Tuesday, December 07, 2004



Posted by Hello

Winter officially begins on or about 21 December. But for me the official first day of winter was Friday, 3 December. I ran the trails that day in what for me was the first winter run. Two weeks ago there was still color in the woods as the trees held some foliage. But heavy rain and winds stripped all the color away. As I step out of the jeep the temp was 29 Farenheit. Frost covered the ground. My tracks stood out as dark spots in the white. The winds had brought down trees. One large tree completely blocked by path. This tree had taken several smaller trees down and looked like a giant's game of pick up sticks.

The woods look very different with the foliage gone. You get a greater sense of the topography. (And you also realize just how high you must climb.) Whereas the other three seasons are about color, winter is about shapes. You see how the skeleton trees and how they stand individually. And not only the trees; the shape of the creek is much more apparent.

This will be a short run since I am still in marathon recovery. It was good to see the wood in winter mode. I plan on many long runs here especially if I do decide to try a 50K trail run.

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