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HoFoSnow!!!!

June 10, 2018 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Back at Williams for my 10-year reunion, I decided, in spite of my soreness and having overdone it on Tuesday, to go for a little jog in Hopkins Forest (HoFo). Hopkins Forest is one of the flatter parts of Williamstown, equivalent to, I dunno, maybe General Soulcrusher in DC, i.e. it's only hilly, not mountainous. Secretly, however, a deep-seated part of my soul really wanted to run up to the Taconic Ridge. After all, I was back at Williams, land of mountains, and it would only be right to pay them my respects. So, after 25 minutes of gradual to moderate uphill (nothing in Williamstown is flat), despite feeling that I had clamps on my calves, I came to the turnoff on the Birth Brook trail that would take me up to the top of the mountains. The sign said 1.4 miles. Meh, how bad could that be? Even at a 10-minute pace, it'd be over in 14 minutes. I wasn't sure if I'd ever done this trail when I was at Williams. In my mind, it was classified as the uphill equivalent of a double back diamond. But what the heck, this was one of the few times I'd ever be in Williamstown without a bunch of other alumni teammates tempting me to join them on some wussier run. With a barely a moment's pause, I plunged ahead.

23 minutes later I reached the summit. It was hard the whole time, but I kept my spirits up by singing to myself and never thought of walking. As you can imagine from the 16-minute pace, it wasn't exactly a gentle climb. At the top, I ran along the ridge for 20 minutes crossing into NY and Vermont and back to NY again before reaching my goal: the Snow Hole! There's a crevasse about 30 feet deep sheltered by rocks and trees where snow always accumulates several feet deep in the winter as lasts till September! It does receive some direct sunlight though only later in the day or filtered through the leaves. I hung out there enjoying cool air and playing with the snow for about 20 minute before resurfacing. On the way up, I was notes people had carved into the rock dated to the 1890s and 1910s! As I ascended, it felt like I was going through a change in seasons.

The run back was uneventful. I got pretty tired on the way down and ended up stumbling a lot on roots and turning my ankle a few times. All in all, I was gone for 3 1/2 hours though I'd estimate only 2:45 or so was running due to long stops I took at scenic locations. The maps says it was only about 10 1/2 miles but it feels like over 16. Needless to say, quite a workout. Didn't have any water or snacks the whole time, but it wasn't very hot and I'm used to running without refueling. My calves are sore but otherwise nothing to be concerned about.

Then I got in my car and drove 3 hours back to Boston. Reaching the hairpin turn on Rt. 2 just in time for sunset!