill up my water at the river crossing. Now couple miles in I felt I wouldn’t have enough water to finish the loop and I was not even halfway in. Meaning later on, like the last four hours, I would be very thirsty. From memory, there wouldn’t be any water until the very end.

    Luckily after I got passed Hiner’s Spring, there was a trickling of water flowing on the trail. I squatted down, literally crawling on the ground to filter water. It was slow going but I made sure I had a full bag before setting off, plus I filled up my tiny 8 oz gatorade bottle I had. This was a miracle of water flowing from a rock.

    I think I got to Big Bald by 3 ish. It was a bit late. Big Bald is like the halfway point. I would have liked to get here by 1-ish. However, I felt the trail should get easier on the second half. I remembered from memory there should be some flat sections soon where running is possible. I believed I could still finish by 6 pm that night with only 13 miles left. I, in the past, was a strong runner on flat easy section. Today though, I was still nursing an injured foot — it’s gotten a lot better, but on occasion, it still hurts, so I couldn’t go at my usual speed.

    Running down from Big Bald was fun. It was where the shin scrapper section is. It was steep. I loved it. Of course going up on this was not fun. The guys cleaned the area well before the race. I think I was on the Dividing Ridge. This part was known to be wild and had thick overgrowth filled with torns. Yet, I did not get tangled up with bushes. It was mostly downhill. I got to the second road crossing. To me, it was kind of boring.

    After crossing the road, the climb was not tough initially because they put in a lot of “dumb” switchbacks. It used to be straight up. Now it was gentle up hills for hours. I think it was around 6 pm I got to the top of Hankey Mountain. To my surprise, the last quarter mile up before the Doswell Trail was the hardest. The view was incredible.

    I knew I was behind schedule. There I started downhill but there was still a bit of climbing left though not hard. The sun was setting. I was wishing that I could get to the fire road before nightfall.

    The trail on the this section was runnable. I think we had 4-5 miles. It took me forever, but I knew I was on the Lookout Mountain at the time. The sun was already set but I still could see without having my head lamp turned on. It got cold. I put on my jacket and gloves.

    Silly me at this stage, I was hoping to get off by 8 pm. In my rush, I got “lost”. In my mind, I believe the next turn should be on the left. I was running down the fire road and it had been a while but still no turn in sight. The road splits, one goes up and one goes down. In my mind, I knew the turn was on the left after a short climb. And at the time I saw the blaze to the right but it looked purple of my light. I immeditately discounted it, thinking it couldn’t be right. For some reason, I refused to stop to checking the map, because I was so certain the next turn is on my left.

    I went down to the left. Sun had set by now and complete darkness had set in. I turned on my headlamp. My spider sense started taking over, saying this road doesn’t look right. It is too wide and I started hearing rushing water, meaning I was near the base. At that time, I came to my sense to pull out the map. I know in the wild, you have to humble to trust your 9th or whatever sense you got. Sh*t, I was no longer on the road where I thought I was on. I figured where I made the wrong turn and how far down I went, maybe half a mile or so.

    At the time I had a choice. I could continue down on the road. I saw it would reach a camp at North River. From there I could use the roads and get back to my car. Or I could backtrack, climb back on the mountain, make the correct turn, and continue on the Wild Oak Trail.

    I weighed the pros and cons. Down on the road was new to me. I could get run over by cars, since people drive fast here and likely they wouldn’t see. Plus I could get lost again on the road. The distance between taking the road and trail is about the same. Road might seem a bit longer. I estimate might be 9 miles on the road, but with trail, I probably only have less than 5 miles left. I felt I would be safer taking the trail. Also the whole purpose coming out was to run on the mountain and not walk on the road. So I turned around and started back up the mountain. I had decided to keep to the trails. No matter how long it would take, I would go back up on the mountain. Besides, that is the runner motto, if you get of trail, you have to return back to where you got off without getting a ride on a bear or a yetti, or having a spaceship teleporting you back.

    I was actually happy when I got back to the top of the ridge. Stars came out the second night. I heard wild animal calls, not sure if those were cats or dogs, or raccoons, but it got me moving fast and at the same time excited.

    I saw the town below lit up. This always give me encouragement, knowing I will be down there soon. It was just five miles away. It might be Harrisonburg. At the time I thought was Harrisonburg but now it couldn’t be.

    Night from Lookout Mountain

    A runner called this section the Rock Garden, an apt name. We kick rocks because it was the most rocky part. It was mostly downhill. I hopped around. A few times I almost slipped but I recovered. I was proud of my balance. Yes, the whole purpose out here is for my feet to know how to do it even without light. My lamp was dimly lit. I couldn’t see much.

    Eight o’clock passed. Definitely, I should be down by 9 pm, I encouraged myself. The trail went on unendingly. My water and snacks were out by now. Eventually, I got to a bunch of switch backs. I knew by now, I was definitely descending. I messaged my mom and friends, letting them know I would be fine and would be off the mountain soon.

    The descent probably took me another hour. I had to step on a few puddles near the end. I cursed myself for not seeing the water before feeling it. Oh well, I was so close to the finish, a little wet feet wouldn’t matter. My throat was dried and hoarse since I hadn’t spoken the whole day. I had some blisters at least on my left foot. I almost tripped several times. Yet I was so close. I heard the river once more and came to suspension bridge. Basically at most quarter mile left. No way it would be a mile to my car.

    I reached my car around 9:30. The first order of business was to change my shoes and put on dry socks and put on some clothes and a jacket I had in the car. By the time, I left the lot was closer to 10 pm. I was trying to get to the nearest McDonalds, however, they closed at 10 pm (though google was saying closing time was 11 pm). Anyway, it was a long way home. I did find a McDonalds at the next town over, and wolfed down a double quarter pounder in like two bites and was still hungry. Anyway, I was happy. McDonalds was my happy meal to celebrate a successful trip. Next order of business was to get back home.

    What I accomplish on this whole trip: I camped out. I lost my long handle titanium spork on the mountain, the one I had for over last 5 years. It was specifically designed for reaching into Mountain House deydrated food packages. Oh well.

    I had my run done. It was the hardest “25” miles run I ever did, ended like 27-28 miles from the extra milrs I put in. Rock-n-the-Knob and Catoctin 50k were not as hard compare to this one. This was more like a 32 miles or more. And it took me over 12 hours. This was a run and not a hike. My exact time was unknown. My friend Caroline told me later that she did this loop in 8 hours in her younger days (of her fastest loop) and she even did two loops once. I couldn’t imagine anyone doing more than one loop, much less 8 loops for a 200 mile run on this trail. It was hard even for a single loop.

    Of course because my friend said she did it in 8 hours, I have to get my time down to 8 hours, to be badass.

    That’s Little Bald. Kind of showing my appreciation of climbing 7 miles to get up there. Now I got down and was able to look back across to the ridge
    No clue where this is. I think about halfway up Chestnut Ridge. It could be Lookout Mountain on the other side (middle ridge), where I would be coming back on

    As for other events, I ran the Holiday Lake 50k. A lot can be said about that race. And before that I ran a 5K last weekend, “for the love of it.” I could write about that too. Out of the three events, I enjoyed my time at the Wild Oak Trail the most. Also, I like the driving.

    What it means to be alone. What it means to be great. I don’t think I am that high up there. I met people who exceed me by heads and shoulders. There was a lot of thinking. In the end it was jist pure joy doing what I like to do.

  • Day419 Grayson Highlands 50

    Why running this race? The race promised a course that is beautiful, hard, and they have ponies!

    It was definitely hard even with long cutoffs and a shortened course. The beauty of the place does make up for the hard run.

    I love mountains. I love the view. I got to see the highland from up on the crest and ran through the vast grassy balds.

    The event I entered was the 50 miler. They had 50k and a half marathon. The fifty miler tested my limit (again). I believe it was the hardest race I ever did.

    My watch recorded about 6500 ft of elevation gained. Totalling about 42 miles (but my watch was paused for about 3 miles), so the total course according to garmin is maybe 45 miles long.

    I believe the course was cut short from the original 47.1 mile after reviewing the gps data. This is kind of a hot potato topic. First off, I ran according to the flagging. However, there were more than a few runners that ran according to the original published course, that I think added 2-3 more miles. It was a significant change. Some were not happy at all the course being shortened and blamed the RD for not flagging the course properly but it was really them of not seeing the flagging. To me the flags for the turn off was visible, but I could understand how it can be missed. I believe the course was flagged more than enough.

    I overheard the race director mentioned at the finish that they shortened the course. Not sure if he was referring it being shortened from 50 to 47.1 or from 47 to 45. For me the shorter distance was about right due to the elevation. Not sure if I could have made the final cutoff if it were 5 miles more. In truth, I hiked most it and after 14 hours out there, no, even after couple hours, I was asking myself why did I sign up a race just only to hike 90% of it. Was it worth?

    It was a hard course and I was undertrained for the hills. Toward the last six miles I had enough of it. I didn’t want any more hills. I was fainting and reached my limit. The last 6 miles were mostly uphill, at couple thousand feet of climbing. For those who planning to run this, expect the climb at the last hour. It added an extra pressure to make the cutoffs.

    As a redemption, the few miles near the finish were on a road, which made it a tad easier. Also I felt the aid stations were spaced about right at every six miles. There was only one that was about 12-13 miles apart, which was the hardest segment. I brought my own food, but didn’t eat them, except for some apple sauce. We could have a throw-away drop bag too, but I didn’t prepare one (not needed).

    I believe the RD originally wanted to put an aid station at mile 19-20 at the turnoff onto the Hurricane Trail trailhead, however he shortened the race by turning off to a service road to Hurricane Trail early, so no aid station. Well probably a volunteer/aid station at the turn off would help or after coming out from the Hurricane Trail.

    I was extremely happy that I didn’t miss the flag for the turn off. As in couple previous races, I missed a turn and I got really mad at myself, but in this race, even though I felt it was a level higher that what I used to do, I did everything perfectly. The map study beforehand helped. I didn’t use my map at all during the race even though it was on me. I had it mostly in my head. I didn’t have to use the gps (my companion Ryan downloaded the coordinates on his watch and it kind of help, but he got off trail too). I mostly relied on my spider sense and it was pretty accurate. Couple times I was saved by those around me.

    Pacing. Pacing was not allowed. I ran with the group of five or six runners I started with. I didn’t rush. I knew I was the last 10+ or so in about a total 100 runners (I finished 95). I think there were a dozen or so who started later, but those who started in the back with me were pretty much ran at my pace.

    I was together with about 4 ladies and a guy (Ryan) for about 26+ miles. Ryan was doing his first 50 as well as two other ladies around us. Ryan and I stayed together until mile 35. Originally after mile 9, Ryan took off but he might have ran the extra 3 miles and I met him back at my mile 20 and from then he was with me for the rest until he needed a restroom break at Camp Store Aid Station.

    One of the ladies took a nasty fall. Her left knee was bloody and so was one of her arms (right?). They bandaged her up and she continued on. I ran with her from mile 9-15, then she took off. I didn’t see her again until at the finish. I think she got lost at the Hurricane Trail, as many people did.

    It was good to have a companion. Ryan came back after mile 20, we passed Fox Creek Aid Station together. We had to run up 6 miles to Scale Aid Station. This was part that broke me, at least for the first and not the last time. Ryan was there hiking with me all the way. We passed the two ladies at Scale who were with us since the beginning. They had some issue with shoes and also were having some health issue too. Not sure if they finished, but Ryan and I pressed on. Ryan asked if I heard what they said. I almost fainted too climbing up to Scale. I had a beer at Scale and it refreshed me. That was around mile 30/31. I left Scale feeling strong again.

    Ryan had some stomach issue after Scale. We tagged team to the next station. It had some climbing as well descending. We mostly hiked. I got to chat with Ryan a bit. He told me to run ahead and not to wait for him. I said of course. However, he was literally tagging behind me. We arrived at the Camp Store together. There we said goodbye since he said he needed to use the privy.

    I was concerned that if he stopped he wouldn’t start again, but he did continue. I checked the finisher list and he was there with several others. Glad he found couple companions.

    Without Ryan, the next 10-12 miles were tough. I kept pushing from 3 pm – 5m to the last aid station. I took some food. I had until 8:30 to finish, so finishing was guaranteed. This last segment was mostly on the road leading up to the Visitor Center, which is about 3 miles long, so one step a time up the steep road. In normal time, I probably could have run it, but walking was all I got after running whole day.

    Then we turned off from the main road onto a side trail. It was a steep climb, I think maybe for another mile. This was my slowest ascend I think. I took a step and then rested so forth until I reached the Visitor Center, where the finish line was. However, the course required us to take a 2 mile loop from the Visitor Center to two overlooks (Big and Little Pinnacle). For me, I just wanted to finish, the view was supposed to be great there. I only took a glance then got off the Pinnacle, back toward to the real finish line.

    Again for those planning to run this race, expect the soul crushing finish at the last few miles because of the climbs. However, it couldn’t break my soul. Those who have done ultras know, you just have to press on no matter how the course plays with your head. Just beware.

    Final word, as on how technical the race is other than the elevation, was maybe at mile 35-40. It requires some technical footwork to descend the Wilson Trail from the Camp Store. In a normal time, I might consider this the best out of all the “fun” trails I was on. It was exciting to showcase all the fancy footwork you have been training. However, I had nothing left in me to make sharp jerking turns and take big steps and dodge low branches and skip over slick rocks. I do love it thinking back. Over all, there are many favorites, this was just one of them. For those who is going to do this race, take time to enjoy.

    Oh, is the course muddy? A portion of it is muddy even on a good day. And for couple of the trails, you are hiking up a stream on a bad day. Yes, you run with wet shoes. Blisters and stubbed toes can be an issue. It is a race for the dirty and yucky and those with lot of patience.

  • Day393 Waterfall mountain

    I finally made it to the Waterfall mountain, a place I mentioned a few weeks back (WTF). It was really a WTF WTH kind of trip.

    Actually this Christmas break, I got to do two of trails I wanted to do after what seemed to be a long break. One was the Waterfall mountain (WTF) and the other was the Bull Run Occoquan trail.

    I ran the Bull Run Occoquan last weekend. It took me longer to do it than I thought. I intended to run 31-ish mile (50k) on it, but in the end, I didn’t make it to even halfway, Maybe like 7 miles before turning around. The trail was mostly flat and muddy with only redeeming feature was some hills near Hemlock Overlook. Going to Hemlock Overlook brought back childhood memory. It was a special fieldtrip where you can do some rope work (tree climbing/zip line etc) and team building challenges. I enjoyed to have a “real” trail so close to home. I should have or I might have written about my adventure. Anyway, I don’t remember.

    Waterfall Mountain was my this week adventure. I might have been there before for a camping trip. It is in or part of the Massanutten Mountain. Massanutten is always muddy and wet. But the cold weather made the trail slick. Waterfall Mountain was dry though. I didn’t see any waterfall. It could be that the trail went around the mountain rather than climbing it.

    It is also a 50K course, but I only did half of it due to a later start and also the weather being below freezing, and also my physical fitness seemed to be lacking, and plus my thought was in another place.

    I had a bad day that day. As I was heading to the trail I was pulled over by the police for speeding of 17 miles over the limit. I was angry about it because I pretty sure I didn’t speed (I kept within 5 miles over is the most I ever do). I had my eyes on the spedometer the whole time. Also I saw the police tailing me for about two miles before I was being pulled over. Then I was pulled over and the officer told me he did it because I was speeding. No I did not argue with him. He seemed to be angry at me, at least that was my impression. Anyway, that made my day. He asked why I was going so fast and where I was heading and if the car belong to me. I think he got the wrong person. Anyway, I got a speeding ticket.

    I got to the trailhead. It was a big lot but only two cars were there because it was a very cold day to be out hiking. The temperature was 24F. It stayed pretty much there and might have gotten up to 30 by late afternoon. I was freezing most of the time (I took off one of my shirt – when running it would be just right, but while walking, I would be freezing, and I did not want to put on and put off my shirt all the time, so I preferred being cold).

    But I had to do it. It has been a while since I was on a real trail. I love trails. This year, we did not go camping, at least I did not. I have meant to go by myself a few times but have not worked up the courage yet. So going to the Waterfall Mountain was like my first baby step. I had to read and study the trail notes and looked at the map ahead of time. I considered that part successful.

    Now it was a blur but if anyone wants the trailnotes they are available on Virginia Happy Trail Running club site (under WTF). The notes were quite good and I relied on it.

    I only did the first half (15 miles) plus 4 miles of getting lost.

    I hiked most of it and ran a portion on some easier parts. Because it was so cold, most of the trail was iced over. It was slick. My own water tube was frozen (yes I forgot to push the water down the tube after drinking and it was frozen solid). Luckily, I had a handheld bottle and that was not frozen. Then I put the tube inside my shirt next to my body and the ice melted. It was one of the things that went wrong.

    Most of the day I was “tilted” in that I could not get my head off of being pulled over by the police. So I was not paying a close attention to the trails and a few times I went off trail or missed a turn. The worse error was one when I missed the turn and had to backtrack and I became disoriented and did not recognize the trail I was backtracking on. So I had to run back and forth about three/four times over the same stretch and finally was able to convince myself which direction was the correct way. I was within three miles from my car too then and I could actually heard cars going by but I was so confused as which way was the right way to go in order to get out.

    I was not scared of being in the woods. The worse case was staying over night there. I did not have my tent on me but it would not have been a life threatening situation. I had enough clothes on me, as well as water and food. I knew eventually I would be able to get out. The question was more like when. I prefer to be out by sunset rather than after dark. First of all, it is easier to find way in the day time than at night. I did make it out a little after sunset while there was just enough light left.

    Another memorable moment was on certain part of the trail, I had to go into the stream (well the trail became a stream). I don’t exactly know why since normally people who make the trail normally would diverge water away from the trail. But I had this trail that the water was running down on it – yes trail errosion. I had to step into the water. On a warmer day, I wouldn’t mind. After that section, my pant legs were frozen from the water and the cold. I did not realize this until I got back to the car when I took off my shoes. I had two ring shackles around my ankles.

    I then hightailed out of there because I have been wanting to be back at my house since the morning. If not for the pullover I would have enjoyed the trip much more. Yet it was a lesson learnt.

  • Day303 LH#4

    I decided to go to PA this weekend. Staying at a campsite tonight. Normally, I go into the woods and camp to my heart content, but my mom is with me. She can’t do the wilderness survival stuff I do, so we are staying at a more civilized campsite, where we have bathroom and we are three feet away from the car.

    One benefit is we have unlimited amount of food. I don’t have ration out my portion. A store or bakery is only several miles away. There is probably no bear.

    Tomorrow I will do some running on the Laurel Highlands Trail. I have done it before at this section. Twice at least. LH1 and LH2.

    I hope to meet up with couple other people to run together. We are just doing a short run. No one will be doing the whole thing (,70 miles).

  • Day298 The Peak

    I am so happy after what 3 months of staying at home, I am finally back on the trail. Indeed happy trail.

    I guess I could always go by myself. The park is always open. Some do if you know where to go. Shenandoah was going to stay open until too many people misused it and it was forced to be closed during the pandemic. It think there were also some politic strong arming against the park officials.

    But we are reopened now. Our state went into stage 2. I think there is a stage 3 too. Our local area is still in stage 1 since we just entered it last week, unlike the rest of the state. They have been in Stage 1 I think for almost a month.

    So we were back on the trail. The side trails,(trails at park boundary are still closed. So we had to drive on the skyline drive to get to our trail.

    I went to bed early after finishing my shopping. However I could not get up at 4am in the morning to do the run. I didn’t leave my place until 6. I still got to the trail couple hours before everyone. I ran about 6 miles on my own.

    I put in about 20 miles today mostly hiking, but we did get in 4-5 miles of running too. I am kind of tired now, Vegging on the lazy boy, writing this post. I could run long miles but hiking is something else. I feel so sleepy right now. I wish I can have a full body massage.

    I got a hug from my lady hike leader…what about coronavirus 😮? I was like hold on, I need to think about this. This is the second time she hugged me. Maybe for surviving the shelter in place this past three months. And it was the first time seeing each other since the Chile trip back in December. The first time I was hugged was like three years ago when we did our first backpacking trip. Not going to read too much into it. I was surprised that was all, since I am not a feely touchy person, but she is.

    My first real hike as in 2017 and also after the corona-covid19 here. Called The Peak and not the mall. Yes malls in our area reopened last weekend. Instead going to the mall we hike the Peak

    I love this loop hike since it was really the first hike that got me into the wilderness thing and loving outdoors. Old Rag hike doesn’t count. We did the Anything But Old Rag in 2017 before this one, that could count as my first hike. But the Peak not the Mall, was a hike I saw my first bear literally face to face with one and there was no where to turn and the hike also literally broke me, because it was so hard (now it is like what I do that each day before breakfast). Well it is still draining but not that I need to bed rest afterward for the next two months.

    The Peak is the name of a nearby mountain called the Peak. I actually have not climbed up there. They don’t recommend people doing it because of the erosion / to prevent further erosion of the trail. Also the trail up on the Peak is no longer maintained and people will need to have serious bushwacking skill to do it otherwise you can get very lost out there.

    My friend also mentioned about next weekend backpacking…I haven’t decided on that trip yet. I do miss backpacking but kind of want to go to Pennsylvania to do that 70 mile run. Will saved it for another post.

    I was going to do a random Friday post or Friday fav post… but a hiking post is fine. Also I need to post something to get to Day 300. Just one more filler post I’ll be there. Hope you enjoy! 🙂

  • Day297 getting closer

    Another day likes one before. I am not ready for a random Friday 🙂

    Weekend starts soon. I have my fingers crossed. Tomorrow will be busy because I have a bunch of things to do to get ready for Saturday.

    I won’t likely be posting a Random Friday post on Saturday morning as I have done the last couple weekends because this weekend I will be heading to Skyline Drive to do some hiking with my hiking lady. Well she is leading a big group this time. There probably 10+ people — note we are still required to wear masks and practice social distancing. No comment on the group size. She said those who are afraid should sit out on this one.

    I will be going. There will be a fast group and a slower group. I haven’t decided which group I want to join. I probably with the fast and high mileage group. We will be doing at least 17 miles in about 6 hours. Decent pace. The slower group will be doing 8-10 miles in the same amount of time. The bigger group will do a loop hike while the slower group will be doing a out and back and they can control when they want to turn back.

    I am thinking of heading out a few hours beforehand to do trail running on the Appalachian trail. It has been four or more months since I last ran on a trail. I am so excited.

    I need to go to bed early tomorrow. No more midnight or 2 AM kind of stuff. I will be in bed by 9. And Need to be up by 4. Trail/Park opens at 5. So I want to be the first one there. I guess my run will go from 5:30 – 9:30.

    This means I have to fill up my gas tank tomorrow. I need to do some shopping. I need to prepare for my 1st, 2nd breakfast plus, 1st and 2nd lunch.

    Remind me to bring water and a bottle of soda. I need my water filter too.

    Hopefully I will have a ton of mileage.

  • Run report

    Day 228

    Last week was low mileage for me with a total about 9 miles. Lowest so far after having 50+ for last three consecutive weeks, but I figure I needed the low mileage rest.

    As usual, Monday was a rest day. After three weeks of running, I was grateful for Monday

    Tuesday: 4. Easy run with group. The weather is getting warmer. Legs were heavy.

    Wednesday: 2nd rest day

    Thursday: 5 miles. Also was a group run. Legs were still heavy but a bit better than Tuesday.

    Friday: 0. traveling

    Saturday-Sunday: *3-4ish. I would like to say it was supposed to be a run but turned out more a backpacking hike. Saturday, hiked 24 miles and Sunday 12. I won’t count them running though my body was sored from the activity.

    ~~~~Long version~~~~

    The highlight was I went to Laurel Highlands to check on the trail, which I will be racing on it in June. The trail was not extremely hard, definitely runable in most section (‘groomed’ trail some say), but it is considerably a step up from my last ultra due to hilly terrains. It was not the most technical terrain I have seen, but I will be killed by a thousand cuts. It is flat on the elevation profile but it is anything but flat. 70-mile is not an impossibility but it won’t be a cake walk. People said to train for it as if it is a 100 mile race. One suggestion was to do 10k ft of hill climb per week. I intend to do just that.

    Due to the trail being a point to point (not a loop), it was difficult to plan the training run logistically. I decided to ‘play it safe’ because of the cold weather and I camped at the race to-be checkpoint #1 (Mile 18) and intended to study the trail from mile 18 to 0. I was very tempted to run the whole thing in a day, knowing my ability I can do 18 miles any given day, however because of the remoteness and ‘what-ifs’, I decided to backpack by hiking it instead. It was definitely a wise decision.

    I was much weaker than I anticipated. Even with just the hike, it exhausted me. If the previous weekend running in the woods an indicator, this weekend’s message was loud and clear: I was in no condition to ‘trail run’ it. I might call it running, but if I couldn’t put up 3 miles an hour, it was anything but running. On race day, doing 3 miles an hour will not get me to the finish line under 22 hours. I am not alarmed, given I have about 12-14 weeks left, I could train up for it.

    The first night there was just straight camping. I hiked around for an hour looking for camp but that was just my stupidity of not studying the map before hand. I figured the camp was only about half mile at most from the parking area and I could bump into it. You can only go north or south on the trail, how hard can it be in finding the camp? I walked first north the back south and turned around went back north (I was so near then before turning around!) and explored some of the side trails, while really needed to use the bathroom! Yes and it costed me an hour wandering around in the middle of the night. The camp was really half mile away (South). It was 2AM by the time I close my eyes. My hiking leader would be laughing at me if she knew (she didn’t go; well if she had gone, I wouldn’t be in a jam).

    Camped in the snow on the first night; happy to arrived

    The next day, bright and early, I decided to take my pack to camp#2 (at Mile 6), which is about 12 mile hike. Trust my plan, I kept saying to myself. Luckily, the snow on the ground was not much and they were fresh, about quarter to half an inch of snow on the ground. It didn’t make running impossible but the cold was a big factor for me to play it safe and decided to hike it with my pack instead of dropping the pack at where I parked and running the thing. Indeed, the ground was icy in part and I took too many falls to the ground myself. I left my trekking poles at home when the time I needed them the most was now; I had micro spikes in my pack but I was too stubborn to put them on — again my hike leader would shake her head if she saw me, like for all these years of camping and I still haven’t learned.

    Tiny shelters (huts) down in the valley. I had the whole campground to myself at my second day camp site

    I arrived at the second camp by noon, exhausted, and also not haven’t eaten breakfast. I dropped my pack, set camp, ate and by 2 PM then proceeded to hike/run the remaining six miles (to Mile 0) on an out and back.

    reached mile marker 0

    They say these six miles would be hardest in the race in term of elevation gain. It is probably a joke to those on the west coast that we complain about a thousand or two ft of elevation gain over couple miles, but to us here it is hard running! Everything is relative.

    Indeed, I could hardly run it. I came across many runners on the trail in this last (first) section and one of them has ran the Laurel Ultra a few years back. He said, he knew of no one who would run up it, specifically on Spring Hill.

    Next morning, woke up with body pretty much in a bad shape (bad meaning I didn’t want to run). I felt I couldn’t walk another mile. I asked myself, do I want to repeat to run to mile 0 and back, since it would be a perfect day for running it. It was much warmer and snow had melted. It would make great numbers for my runner log.

    I pretty much knew the answer. I can’t find any resolve to beat my body any more but to hike (crawl) back to the car. I could definitely do it if I had to, but it would be pushing myself beyond uncomfortable. I knew it was not happening. It was really pointless to stay another night if I am not running it. Also I only had carried one day of food with me on my pack and I ate them the day before…unless I go back to the car. I always had more food in the car. But if I go to the car, why not just go home. The hike back was literally a crawl for me. That’s a wrap for the weekend.

    someone’s snow graffiti
    hunting parking lot – it advises runners/hikers to wear bright orange color clothing. PA has a lot of public hunting grounds. Larel highlands trail runs through some.
    around mile 13-14

  • The boring stuff / trip Laurel#1

    Day 226

    I left several things hanging in previous posts, because I ran out of time. Usually I write my posts either going to work or traveling home. I try to squeeze everything in before I ‘pass out’. I have motion sickness, so if I stare at something too long while in motion I get dizzy. It is always a race against the clock.

    This coming weekend, I plan to head out to PA (Pennsylvania, did I spell it right?) to do the first of four segments of the Laurel Highlands Trail. I will run a 70.5 mile race there in early June. I plan to go out at least once a month in order to cover the whole trail. The last trip there will be a night run.

    This first trip will be from mile 0 to mile 18. I will stay a night at mile 18, then run to mile 6 and spend a night there. If have time and ability go to mile 0. Then on Sunday I will go back to mile 18 for another night. Monday being a holiday, I could do some more hiking/running.

    Depend on the ground condition, I plan to go to mile 23 too. My car will be parked at mile 18 the whole time.

    I have been checking the trail condition. There is high chance there will be snow somewhere on the trail and possibly on the whole trail. Forecast for the weekend will be cold. I checked the one few webcams there and it was showing 6 inches of snow since last week. I am expecting temperature on Friday to be 17 or lower. Up on the ridge, I can expect possibly in single digit. I have a warm sleeping bag, 10/15F I think. Got to check. I might bring a second one to double up.

    I am excited. I still don’t know how I can run much with a full pack on my back. I haven’t work that part out. I am balancing between safety and weight. The less I carry the faster/more I can run but I would be endanger of freezing myself at night. Best solution would have a ‘mule’ (that what they are called in the running world of your support crew who carry things for you – having a mule in a race is illegal though) who carry all my gear to the camp and I would focus on the running aspect. Unfortunately no mule for me on this trip. Who know? Maybe a miracle or an angel will show up. My hike leader won’t be coming on this trip.

    It is the first or one of the few trips I am planning on my own. It was always good to have my hike leader do all the planning in the past. All I did was show up. This trip has this added component of planning. Not that I hate it, but I like to just wing it.

    I could also carry my pack to camp first, drop the pack and then do the running. But how much time do I have left for the run? I don’t know but will see.

    Another option would be carry my pack there on the first night. Camp and drop pack at camp, then run back to the car (12-18 miles). Take my car and drive back to the first camp and pick up my pack and drive to the second camp. All my camp spots were already booked. Otherwise…I just camp two nights at one place. This idea seems doable. I did not think of it when I booked the campsites.

    Well a 12 mile hike wouldn’t take whole day even with snow on the ground. Probably 5-6 hours for me, which means I still have time for some running before night fall. (9-3 pm, 2.5 hours before dark).

    I am excited. It would be my first camping/backpacking trip with a run component.

    What I will actually do will depend on the situation once I arrive.