Back to Winter?

Well, this morning just proves that sometimes you have to eat your words... after saying yesterday that I thought I'd be sticking to the powerlines and avoiding the Cathance trails, what did I do this morning but head to the Cathance? Ryan and John were out snowshoeing last night along the river, and said it was surprising good, so I figured I'd give it a try. Not to mention, the wind is whipping like crazy and the thought of the open powerlines on a cold morning in all this wind.... brrr! So, this morning, I headed out a little after 6:00 am from the ecology center lot, as a thin sliver of moon hung low in the deep turquoise sky. The trails were incredibly firm, and very noisy! Between the crunching of the snow beneath my snowshoes, the roar of the river and the whipping wind, it was not a peaceful, quiet morning run :)

I really wish I had been able to run without the snowshoes, and I think in some spots I could have gotten away with it, but I know that likely there would have been a fair amount of postholing and then Ryan would have had my head ;) I can hardly believe I was out on March 18th in snowshoes on packed trails without any ice and no bare spots. Winter still has us in its grip, I guess.

I ran along the river, then out to do the Ravine Trail loop. I crossed the bridge to head out toward Head of Tides, but was thwarted on the big hill, which was partially bare and partially ice. I am sure I could have figured out a way up, but I wasn't feeling that ambitious :) The trails were littered with pine needles and small branches brought down by the wind, and the surface was variable but overall, the trails were in good shape. The woods protected me from the wind, and it really was a pretty morning to be out for an hour-long snowshoe.