Friday, March 2, 2012

River's 10 Feet High & Risin

Well, not really, but we've had a lot of rain this week.  Two inches or so on Wednesday, which caused some small stream flooding.  Glad it wasn't snow or we would still be digging out.  It's supposed to rain fairly hard again late today, so I'm trying to get my head around the idea of wet feet for my trail runs this weekend.  Wait, aren't my feet always wet from running trails here in the Mon (Monongahela National Forest)?

The main trail through the Otter Creek Wilderness is wet most of the time.  Parts of it are muddy and wet, even during the dry season.  I'm not certain, but I've always thought this was due to natural springs that leak onto the trail in many places.  With all of the rain, I'll literally be running down the middle of a small creek (splash, splash, splat -- LOL).

My long run for this weekend is only 12, so I won't have to ford the main Otter Creek.  It would be dangerous to try and cross.  Hopefully the water recedes some by next weekend, but I'll worry about that then, when I try to tackle the Possession Camp (see my "A New Trail" blog) Trail again.

One of the trails I'll run tomorrow is the Yellow Creek Trail.  Two weeks ago, I followed  a bear track (cub of the year) in the snow for about a mile on this trail.  I thought that was way cool.  Many people think Black Bears hibernate all winter long, but here in the East they get up and move around.  I think with our unseasonably mild winter this year, many of the hibernating species have been moving about.  There probably isn't any snow left on the trails this weekend, following the hard rain and warm temperatures earlier in the week.  Just mud and water.  I'm already looking forward to a hot shower!

                                           "...cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run."
                                                                  Bruce Springsteen

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