With warmer temps, conditions in the woods have been getting progressively worse, so on Friday, I needed to adjust expectations of what I was going to get out of my morning lumber. I also needed to make further adjustments to my kit.
In recent days, my favorite North Face and New Balance trail running shoes have been replaced by a pair of New Balance GORE-TEX shoes (don’t buy them, they’re not comfortable, and I can’t imagine ever running in them) to keep my feetz dry, and trekking poles are once again in daily use.
Then, on Thursday, I reintroduced my TUBBS gaiters to keep the slush and snow out of my shoes. Finally, on Friday, I erred on the side of caution and threw some microspikes in my pack, just in case. That would prove to be a wise decision.
There was no ice on the trails, but they were a sloppy mess of soft, slippery, melting snow and deep slush, and as I lumbered along, I struggled for traction, and with each slight slip, my hips began to really hurt.
So, with just over a mile in my feet, as I made my way toward the Covered Bridge Trail and the bridge it was named for, I took a seat on the dry cement hidden from the elements, stripped off my pack, and strapped on the micro-spikes in the hope of more traction.
***
The spikes prevented the slipping, and my hips started to feel immediately better. With that, I continued slowly onward in way less pain through the wet snow and slush. SUCCESS!
Given an average pace of 19 minutes per mile, I knew that my normal 5 to 6-mile lumber was not going to happen, but I lumbered on through the fog and slop, enjoyed the silence of the woods, and managed to get 4.70 miles in my feetz. SUCCESS-ISH-NESS!
***
I got a few images during the lumber, and on the way home, I lucked out with no traffic behind me and stopped in the middle of the normally busy road to finally get a shot of a small dilapidated barn that I’ve had my eye on for ages. SUCCESS!
Lastly, today, December 27th marks the 25th anniversary of my mother’s passing. December sure isn’t my family’s month.
However, as I lumbered through the foggy woods, rather than dwell on the sadness of the recent loss of my father, my dog Jake, and my mom’s anniversary, I thought of a quote I read recently from the Stoic philosopher Seneca; “Joy comes to us from those whom we love even when they are absent.” That helped me put some things in perspective, think of fond memories, and stop short of letting my parts dip into prolonged, day-ruining sadness. SUCCESS!
Hoping a few days of warmer temps and rain will have the trails back to normal next week.
Later.