tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82527960090168717462024-02-19T03:26:25.320-05:00Northeast Adventuresoccasional ramblings on running, racing, triathlons, hiking, mountains, photography, and life. Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.comBlogger238125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-82701005560440742352023-12-23T12:30:00.007-05:002023-12-23T12:37:55.727-05:00Guidebook Number Three<p>Hello, <i>Northeast Adventures</i> followers! It's been a while. For one thing, I've recently started a fulfilling new full-time job as a Production Editor; makin' books! I love it. And for another thing, I've been hard at work producing a THIRD volume of my Northeast-region trail-running guidebooks series. This time it's <i>Trail Running Southern Vermont</i>, profiling 51 of the best trail-running routes in the region. In addition to helpful overviews, detailed trail descriptions, and up-to-date maps, there's also suggestions for dozens of other fun options at nearby sites, ranging from easy to hard and short to long. </p><p>The book will come out in print this March and is already available for pre-order now! It's going to be the perfect companion to the two Massachusetts ones. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKiB6Ypz03knpP6jQX8qxiLbHmvwANMStYxWd3NAT2x-xVHN7bkXsjpI6GicTbOVJQnWb0IiQsTD7Ymvpl-H7DVWkTYHz9xddQsMK-zgEY3E4WnnJIwkaF3ZjCAwLbIC5c0J_AC0a3ZDPxuKS-egEsj6Qu5c6PNh4zyzTHj9YETtubmzH-bOvE8RljbywF/s2100/Kimball_TRSV_Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1273" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKiB6Ypz03knpP6jQX8qxiLbHmvwANMStYxWd3NAT2x-xVHN7bkXsjpI6GicTbOVJQnWb0IiQsTD7Ymvpl-H7DVWkTYHz9xddQsMK-zgEY3E4WnnJIwkaF3ZjCAwLbIC5c0J_AC0a3ZDPxuKS-egEsj6Qu5c6PNh4zyzTHj9YETtubmzH-bOvE8RljbywF/w242-h400/Kimball_TRSV_Cover.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>On Amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Trail-Running-Southern-Vermont-Kimball/dp/1625347898/?fbclid=IwAR3Gbv89Lex4ldKeAAcTBl9D2IcGb-3OzGglEI-KLhJ8Ast49YNZHHtU8W4">https://www.amazon.com/Trail-Running.../dp/1625347898/</a> <div>Please rate and review once you've had a chance to check it out; it really helps! <br /><div><br /></div><div>On Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TrailRunningSouthernVermont">https://www.facebook.com/TrailRunningSouthernVermont</a></div><div>Please like and follow this page for updates and highlights, and share this post with anyone who might be interested! </div></div><div><br /></div><div>By far the best way to get a copy is to buy one at (or order one from) your local independent bookseller. There's still quite a few awesome shops sprinkled about in small towns and cities around the region. Bookstores are the BEST and I'm a firm believer in supporting them as much as we can, and I'm hoping to do some in-person events and signings at some in the coming year! </div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-9188080503561584362023-02-05T20:05:00.042-05:002023-11-20T17:24:29.830-05:00Frozen Yeti<p>Well THAT was a fun little novelty run. On Saturday, February 4th I ran in the 15-mile trail race at the annual <b>TARCtic Frozen Yeti</b> event at the Hale Reservation in Westwood, MA, put on by the Trail Animals Running Club (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/trailanimals" target="_blank">TARC</a>). I say it was novel for a couple of reasons. 1.) The course is wildly complicated, in a way that I love, 2.) the 15-mile race starts at 8 p.m. and runs entirely in the dark, which is unusual to say the least, and 3.) the freakishly cold weather. </p><p>After a relatively mild winter so far, a record-setting cold blast polar vortexed its way south into the Northeast and spent 24 hours giving us one of the coldest cold snaps in recent memory, complete with extreme wind chills (especially up on Mt. Washington) and power outages. A house that my brother and I own in Maine lost power for 5 hours and had some pipes freeze in that time (and yes, one <i>did</i> burst). We weren't alone; it seems like Friday night into Saturday was basically a mass pipe-freezing event in the region. </p><p>The worst of the weather was from Friday night to Saturday morning, when the 30-hour race started. The people running in that event persevered through incredibly challenging conditions, but you can read about that elsewhere (and you <i>should</i>; look for the story of Brian Burke running 118 miles and breaking the course record, for starters). </p><p>I arrived a few hours early, just before sunset on Saturday afternoon, and enjoyed chatting with Russet and Catherine, two of my immediate neighbors inside the lodge, as well as prolific <a href="https://massultra.com/" target="_blank">MassUltra</a> scribe Chris Wristen and race directors Surjeet and Josh. I also spent some time eavesdropping on some of the 30-hour runners who were taking breaks inside, listening for any helpful tips (which included "don't OVER-dress, as you'll get too sweaty" and "loop 2 is the most consistently runnable.")</p><p>The course is set up like a crazy 3-petaled flower, with each petal loop being roughly a third of the distance. You finish each loop back at the heated lodge in the center of the Hale Reservation where you start. Over 95% of the route is on trails, with more or less equal amounts of singletrack and doubletrack. Temperatures at the start were rebounding from the worst of the cold snap, but it was still only 13 degrees out and pretty much stayed there the whole night. </p><p>Let's get right to the play-by-play for the 15-miler: </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHGsCAZGH0hIXqbQTxk648FvsDAnLHfoBRMs7LrFnkGJeaVXldztQrQCmfZtLqOgVQt7puwtnqdcStg3xQVumCjUlk43ROzL3uxOqcckIY3-6tkyO57uj0-jgdmYZQlAy7i9qQz83tnQiyEtSml92FJDpi7V-smBqrEHZFsQEDaiMnmvQKFy-TOjaD7A/s1600/Jade2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="1600" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHGsCAZGH0hIXqbQTxk648FvsDAnLHfoBRMs7LrFnkGJeaVXldztQrQCmfZtLqOgVQt7puwtnqdcStg3xQVumCjUlk43ROzL3uxOqcckIY3-6tkyO57uj0-jgdmYZQlAy7i9qQz83tnQiyEtSml92FJDpi7V-smBqrEHZFsQEDaiMnmvQKFy-TOjaD7A/w640-h366/Jade2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">shivering at the start (photo by <span style="text-align: left;">Jade Biwa Zhang)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvwMptYE5hHiBJn16l8lo8MdyGiQrjzicP_GT2WVZurKbmpiPTHMBYHf-t_ZEMAfQ-aNfFVsnqsTmfCFd9ZEkzXkmyKG_f1l9CS0V5U89iPqmP0OSUL4wTXedqp_ZOtfsNdSpV_m-rlDqnF5j2Jan6AQjxAcB9sy90zxalmt5NbEtxJnKrPRNUEXt_w/s1954/course%20map.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1468" data-original-width="1954" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvwMptYE5hHiBJn16l8lo8MdyGiQrjzicP_GT2WVZurKbmpiPTHMBYHf-t_ZEMAfQ-aNfFVsnqsTmfCFd9ZEkzXkmyKG_f1l9CS0V5U89iPqmP0OSUL4wTXedqp_ZOtfsNdSpV_m-rlDqnF5j2Jan6AQjxAcB9sy90zxalmt5NbEtxJnKrPRNUEXt_w/w640-h480/course%20map.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">the crazy cool course</div><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Loop 1: </b>The Red Loop</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I started out a little faster than planned, but it was hard not to because the first part is on road and the initial climbing is fairly gentle.</li><li>After the road start, though, the first few miles feature some of the most technical narrow singletrack of the entire course, with lots of hopping up and down and over exposed ledges on Strawberry Hill and Powissett Peak.</li><li>At about mile 3.5, going up and over the rocks of Powissett Peak, I realized I hadn't sipped anything from my hydration pack yet. I'd filled my 1.5-liter Osprey bladder with Gatorade hoping it would take longer to freeze than water, and bought insulation for the drinking tube and bite valve. Well, it had frozen anyway, and never unfroze again (not even the handy tube-thawing station in the lodge would melt its cold, cold heart). I carried 1.5 liters of unobtainable Gatorade around the entire course. </li><li>At about mile 4, a gang of nearby coyotes started howling pretty intensely in the dark off to the left, which was a nice touch.</li><li>At mile 4.5, my watch informed me with a buzz that my iPhone battery was about to die, and sure enough it was completely kaput by the end of the loop; so much for any emergency calls. </li></ul><p></p><p><b>Loop 2:</b> The White Loop</p><p></p><div><p></p><ul><li>About a mile into this loop I was trailing the blinking red light of a runner about 200 feet ahead of me when I heard some rustling off to my left. I looked over and my headlamp beam reflected off a pair of eyes watching me. I glanced over two more times and they were watching every time. </li><li>Russet passed me under the powerlines. She led a group of women at a steady pace that was just slightly faster than mine and they very slowly pulled ahead of me on the Power Glide singletrack section. </li><li>More so than on other loops, there's places where you come very close to where you were just minutes or in some case miles before, and you could probably say hello to runners ahead of or behind you in the race. </li></ul><div><p><b>Loop 3:</b> The Blue Loop</p><p></p><ul><li>The final loop starts and ends with a very short lollipop stick with two-way traffic, though I didn't encounter anyone going the opposite way either time. </li><li>After running through the woods along the west side of Noanet Pond, you bear right and cross a raised earthen dam on a dirt road. </li><li>Then you bear left and drop down to a really fun "corkscrew" boardwalk. It's basically a hundred feet or so of undulating wooden boardwalk bridge over a marsh; it isn't at all level, and feels like a surrealist's idea of a path. Fortunately it wasn't very slippery.</li><li>Next was a climb up and over a hill called Cat Rock, which I'd remembered had a very steep pitch to navigate on the descent. It wasn't too bad but I slowed there anyway just to be safe. </li><li>From there it was about a mile of relatively easy running over to a pond, up through and down an open field, and up a gentle rise past a residential area off to the left. </li><li>After crossing the park road there's a series of rises and falls through the woods including one fairly significant climb, then you drop down to Cat Rock Field parking (where my car was). </li><li>Around the east and south sides of Noanet Pond, the course includes two beach crossings where you run across open sandy stretches; these were actually fairly easy since the packed sand wasn't too loose underfoot. </li><li>LOTS of rising and falling along the shore of the pond in the second to last mile.</li><li>The final mile was my least favorite stretch, partly because I was fairly beat by then but mostly because it's very rooty and unkempt. I'm pretty tall and there were lots of places where briars dangled into the trail. There were also a LOT of kickable rocks in this stretch, along with a few icy patches. That said, it's still trail, and I do loves me some trail. </li><li>Shout out to the two intrepid young sisters who passed me in the final miles for the shared experience of bringing it all home at the end. </li></ul><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbLDFykRmlNukZ63FZNZSeq8-JdiJE3YFVfNhIiQAhXTz3QF74K-68esnmMhGyWbOAXgVS591QYusAS1BssDiFYGu5h4OwcuVurNo9IgQqDIms115qctYeSLeUggUuNBLT6ZGwbCN7XMq5kO4SJtRF63JrFEqzbEWXtafezOXCZMzQlpViV96uomSN2Q/s1066/09_Powissett_039.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1066" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbLDFykRmlNukZ63FZNZSeq8-JdiJE3YFVfNhIiQAhXTz3QF74K-68esnmMhGyWbOAXgVS591QYusAS1BssDiFYGu5h4OwcuVurNo9IgQqDIms115qctYeSLeUggUuNBLT6ZGwbCN7XMq5kO4SJtRF63JrFEqzbEWXtafezOXCZMzQlpViV96uomSN2Q/w400-h289/09_Powissett_039.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQ-pMReYdFff93XF43-9XyNZTQJ5htLUtoCvz179EceJbHwyhmhlSyTrJGMSZ4aeeEU5uYKx88D1quoEHy2M4VGy-MMslXN_0-_VMH5hbQtJfNobRMIPlZ7N81OouJAoWJTOCF52YxttfTnExTNHGA0cUr0w5HTNvHOHMQrBIVH2kTvTpqPm58O3nog/s1176/08_Hale2_116.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1176" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQ-pMReYdFff93XF43-9XyNZTQJ5htLUtoCvz179EceJbHwyhmhlSyTrJGMSZ4aeeEU5uYKx88D1quoEHy2M4VGy-MMslXN_0-_VMH5hbQtJfNobRMIPlZ7N81OouJAoWJTOCF52YxttfTnExTNHGA0cUr0w5HTNvHOHMQrBIVH2kTvTpqPm58O3nog/w400-h261/08_Hale2_116.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-RWiHt9VG7LVlVbA05lI1XZO2ct9NITjBypUGrvKEd1kvAekvU_QtmDUbORhdDwmSqecDZgrEMAu7Pl0errvHPVdAO7w7shE2Wk5Dkb2qWesp3acCJlcE8DaZbvZ22Zc2T2ShDjYgAYWTmgIi0Cg1my8Yq2B7RISHoTkuk2laa4QUYIN36l4y7yxEQ/s1100/05_Hale2_002a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1100" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-RWiHt9VG7LVlVbA05lI1XZO2ct9NITjBypUGrvKEd1kvAekvU_QtmDUbORhdDwmSqecDZgrEMAu7Pl0errvHPVdAO7w7shE2Wk5Dkb2qWesp3acCJlcE8DaZbvZ22Zc2T2ShDjYgAYWTmgIi0Cg1my8Yq2B7RISHoTkuk2laa4QUYIN36l4y7yxEQ/w400-h279/05_Hale2_002a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgxqMOfa90PVqmmZDAsh1U-sKPMcYrGgSLdmkAAqn0r_SvPDJQLdAwWygao-LuCtJz9fQLaL0PjQ-EZ-f8Qk8mv17L9GzVYzloCOxDOnGf_ACCDenEttyw3MMM1ryDhj1DaWNbZ3LH_lIXHB2KMqtBYvkeSWL_tOmpMTCwDkZjkZfGVz-FS2X3730qQ/s1161/03_Hale2_026a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1161" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgxqMOfa90PVqmmZDAsh1U-sKPMcYrGgSLdmkAAqn0r_SvPDJQLdAwWygao-LuCtJz9fQLaL0PjQ-EZ-f8Qk8mv17L9GzVYzloCOxDOnGf_ACCDenEttyw3MMM1ryDhj1DaWNbZ3LH_lIXHB2KMqtBYvkeSWL_tOmpMTCwDkZjkZfGVz-FS2X3730qQ/w400-h265/03_Hale2_026a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxk3n8sjfnwZz7Zghejrye9TygmteovcBZM2Ei7b_DCC6r7zlkKGb-bWOowwnxJUIGty_TehBR6J2fzHQDbOuL4bBqDpTUApozqKnF7Ug5lM3v6WSJR48eR84ktKfGeLWTjE4s_5EDrQBsruuYE31dJB7kftoLG4SNSXg9QECfvrMYrGIhunUXEI-blw/s1024/04Hale2_185a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxk3n8sjfnwZz7Zghejrye9TygmteovcBZM2Ei7b_DCC6r7zlkKGb-bWOowwnxJUIGty_TehBR6J2fzHQDbOuL4bBqDpTUApozqKnF7Ug5lM3v6WSJR48eR84ktKfGeLWTjE4s_5EDrQBsruuYE31dJB7kftoLG4SNSXg9QECfvrMYrGIhunUXEI-blw/w400-h300/04Hale2_185a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijK2qO2ldgBJoIRyLOF6xv4r8G1guVW5mU_g-w_b5ZpT8m--X0KKOy-IWwTo6FLDMJ3I2wBFndcuwt_OTot1ru_Xubf_n2n1te9scXiXB8-9EXl4EBQ90Jf6-bbSeCfebpaGHHS3IK06oXMpG_ugSl3zDSExMKR_VbU5b-JOmSW2caNejv5DXgmmOjfg/s4011/Powissett_096c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3008" data-original-width="4011" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijK2qO2ldgBJoIRyLOF6xv4r8G1guVW5mU_g-w_b5ZpT8m--X0KKOy-IWwTo6FLDMJ3I2wBFndcuwt_OTot1ru_Xubf_n2n1te9scXiXB8-9EXl4EBQ90Jf6-bbSeCfebpaGHHS3IK06oXMpG_ugSl3zDSExMKR_VbU5b-JOmSW2caNejv5DXgmmOjfg/w400-h300/Powissett_096c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">what much of the course looks like in the light<br />(taken during research for <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1625346352" target="_blank">Trail Running Eastern Massachusetts</a></i>)</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Overall</div><div><br /></div><div>I finished in 3 hours and 27 minutes, which I was pleased with. It was about right given my training and current fitness level. <a href="https://www.webscorer.com/race?pid=1&raceid=304841&fbclid=IwAR2ptYHO5WylQqhKHLxD8TVnHvVblMoc8eI7TPNz-yAbowKbG83c9iqxYLE" target="_blank">Full Results</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Navigation:</b> Zero problems, despite the complexity you see on the map. Arrows and ribbons both featured reflective markings, most of which were easy to see (unless the wind turned a ribbon the other way). The start of the white loop is ever so slightly a challenge to follow from the lodge, so maybe a hair more signage for that might help, but after a few hundred feet past the parking lot it was plenty clear enough. No major trips, stumbles, or falls! Major kudos to the course-marking crew.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Clothing: </b>I wore a windshell jacket over a long-sleeve zip-neck top, shorts over regular ASICS trail tights, lightweight gloves, and a lightweight beanie. It was perfect. I never got too hot and rarely felt very cold. The coldest I felt was when I realized my shirt had come untucked and my lower belly was slightly exposed (tucked shirt back in; problem solved). </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Food: </b>PB & J and a beet juice can about an hour before, 2 cups of tailwind and a cookie after each lap, and some hot soup and a quesadilla wedge after. I definitely could have used more hydration, but I did what I could given the frozen bladder tube. Volunteers were also providing a giant bounty of food inside the lodge, but for the most part I felt like the 30-hour runners should get first dibs on all of that (I did have some hot soup, a freshly grilled quesadilla wedge, and a grilled cheese bite afterwards).</div><div><br /></div><div><b>In Conclusion: </b>I loved this event and was pleased to be able to tell the course designer Josh Katzman how much I appreciated the design of his race. It was fun to run entirely at night and on trails I enjoy and with such easygoing like-minded members of my tribe. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3CxZ_35sMT6YnL3Pltnc-nIKk_y33tfUBluoSaaAHhLH_EA_lS59RGPJW47CceYbb7F2vw1iHdcgybuvP_e5RgiWKmgBTFhshgmcKoltL42AJEXhkAEJNWwj4wEhPiWHcT5ZNWH_h3oZPolfKUMpRfkjW7Ty3Eko8sfYwoN6SLBIDvKTvyTbwr9Nm7A/s3956/Yeti.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2690" data-original-width="3956" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3CxZ_35sMT6YnL3Pltnc-nIKk_y33tfUBluoSaaAHhLH_EA_lS59RGPJW47CceYbb7F2vw1iHdcgybuvP_e5RgiWKmgBTFhshgmcKoltL42AJEXhkAEJNWwj4wEhPiWHcT5ZNWH_h3oZPolfKUMpRfkjW7Ty3Eko8sfYwoN6SLBIDvKTvyTbwr9Nm7A/w400-h272/Yeti.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">a very Yeti positive race bib =)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK9E6FDGPriaP_cfZQ3UXA0dhd4y_YY5hW0DjPfQyt_u_cBxxTd7ldH1oP2K4e8-ArgCciyr2T5YbhyhGQ899q-LbaOo8Xkp7JNGeztS354Zdahd33J5X-hWLmsmCvjON2FFs_BWXLW3rG04yz_qaSxsp7yryCJ2lRcw5O1nCBqap4NnMK-YT-p272cg/s2076/YetiCookie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2076" data-original-width="2076" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK9E6FDGPriaP_cfZQ3UXA0dhd4y_YY5hW0DjPfQyt_u_cBxxTd7ldH1oP2K4e8-ArgCciyr2T5YbhyhGQ899q-LbaOo8Xkp7JNGeztS354Zdahd33J5X-hWLmsmCvjON2FFs_BWXLW3rG04yz_qaSxsp7yryCJ2lRcw5O1nCBqap4NnMK-YT-p272cg/s320/YetiCookie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">edible medal</div><p></p></div><p></p></div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-60208354029067957472022-12-12T14:58:00.002-05:002022-12-12T14:59:01.702-05:002022 Race Photo Highlihgts<p>It's been a busy year here at Northeast Adventures, with so few blog posts to show for it. So far. Let's remedy that right now, starting with a selection of some of my favorite race photos from events I shot at this past year. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYQk_sUezv5lRL4NLxEm6QSTIDryerb8UsAu67PGrmUQYPM-Qlye5SW6FIy6uqHNm7JCCGFPMZ21vy1xJSHYOa4amKdN6RIqanF2K16ZJbl3p2U8BCSGQcaC4pFq1nnTVodrA_RIaWijEfjhliWNfr2Z6vDGsKSrNb_STVuen7Gm1GAHN6JpQ3FJr5g/s1152/2022_000_SS_0000.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1152" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYQk_sUezv5lRL4NLxEm6QSTIDryerb8UsAu67PGrmUQYPM-Qlye5SW6FIy6uqHNm7JCCGFPMZ21vy1xJSHYOa4amKdN6RIqanF2K16ZJbl3p2U8BCSGQcaC4pFq1nnTVodrA_RIaWijEfjhliWNfr2Z6vDGsKSrNb_STVuen7Gm1GAHN6JpQ3FJr5g/w640-h426/2022_000_SS_0000.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Alex Jospe at the Seven Sisters Trail Race in Massachusetts</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQA03XGQ22MQSnqz9fiJLQNxX4LGpwC5psOYGhozbL8x-WxbdTJVt6rx85WJbE_BhK5G-pS1DoPwH0jxX-s-ii3MrWXvnKEgdlif2oi96SbvFoEP3VNIn765ZpCSukTnsNGNUUzEcNkQfrLTZIVKpNNUL2brw1XV-vqkmQ2KuyBVzI4DaQEgBDbCbBA/s4930/2022_002_VP_1236.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4930" data-original-width="3287" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQA03XGQ22MQSnqz9fiJLQNxX4LGpwC5psOYGhozbL8x-WxbdTJVt6rx85WJbE_BhK5G-pS1DoPwH0jxX-s-ii3MrWXvnKEgdlif2oi96SbvFoEP3VNIn765ZpCSukTnsNGNUUzEcNkQfrLTZIVKpNNUL2brw1XV-vqkmQ2KuyBVzI4DaQEgBDbCbBA/s320/2022_002_VP_1236.jpg" width="213" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZrdQyWm5y7ffaZ1qnczYolx5ij64x7pLfU8v153ppcHBHxMTYxcjzV7AE9v2OMaLaUCyJB4qAIAiEW6AY9YQnFRCDZbb9naxg3hs6BvygFgSxhi-kTQZmUNy-fYxsOyTg8Ly4yDg7mJn4DM-a5amrcpbrNX-oNGLGdKHW5foSbxaz-n1mwd2sQxHC2Q/s2711/VT100_2233e.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2711" data-original-width="2711" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZrdQyWm5y7ffaZ1qnczYolx5ij64x7pLfU8v153ppcHBHxMTYxcjzV7AE9v2OMaLaUCyJB4qAIAiEW6AY9YQnFRCDZbb9naxg3hs6BvygFgSxhi-kTQZmUNy-fYxsOyTg8Ly4yDg7mJn4DM-a5amrcpbrNX-oNGLGdKHW5foSbxaz-n1mwd2sQxHC2Q/s320/VT100_2233e.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">L: Running strong at the Vegan Power 50K Trail Race</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">R: An iconic moment at the Vermont 100 Ultramarathon</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0777huKskz3OI37LVr6KYTz-VFc4OsdnKS1oOANf5uHZV6oY-owjadbG3YCDKzkLBUSbUU7XJI7ksJEAbMSuE_ljA7jFWy8WKBzZmY-GAlNz-zU6UtzQPdAJQj7ETA-XiVs-4ibWMHQCRia7ksAjky_3yPdZBwvW6ZWNsfmGcjymGT5B-2ojb5Trqow/s4934/2022_004_VT100_6859.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3289" data-original-width="4934" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0777huKskz3OI37LVr6KYTz-VFc4OsdnKS1oOANf5uHZV6oY-owjadbG3YCDKzkLBUSbUU7XJI7ksJEAbMSuE_ljA7jFWy8WKBzZmY-GAlNz-zU6UtzQPdAJQj7ETA-XiVs-4ibWMHQCRia7ksAjky_3yPdZBwvW6ZWNsfmGcjymGT5B-2ojb5Trqow/w640-h426/2022_004_VT100_6859.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Late afternoon light at Vermont 100</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnSzmPjtZv5807G0V3GzzJiMlUCcO2nUCpM1xZ5TYonp4KUxqLQ28OB9u_YLktxxs3wwW_eruzMIU5KXc8zH9glhZLqmn9wpmw-CpKvAwR7AsDtl9lsGBMndqjfBnWw7Vs1c5Mu2yYZJT7XuqoBw6C6ov43MXGmGVRCpJGhAPUy1O05yslNRiZs_Phg/s4357/2022_073_Otter_1734a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2905" data-original-width="4357" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnSzmPjtZv5807G0V3GzzJiMlUCcO2nUCpM1xZ5TYonp4KUxqLQ28OB9u_YLktxxs3wwW_eruzMIU5KXc8zH9glhZLqmn9wpmw-CpKvAwR7AsDtl9lsGBMndqjfBnWw7Vs1c5Mu2yYZJT7XuqoBw6C6ov43MXGmGVRCpJGhAPUy1O05yslNRiZs_Phg/w640-h426/2022_073_Otter_1734a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Kids triathlon near Keene, NH</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKViVGr3N97G7XHAAJCU8sfzJJex7rJYCkEAT4ybGx7L9xzLVbxiI3nivL99-wGsoF5Uc5AbU6_H46r30PaHcgcT5PwEaK0x4d15lYOxvc0AsB4fyYS3z6XlVf_0YZ25LobjqSOOyFejYXjnQv2pNxNBQKujajofJib0eeFyTukL92eRtjHP4F8HYR5g/s4222/2022_091_VP_1522.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4222" data-original-width="2815" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKViVGr3N97G7XHAAJCU8sfzJJex7rJYCkEAT4ybGx7L9xzLVbxiI3nivL99-wGsoF5Uc5AbU6_H46r30PaHcgcT5PwEaK0x4d15lYOxvc0AsB4fyYS3z6XlVf_0YZ25LobjqSOOyFejYXjnQv2pNxNBQKujajofJib0eeFyTukL92eRtjHP4F8HYR5g/w266-h400/2022_091_VP_1522.jpg" width="266" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgpyN34n9Eoryn5sXNRA3LahytILoXfks-5_plo5nO1A4v1oVY_MZsEVI0VkZDCYB8iJXDsgcJoEDK_rutWV6z4z7rLwibB_ItLWnTGDVTjb8bGJGw5qhB8p92qxl528ENI-_qua4Rd3Mcd_gcCDMYdJPnEX0Pex2NQXzlqmAvfV4IIfSj6-w0dSr_w/s3860/2022_221_GRM2_2119.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3860" data-original-width="2573" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgpyN34n9Eoryn5sXNRA3LahytILoXfks-5_plo5nO1A4v1oVY_MZsEVI0VkZDCYB8iJXDsgcJoEDK_rutWV6z4z7rLwibB_ItLWnTGDVTjb8bGJGw5qhB8p92qxl528ENI-_qua4Rd3Mcd_gcCDMYdJPnEX0Pex2NQXzlqmAvfV4IIfSj6-w0dSr_w/w266-h400/2022_221_GRM2_2119.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinxvz059ylHHegng8lVs1kOOMhq_7AfwheAbmoxvkGSZWwLzMU88JLW6VwGrncgLR2QpSRDarncNixu_jy0MzINEu3yjo3yoYSdfro0zV7DtVdb-Qd_P1Vmb3YFpb0HycFNNlfvRPMx9SDWOHLSoy87FxA8Q3l5YyurQGYsA4a_7MBGOUEK0wo1_PE3Q/s5269/2022_103_VP_3870.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5269" data-original-width="3513" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinxvz059ylHHegng8lVs1kOOMhq_7AfwheAbmoxvkGSZWwLzMU88JLW6VwGrncgLR2QpSRDarncNixu_jy0MzINEu3yjo3yoYSdfro0zV7DtVdb-Qd_P1Vmb3YFpb0HycFNNlfvRPMx9SDWOHLSoy87FxA8Q3l5YyurQGYsA4a_7MBGOUEK0wo1_PE3Q/w266-h400/2022_103_VP_3870.jpg" width="266" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-z8s54wjjU4ZZ3KMGl0XiQ27BrAoka8d_JMhRLr2fUUFHV0_fMQQtHF5qvqFAag34MDlNLmg-KkpAISQNdiwtMRTRfNPFvJjyPe5BVKMu655_GDZdVI2AnQUNtpFSEwrLVviZe0STp9lX7ziiYs9RLTcjRPCAOH5-Xxqbv9vpzpcPM94XEcSU_4l1A/s5568/2022_248_Summit_0408.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5568" data-original-width="3712" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-z8s54wjjU4ZZ3KMGl0XiQ27BrAoka8d_JMhRLr2fUUFHV0_fMQQtHF5qvqFAag34MDlNLmg-KkpAISQNdiwtMRTRfNPFvJjyPe5BVKMu655_GDZdVI2AnQUNtpFSEwrLVviZe0STp9lX7ziiYs9RLTcjRPCAOH5-Xxqbv9vpzpcPM94XEcSU_4l1A/w266-h400/2022_248_Summit_0408.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjekHpDS0KzYeYgOhsmW03rshpDfXdl3ZAmBB9fO3g4lxy73fjl21ZzDaY8LdEXk7bJJxiSW1P5kmkk2kVIf3m_1fhJHNhMk3bFxLW71Go8M24RBy4BbSvw_5TAAM1G5aOnOtcPwOKiRE9BEgFpVkANpMBuEt3Ffn9cRE9FPCJbMUanC2e4_tb9pjw0Xg/s3520/2022_111_VP_5120a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2514" data-original-width="3520" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjekHpDS0KzYeYgOhsmW03rshpDfXdl3ZAmBB9fO3g4lxy73fjl21ZzDaY8LdEXk7bJJxiSW1P5kmkk2kVIf3m_1fhJHNhMk3bFxLW71Go8M24RBy4BbSvw_5TAAM1G5aOnOtcPwOKiRE9BEgFpVkANpMBuEt3Ffn9cRE9FPCJbMUanC2e4_tb9pjw0Xg/w640-h458/2022_111_VP_5120a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCvZMY6I-MBZvsAD94kDP4lVsPhA6Oy4IYI1EXx48wLykCWHzPMc5sFJ1GGbyJRTWats-kVgJOQFvTgYPXS_qP-Jent5HWAVMY26y2WYz4sW7htyS6C-hS-LWGm2alNJs80yURlVicFEsWzwmhsIjtKUmjWvaCogfdXFqE3U6OXYqzys8sA86pVQA-0A/s5377/2022_112_VP_5339.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2922" data-original-width="5377" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCvZMY6I-MBZvsAD94kDP4lVsPhA6Oy4IYI1EXx48wLykCWHzPMc5sFJ1GGbyJRTWats-kVgJOQFvTgYPXS_qP-Jent5HWAVMY26y2WYz4sW7htyS6C-hS-LWGm2alNJs80yURlVicFEsWzwmhsIjtKUmjWvaCogfdXFqE3U6OXYqzys8sA86pVQA-0A/w640-h347/2022_112_VP_5339.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1wVt6nTJtyBIbavct8q0kW6vsFYWk96Qjg5K00N2AQxDYBXfGUTu_bMsqSISQMlFIYX2Xrt0BkJcTjkZEuJmvJaxsJ5pGfTAwwxNpE70U4Pz6I2v881H-hVZOoB4jPjpuBZel1Fxekw9xQy2TaVhkvUZ9nbwYmLGMMHTWqgkhBkLwH2mSoa_TP50FAw/s3378/2022_186_VT100_6310.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2252" data-original-width="3378" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1wVt6nTJtyBIbavct8q0kW6vsFYWk96Qjg5K00N2AQxDYBXfGUTu_bMsqSISQMlFIYX2Xrt0BkJcTjkZEuJmvJaxsJ5pGfTAwwxNpE70U4Pz6I2v881H-hVZOoB4jPjpuBZel1Fxekw9xQy2TaVhkvUZ9nbwYmLGMMHTWqgkhBkLwH2mSoa_TP50FAw/w640-h426/2022_186_VT100_6310.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CUFlYP2ns4tra_JrbEJI3bKEkh2cY-VZ4HqGZy09tLuP5w1jg0UBTXZb5xBLCa3wKNAJLVrBolMbBQ65Ly83Nk2hRP5KuKnwC8Jrc7YGghwKV9i3DyBpvdsWkhC6guDn93nbLiSOQ-fBqaNhd44VmJQuXXU7XzE87PvhBGROSKN_H5I7lQkdcCiObw/s4991/2022_212_WfH_0917.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3327" data-original-width="4991" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CUFlYP2ns4tra_JrbEJI3bKEkh2cY-VZ4HqGZy09tLuP5w1jg0UBTXZb5xBLCa3wKNAJLVrBolMbBQ65Ly83Nk2hRP5KuKnwC8Jrc7YGghwKV9i3DyBpvdsWkhC6guDn93nbLiSOQ-fBqaNhd44VmJQuXXU7XzE87PvhBGROSKN_H5I7lQkdcCiObw/w640-h426/2022_212_WfH_0917.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Wheeling for Healing in Greenfield, MA</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSn1BOV3JiS6-SjqPE6na9WeGRv4aq6jF8fy9ZI1sboD-KNGWRqouINoHcrp6i5GRW-nk_xJn0ZWqEsRAUPrFCP9POyxJhjHh57OQ8_352SgnVAGtYad2B5M033LHRgUQJVdwApC4ELrlQbgO9Wl2vl4d03rALgrQdwFAVeoqmUMTOgzG8-sHCkhzSIg/s5351/2022_228c_GRM3_0137a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3567" data-original-width="5351" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSn1BOV3JiS6-SjqPE6na9WeGRv4aq6jF8fy9ZI1sboD-KNGWRqouINoHcrp6i5GRW-nk_xJn0ZWqEsRAUPrFCP9POyxJhjHh57OQ8_352SgnVAGtYad2B5M033LHRgUQJVdwApC4ELrlQbgO9Wl2vl4d03rALgrQdwFAVeoqmUMTOgzG8-sHCkhzSIg/w640-h426/2022_228c_GRM3_0137a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Finishing the New England Green River Marathon</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoxvDHjFljOVj8YBlBucLjVbDJjZq9M8bGIegWj-s7aSUBQnP66JQhSfHVWNy7mYmbJi1U614nU2bH1HJpyZLaPjtxx3hRJBrbDB1y3SMwhkldkkDIvMHQ6IJLk365JsCToOmSZ81AaPDm5hQS-TjiO0YFDgNWTiJJYcrV0szxGoFYyuJuu4TZG1CGCw/s2863/2022_230_GRM3_0717a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2863" data-original-width="2863" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoxvDHjFljOVj8YBlBucLjVbDJjZq9M8bGIegWj-s7aSUBQnP66JQhSfHVWNy7mYmbJi1U614nU2bH1HJpyZLaPjtxx3hRJBrbDB1y3SMwhkldkkDIvMHQ6IJLk365JsCToOmSZ81AaPDm5hQS-TjiO0YFDgNWTiJJYcrV0szxGoFYyuJuu4TZG1CGCw/w640-h640/2022_230_GRM3_0717a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Well-earned relief</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Here is a link to the full album: <br /><a href="https://northeastracephoto.smugmug.com/2022-Races/2022-Highlights/">https://northeastracephoto.smugmug.com/2022-Races/2022-Highlights/</a> </p>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-1945702512164660002022-11-07T14:38:00.024-05:002023-02-08T14:47:07.154-05:00All of the Above Trail Fest<p>The first weekend in November was WARM this year. I
mean, really warm. Which worked out well for the first-year
All of the Above Trail Fest at Berkshire East, the ski area in
Charlemont, MA. The race started on a ski slope by the lodge and
climbed singletrack trail in the woods to the top of Mt. Institute, then wound around all over the place on a mix of singletrack, snowmobile trails, woods roads, and dirt roads. For
me it was tough, it was sweaty, and it was a total blast. </p><p>The event was created to promote greater inclusivity in
the running community, and it felt great to support it. I’m not
sure who all was there, but I know I ran many miles with Tom
Davidson, Donna Utakis, and Alex Wirth-Cauchon; was handed my bib by Matt Czaplinski (who also raced); was greeted
by Kristin Loiko in full costume; and high-fived my RD pal
Amy Rusiecki at the finish. For much more information, check
out Beast Coast Trail Running’s website <a href="https://beastcoasttrailrunning.blogspot.com/p/all-of-above-trail-fest.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPliPdf6FerLQdJre9z0gAY5XG_PD5umXhVmMdZq9mBe0ehLXQ8P4_P4WWAwkJOLDTIAa2doD66pdqw6GftkHnfj1NC0_p0UmmN910ze0nkBtJ2kgLfsi5AMTGf_t7wWDivFty7x5KoJZK9Td-XpOUtlWvqNQ0kZYB8yO_Rkzn0yl11-N3x9u_sCjOw/s3757/IMG_5106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2420" data-original-width="3757" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPliPdf6FerLQdJre9z0gAY5XG_PD5umXhVmMdZq9mBe0ehLXQ8P4_P4WWAwkJOLDTIAa2doD66pdqw6GftkHnfj1NC0_p0UmmN910ze0nkBtJ2kgLfsi5AMTGf_t7wWDivFty7x5KoJZK9Td-XpOUtlWvqNQ0kZYB8yO_Rkzn0yl11-N3x9u_sCjOw/w400-h258/IMG_5106.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">finishing the AotA trail run (photo by Jen Garrett)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-12598773339366699042022-05-17T11:07:00.007-04:002022-05-17T11:09:40.723-04:00New Book Press<p>It's been great to see some recent promo pieces for the new guidebook come out. </p><p><b>MassUltra</b> (Chris Wristen's amazing passion project, essentially a one-stop shop for all ultra-level trail racing news in New England): <a href="https://massultra.com/2022/04/14/pandemic-provided-perfect-opportunity-for-kimball-to-craft-new-trail-running-guidebook/">https://massultra.com/2022/04/14/pandemic-provided-perfect-opportunity-for-kimball-to-craft-new-trail-running-guidebook/</a> </p><p><b><i>The Greenfield Recorder</i> </b>(story shared with other local media outlets including <i>The Valley Advocate</i>, etc.): <a href="https://www.recorder.com/Greenfield-resident-combines-passions-with-books-on-trail-running-45937648">https://www.recorder.com/Greenfield-resident-combines-passions-with-books-on-trail-running-45937648</a> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQWwjbky0-rqreNAtAYBDuTFc2zKsga4tFS7ELmpK6rLnB1Gs3Rro-hT4cVfPgf-bmuvtG80gCiAbOZpWGZQyt0JY8m-Wx1rqbWA8My0uGJSXs-VkZmBEuFwGhzQpgt5vAv1Uw0Sors2v1lBxQcwSLTCjflb60-BZ1tbDvgHl-vYD0_2nzHkaAQXh8wA/s714/me.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="714" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQWwjbky0-rqreNAtAYBDuTFc2zKsga4tFS7ELmpK6rLnB1Gs3Rro-hT4cVfPgf-bmuvtG80gCiAbOZpWGZQyt0JY8m-Wx1rqbWA8My0uGJSXs-VkZmBEuFwGhzQpgt5vAv1Uw0Sors2v1lBxQcwSLTCjflb60-BZ1tbDvgHl-vYD0_2nzHkaAQXh8wA/w640-h448/me.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">me, staging a running shot along Greenfield Ridge (photo by Paul Franz for The Greenfield Recorder) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, stay tuned for several sweet podcast episodes, dropping soon! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-25603749133520435882022-03-30T10:49:00.007-04:002022-03-30T11:04:10.384-04:00The New Book Is Here! <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lPVEU2hYJ8xEc_jjQmqJaz2xF2IuaUsQ0S3vcxbLkhlPqxbJAtAZ9ZRtyPLw3-oUH852IwpvbpePgyGoAJE3ipSghYNPB-kOilal8Jh-hCjQBvpGFHVbDdY8746WYu0vKMhCIb5MxgchcrSyAV078ItqhNjIaJuX1UzYPV2_0opXdFSZhBQPF9h3-A/s3286/advance_copies.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2132" data-original-width="3286" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lPVEU2hYJ8xEc_jjQmqJaz2xF2IuaUsQ0S3vcxbLkhlPqxbJAtAZ9ZRtyPLw3-oUH852IwpvbpePgyGoAJE3ipSghYNPB-kOilal8Jh-hCjQBvpGFHVbDdY8746WYu0vKMhCIb5MxgchcrSyAV078ItqhNjIaJuX1UzYPV2_0opXdFSZhBQPF9h3-A/w640-h416/advance_copies.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>My new guidebook, <i>Trail Running Eastern Massachusetts</i>, is finally in hand! It matches the previous volume very well, and I just love how it looks in general. The official release date is still technically tomorrow (3/31/22), but pre-orders should be showing up now. There are several ways to get copies if you would like one, but why not just order it from your local independent bookseller; everybody wins that way. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">The book on the publisher's website: </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.umasspress.com/9781625346353/trail-running-eastern-massachusetts/">www.umasspress.com/9781625346353/trail-running-eastern-massachusetts/</a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaEv6pjGVGjMrzNz98_Ucs2xhjXYS-qUlcJpiVS-rZOIZBbTvl7aKfb2N3Dcj5356qCf62S_lvWjN8VtXXN3JagKJExxU3cNvBPZPRHsy9smPoiM5lnTKnobv641VzoEKk96qE1IgdKETBE6K9NAmc81-0EIY7gO_lBQIkewJ9tM5RiiKT1DRDNEIJtQ/s3962/advance_copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2946" data-original-width="3962" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaEv6pjGVGjMrzNz98_Ucs2xhjXYS-qUlcJpiVS-rZOIZBbTvl7aKfb2N3Dcj5356qCf62S_lvWjN8VtXXN3JagKJExxU3cNvBPZPRHsy9smPoiM5lnTKnobv641VzoEKk96qE1IgdKETBE6K9NAmc81-0EIY7gO_lBQIkewJ9tM5RiiKT1DRDNEIJtQ/w640-h476/advance_copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><p></p>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-26877281331319917662022-03-14T12:19:00.003-04:002022-03-14T12:19:23.717-04:00How To See The Super-Awesome Full Moon<p>Important steps you need to take to see the super-deluxe mega-awesome extra-full moon: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Figure out which night of any given month the full moon will be on (tip: use a calendar)</li><li>Go outside ON THAT DATE (but make sure it's at night)</li><li>Look at moon</li><li>Watch out for werewolves</li></ul><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiyLwSEd8rSd0tWvNET_iSnAu2l2qgiMK9Zq8HGWyJ-3CnTe-unA2_gRBeLnPrAN51h54bHxTwjfiOKSgldRghtCoiHNtPafBVQDIQUzwhAo2LC5BJtKonWGIXopmEvBLDpCVj6mGLHG6rhgPt8qgYUDHF69GG8VpgYt_Ca36uHoX0tiY085SGQr0TCw=s800" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiyLwSEd8rSd0tWvNET_iSnAu2l2qgiMK9Zq8HGWyJ-3CnTe-unA2_gRBeLnPrAN51h54bHxTwjfiOKSgldRghtCoiHNtPafBVQDIQUzwhAo2LC5BJtKonWGIXopmEvBLDpCVj6mGLHG6rhgPt8qgYUDHF69GG8VpgYt_Ca36uHoX0tiY085SGQr0TCw=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p>Note: For some super-duper overblown occasions, clickbait media will try to convince you that this is the Largest Moon You Will Ever See (since the<i> last</i> Super-Deluxe Extra Mega Full Moon about a month ago), and there may technically be some validity to that, but seriously, think about it for a second and realize that we're basically talking fractions of a nano-size here. The tides aren't suddenly going to sweep the sides of Mt. Everest, nor is the moon going to look like a Death Star coming up over the horizon on the planet Scarif. It's going to to look like the moon, when it's full, which always appears larger when it's right above the horizon. </p><p><br /></p>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-57546266334393824782022-01-15T13:17:00.004-05:002022-02-06T18:47:23.606-05:00Two Months to Go<p>It's a good feeling. Design, layout, proofing, and final tweaks to my new trail running guidebook are complete and it is officially off to the printers now. Release date is set for just over 2 months from now, and advance hardcopies should arrive well before that. So close now. I'm very pleased with how it came out and can't wait to share it with the local Massachusetts and regional New England running and hiking communities. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj66dRg9dtchlfFirZ2b6dOkqcndbiuTySusBQcwROLQlDIGW0NmaMAjzGUVNBC_WxZzQBd0aVKOKKjMPTUcvIH7kXt_HXBvMPkgybR0IMgkhGh2SI0ppVff1wPefwYLMjDeNz3zYB6xvfCxnTxVQx3SLcenQljZtx33ostAbupJxR3pU021X_I9ORwDQ=s2100" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1275" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj66dRg9dtchlfFirZ2b6dOkqcndbiuTySusBQcwROLQlDIGW0NmaMAjzGUVNBC_WxZzQBd0aVKOKKjMPTUcvIH7kXt_HXBvMPkgybR0IMgkhGh2SI0ppVff1wPefwYLMjDeNz3zYB6xvfCxnTxVQx3SLcenQljZtx33ostAbupJxR3pU021X_I9ORwDQ=s320" width="194" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Here is the book's Facebook page on which I plan to post a bunch of cool photos and other media in the coming months: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TrailRunningEasternMA">https://www.facebook.com/TrailRunningEasternMA</a> <br />(note that this is just a "book" page, not a group or club)</p><p>Here are its pages on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1625346352" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and at <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/trail-running-eastern-massachusetts-ben-kimball/1140474727" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a> (links open in new windows).</p><p>If you're interested, please consider pre-ordering to reserve your copy today and help generate awareness and buzz around the release. You can use the links above or ask a local retailer to order and save a copy. </p><p>Link to an earlier "teaser" post (with lots of pretty pics) from last summer: <br /><a href="http://benkimballphotography.blogspot.com/2021/07/coming-soon.html">http://benkimballphotography.blogspot.com/2021/07/coming-soon.html</a> </p><p><br /></p>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-88737533375064849032022-01-15T13:14:00.007-05:002023-01-21T13:55:33.750-05:00Seventeen Songs<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There’s some writing I need to finish up today, so naturally I spent some time coming up with this totally unrelated list of seventeen favorite new or new-to-me songs I heard this past year: </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">YONAKA – Lose Our Heads<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOPVsA6Y2-c" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOPVsA6Y2-c</a> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">SAM FENDER – Seventeen Going Under<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAifgn2Cvo8" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAifgn2Cvo8</a> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">HOLLY HUMBERSTONE – The Walls Are Way Too Thin (live)<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4_lX5bGssY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4_lX5bGssY</a> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">HOLLY HUMBERSTONE – Scarlett<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=982QP-10GcE" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=982QP-10GcE</a> <br />(great growling guitar bit)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">BELLY – Human Child<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m9u4rp4afQ" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m9u4rp4afQ</a><br />(nostalgia factor 11)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">GREEN DAY – Dreaming (cover)<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32az2CLr6bo" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32az2CLr6bo</a> <br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(Blondie song cover; he does one of “I Think We’re Alone Now” with his two sons, too) </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">BILLY JOE ARMSTRONG – Manic Monday (cover)<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5qPCKxlw2M" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5qPCKxlw2M</a> <br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(with Susannah Hoffs bouncing around like a teenager, and we all know damn well she’s no teenager)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">AC/DC – Through The Mists Of Time<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7-bIFDMSFA" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7-bIFDMSFA</a> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">HAZEL ENGLISH – Never Going Home<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgN_OFosKzY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgN_OFosKzY</a> <br />(also check out "I'm fine" and "Waiting", among others)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">SUNFLOWER BEAN – Moment in the Sun<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij3FfnVQsWw" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij3FfnVQsWw</a> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">ALVVAYS – Hey </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKMMc_8xaXI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKMMc_8xaXI</a> <br />(also check out "Plimsoll Punks" and "Lollipop" from the same album)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">WOLF ALICE – How Can I Make It OK? <br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt_TsuBIcGY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt_TsuBIcGY </a><br />(love the slow build on this one)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">TAYLOR SWIFT – All Too Well (10-minute version)<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRxrwjOtIag&t=214s" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRxrwjOtIag&t=214s</a> <br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(it’s weirdly good)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">ADELE – Easy on Me <br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3ASj1L6_sY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3ASj1L6_sY</a><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(it’s just... well damn if it isn't just really easy on the ears)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">MINT JULEP – Some Feel Rain<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahcjPAoPwWQ" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahcjPAoPwWQ</a> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LORD HURON – Long Lost<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2JmQ-j0jlc" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2JmQ-j0jlc</a> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PHOEBE BRIDGERS – Steamroller<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBgpbiXMfrM " target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBgpbiXMfrM </a><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(“you’re the feeling I get when I’m feeling fine”)</span></p><div><br /></div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-20156848975294947152021-10-11T19:25:00.012-04:002021-10-11T19:45:42.677-04:002021 Monroe Dunbar Race Photos<p>Every few years I hit the trail along Dunbar Brook at Monroe State Forest up in the northwest corner of Massachusetts for the annual trail race there. Sometimes I <a href="http://benkimballphotography.blogspot.com/2015/10/2015-monroe-dunbar-brook-trail-race.html" target="_blank">run</a> it, sometimes I take photos, and every so often I miss it entirely. There used to be a stream crossing about a mile from the finish; I got some absolutely epic shots there over the years (see 2018 shots <a href="https://northeastracephoto.smugmug.com/2018-Races/Monroe-Dunbar-Brook-Trail-Races/" target="_blank">here</a>, for example), but a new bridge has been installed and it's no longer quite the dramatic adventure moment it once was. This year I tried shooting at a new location, and man I gotta say some of the pics are just iconic of the race. It was a really small field this year (hopefully just due to Covid and the generally ultra-laid-back nature of the event; they essentially never advertise or promote it), but it was really cool to see a bunch of friends out there running with their young kids. </p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwS9UBXu6YcHXAJ2ThnzarWzlWGFIo47Wj1eKMBkPlpnROMF1pGdyFeqkkf5ZkFgyQLXUBsGaWb3Q5liYJP5WEOk2CWG_kClWd294vgYsqEwJDuIVy1_nBVzAlESJfI0QKtZFXm57dzy0b/s2048/MD_629.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1195" data-original-width="2048" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwS9UBXu6YcHXAJ2ThnzarWzlWGFIo47Wj1eKMBkPlpnROMF1pGdyFeqkkf5ZkFgyQLXUBsGaWb3Q5liYJP5WEOk2CWG_kClWd294vgYsqEwJDuIVy1_nBVzAlESJfI0QKtZFXm57dzy0b/w640-h374/MD_629.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-je21-hzBbt6lrOziVsV6MSxgsruJfOZ1WiGNV6Ay8E6ZLCghh1t5sv4iLIkjZycVHDWhVf-YXkkBs__hJw06H-hZ1RVzMOPzlqM6UjmIfFeA-Qw_Bm_uUw2yt36-bOr6M3LmFWtcY-sl/s2048/MD_706.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-je21-hzBbt6lrOziVsV6MSxgsruJfOZ1WiGNV6Ay8E6ZLCghh1t5sv4iLIkjZycVHDWhVf-YXkkBs__hJw06H-hZ1RVzMOPzlqM6UjmIfFeA-Qw_Bm_uUw2yt36-bOr6M3LmFWtcY-sl/w266-h400/MD_706.jpg" width="266" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvmfP98TJWVlwAdsmtw1-eLfI1daMIBxfToyFOvRCem9LrrvHoEEXfGkrj4dM6j0M2VscLD9HdNySDm6FuoCg-BdQMF9py704K8yIc-8fbZYKFeGbdDNLNnqafJ_cGYBxIzG9mBlzuden/s2048/MD_095.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvmfP98TJWVlwAdsmtw1-eLfI1daMIBxfToyFOvRCem9LrrvHoEEXfGkrj4dM6j0M2VscLD9HdNySDm6FuoCg-BdQMF9py704K8yIc-8fbZYKFeGbdDNLNnqafJ_cGYBxIzG9mBlzuden/w266-h400/MD_095.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0MoQhgGZilx5HeJMyxWxSD3BpsESTAa4o_SNMlZF8Wa8CLoBJNbBiIqhYYxKiWGBvCllivRxhZyl3zJk_DmjGY4l-9WwRijMN4-OiXB0PZpSNe7ohuhB9E-xY35kflsQE4LByVnGqOxm/s2048/MD_792.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0MoQhgGZilx5HeJMyxWxSD3BpsESTAa4o_SNMlZF8Wa8CLoBJNbBiIqhYYxKiWGBvCllivRxhZyl3zJk_DmjGY4l-9WwRijMN4-OiXB0PZpSNe7ohuhB9E-xY35kflsQE4LByVnGqOxm/w640-h426/MD_792.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">the potholes up near the top of Dunbar Brook Trail</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">See all of my 2021 <b>Monroe Dunbar Brook Trail Race</b> photos <a href="https://northeastracephoto.smugmug.com/2021-Races/Monroe-Dunbar-Brook-Trail-Race/" target="_blank">here</a> at Ben Kimball Photography<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-51449835814531466642021-09-07T10:49:00.099-04:002021-10-11T19:29:28.610-04:00Laurel Lake hike<p>Jen and I finally got around to exploring some more up at Laurel Lake (most of which is part of Erving State Forest) about half an hour east/northeast of us in Erving, MA. We'd been to some of the trails west of the lake before (The Chute, etc.), which are a mix of doubletrack snowmobile trails and wide forest roads, but never ventured up to the lake itself. It's just far enough away up Rte. 2 and known for being a busy state park-ish swim area that it's been off our mental radar of local outdoor adventure spots, but when we went it was nice and not too crowded and we really enjoyed it. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPWJMsx1vmClDP_IaBggigpxaeg3aO0EAJJipc4AN05uaAddNJsdHMWbfbrGVyNByGHRPQ8oFUy9VBeoOY45-mn3xeohk3LIJ53yi2BXV9R4uKRTag-_FBGAyrRa5mPJ0oEOdiSXTaeost/s2048/LL_075.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1263" data-original-width="2048" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPWJMsx1vmClDP_IaBggigpxaeg3aO0EAJJipc4AN05uaAddNJsdHMWbfbrGVyNByGHRPQ8oFUy9VBeoOY45-mn3xeohk3LIJ53yi2BXV9R4uKRTag-_FBGAyrRa5mPJ0oEOdiSXTaeost/w640-h394/LL_075.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">the swampy western end of Laurel Lake</div><p>We parked in the big lot above the swimmer's beach, which seemed pretty sparsely occupied to me considering it was the end of a nice Labor Day weekend, and started hiking uphill on the very pleasant, mile-long Laurel Loop trail. After rising gently along a little stream, the trail passes through some dense stands of mountain laurel and climbs steadily to a set of semi-open summit ledges with views to the south. A little farther along there is a small clearing with a view north to Mt. Monadnock. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9Xt6-cckUi-B7tmIPY4BLmxo0vSw8WKNzc1mX46Bef2qzOBusp5_4GS4f_0ldvlrQ9oXfKuS1h_1CyAjDElxIZ8mevcH-GS1pna0UPkNyN4ncJrjLZVEq63_3db6uskQN4hENZbWRrrL/s2048/LL_008.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9Xt6-cckUi-B7tmIPY4BLmxo0vSw8WKNzc1mX46Bef2qzOBusp5_4GS4f_0ldvlrQ9oXfKuS1h_1CyAjDElxIZ8mevcH-GS1pna0UPkNyN4ncJrjLZVEq63_3db6uskQN4hENZbWRrrL/w400-h300/LL_008.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">ledges at the top of Laurel Loop</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUzj1QKz3C1nFllWJX-UbleoNyFi2bWFavy3bm0fObEsZk8qMpO_haix-svo_LvBop6S_usu70l8z3txek2TL-RkmGWFLVg6jNZy9OHd9o8kI1_ZH0D1s7J9VTvZZDvi_BtCr6I4zO_Ea/s2048/LL_010.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1248" data-original-width="2048" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUzj1QKz3C1nFllWJX-UbleoNyFi2bWFavy3bm0fObEsZk8qMpO_haix-svo_LvBop6S_usu70l8z3txek2TL-RkmGWFLVg6jNZy9OHd9o8kI1_ZH0D1s7J9VTvZZDvi_BtCr6I4zO_Ea/w400-h244/LL_010.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Monadnock view</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6os6qHAy4P0V7Qcj9bok0GYyAB8iy5-OZHH4v-BjHskBBsvPOXqgw3zMW-kUQG-JLaj_h0QuXYmPIFjna1V8dJHst5KgOeVSt4Uw4fNH35yZ6BdW3nmPXCc9a5Tzm31TsswynrxDBCn8/s2048/LL_012.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6os6qHAy4P0V7Qcj9bok0GYyAB8iy5-OZHH4v-BjHskBBsvPOXqgw3zMW-kUQG-JLaj_h0QuXYmPIFjna1V8dJHst5KgOeVSt4Uw4fNH35yZ6BdW3nmPXCc9a5Tzm31TsswynrxDBCn8/w400-h300/LL_012.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">trail through laurel</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWbnF1HyUH8Td2X72GOUXB_O1xqJA0HQD7gK5B4PsVluR3umRGNkvZeXvqClG1N06uKbOV4VJDffL4vElvNXac_w76wu8AE_q04czqE0l6VRt5ALs1hQhGW7dRvmSqAP26-NiI07GPF8_O/s2048/LL_025.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1454" data-original-width="2048" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWbnF1HyUH8Td2X72GOUXB_O1xqJA0HQD7gK5B4PsVluR3umRGNkvZeXvqClG1N06uKbOV4VJDffL4vElvNXac_w76wu8AE_q04czqE0l6VRt5ALs1hQhGW7dRvmSqAP26-NiI07GPF8_O/w400-h284/LL_025.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jen on the trail</div><p>Back at the bottom, we decided to attempt a loop of the lake. We weren't really sure we'd be able to get all the way around, as there are a string of private camps along a road on the north shore that doesn't go all the way through, but sure enough there is a little path that goes through the woods above the cabin at the end of the road. On the far side, we watched some bald eagles above the causeway road, then continued west along a path called Nature Trail at the western end of the lake. This section was very pretty, undulating along the edge of the woods and passing alongside some boggy wetlands. The trail blazes split at one point, with no signage of any kind, and I'm fairly sure both options lead south to the main park road. We took the longer one that sticks close to the wetlands. At the end we just walked back along the road to the lot. Total mileage of our loop was about 3.5 miles. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV44KVndZSJkDDFOj8HihIgKWvj6makh1khX8OodFqB1L-ZRjNUmT611twOMEXFE1Udba7jICfGCV4Sa1FKH434sTTHehD409ANe_-OIbnhTb9jGAjnc2VqaIiKWKbdSLa3d64HzsZIXCN/s2048/LL_052.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1452" data-original-width="2048" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV44KVndZSJkDDFOj8HihIgKWvj6makh1khX8OodFqB1L-ZRjNUmT611twOMEXFE1Udba7jICfGCV4Sa1FKH434sTTHehD409ANe_-OIbnhTb9jGAjnc2VqaIiKWKbdSLa3d64HzsZIXCN/w400-h284/LL_052.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Nature Trail</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Zelzlgc2DyfkvQxB_Y5l4mGPqLqA9tjb48M2XHpe1ozw9k_pKvdi3SmXW1AHjmlZebea_-JFhCMspQvZvN-D6Z9Wm4c4mIEeNX8KkWA6ff2fZPzYQQyhcoh7DLILQpM2Jf_ciB6Si8pi/s2048/LL_068.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Zelzlgc2DyfkvQxB_Y5l4mGPqLqA9tjb48M2XHpe1ozw9k_pKvdi3SmXW1AHjmlZebea_-JFhCMspQvZvN-D6Z9Wm4c4mIEeNX8KkWA6ff2fZPzYQQyhcoh7DLILQpM2Jf_ciB6Si8pi/w400-h300/LL_068.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">boardwalk bridge west of Laurel Lake</div><p>I'd wanted to take a swim in Laurel Lake afterwards, but some strong storm clouds rolled in just as we got down to the beach and looked like they were ready to send down some lightning strikes. Sure enough, a few thunder booms sounded in the distance and kept me from venturing in. But it looked really nice and I'd definitely go back at a not-busy time to give it a go. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZihODzRkqlbZWdKDXHuphaHJChpZJZXlzGhITAMl5njf7_4H7zgrUw8whALh-dvCtPBVtwrVrypCl8wE4vMUMVoKZizTEV3m5HtSXJCsI0dvKJqez7epCukodF9A06UkZWPuvZ2Ng6pe/s2048/LL_082.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1445" data-original-width="2048" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZihODzRkqlbZWdKDXHuphaHJChpZJZXlzGhITAMl5njf7_4H7zgrUw8whALh-dvCtPBVtwrVrypCl8wE4vMUMVoKZizTEV3m5HtSXJCsI0dvKJqez7epCukodF9A06UkZWPuvZ2Ng6pe/w400-h283/LL_082.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Storm clouds approaching the beach at Laurel Lake</div><p><br /></p>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-32634659921243643132021-09-04T11:58:00.037-04:002021-10-11T19:29:52.824-04:00Leyden WMA<p>I hesitate to post about this site since I know a lot of people regard it as a well-kept secret favorite spot, but... I mean it's basically a super-sweet little hike right in our backyard (or at least on the first ridge above us as you head north up out of town) and it's on all the trail apps and there's only so long I can <i>not</i> talk about it before it just feels weird. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-E_A19Gk_YMvF3srvy5qMn1glQCA6ZjWBnNPVVyMPf9Kq7t23-yjiqxZp4Hkp8P-5LY504heNeqeSCtLKruA8MSOcLg8B6FPPaf_s1COoqi897WcVveKdn_uN2Q4myDqmyvzU7XPUimN/s2048/Leyden_085.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1364" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-E_A19Gk_YMvF3srvy5qMn1glQCA6ZjWBnNPVVyMPf9Kq7t23-yjiqxZp4Hkp8P-5LY504heNeqeSCtLKruA8MSOcLg8B6FPPaf_s1COoqi897WcVveKdn_uN2Q4myDqmyvzU7XPUimN/w640-h426/Leyden_085.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">passing through the dramatic third clearing</div><p>The lower trailhead is near the end of a dirt road at the Greenfield/Leyden town line, right about where the terrain changes dramatically from the lower rolling open areas of the Valley to the steeper slopes of the hilltown uplands. The route described here rises up for several miles to some open hilltops and a small trailhead off of E Glen Rd up in Leyden. There's no officially marked, mapped, or named trail, and there are several forks along the way so you definitely want to have a trails app handy if you go (but beware lack of cell signal there). Jen and I hiked it as an out-and-back at the start of this Labor Day weekend. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8IsgfdW9vrcFkxhyim28SSPHiTovuIUhGz713jzBq8s5cHmDqUbF1EjczBOjdVG6zMyttsmTfFJOUR9hOFnInhKp09pl7klwMV5oMSJO5a5QxJkg9YWHpwQ7xjxNHkvwElyB1MFXiHv7b/s2048/Leyden_002a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8IsgfdW9vrcFkxhyim28SSPHiTovuIUhGz713jzBq8s5cHmDqUbF1EjczBOjdVG6zMyttsmTfFJOUR9hOFnInhKp09pl7klwMV5oMSJO5a5QxJkg9YWHpwQ7xjxNHkvwElyB1MFXiHv7b/s320/Leyden_002a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>The first part of the route rises through open meadows, managed as wildlife clearings by MassWildlife. After climbing a steep pitch back up into the woods at the upper end of the clearing, we turned right at the first major intersection (left leads about a mile across the slope to the reservoir ponds along Glen Brook). We climbed through woods for about a mile to the next clearing. There appear to be 5 total along this route, though you really only pass through 4 of them (the fifth being this one, which you sort of skirt the edge of). </p><p>The middle clearing is the sweetest. Hardly anyone goes there but there are wide, sweeping views to the south and you can see so much of the Pioneer Valley. Of the two branches of trail you can choose from here, I'd pick the southern one (the northern one is more direct but passes through some briars on the slopes and a wet area at the bottom). </p><p>After rolling through more woods between clearings 3 and 4, we rose through blackberry and raspberry bushes along the edge of clearing 4 and were delighted to see tons of monarch butterflies flitting about among the goldenrod flowers. Between clearings 4 and 5 the route passes below some houses and along a wet area, and to be honest I don't like that part very much. There are blowdowns to scramble around and it's quite soggy. It smells a bit, too. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TGEUIe_SJj6cqabaIv0FoWL4PfIgPCUOXNmymLXQds6ah3ClrCeMT04mm0vmZ1llfWO_3TYOnpjkydcG_TYY1xcE_d80RbjT_2NhxiO1mqGI5YBxeXxz-ACgA2fgGZ10-uD3ou1r0sc6/s2048/Leyden_066.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1399" data-original-width="2048" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TGEUIe_SJj6cqabaIv0FoWL4PfIgPCUOXNmymLXQds6ah3ClrCeMT04mm0vmZ1llfWO_3TYOnpjkydcG_TYY1xcE_d80RbjT_2NhxiO1mqGI5YBxeXxz-ACgA2fgGZ10-uD3ou1r0sc6/w400-h274/Leyden_066.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">blueberry fields at the top</div><p>Clearing 5 is the main high point of this section of ridge, known for its copious blueberries patches in season. It's only a quarter-mile walk up an old road from the upper parking area. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSsCWIqdXz0pb03jLxrUCxMN85ZCF9a-6hNpherkTw78sx_OaQEHVnfzlhpzcTV2jguFS2_4ErOx0SKff_h8vDyeyzvhKhPdL2pM1pCLfBoN5c_DDfbbP17FUdvKtDC2dTYpuvm335gpM/s2048/Leyden_094.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1403" data-original-width="2048" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSsCWIqdXz0pb03jLxrUCxMN85ZCF9a-6hNpherkTw78sx_OaQEHVnfzlhpzcTV2jguFS2_4ErOx0SKff_h8vDyeyzvhKhPdL2pM1pCLfBoN5c_DDfbbP17FUdvKtDC2dTYpuvm335gpM/w640-h438/Leyden_094.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">hiking back down through the lower clearing in late-afternoon light</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-76823532534194654832021-07-24T16:28:00.003-04:002021-10-11T19:31:19.012-04:00Hallockville Pond hike<p>There's a pretty cool little 1-mile loop trail around Hallockville Pond in Hawley. It's on the current (undated) DCR <a href="https://www.mass.gov/doc/kenneth-dubuque-memorial-state-forest-trail-map/download?fbclid=IwAR0EQ01wYIpV0BfNEnUbwd2foCxMClLTx4hdD3D-NqwzuWgu8D5V1zqz9AY" target="_blank">map</a> as "Pond Loop" but I'd never seen it before. Makes a great short hike up in them thar hills. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyTt_vkN-LvXxtUwd8WQWO8Vw6-34AjQl_16Jc87a4QiWxkzk0xZpP6sjunID2v2ESYkuoi5EJE-OqYugyjEfSyXc4weFQ1b3L7i3hvS4dw7dTy9N3WBSS6nEDoAeTH1gAXFaq_h63bI6/s2048/Hal_000.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1495" data-original-width="2048" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyTt_vkN-LvXxtUwd8WQWO8Vw6-34AjQl_16Jc87a4QiWxkzk0xZpP6sjunID2v2ESYkuoi5EJE-OqYugyjEfSyXc4weFQ1b3L7i3hvS4dw7dTy9N3WBSS6nEDoAeTH1gAXFaq_h63bI6/w640-h468/Hal_000.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hallockville Pond</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrVe5KeKYe99JKNONFdgrdKdk-dpmyDyTTW_aOQDqwqist2Klbfn3IpoT0djng-5l2iMmRCqpdIu5VuzkX4DphqkVIunEbICFUXoA828Owime24VPxpKRxxPRyI501_5Iq40rWt7VS6L-/s2048/Hal_002.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1474" data-original-width="2048" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrVe5KeKYe99JKNONFdgrdKdk-dpmyDyTTW_aOQDqwqist2Klbfn3IpoT0djng-5l2iMmRCqpdIu5VuzkX4DphqkVIunEbICFUXoA828Owime24VPxpKRxxPRyI501_5Iq40rWt7VS6L-/w640-h460/Hal_002.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pond Loop trail</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqASseRc_8Xv6zsHz6RPTBpeT6WZiKQEofMKcPEXiuIJLHrl6YK459k8aGyNPKCgezWXCw9wLR09cNCtW7_AdzdZVoQ5DL4Ti8ELF5qxqJPMftRRTB3AG4pQO2cFqEjn5G7AYCzyLEe7OH/s2048/Hal_003.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqASseRc_8Xv6zsHz6RPTBpeT6WZiKQEofMKcPEXiuIJLHrl6YK459k8aGyNPKCgezWXCw9wLR09cNCtW7_AdzdZVoQ5DL4Ti8ELF5qxqJPMftRRTB3AG4pQO2cFqEjn5G7AYCzyLEe7OH/w640-h480/Hal_003.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">botanists gonna botanize</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAALar9TNgk5Ir_wQqFNeYOXLqSk2zH31C9nvpoHEJ-Otk67f1O5CS-HxWCAfnAXaXotBwoR0CVQvfL0De0VmlZBaTLdu0HjpKP_sWIWG950GuWJm5S6rIXDvi4b6A55pkZZh6LzDoGut/s2048/Hal_020a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1359" data-original-width="2048" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAALar9TNgk5Ir_wQqFNeYOXLqSk2zH31C9nvpoHEJ-Otk67f1O5CS-HxWCAfnAXaXotBwoR0CVQvfL0De0VmlZBaTLdu0HjpKP_sWIWG950GuWJm5S6rIXDvi4b6A55pkZZh6LzDoGut/w400-h265/Hal_020a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">cascadelet along a nearby stream</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia1dI8p1h0ekkpQeG7XGk6ftFxSR562M7KX10Cylm1ad0baLgChfYUO5i09Iym8jqvU21qmLSArO9j0_e5XN0VPzhdiWfJ8ihsaipJzcLHUc9mv23L6OkWnXpX3r-p5K32iHaAysJ-sSrW/s2048/Hal_021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1475" data-original-width="2048" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia1dI8p1h0ekkpQeG7XGk6ftFxSR562M7KX10Cylm1ad0baLgChfYUO5i09Iym8jqvU21qmLSArO9j0_e5XN0VPzhdiWfJ8ihsaipJzcLHUc9mv23L6OkWnXpX3r-p5K32iHaAysJ-sSrW/w400-h288/Hal_021.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pond Loop trailhead sign</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiucNzPksgA75ddvsq51xTUeIAn1WoZKLf3SlLCa-wVmSoy7LDF1Fm7i16hcPPEnUgybX8hzozradrFxV3P7_7yvATALd2fBOxMi3T_THf2Hu9rY5p1XzQkgWfNFpgV1CJ_Abm6tTtlF0yO/s2048/Hal_062.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1416" data-original-width="2048" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiucNzPksgA75ddvsq51xTUeIAn1WoZKLf3SlLCa-wVmSoy7LDF1Fm7i16hcPPEnUgybX8hzozradrFxV3P7_7yvATALd2fBOxMi3T_THf2Hu9rY5p1XzQkgWfNFpgV1CJ_Abm6tTtlF0yO/w400-h276/Hal_062.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">bridge over brook at the far end</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwuld4j6Q5W4eN7OJrrS1dRx5H1aqX8ChBF13f6oIFZgMGTDkPoiaVY98OumGUuMSTIzJZ_cevYraitolzlW_flqGqvXM732Q-DXJMUCBY37XFKva2msM8swy9bu_w1ML4cx4DiaZ_EoDv/s2048/Hal_091.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwuld4j6Q5W4eN7OJrrS1dRx5H1aqX8ChBF13f6oIFZgMGTDkPoiaVY98OumGUuMSTIzJZ_cevYraitolzlW_flqGqvXM732Q-DXJMUCBY37XFKva2msM8swy9bu_w1ML4cx4DiaZ_EoDv/w400-h300/Hal_091.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">super pleasant woods</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3JlY0oquv6L4ead9wozAk_L5pLgPA3NdI9tloCx4Yoz_-rXhF7oE8bsQbDOyBCgDLvWqiJD2qRBCuoSYtdMTRiqhKU630YIK5aHw-dhHCEyXe4PUctMQiQlXwrxFHyja5tcsAqLjFTUG/s2048/Hal_099.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1434" data-original-width="2048" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3JlY0oquv6L4ead9wozAk_L5pLgPA3NdI9tloCx4Yoz_-rXhF7oE8bsQbDOyBCgDLvWqiJD2qRBCuoSYtdMTRiqhKU630YIK5aHw-dhHCEyXe4PUctMQiQlXwrxFHyja5tcsAqLjFTUG/w400-h280/Hal_099.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">pondside flowers</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDEoDpv2opRXL9p3-sdWaxjT6MDD0lNbCNAXhUnpVKV4LrmP_7uSewYvtAf7C4NVkVnuoxaAwHi8htK6AGQ0jdcdYNxzWBU8V3J9T2D41oWrNYkfJfRaoNSksR4KYGCNHDZVmTGcClhTe/s2048/Hal_105.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1415" data-original-width="2048" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDEoDpv2opRXL9p3-sdWaxjT6MDD0lNbCNAXhUnpVKV4LrmP_7uSewYvtAf7C4NVkVnuoxaAwHi8htK6AGQ0jdcdYNxzWBU8V3J9T2D41oWrNYkfJfRaoNSksR4KYGCNHDZVmTGcClhTe/w400-h276/Hal_105.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">occasional rocks</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirFLkiUSMARLQj-JG7UATLr7unUBe8lPiPfiEuOV6CCnk0gyy1IXOW02X4gVQuc_KNdRmJePCwnwI5MX479IFG9fsOvaMxb-QcERee2ri5S_buw2j7Lbi7YYRofbx9olGUyEkQQnmFpACR/s2048/Hal_109.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1644" data-original-width="2048" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirFLkiUSMARLQj-JG7UATLr7unUBe8lPiPfiEuOV6CCnk0gyy1IXOW02X4gVQuc_KNdRmJePCwnwI5MX479IFG9fsOvaMxb-QcERee2ri5S_buw2j7Lbi7YYRofbx9olGUyEkQQnmFpACR/w400-h321/Hal_109.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">log bridge</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJ6RpSD2QP0sfXiZUwtBz7dtWPEOWpGII5HdFV8vkQ5IKhDyhEBlPmZa1_BlL5lFqzefeR0FHq8UwyjIO0GI2roJjcx16oM_dgbO7oYZReigvA3w7g5CIHqyujS_a389OwiSO6L_NvWdZ/s2048/Hal_116.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1419" data-original-width="2048" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJ6RpSD2QP0sfXiZUwtBz7dtWPEOWpGII5HdFV8vkQ5IKhDyhEBlPmZa1_BlL5lFqzefeR0FHq8UwyjIO0GI2roJjcx16oM_dgbO7oYZReigvA3w7g5CIHqyujS_a389OwiSO6L_NvWdZ/w400-h278/Hal_116.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">another log bridge</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq10HbiSYlLr6LxOwb30e7Hc3xBN_6sORlZgxEY_j-DydQe260OutQn6ktLGM2fVEo5owu0oh8WA4y5Tl3QvJ2oQY3R_lSMA9InF-lCL9U-LK71GeupOpr-ZrLTwVQAhv9B2lrForKZy7J/s2048/Hal_118.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1465" data-original-width="2048" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq10HbiSYlLr6LxOwb30e7Hc3xBN_6sORlZgxEY_j-DydQe260OutQn6ktLGM2fVEo5owu0oh8WA4y5Tl3QvJ2oQY3R_lSMA9InF-lCL9U-LK71GeupOpr-ZrLTwVQAhv9B2lrForKZy7J/w400-h286/Hal_118.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">oooooh</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi23cbOW-qVFMQNXD7TJLfL_4IQdfZ9lEjbH147dD_zyM5dsAlz5rmlVqK46EpPfiYlT_X9XVSJHG_4mITo8LwnoRhfBRdXCl2dj0_7YVw0Or2_ZQdxUNFdeTjyP_LeE3GooiN9Y6INIBil/s2048/Hal_122.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1347" data-original-width="2048" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi23cbOW-qVFMQNXD7TJLfL_4IQdfZ9lEjbH147dD_zyM5dsAlz5rmlVqK46EpPfiYlT_X9XVSJHG_4mITo8LwnoRhfBRdXCl2dj0_7YVw0Or2_ZQdxUNFdeTjyP_LeE3GooiN9Y6INIBil/w400-h263/Hal_122.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">nice</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRnMiAzMyICqyqBq4bmrtPiRFiyIU3A21fyzYqgjRRDPQha7_wtyhrocJCcOFG-0z5DjicMsa38HtWsGt5rG3Hf5gdnvmHMlqAbc0BEH4WBs93dkXr0XEDioOHQRCoq-iNwP_q3j1vS2qN/s2048/Hal_129.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRnMiAzMyICqyqBq4bmrtPiRFiyIU3A21fyzYqgjRRDPQha7_wtyhrocJCcOFG-0z5DjicMsa38HtWsGt5rG3Hf5gdnvmHMlqAbc0BEH4WBs93dkXr0XEDioOHQRCoq-iNwP_q3j1vS2qN/w400-h300/Hal_129.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">bridge over brook</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBpx4moWQHGL50sYBm57enYZwNeBlqQH9AehBey0zzUxjKnGiJwBNc1Lzv8ryKC8NgHx10Xe8bQ2qjJsPyJt2qhrWrQJDrnvHWHg6oGKgzopCIpmT9GrMmgzotZ0LVqOLTBJowwwGclfDq/s2048/Hal_144.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBpx4moWQHGL50sYBm57enYZwNeBlqQH9AehBey0zzUxjKnGiJwBNc1Lzv8ryKC8NgHx10Xe8bQ2qjJsPyJt2qhrWrQJDrnvHWHg6oGKgzopCIpmT9GrMmgzotZ0LVqOLTBJowwwGclfDq/w400-h300/Hal_144.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">bridge over a different brook</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBsetuP97y81afkjMllaB9CMRBU1HbP4l1wFCLwYbyKV983tVDhtmlbyDLiivI0sRKYGkLbEUYdhcDJiLlRjwOLtVTue5L3VxHkZigCWrVXTB4PyzioUTYmIHZXO9JNDO-pZsofrRqnfK/s2048/Hal_159.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2048" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBsetuP97y81afkjMllaB9CMRBU1HbP4l1wFCLwYbyKV983tVDhtmlbyDLiivI0sRKYGkLbEUYdhcDJiLlRjwOLtVTue5L3VxHkZigCWrVXTB4PyzioUTYmIHZXO9JNDO-pZsofrRqnfK/w400-h271/Hal_159.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">big rocks above the pond</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCfun-W2bCfnp5Icr0kTdRTlRYQFgtZRWvnPosm_aB1LOqV84xcoYED-YqrXIry0mCPON4Cd7PTNvK-b9OBYqDppD_7yCjkOD1cIEYz2udvFRCGozmku-ZrMz0pgWxBmZsdM4lDBsh4gz/s2048/Hal_170.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCfun-W2bCfnp5Icr0kTdRTlRYQFgtZRWvnPosm_aB1LOqV84xcoYED-YqrXIry0mCPON4Cd7PTNvK-b9OBYqDppD_7yCjkOD1cIEYz2udvFRCGozmku-ZrMz0pgWxBmZsdM4lDBsh4gz/w400-h300/Hal_170.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">fern path</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXwRNwH4hT94SbwINZwrWN-vmqGIR090XvIZ5m4kJ-SeFPIj720hlolDZn_2b7PR491mGilE9fZfj0IJd8h4Z949aFZ4xuZh8ayJu74HFbpIi4klutm2xAZvvKFUkfjvmmeULvKR2meVPZ/s2048/Hal_180.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1442" data-original-width="2048" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXwRNwH4hT94SbwINZwrWN-vmqGIR090XvIZ5m4kJ-SeFPIj720hlolDZn_2b7PR491mGilE9fZfj0IJd8h4Z949aFZ4xuZh8ayJu74HFbpIi4klutm2xAZvvKFUkfjvmmeULvKR2meVPZ/w400-h281/Hal_180.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">pondside</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwqI5QDtFaI9dR0ZjaxEBqG-IU5w1Z1nNSXICfcWbx9FaNRVzokpaXuU8dXA5ttKQxrbJS9gVW_DY3U49Dr-rsooxJNuID_qsPm08QDXQrCeKfUHl7h67dzUtkHYmedz5jJ3Rjuptenxdd/s2048/Hal_995.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwqI5QDtFaI9dR0ZjaxEBqG-IU5w1Z1nNSXICfcWbx9FaNRVzokpaXuU8dXA5ttKQxrbJS9gVW_DY3U49Dr-rsooxJNuID_qsPm08QDXQrCeKfUHl7h67dzUtkHYmedz5jJ3Rjuptenxdd/w400-h300/Hal_995.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">dam at the north end</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_72AU-PXIK1Np-d2G72xs4lxkWNu7mlOQoodR_5hWatpO2KSv0Tz3j6eCmxav9qY9fxTPmv5mGaa8z8GZTSpSLHaMelrCjFGX3VooXn6CoVyTr7wUIaG4BLZ62g1x1eWlD8xSmBFmw-Rb/s2048/Hal_998.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1441" data-original-width="2048" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_72AU-PXIK1Np-d2G72xs4lxkWNu7mlOQoodR_5hWatpO2KSv0Tz3j6eCmxav9qY9fxTPmv5mGaa8z8GZTSpSLHaMelrCjFGX3VooXn6CoVyTr7wUIaG4BLZ62g1x1eWlD8xSmBFmw-Rb/w640-h450/Hal_998.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">trail towards Hawley Pass</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-38387467502109859892021-07-12T14:42:00.006-04:002021-11-23T18:19:22.270-05:00Coming Soon... <p>Visitors to this site are likely already well aware of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Trail-Running-Western-Massachusetts-Kimball/dp/1611687861" target="_blank">Trail Running Western Massachusetts</a></i>, the guidebook I created several years ago profiling 51 great trail running sites in the west half of the state. I'm very pleased to be able to announce that a companion volume is in the works, and scheduled for release just 8 months from now in March of 2022. It will be called <i>Trail Running Eastern Massachusetts </i>and cover the rest of the state not already profiled in the first book. The completed manuscript is being edited at present, will get finalized later in the summer and go into design/layout in the fall, and finally will get printed over the winter. </p><p>There's SO much great stuff out there I can't wait to share. For now, here is a very brief teaser: a sampling of some of my favorite photos taken during site research over the past year: </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpeDRaBJp0HmKMerCZrCOVKbXPgw2X0XYLr5vLlGsJjc8uEV88KeFDvx832CASkWNvYbDugZhZ-ktghPeamcfTdnuY1cIBPinsl4tF2wvzSQMd41jWoGfY6f8m8G8ZQHDxQ_XN6I0X0GPs/s976/Fells_298a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="976" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpeDRaBJp0HmKMerCZrCOVKbXPgw2X0XYLr5vLlGsJjc8uEV88KeFDvx832CASkWNvYbDugZhZ-ktghPeamcfTdnuY1cIBPinsl4tF2wvzSQMd41jWoGfY6f8m8G8ZQHDxQ_XN6I0X0GPs/w640-h504/Fells_298a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's a reason it's called the Skyline Trail (Middlesex Fells Reservation)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYmX3tLbLsY92xu3FMFlKPJw_fT9ak0XOMSouOwMCvptBzpiVt_etcBqIzuAFs1Ddy3uwViPy-HaUo5sfHCMaHO3cynIGoAQx9nmS5BKvhmVJlRHHDcDEr4ivlJO6zE1LHtn2nsfqyoMS/s1365/Skyline_248.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1365" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYmX3tLbLsY92xu3FMFlKPJw_fT9ak0XOMSouOwMCvptBzpiVt_etcBqIzuAFs1Ddy3uwViPy-HaUo5sfHCMaHO3cynIGoAQx9nmS5BKvhmVJlRHHDcDEr4ivlJO6zE1LHtn2nsfqyoMS/w400-h225/Skyline_248.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Descending a ski slope in summer at the Blue Hills Reservation</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXx_lXYPYgcqHtBYQ4LVSIthJ33caUrwQTxnKwFk0j-Fd-kWNppnKEkkVEbFaJBt6OinwhZa3jIh_d1PZXapL6j8ZsKm8bPn4Ruzi2w_K1An9ba-CvZyiCQlr_RsH4FmNrE9SfYEzytylZ/s968/WB2_126a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="968" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXx_lXYPYgcqHtBYQ4LVSIthJ33caUrwQTxnKwFk0j-Fd-kWNppnKEkkVEbFaJBt6OinwhZa3jIh_d1PZXapL6j8ZsKm8bPn4Ruzi2w_K1An9ba-CvZyiCQlr_RsH4FmNrE9SfYEzytylZ/w400-h225/WB2_126a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deep woods singletrack at Willard Brook State Forest</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcUX3gf53Xj3qaDQihcW0uZGsFO6SCXTw4QM29l8SAzeUJcn0x8Mg7BstqZYmJtE-Rr6SaqqetBfxk6-_uA5Olf5UURpkLRh8qH7C5jeSv0uSR3yc06VEyAji6ffNGKyvsy-Um9dpv9GM/s2533/LM6_101a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1241" data-original-width="2533" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcUX3gf53Xj3qaDQihcW0uZGsFO6SCXTw4QM29l8SAzeUJcn0x8Mg7BstqZYmJtE-Rr6SaqqetBfxk6-_uA5Olf5UURpkLRh8qH7C5jeSv0uSR3yc06VEyAji6ffNGKyvsy-Um9dpv9GM/w400-h196/LM6_101a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winter trail running at Leadmine Mountain Conservation Area</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5dLG0E7UiQwqdexJtnLdK-CrjjcghyW-ww77YIq0rG6jikGU3Na4E3qpW6EMrZY_S9X3vY2fsoiODtxoBVLmXAHbUE2I64idP7F4urYhu1teyrjEZL2dbBjWC1HX-rS8jSdqRxG8_YzIw/s2048/Sutton_000a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1243" data-original-width="2048" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5dLG0E7UiQwqdexJtnLdK-CrjjcghyW-ww77YIq0rG6jikGU3Na4E3qpW6EMrZY_S9X3vY2fsoiODtxoBVLmXAHbUE2I64idP7F4urYhu1teyrjEZL2dbBjWC1HX-rS8jSdqRxG8_YzIw/w400-h243/Sutton_000a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lush hillside swooping in Sutton</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0uVvTokarUw1SrDLMNsusU2gcslkrOVYzvSaIa7F2Zsln3szIBjbBC8zRMY8Sp21nn5BVpG5XSWX_vePr7Jbb8POM2-IP_H3CXjp5QMyScgGFv9Feqr5-fOKJ3tJWdbLFfUdfO3Ihqo3/s2048/Wach3_005a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1321" data-original-width="2048" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0uVvTokarUw1SrDLMNsusU2gcslkrOVYzvSaIa7F2Zsln3szIBjbBC8zRMY8Sp21nn5BVpG5XSWX_vePr7Jbb8POM2-IP_H3CXjp5QMyScgGFv9Feqr5-fOKJ3tJWdbLFfUdfO3Ihqo3/w400-h258/Wach3_005a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peak autumn color at Mt. Wachusett north of Worcester</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcs_Bk9UrD2HHnMH6Y9zJ6zzZZFDYykR38kYpNHrXyDzkDsqSt6HzKTU-U9M-qGJhM9ZZbH0RaPECXInYqbTUx6u5f70lhrwWqW50Ufhh_UV1dkg1eSblPlHXfm5sOGzqWYpJNSgupJb6q/s1024/WG_280.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcs_Bk9UrD2HHnMH6Y9zJ6zzZZFDYykR38kYpNHrXyDzkDsqSt6HzKTU-U9M-qGJhM9ZZbH0RaPECXInYqbTUx6u5f70lhrwWqW50Ufhh_UV1dkg1eSblPlHXfm5sOGzqWYpJNSgupJb6q/w640-h480/WG_280.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rainy day along the Western Greenway Trail near Boston</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJG6yWiPTrliCNyXAjiZrkIZCFb_vUvJjcZGI5dN7zD5-KS7ggO2SjMhMSLM4r1lHDlvSZB6LjixjW3sCVCqPIcH5b2PfJgJOsK45zoFZwzYrlY9vNxbYHUK_NzabG4olLSvzRXRd2HmC/s1516/Pamet_463c.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1516" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJG6yWiPTrliCNyXAjiZrkIZCFb_vUvJjcZGI5dN7zD5-KS7ggO2SjMhMSLM4r1lHDlvSZB6LjixjW3sCVCqPIcH5b2PfJgJOsK45zoFZwzYrlY9vNxbYHUK_NzabG4olLSvzRXRd2HmC/w640-h325/Pamet_463c.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pamet Hollow on the Outer Cape</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6v1ZtmzcptvbDBD8hF_gFf3-hiOsXfov9dZEln2ZslFiwSxwkvhoHMXi6AiO9Mrfes_34ToKxi-UvaogYn4u-Q7y0w_CUMfJtsHFKr9pY6UpwlxBJC6h6dkBAJy6aRHJwDG9rORuPRwmN/s1170/Ward_427b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1170" height="421" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6v1ZtmzcptvbDBD8hF_gFf3-hiOsXfov9dZEln2ZslFiwSxwkvhoHMXi6AiO9Mrfes_34ToKxi-UvaogYn4u-Q7y0w_CUMfJtsHFKr9pY6UpwlxBJC6h6dkBAJy6aRHJwDG9rORuPRwmN/w640-h421/Ward_427b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fancy trail bridge at the Ward Reservation in Andover</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg8W67Gh36C8LOcsL8CyTZZOSIuXUmu486V8MYRzw28_jhd_GBu-10i6ieIkzEdfXjgdpO_MWUAUXMKz5cvlKc-54uEvBbw5mEUSpRwyCIorgWwF4GYkiCjPPAkw3Wy3SFG0O3CFytEa34/s2048/1Maple_043.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg8W67Gh36C8LOcsL8CyTZZOSIuXUmu486V8MYRzw28_jhd_GBu-10i6ieIkzEdfXjgdpO_MWUAUXMKz5cvlKc-54uEvBbw5mEUSpRwyCIorgWwF4GYkiCjPPAkw3Wy3SFG0O3CFytEa34/w640-h480/1Maple_043.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sandy singletrack at a conservation area in Sandwich</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Check back here in a few months for more details about when and where you can pick up a copy of <i>Trail Running Eastern Massachusetts</i>! <br /><br />11/22/21 UPDATE: It is happening... <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1625346352">https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1625346352</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgrw8onDruw-joy0jx-NBtLjrwo2-QoFkFZ5PdeWkmy1k1PcnNXjGw9jwbGXyQF2npHKQYMGZZstwRO8fVJwhFotSS5RaSgQpBE7PGgeCKuDusxahlLnlzLLtNCDEqd5ezMF6utTnuVbf/s2814/Screen+Shot+2021-11-23+at+6.13.00+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1118" data-original-width="2814" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgrw8onDruw-joy0jx-NBtLjrwo2-QoFkFZ5PdeWkmy1k1PcnNXjGw9jwbGXyQF2npHKQYMGZZstwRO8fVJwhFotSS5RaSgQpBE7PGgeCKuDusxahlLnlzLLtNCDEqd5ezMF6utTnuVbf/w640-h254/Screen+Shot+2021-11-23+at+6.13.00+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">(release date March 25, 2022)</span></div><p><br /></p>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-34017485865594408612021-07-05T13:46:00.054-04:002021-09-23T14:14:57.497-04:00Hawley Again<p>Having previously explored the mountain bike trail network from the Lime Kiln trailhead in Hawley (see 2019 post <a href="http://benkimballphotography.blogspot.com/2019/09/hawley.html" target="_blank">here</a>), Jen and I set out from Hawley Bog a bit further north to try out a new hiking trail loop in Dubuque State Forest. I've cobbled together trail names from several sources but wouldn't vouch too heavily for their accuracy. It looks like DCR is in the process of adding a LOT of new trail signs to their properties, however, so it may already look different on the ground. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_dr6y08PE4sh-Jy267l9qY-OLpJuLVoyF5K7j_q43BNaY3xLAASETrdpDOG92kCMryr-7OARrItF8jXesukSNBiCcFtR6hm2V0ZtVVi9UyG64AanRIIGVMuaeSUiDm7Nf0F-yRszgFgu/s2048/Hawley_016.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1346" data-original-width="2048" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_dr6y08PE4sh-Jy267l9qY-OLpJuLVoyF5K7j_q43BNaY3xLAASETrdpDOG92kCMryr-7OARrItF8jXesukSNBiCcFtR6hm2V0ZtVVi9UyG64AanRIIGVMuaeSUiDm7Nf0F-yRszgFgu/s320/Hawley_016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Poverty Square Trail in Hawley</div><p>We headed west on the doubletrack-width Poverty Square Trail, which rolls along through the woods for a mile or so until it rater abruptly starts dropping down the slope to the west. At a junction not quite at the bottom, we veered hard left on Marsh Trail and climbed, steeply at times, back up the slope to the south and east. Then we headed east on Hunt Rd, taking a brief out-and-back excursion on an unnamed singletrack trail leading right/south. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPucJXafqF8yaA3lLfw2CANQjJyTqcBRoy1TYIISxnErdILCShVg_wYYiuQqF22cV7sKacoqz5T8-yz6gbyiFaRL6-9IH-1lmgjIhw5qZvsEc29kpjnotPnbvhWWLP7r5abqYmg5aJ0XW/s2048/Hawley_038.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1383" data-original-width="2048" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPucJXafqF8yaA3lLfw2CANQjJyTqcBRoy1TYIISxnErdILCShVg_wYYiuQqF22cV7sKacoqz5T8-yz6gbyiFaRL6-9IH-1lmgjIhw5qZvsEc29kpjnotPnbvhWWLP7r5abqYmg5aJ0XW/s320/Hawley_038.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9vsdiGwXAOOWdPGml4hG7kG-EKvYIoHRNOM71UVemv3Ly22V_eIu9AtJyKh50eb64BgnX7O0qhKtkfmCGtdBi4PVqpHB7hmxq6Yl9kTlv7E8kDTQWmfDrAUdbRwFjd3gIivBqRi2RUOX/s2048/Hawley_043.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9vsdiGwXAOOWdPGml4hG7kG-EKvYIoHRNOM71UVemv3Ly22V_eIu9AtJyKh50eb64BgnX7O0qhKtkfmCGtdBi4PVqpHB7hmxq6Yl9kTlv7E8kDTQWmfDrAUdbRwFjd3gIivBqRi2RUOX/s320/Hawley_043.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">singletrack trail at Dubuque</div><p>At a near-4-way junction with State Forest Rd, we turned left and climbed north on Bog Trail, which we followed all the way back around to the trailhead. Then we took the short out-and-back spur trail out into Hawley Bog, which was totally worth it because a bunch of the peat-mat flowers were in bloom. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAD_ZRUheazrDR-6F8EbfWIoOA74rgQirrp9wNw7z25Wzcfh8VUWMT9d_ML6PqSC_6fn4fxyyEu1nKxlvyWxGMxWvua9WC04IFSp8OxHVy-546G-5aUQz7vOYT14zR9UO2J6ZiRD6aNgO7/s2048/Hawley_069.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1472" data-original-width="2048" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAD_ZRUheazrDR-6F8EbfWIoOA74rgQirrp9wNw7z25Wzcfh8VUWMT9d_ML6PqSC_6fn4fxyyEu1nKxlvyWxGMxWvua9WC04IFSp8OxHVy-546G-5aUQz7vOYT14zR9UO2J6ZiRD6aNgO7/s320/Hawley_069.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxNo5LRWsTHGPuy70cBzhKzV_RAHxJAsn9rhJgupvkhu2RAvd8rd5V0-KuuSDXsrFhziUy-T4yKMx9aIL1niqRwMy3Lit8hnZf7qlJRNjl_ykBRQ2Uux88DP9q9s6QwA6_ZkxFPEUrfboj/s2048/Hawley_071.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxNo5LRWsTHGPuy70cBzhKzV_RAHxJAsn9rhJgupvkhu2RAvd8rd5V0-KuuSDXsrFhziUy-T4yKMx9aIL1niqRwMy3Lit8hnZf7qlJRNjl_ykBRQ2Uux88DP9q9s6QwA6_ZkxFPEUrfboj/s320/Hawley_071.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FlXEeQ8EM38bt_E8sjfB9hORg1pY7BPHisiG2vXl3Iph6BQ1Aj6Wu4JNl5ZYR_90C2wsoss_ZUtsymzmGZuaYiMRQqMK-dLFkg7f-z1tIEp_J1m8pI6vn5QrOQ7oPnHLnN0f7zAy1K5C/s2048/Hawley_080.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1419" data-original-width="2048" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FlXEeQ8EM38bt_E8sjfB9hORg1pY7BPHisiG2vXl3Iph6BQ1Aj6Wu4JNl5ZYR_90C2wsoss_ZUtsymzmGZuaYiMRQqMK-dLFkg7f-z1tIEp_J1m8pI6vn5QrOQ7oPnHLnN0f7zAy1K5C/s320/Hawley_080.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUF46e8_928SoTjWgr-wvxTCLF44vJPJpe6a1sP7AyIdBZWqCszWNnJNpYvmaAuI3uQtq7OQXfKPGYz4qeKUfbRF2KMm7Kni6bL-mLt2x17m1c-JudoWR2S3ydOu4EbGLmSqHX8Ff32-U/s2048/Hawley_089.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUF46e8_928SoTjWgr-wvxTCLF44vJPJpe6a1sP7AyIdBZWqCszWNnJNpYvmaAuI3uQtq7OQXfKPGYz4qeKUfbRF2KMm7Kni6bL-mLt2x17m1c-JudoWR2S3ydOu4EbGLmSqHX8Ff32-U/s320/Hawley_089.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpdx6D9v6iN-3VUn7DcWf-B75QUbdK3gezy7o1Zi8d3bj7USxHgsZMdSU9nax9BsgdvXFgXetwqeFtxyt10-2p4G2JllVJ-pN5Eyv9rNO1mkOcn0NU-bCuAsV-y6Qs9nQ9zQ_8gv478y8i/s2048/Hawley_095.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1589" data-original-width="2048" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpdx6D9v6iN-3VUn7DcWf-B75QUbdK3gezy7o1Zi8d3bj7USxHgsZMdSU9nax9BsgdvXFgXetwqeFtxyt10-2p4G2JllVJ-pN5Eyv9rNO1mkOcn0NU-bCuAsV-y6Qs9nQ9zQ_8gv478y8i/s320/Hawley_095.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGruikbnYDUiPZtLyay42GlYuUJsIOuRu03idlv0KPF01mufb8u1liPXwY9xWRNgnvaEJohv8bX6QuGjXHVdp4Y3Isc1PV1EdY8IDnOE3lh9ufCJhuP6BjAlrU4mbKe7Vy-5Bd14myfmOg/s2048/Hawley_109.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1529" data-original-width="2048" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGruikbnYDUiPZtLyay42GlYuUJsIOuRu03idlv0KPF01mufb8u1liPXwY9xWRNgnvaEJohv8bX6QuGjXHVdp4Y3Isc1PV1EdY8IDnOE3lh9ufCJhuP6BjAlrU4mbKe7Vy-5Bd14myfmOg/s320/Hawley_109.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNY_WRW6DxfyKzDGNSN8n6037tQWalupXZr_4CFCtokTj0cUOJh-raNE6Eh6Az_s-xI2hXkx5fLH9yN4QV36ecAE3hNDfz1IHujRoZvpgWX45JoMCdtZ7xlVSqoROl0l_CBYiBgboW-DF/s2048/Hawley_103.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNY_WRW6DxfyKzDGNSN8n6037tQWalupXZr_4CFCtokTj0cUOJh-raNE6Eh6Az_s-xI2hXkx5fLH9yN4QV36ecAE3hNDfz1IHujRoZvpgWX45JoMCdtZ7xlVSqoROl0l_CBYiBgboW-DF/s320/Hawley_103.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT11dgXimI7AGgtC16d7cyRK7V1RgxrRB-OdEoPKSj4r6QOKu012ppVYvL82JsPNn5FJSXgkwxOY0RIWQuuMl-0WbLe1sSnkU-ft1Py2NBXCp7i9xBhgPo4tPTdUJzuUWdHfuQ9tlwMhas/s2048/Hawley_118.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1531" data-original-width="2048" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT11dgXimI7AGgtC16d7cyRK7V1RgxrRB-OdEoPKSj4r6QOKu012ppVYvL82JsPNn5FJSXgkwxOY0RIWQuuMl-0WbLe1sSnkU-ft1Py2NBXCp7i9xBhgPo4tPTdUJzuUWdHfuQ9tlwMhas/s320/Hawley_118.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5zISkH7PWPVkznU-gNUyvmWuIa1cDpfapvLeNTpLkcooIvkdnYSN-Jrrm1S85-s1TFNd3GQtZtxZcqJ3W9oEYN3qHy3SCL2ZfgjKfZ8SqtPW02iZVqWX5G7cd_Z-IrT8PKcvBKVHVibe/s2048/Hawley_138.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5zISkH7PWPVkznU-gNUyvmWuIa1cDpfapvLeNTpLkcooIvkdnYSN-Jrrm1S85-s1TFNd3GQtZtxZcqJ3W9oEYN3qHy3SCL2ZfgjKfZ8SqtPW02iZVqWX5G7cd_Z-IrT8PKcvBKVHVibe/s320/Hawley_138.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDB2aQvulmblf-F_aygqgGtB5rfbWx6CCbFfRDe_uKWWGeMOgwUKHskr4wj2mb5P8yPnMGXtz-oMXLjKgCE6PbLimLPgbST6SyDL4-7xZiTjs0MWmbRjRrtRTvdXyLV8lNqkik4r6w81WJ/s2048/Hawley_162.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1471" data-original-width="2048" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDB2aQvulmblf-F_aygqgGtB5rfbWx6CCbFfRDe_uKWWGeMOgwUKHskr4wj2mb5P8yPnMGXtz-oMXLjKgCE6PbLimLPgbST6SyDL4-7xZiTjs0MWmbRjRrtRTvdXyLV8lNqkik4r6w81WJ/s320/Hawley_162.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkwneI3bA6fvehEBdbK8_coQGkOFO5EFl9i7SRgPKz7t55MBxp5CIIUX2bR5MPsFVpapzzSqYv-dBlgLleE1l9GsvG5UfsjwqoYDynheHj7p29uHnxVlUklf1MsaOzhGLBcRxobGBkLKRu/s2048/Hawley_166.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkwneI3bA6fvehEBdbK8_coQGkOFO5EFl9i7SRgPKz7t55MBxp5CIIUX2bR5MPsFVpapzzSqYv-dBlgLleE1l9GsvG5UfsjwqoYDynheHj7p29uHnxVlUklf1MsaOzhGLBcRxobGBkLKRu/s320/Hawley_166.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">hiking at Hawley Bog</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjcqeYCdIVr2aFAZwnytMoQY6LqAPq25p5dB9-x3g7L_8EUS3JjrEamkS9SpFfzzcIoO3lcsnFvsrfV8Y0L0m07feSOsm5Of0H7YByHDAAXKyR8mvB_S4ebmRXWic1jtH-8tgBecDkAdj/s1874/Screen+Shot+2021-09-22+at+1.55.59+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1862" data-original-width="1874" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjcqeYCdIVr2aFAZwnytMoQY6LqAPq25p5dB9-x3g7L_8EUS3JjrEamkS9SpFfzzcIoO3lcsnFvsrfV8Y0L0m07feSOsm5Of0H7YByHDAAXKyR8mvB_S4ebmRXWic1jtH-8tgBecDkAdj/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-09-22+at+1.55.59+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our full route (about 5 miles total)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-74623892371111723862021-07-01T16:14:00.009-04:002021-07-12T16:23:12.039-04:00Honoring Service<p> The latest issue of the Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club (SMAC)'s newsletter celebrates all aspects of "Service" in the running community, from volunteering to crewing and more. This baby is basically a mini-magazine about running in this region. Enjoy! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qrdGFZhfZNDfLMlAqcViZqKPclAehZ-TACKcnNw9sbpCf2xFeQMQ54YdpXDOYcVhjjricHfHxRw2-Vsk8i-oAyi4M9mFFHkTVpLANDawxh-DyQWlgxco7OKAdcr3Q3Rq4zBZiWVed9U9/s2048/SMAC_Sun_2021_Jul%253AAug_coversnip.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1870" data-original-width="2048" height="584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qrdGFZhfZNDfLMlAqcViZqKPclAehZ-TACKcnNw9sbpCf2xFeQMQ54YdpXDOYcVhjjricHfHxRw2-Vsk8i-oAyi4M9mFFHkTVpLANDawxh-DyQWlgxco7OKAdcr3Q3Rq4zBZiWVed9U9/w640-h584/SMAC_Sun_2021_Jul%253AAug_coversnip.png" width="640" /></a></div><p><a href="http://sugarloafmountainathletic.org/smacwp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/SMAC_Sun_2021_issue4_JulAug.pdf">http://sugarloafmountainathletic.org/smacwp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/SMAC_Sun_2021_issue4_JulAug.pdf</a> </p><p><br /></p>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-88757266249832756152021-06-03T09:04:00.022-04:002021-12-22T09:22:33.476-05:00Woodland Parkour<p>The dream is always the same. </p><p>Or at least it starts out the same. I’m running in the woods. On a trail. A really gnarly trail. “Technical” is the term for it (one of several apt trail-running terms borrowed from the mountain-biking community). In fact, it’s one of the most technical trails I’ve ever seen. Lots of bare rock ledges and giant, heaving roots and steep drop-offs to navigate and scramble over. In short, it’s an absolute blast. There’s so much hands-on jungle-gym jumping and leaping around required that the experience starts to feel less like trail running and more like a new running sport: woodland parkour. </p><p>Instead of turning right onto that trail less travelled, though, I veer left. Onto a path that’s soon quite obviously even less travelled. The greenery closes in, whelms and then overwhelms, and finally dominates entirely. The trail turns into a notion of a trail, and I wing it by feel, unable to conceal my delirious grin. </p><p>Soon, though, the intensity increases. The ground starts to slope precipitously downward, and the pace quickens. I notice other racers around me, some surging ahead and others falling behind. The chase is on. One or two even come up the other way. It’s like some kind of crazy motocross competition, except on Hokas. We’re swooping, banking, and roller-coastering through the forest like dogfighting fighter-plane pilots. X-Wings evading TIEs inside the superstructure of the second Death Star. The adrenaline is thrilling. Intoxicating, even. I’m right in my wheelhouse and I’m loving it. </p><p>The terrain gets even wilder, and the pace escalates. Imperceptibly at first, the grade steepens, and the moves of the descent grow ever more challenging. Ledge drop-offs lengthen and leaps become the norm. Eventually I need to start grabbing dangling vines and loose roots to guide my controlled plunges. It’s a full-body effort. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_tVzlkLileWLXsoeeEUAx2v5EOG4p8JW7BywsY4POPuf8sMYN2H_KKFuyKylg4hOGFw_2nfQAXxGvToiZt5RFyeYTpL24cgrkIASMxoQ6__d4RDbx1hM4O2ZAYZbNtNlz-l5odo_d83XiDFKpqsCL958ZXPaHiakfIybnVZdtTDHD3_ix-rJq0nvrJw=s1538" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1538" data-original-width="1124" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_tVzlkLileWLXsoeeEUAx2v5EOG4p8JW7BywsY4POPuf8sMYN2H_KKFuyKylg4hOGFw_2nfQAXxGvToiZt5RFyeYTpL24cgrkIASMxoQ6__d4RDbx1hM4O2ZAYZbNtNlz-l5odo_d83XiDFKpqsCL958ZXPaHiakfIybnVZdtTDHD3_ix-rJq0nvrJw=w468-h640" width="468" /></a></div><p></p><p>The “trail” has now become a rock-climbing route on a bottomless forested cliff. I’m picking my next landing spots in mid-air, and never staying grounded for more than a second. It’s barely running anymore; it’s really more like basic flight. I know I’m in over my head but it’s past the point of no return. The route is more or less vertical, and I’m not a very good rock climber. It’s down or bust now. There are occasional slips and slides... and suddenly the first pangs of fear show up. </p><p>I’m not really afraid of heights. Not in the normal, paralyzing way. I can stand at the edge of mountain cliffs, or blissfully run along the steep ledges of Mt. Tom and enjoy the thrill. But some drop-offs wreck me. My friend was building a house once and we climbed the unfinished stairs to a second-floor landing overlooking his living room. There was no railing yet, though, just a 12-foot drop to the hard floor below. In that kind of situation my gut drops out and in my mind I feel my neck break on the hard floor below. THAT’s where I’m terrified of heights. That and slippery rock ledges. </p><p>And then it happens. Overhang. The next move requires descending to a ledge that isn’t just below me, it’s actually technically behind me. Tucked under the ledge I’m dangling from. And this is where I seize up. I know I can’t do that, especially not at this accelerated pace. I’m panic stricken and my body betrays me. My grip on the vine or ledge edge I’m clinging to starts to slip, and every fiber of my being realizes that this is it. I’m not going to make it. The Porsche is totally going in the lake. </p><p>That’s more or less where I wake up, of course. </p><p>I have died in dreams before, but it’s usually some form of getting fatally shot and then wondering why I’m still conscious. I don’t think I’ve ever literally fallen to my death in a dream. I’m glad I haven’t; I don’t think I’d like that. So the sudden return to consciousness feels like a fierce blend of anxiety and relief. But not here. The violent expulsion from my initially fun little woodland parkour session usually leaves me literally gasping, and preposterously tense. </p><p>So I always wonder. What if I jumped? What if I take that leap and there’s more to come. What if I just say… what the heck? Is there a satisfying ending to this tangerine dream? The answer is perfectly clear: yes, no, maybe. Ah, what the heck. It’s time to leap.</p><div><br /></div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-41751998452031615412021-02-24T12:31:00.004-05:002021-02-25T10:06:09.971-05:00Fresh Tracks<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjem1-tQJkyCGU0K3Q17PD7msbSOwzHObgKHH-fOGthJRZx2N_v2_8hgBafMaLvvsGititu8juzGuHrCeyffXtPZ-2ljgOpkXcehq7a3aJ8uaeYcUFUxc0ixjG98GbtLEIlZ_ueFHi5rmV_/s2048/aNFld_030b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1429" data-original-width="2048" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjem1-tQJkyCGU0K3Q17PD7msbSOwzHObgKHH-fOGthJRZx2N_v2_8hgBafMaLvvsGititu8juzGuHrCeyffXtPZ-2ljgOpkXcehq7a3aJ8uaeYcUFUxc0ixjG98GbtLEIlZ_ueFHi5rmV_/w640-h446/aNFld_030b.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p></p><p>On a chilly afternoon in late February, I set out on snowshoes at Northfield Mountain (in the northern part of the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts) with the goal of just seeing how the conditions were and getting a little exercise for the day. The trails weren’t groomed this year due to the pandemic so there’s been no charge and very few other people around most times I’ve gone. This time there were only six cars parked in the spacious lot. After following others’ tracks up the Hidden Quarry and Porcupine trails, the signs of fellow people out there diminished until all I saw were a few sets of Nordic ski tracks along the access road. I tromped through light powder alongside the tracks to the top of the mountain where the snow-covered reservoir gave me that vaguely sinister feeling that it sometimes does (somehow it just feels… unnatural up there). The sun felt good, though, and the exertion from climbing kept me just warm enough. With sunset approaching, I looked for a good return route, and found one. Descending the Bobcat and West Slope trails, gravity did its thing and tugged me into a run. Boisterous puffs of snow kicked up around me as I leap-jogged down numerous fun little drops and flung myself around twisty turns. Late-light sun filtered through the tree trunks, but the day felt fresh... and I looked forward to the future. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5SiDdvGfglG1Gs4t28EToZAqiv8H4prty0lJly3f8Pl9gwmH-MlvUi2-rBSbR0XqZ7fOpIgyKELRlUK4l-96jit_6eXaglnbaqUU-A6OGtOrtr24DRUQqBgRkEOG6QN_gwXs6OPXBDeo/s2048/NFld_010.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1460" data-original-width="2048" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5SiDdvGfglG1Gs4t28EToZAqiv8H4prty0lJly3f8Pl9gwmH-MlvUi2-rBSbR0XqZ7fOpIgyKELRlUK4l-96jit_6eXaglnbaqUU-A6OGtOrtr24DRUQqBgRkEOG6QN_gwXs6OPXBDeo/w200-h143/NFld_010.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8nndFA3u9QF7h4raXYg-RvTN5r2RUoxYto6FqDRjy5PlnAQ6Y9yB9N8cs2lQiZhyphenhyphen22dNPt6YuZ6lyq4aaiCvgTmaYH0Cx2CqvOV5y6IbbJVl-aW5-5ZDDTfYAjybhm_O6-DqFE7y2dfoC/s2048/NFld_022.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1418" data-original-width="2048" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8nndFA3u9QF7h4raXYg-RvTN5r2RUoxYto6FqDRjy5PlnAQ6Y9yB9N8cs2lQiZhyphenhyphen22dNPt6YuZ6lyq4aaiCvgTmaYH0Cx2CqvOV5y6IbbJVl-aW5-5ZDDTfYAjybhm_O6-DqFE7y2dfoC/w200-h139/NFld_022.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgALjhn8WfzdmyfvXHTjtNiUpwXamYhjFul6nYdtKMCr1KGpsqJo1EznLkErUDlaAlitf_1Y30ueHh9HHUNJbGEoLNy3Wi9YY0xt3fKQZXbCt0tnCfwMSzN9pjnsZm5mxUyQ_tqm2oOf6ML/s2048/NFld_041.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1398" data-original-width="2048" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgALjhn8WfzdmyfvXHTjtNiUpwXamYhjFul6nYdtKMCr1KGpsqJo1EznLkErUDlaAlitf_1Y30ueHh9HHUNJbGEoLNy3Wi9YY0xt3fKQZXbCt0tnCfwMSzN9pjnsZm5mxUyQ_tqm2oOf6ML/w400-h272/NFld_041.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0V6njzJffHjU56XqQBKd3JzJooAxRxADS__5WBxhghnbtJKzbBk3jS81x_kHm2aLae8QHeqT8sun4gkWlVbctlZE38N9KlixCrEG3-cWqvCIRDQlIWaLMHiQEz9j_KWAHBzXSIH_QkqMq/s2048/zNFld_049.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1555" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0V6njzJffHjU56XqQBKd3JzJooAxRxADS__5WBxhghnbtJKzbBk3jS81x_kHm2aLae8QHeqT8sun4gkWlVbctlZE38N9KlixCrEG3-cWqvCIRDQlIWaLMHiQEz9j_KWAHBzXSIH_QkqMq/s320/zNFld_049.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3lzSQa1FHMGt74FR6IAXXkId1xPgt9Xmy2rKef1cX2f39saAepq7q9XnB6LF0mbDLTHi_kS9AMmEJ2inKXpJPe6Xces0OEO7zxMtrav8hCqIHklmV6wRET4AYcQgB8kJ_IjeBEZGiGcs/s2048/zNFld_053.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1434" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3lzSQa1FHMGt74FR6IAXXkId1xPgt9Xmy2rKef1cX2f39saAepq7q9XnB6LF0mbDLTHi_kS9AMmEJ2inKXpJPe6Xces0OEO7zxMtrav8hCqIHklmV6wRET4AYcQgB8kJ_IjeBEZGiGcs/s320/zNFld_053.JPG" /></a><br /><br /></div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-68531517649306962002021-01-01T06:00:00.016-05:002021-01-03T15:39:57.935-05:00Reckoning Time 2: The Lost YearWell, it’s time to try writing a 2020 year-in-review for my blog. Huh. Umm, doesn’t my sock drawer need re-arranging again? Maybe I could head to the DMV to renew my license? Or scrub the toilet, keep my heart rate below 140 for more than a mile on a trail run, wash the back window of my car without ruining the defroster coils... try to fold some fitted sheets? I mean, jeez. <br /><br />Back on May 1st the cover story for the issue of my local running club’s newsletter that covered <a href="http://sugarloafmountainathletic.org/smacwp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/SMAC_Sun_2020_issue3_MayJune.pdf" target="_blank">March and April</a> was “The Lost Season,” which in hindsight reflected a way overly optimistic hope that we’d passed the worst of it by then. Now, many exhausting months later, we’re still stuck in the mess, and in too many measurable ways things have actually gotten worse. The lost season became the lost year. Compare the sarcasm of this post you're reading to my optimism of just <a href="http://benkimballphotography.blogspot.com/2020/01/reckoning-time-closing-out-past-decade.html" target="_blank">one exact year ago</a>. <br /><br />2020 was a year when all social groups and activities essentially had to go “on hold.” Bottom line: this year sucked socially. That said, the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were shipped and administered a few weeks ago. Even though it’s certain that the next few weeks and months will be the worst yet, there’s still very much hope on the near horizon. No one knows for sure, of course, and a lot will depend on how much we collectively are able to adhere to strict social distancing and masking guidelines, but it seems like a safe bet to predict that we will be able to gather in groups again, for races and other events, by sometime in mid-2021 (though that’s still just a guess). <br /><br />New Year’s Day has rarely felt so legitimately symbolic to me. I’m generally not an observer of anniversaries of things. I find the arbitrariness too off-putting. The Earth keeps circling around its star, and it takes 365 days to get back to the same spot in the orbit, but there’s no real start or finish line. Not to numbered years, especially. That’s just stuff that we invent. But this year it’s hard to ignore the metaphor. For real we are starting fresh, starting anew, starting again. Today we start 2021 with eyes on building back after a brutal 2020, restarting and hopefully coming back even better than before. We’re not quite out of the woods yet, but you can see the light. <div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ZaQ7StFlZXUFL_WRzA4yKsMcNmrHyTWezoqtqVfdsuyp18QjHe0NlodOlyPRP52oPK70RwTqWezxRQ8EwxiLAt5dYHKMdGR2aCJDQWuv-qyXbaqpVIsmxSyd5aEjtOC5YkRJs_3K3Ra5/s1276/greenlight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1276" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ZaQ7StFlZXUFL_WRzA4yKsMcNmrHyTWezoqtqVfdsuyp18QjHe0NlodOlyPRP52oPK70RwTqWezxRQ8EwxiLAt5dYHKMdGR2aCJDQWuv-qyXbaqpVIsmxSyd5aEjtOC5YkRJs_3K3Ra5/w400-h268/greenlight.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />And so we beat on, shoes against the pavement (or dirt), borne forward hopefully into the future. Fingers crossed for the promise of better times to come that will be at least as good as past times gone by, and hopefully even better. Miles logged not just for our current health and fitness but also for the lure of all those starting line guns still to come. I’m looking across the bay for that burning green light, in this case indicating that fateful word: “GO!” <br /><div><br /></div></div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-8232875864485069172020-11-02T15:46:00.009-05:002021-01-03T18:49:37.106-05:00resist<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8iQHAo_1r_wlXhF-SDDMsuO99cwEAdkVnG_vWBMwS-MKsTNpKHMEmkgoauBDJrGVIKRss63nAilanAHAstcSSp_ROT-rSZeC4kB169C40UhtfiHUXmX1OxaLTxPpDd4npLMPUb5grGVz0/s2048/Whip_109b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1308" data-original-width="2048" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8iQHAo_1r_wlXhF-SDDMsuO99cwEAdkVnG_vWBMwS-MKsTNpKHMEmkgoauBDJrGVIKRss63nAilanAHAstcSSp_ROT-rSZeC4kB169C40UhtfiHUXmX1OxaLTxPpDd4npLMPUb5grGVz0/w640-h408/Whip_109b.jpg" width="640" /></a>Fight the Future</div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-40825730437862411322020-05-02T11:56:00.000-04:002020-05-29T10:49:31.875-04:00Coronavirus Chronicles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Volume 1?</div>
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see the May 1 issue <a href="http://sugarloafmountainathletic.org/smacwp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/SMAC_Sun_2020_issue3_MayJune.pdf" target="_blank">here</a> (opens in a new window)</div>
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When the time came to start pulling together the latest issue of the Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club's newsletter, <i>The Sugarloaf Sun</i>, we had just started to shut everything down due to COVID-19 (is that officially all caps? I haven't been able to tell for sure). Races were cancelled and all group gatherings were called off, and I wasn't sure that there was actually going to be enough material to fill out an issue. Well, aren't I a fool. The SMAC members came through, as they always do. This new issue features all sorts of terrific articles and artwork about the crazy times we're in, all from the perspective of local runners. I'm so pleased with how it turned out; enjoy some good reading!<br />
<br />Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-2447866831773570602020-02-29T16:06:00.000-05:002020-05-29T10:49:57.677-04:00Happy Leap DayHard to believe that it’s been a full four years since <a href="https://benkimballphotography.blogspot.com/2016/02/leap-day.html">my last leaper post</a>, but it’s true!<br />
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For your leapin’ amusement, here's my full 2020 Leap Year photo gallery: <a href="https://northeastracephoto.smugmug.com/2020-Races/Leapers-2">https://northeastracephoto.smugmug.com/2020-Races/Leapers-2</a><br />
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“When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap.” <br />
— Cynthia Heimel<br />
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the joy of the leap</div>
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“Enthusiasm is the leaping lightning, not to be measured by the horse-power of the understanding.”</div>
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— Ralph Waldo Emerson<br />
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“Athletes have studied how to leap and how to survive the leap some of the time and return to the ground. They don't always do it well. But they are our philosophers of actual moments and the body and soul in them, and of our maneuvers in our emergencies and longings.”<br />
— Harold Brodkey<br />
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Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-74633432731694410842020-01-01T08:00:00.004-05:002021-01-03T18:50:15.370-05:00Reckoning Time: Closing Out the Past Decade / Beginning AnewTen years ago this month the world wasn’t so different. The first iPads appeared; they’re a dime a dozen today. In Dubai, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper opened and became the tallest building in the world; it still is. Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga were really popular; same. I was living in Concord, NH, pretty deep into a triathlon training phase; now I run, bike, and swim as often as I can (though admittedly there are fewer Half-Ironmans and such on my schedule these days). <div><br /></div><div>As a member of a local multisport club back then (Capital Multisport), I raced a fun winter triathlon at Gunstock Mountain. In a pleasant surprise, I won the short course race! True, my young-punk friend Ryan Kelly won the long course in about the same amount of time, but still... I hadn’t come in first in a long, long time, and it felt pretty darn good :o) The course was a hilly, 4K trail run on snow, a very tough 3.5K mountain bike route (also on snow), and a 3K XC ski loop (on snow, obviously). With fairly soft snow conditions, the bike part was terrifically hard, and I took one fall on the first hill where my front tire sunk in a deep drift; I pitched over the handlebars and the bike landed ON me. It was hard for everyone though, and while it all sounds pretty absurd (which it was) it really was absurdly fun! Just remembering and writing about it here makes me want to pop on my running snowshoes and hit a race in the Dion series soon. Or dust off the ol’ Nordic planks for some kickgliding miles at Northfield Mountain or Notchview. </div><div><br /></div><div>I came into triathlons by accident when a stress fracture at the 2007 Clarence Demar Marathon forced me to drop at mile 19 and pushed me into the pool for a few months. A friend gave me an old bike and by mid-2008 I’d completed my first sprint tri; the injury was such a gift in disguise. The multisport training left me better balanced, and all-around stronger. Since that time, I moved to the Valley and shifted my then very regular hiking jaunts in the White Mountains to more local exploratory trail runs, and you probably know what that led to (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Trail-Running-Western-Massachusetts-Kimball/dp/1611687861" target="_blank">this</a>). Today I find myself running about half roads and half trails, with plenty of other activities mixed in. I’m happy with the variety, and hope to keep going strong in 2020. </div><div><br /></div><div>There’s certainly plenty enough to do; there's lots of upcoming local snowshoe races and Winter Wild type events on deck for the next few months. Winter won’t slow me down and I plan to start the new decade off right today with runs like the annual Sawmill River 10K in Montague. </div><div><br /></div><div>The past few months have been busy too. Smaller events like the 9K for K9 and Gorge Apres Gorge races, and a Hoka demo day on the icy trails at Mt. Warner, were heartwarmingly very well attended despite unseasonably frigid temps for November/December. Girls on the Run hosted a successful event in November. And our local claim to trail running infamy, the Seven Sisters Trail Race, sold out for 2020 in just under 24 hours a few weeks ago; that’s 500 spots snatched up for a race that’s still over four months away! </div><div><br /></div><div>While my local running club (<a href="http://sugarloafmountainathletic.org/" target="_blank">SMAC</a>) doesn’t have any regular planned group runs lined up for this winter, hill workouts are scheduled return in the spring. In the meantime, Marathon Sports in Northampton offers weekly social runs every Thursday evening at 6:30. Led by Jeff Hansen, around 20 people or so start at the store and run a 4 to 5 mile route around downtown. Camaraderie generally ensues. Neither speed nor experience are required; the runs will often break up by paces into small groups and no one gets left behind. Bonus: no purchase necessary! </div><div><br /></div><div>As we say sayonara to the 2010s (with their Westeros, Thanos, and Skywalkers; their Hokas, Pipers, Pelotons, goops, reboots, serials, snaps, and tweets; their culture bubbles, Boston Bombings, sub-2-hour marathons, and Flanagan and Linden victories), let’s all aim to be as awesome and strong as we wanna be in the New Roaring Twenties to come. </div><div><br /></div>Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-17926030583655931832019-11-02T19:11:00.000-04:002020-01-20T12:41:36.735-05:00The Evolution of UltraEvery two months my local running club, the Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club, puts out a sweet newsletter: <i>The Sugarloaf Sun</i>. For the past four years, I've been lucky enough to have the role of editor, helping shepherd each issue to publication. We've got a deep well of talented and generous writers and artists who contribute regularly, and honestly, although it takes a bit out of me each time, it's very rewarding.<br />
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The latest issue adhered (loosely) to the theme of running ultramarathons, and specifically the evolution of ultras over the years from simply being "any footrace longer than a marathon" to all sorts of crazy events that big-mile runners can think up to play with. A pdf copy of the issue can be read <a href="http://sugarloafmountainathletic.org/smacwp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/SMAC_Sun_2019_issue6_NovDec.pdf" target="_blank">here</a> on the Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club's website, and links to other past issues can be found <a href="http://sugarloafmountainathletic.org/general/sun-newsletters/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8252796009016871746.post-47908255958004387852019-10-29T10:52:00.000-04:002020-01-20T15:53:50.500-05:00TobyDark clouds hunkered down and settled in over the Pioneer Valley of western MA on October 27. Rain fell steadily throughout the morning, and a chilly wind whipped the steel struts of the fire tower at the summit of Mt. Toby in Sunderland. Nevertheless, a sizable field of 65 apparently impervious runners turned out to line up at the start of the annual 14-mile Mt. Toby Trail Race.<br />
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Goofy smiles and stubborn good cheer remained evident on racers faces as they neared the aid station at mile 4. Some even leaped for the camera or remarked on how much fun they found themselves having despite being soaked to the bone already. By the time they re-passed the same spot around mile 10, after having climbed to and descended from the top of the mountain most seemed notably more tired, yet everyone still seemed to retain positive attitudes and spirit. I'll remember this race when I want to remember how tough runners can be when the going gets rough. Inspiration fuel!<br />
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<br />Ben Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253696012552194569noreply@blogger.com0