Afternoon Sunshine Run

Headed out into the sunshine at lunchtime today for a trail run. Couldn't quite make myself don the snowshoes or hit the roads, so I had to just take what I could get on the trails, but luckily, that was pretty darn good! Ran the powerlines to Highland Green Road, which were fairly soft with the exception of a thin ribbon that had been packed down by some mountain bikes with fat tires. Surprisingly, in the sunny spots, the snow was pretty thin with sand showing through. I took the back dirt road out, which were perfect for screwshoes, to the Cathance trails. These trails sure do get a lot of traffic! Things were fairly well packed by snowshoers and skiers along the river for the first portion of the trail, after which things got a bit softer and there was more slipping around as I meandered my way along the Rapids loop and back up to the field. The river was covered with a layer of snow, so things seemed a lot less dramatic than when I was out there last, but it was still gorgeous on a bright and sunny afternoon. A lot of animal traffic out there - they definitely make use of the packed trail too - smart little things :-)

When I got back to Highland Green Road, I ran the Heath loop, which had also seen a lot of traffic, but mostly of walkers and hikers, so it was fairly churned up. Returned via the back road and the powerlines again for a nice 8.5 miles. Sure can't complain about getting out on the trails today!