She Says: This section had a little bit of everything – rain and sunshine, heat and cold, uphills and downhills, whiny parts and smiley parts. But the best it had to offer was near the end… but I’ll get to that.
We ended our last run at the FR71 trailhead, really a snowmobile traile, hoping to cross-country ski this next 9-mile section. However, real life and weather issues got in the way of that plan, so instead of strapping on skis, we just laced up the trusty old running shoes since the snow is now long gone. We were anticipating a classic spring slog through muddy trails most of the way, but lo and behold, the route turned out to be a beautifully dry, level and graded dirt road, just dandy for running.
The woods were shimmering in that early spring green glow, with splashes of white flowering dogwood everywhere. We noticed weird patches of white bubbling foam at the base of a lot of bronze birches – haven’t figured that out yet.
It was a run of many moveable layers of clothing as the weather did its thing. We started out just as the rain cleared away; it was a brisk 50 degrees. Two miles in, the clouds were parting and the sun was steaming things up. I was hot, running sleeveless, shirt and rain jacket flapping around my waist. Six miles in, we were bundled up again, listening to loud bursts of menacing thunder. Eight miles in, it was pouring and cold – that quick, cold blast of storm that is whispering, “there might be hail coming…” but luckily, just cold rain. And then…a double dose of Tour Magic!
First, we both looked up the road to see a low, narrow band of a rainbow crossing the road in front of us like a belt. Not an arched, way-up-ahead somewhere-over-the-rainbow, but a flat, straight one right there in front of us, sort of like a finish line banner stretched across the road ahead. It hovered for a bit, we marveled at it, then poof – it was gone.
And then, during the last mile, just 50 yards or so to our right, just off the road, we spotted a big, lumbering, classically clumsy looking moose, stomping through the wet soggy woods. Startled by our footsteps, it did a surprisingly lithe, moose getaway maneuver into the deeper piney woods. It was soaking wet, more dark grey than moose brown, and yes, as big as a horse!
Finished the run as hungry as a horse, slugged down some chocolate milk, tasty snacks, and drove home, waiting for my fingers to warm back up. Brrr….but oh yeah, another good, fun run that felt just a little bit like an adventure.
He says: Another great day on our journey. Now that Boston is over and we almost have our legs back we were able to do leg 4 together. We had ended the last leg on Forest Road 71 with the plan for leg 4 to be on XC skis (as FR 71 is a snowmobile route during the winter). As it turned out we did not get to this leg before the snow ran out. We planned only an 11 mile leg thinking FR 71 would be a rutted muddy jeep path through the woods and weather was iffy. As it turned out with Federal Recovery $ the road was an excellent dirt road! Weather was odd – rain and wind to start, then sun with us stripping off layers in the warmth, then thunderstorms followed by more sun. The route was beautiful with lots of spring runoff, beaver ponds, spring flowers etc. We ran the whole thing together with frequent stops to check out/photo fun sites.
Unusual sightings marked this run. First I (running as usual without glasses) commented “there’s some snow at the base of that birch!” Lizzy, the skeptic, said “no way” and investigated to discover it was a pile of foam that was forming on the tree trunk and running down to the base. Must have been something on the birch bark that reacted with the rain to form foam. We saw lots more of as we went on.
After finishing the 8.5 miles of FR71 we passed the Daniel Webster Memorial site on Arlington Stratton Road and had to stop. Daniel Webster addressed 15,000 Whig party members in a field here in the 1840’s – Vermont has preserved the open field and marked it with a plaque on a rock. As we were leaving we were hit by one of those rain showers through bright sunshine. As the sun was lowering in the west at our backs it formed a low local rainbow that crossed the road about 100 yards in front of us. As we ran towards it, it opened up for us to pass. Trail magic!
Then, about ½ mile later we heard some noises to our right in the woods along a little stream. This was a moose that probably had been grazing there not noticed by the sparse traffic on this dirt road but a little troubled by our proximity on foot. It trotted off through the woods…
Our legs were a bit tired when we reached the car but our spirits were reinvigorated to continue our trek!
He says: Another great day on our journey. Now that Boston is over and we almost have our legs back we were able to do leg 4 together. We had ended the last leg on Forest Road 71 with the plan for leg 4 to be on XC skis (as FR 71 is a snowmobile route during the winter). As it turned out we did not get to this leg before the snow ran out. We planned only an 11 mile leg thinking FR 71 would be a rutted muddy jeep path through the woods and weather was iffy. As it turned out with Federal Recovery $ the road was an excellent dirt road! Weather was odd – rain and wind to start, then sun with us stripping off layers in the warmth, then thunderstorms followed by more sun. The route was beautiful with lots of spring runoff, beaver ponds, spring flowers etc. We ran the whole thing together with frequent stops to check out/photo fun sites.
Unusual sightings marked this run. First I (running as usual without glasses) commented “there’s some snow at the base of that birch!” Lizzy, the skeptic, said “no way” and investigated to discover it was a pile of foam that was forming on the tree trunk and running down to the base. Must have been something on the birch bark that reacted with the rain to form foam. We saw lots more of as we went on.
After finishing the 8.5 miles of FR71 we passed the Daniel Webster Memorial site on Arlington Stratton Road and had to stop. Daniel Webster addressed 15,000 Whig party members in a field here in the 1840’s – Vermont has preserved the open field and marked it with a plaque on a rock. As we were leaving we were hit by one of those rain showers through bright sunshine. As the sun was lowering in the west at our backs it formed a low local rainbow that crossed the road about 100 yards in front of us. As we ran towards it, it opened up for us to pass. Trail magic!
Then, about ½ mile later we heard some noises to our right in the woods along a little stream. This was a moose that probably had been grazing there not noticed by the sparse traffic on this dirt road but a little troubled by our proximity on foot. It trotted off through the woods…
Our legs were a bit tired when we reached the car but our spirits were reinvigorated to continue our trek!
