On The Trail
This morning, I went out for a trail run. Time wasn't critical, so if I got lost, aside from the extra demands on my body, there'd be no price. I arrived at the park and started my run at 6:50 AM.
The park I was in was Watchung Reservation, a Union County Park. I started out with a couple of simple goals; to learn some other trails and more geography of the park, and to get a good workout. I began my run by following a simple rule as I looped the end of Lake Surprise and began my journey west, keep to the right. The early stages of the run found me using some narrow trails that are often shared by horses, so I had to sometimes avoid a "squishy." (Let's just say that aside from horseshoe prints, I didn't want to plant a foot in the other thing they leave behind.) Several times, I got the burst of adrenaline as a chipmunk went wild or a bullfrog splashed as they realized my approach.
Eventually, I found myself passing the road to Feltville, then I was quickly onto single track. Some of which seemed to have seen little or no traffic this season. Through much of this section and occasionally later, the wild roses and blackberries were writing of their presence in scratches on my legs.
At one point, I passed a little tent, with PVC pipe for supports, a solid roof and screen sides. I'm not sure if it's the home of a homeless person or some debris from a careless camper. Just after that, the trail bent downhill, following a wash over a fairly solid surface of the schist? (shale?) that makes up the Watchung ridge. It's some type of rock that breaks into very angular pieces, that seem to favor a size in about the 3" range. On hitting another trail, I made the right determined by my plan.
I eventually made my way to a roadway, if my interpretation of the map I looked at is correct, I was at the corner of Valley Road and Glenside Ave, and the body of water should have been Seeley's Pond. I headed up the hill on the roadway, and was soon overtaken by a woman riding a bike up the hill. I greeted her, and she replied. She was to be the only person out of a car I'd see until the end of my workout.
Some 80 meters up the road, there was a break in the guardrail on the road. I went in, ignoring the "Construction - No Trespassing" signs. I followed the roadway into the park (they seemed to be doing drainage work, and were installing catchbasins with manholes in the road). After some dancing over downed trees in the bottoms of the park, I found a steep hill rising to my left. I thought this may be the hill that Feltville is located on, and sure enough, shortly, a bridge over the stream on my right appeared. It was behind Feltville, and recognizing terrain for the first time in quite a while.
I crossed the bridge, then began climbing the trail on the other side. I'd taken this trail once before, so when I got to a split, rather than following the ravine that would take me back to Lake Surprise, I headed to the right, up over the top of the edge of the hill. My choice to explore was quickly rewarded, as I suddenly found myself running trail perched on the edge of a steep gorge that was about 25 feet deep. From its appearance, it became a cataract in times of heavy rain. The trail suddenly cut right, following the gorge, and the far end of the bend was a wall of rock. This whole section was a bit startling to see, yet quite delightful.
As I continued along the path, I was eventually faced with a choice, I'd intersected a bigger trail, marked with yellow blazes, do I go left or do I go right? Although my gut said that left was the short way back, I chose right. I followed the yellow trail. It seemed to follow an out and back routing. Here I saw one of the very few pieces of trash on my journey, a Poland Spring water bottle stuck on the branch of a sapling, I think to mark an sudden and not very well marked turn. Along this section of trail, I found myself turning my ankles a bit more than on the wilder sections. I think the more worn trail tends to erode more rapidly, leaving more rocks half exposed.
As I continued, I came to another decision point. I could either follow the yellow trail or transition to a trail marked with green and white. On looking at their routes, the green and white seemed to approach an open area sooner. I was guessing that that open area meant civilization. I followed the green and white, and soon was crossing a bridge and ascending a flight of stairs made of logs with crushed rock behind. I went through a log gateway and arrived on a paved road. I immediately recognized the spot, I was just about 300 meters from my car. I popped onto the roadway, and started to head towards my car. I passed camp counselors heading to work in the park and two older women walking. Then I retrieved my keys, got some water from the car, and did some stretching. The time I arrived back was 8:04 AM.
I guess the one really interesting point was how easy it was following the little used single track. I guess once a path is well worn, it takes a long time to wipe it out. Sorry for the rambling nature of this post, I guess I felt a ramble in the woods deserved a ambling post. Now, it's time to shower, both to rid myself of stink (and in the 100°F weather, that'll last about an hour) and to reduce the chance of an outbreak of poison ivy in case I'd met up with any.
The park I was in was Watchung Reservation, a Union County Park. I started out with a couple of simple goals; to learn some other trails and more geography of the park, and to get a good workout. I began my run by following a simple rule as I looped the end of Lake Surprise and began my journey west, keep to the right. The early stages of the run found me using some narrow trails that are often shared by horses, so I had to sometimes avoid a "squishy." (Let's just say that aside from horseshoe prints, I didn't want to plant a foot in the other thing they leave behind.) Several times, I got the burst of adrenaline as a chipmunk went wild or a bullfrog splashed as they realized my approach.
Eventually, I found myself passing the road to Feltville, then I was quickly onto single track. Some of which seemed to have seen little or no traffic this season. Through much of this section and occasionally later, the wild roses and blackberries were writing of their presence in scratches on my legs.
At one point, I passed a little tent, with PVC pipe for supports, a solid roof and screen sides. I'm not sure if it's the home of a homeless person or some debris from a careless camper. Just after that, the trail bent downhill, following a wash over a fairly solid surface of the schist? (shale?) that makes up the Watchung ridge. It's some type of rock that breaks into very angular pieces, that seem to favor a size in about the 3" range. On hitting another trail, I made the right determined by my plan.
I eventually made my way to a roadway, if my interpretation of the map I looked at is correct, I was at the corner of Valley Road and Glenside Ave, and the body of water should have been Seeley's Pond. I headed up the hill on the roadway, and was soon overtaken by a woman riding a bike up the hill. I greeted her, and she replied. She was to be the only person out of a car I'd see until the end of my workout.
Some 80 meters up the road, there was a break in the guardrail on the road. I went in, ignoring the "Construction - No Trespassing" signs. I followed the roadway into the park (they seemed to be doing drainage work, and were installing catchbasins with manholes in the road). After some dancing over downed trees in the bottoms of the park, I found a steep hill rising to my left. I thought this may be the hill that Feltville is located on, and sure enough, shortly, a bridge over the stream on my right appeared. It was behind Feltville, and recognizing terrain for the first time in quite a while.
I crossed the bridge, then began climbing the trail on the other side. I'd taken this trail once before, so when I got to a split, rather than following the ravine that would take me back to Lake Surprise, I headed to the right, up over the top of the edge of the hill. My choice to explore was quickly rewarded, as I suddenly found myself running trail perched on the edge of a steep gorge that was about 25 feet deep. From its appearance, it became a cataract in times of heavy rain. The trail suddenly cut right, following the gorge, and the far end of the bend was a wall of rock. This whole section was a bit startling to see, yet quite delightful.
As I continued along the path, I was eventually faced with a choice, I'd intersected a bigger trail, marked with yellow blazes, do I go left or do I go right? Although my gut said that left was the short way back, I chose right. I followed the yellow trail. It seemed to follow an out and back routing. Here I saw one of the very few pieces of trash on my journey, a Poland Spring water bottle stuck on the branch of a sapling, I think to mark an sudden and not very well marked turn. Along this section of trail, I found myself turning my ankles a bit more than on the wilder sections. I think the more worn trail tends to erode more rapidly, leaving more rocks half exposed.
As I continued, I came to another decision point. I could either follow the yellow trail or transition to a trail marked with green and white. On looking at their routes, the green and white seemed to approach an open area sooner. I was guessing that that open area meant civilization. I followed the green and white, and soon was crossing a bridge and ascending a flight of stairs made of logs with crushed rock behind. I went through a log gateway and arrived on a paved road. I immediately recognized the spot, I was just about 300 meters from my car. I popped onto the roadway, and started to head towards my car. I passed camp counselors heading to work in the park and two older women walking. Then I retrieved my keys, got some water from the car, and did some stretching. The time I arrived back was 8:04 AM.
I guess the one really interesting point was how easy it was following the little used single track. I guess once a path is well worn, it takes a long time to wipe it out. Sorry for the rambling nature of this post, I guess I felt a ramble in the woods deserved a ambling post. Now, it's time to shower, both to rid myself of stink (and in the 100°F weather, that'll last about an hour) and to reduce the chance of an outbreak of poison ivy in case I'd met up with any.
posted by Scooter at 8:45 AM
1 Comments:
where can i find more info on running trails in watchung reservation. i'm not familiar with the area. just started running in south mnt, off south orange ave.
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