Diamond Hill and some other fun stuff

Okay, how is one brief when you pack a 22.5k race, major shopping , a run up and down  the most climbed mountain in the USA and a taste of a Grand Tree 50k course into one report? I will do my best.

First, the Grand Tree series Diamond Hill 22.5K

Shellygirl and I arrived about 1 hour ahead of the start.  The Diamond Hill/ Birchwold 22k was the first step in our annual fall get-a-way.  We knew it  would be an interesting race when we went up to the Haunted House ticket booth to register. Great shirts and a race day entry fee of $20 made us feel like we got our monies worth before we even started.

So… Here is the start. There is a major hill about 200 yards into the race. How do you know? Well the race director yells ” start” and then about ten seocnds later he yells “start going up the hill!”. So our day begins. Diamond Hill is a small,  well run,  race that is definitely worth the drive. Fairly technical, but lots of diverse terrain including single track, open field running, a few times one must go through water and even some road (a little more than a mile in total). Apparently Shellygirl and I were lucky,  because we heard horror stories after the race about having to swim some sections in a particularly wet year. Only got knee high this time around! Both of us ran well and our final serious training for the Bluff  was off to a great start. Both Shelly Girl and I highly recommend this race. Very fun!

After the race we drove to the Wrenthem Mall and a few hours of shopping. This was a race of a totally different kind but Shellygirl is the master of the outlet Mall loop and we negotiateiad the entire place in a little less than 3 hours. With purchases in hand we pressed on.  Next stop a hotel and food. With very little problem we found a nice place to rest for the night and after pizza and some beverages we called it a day, still not sure what we would do for our four hour run the next day.

Sunday morning we awoke to another amazing day weatherwise and decided to skip the Pigsah plans and turn our sights to Mount Monadnock. My students have been telling me for years that this is a great climb and a little google research told us that it is the most climbed mountain in the USA and the second most climbed mountain in the world!  Well, being only an hour away we said “let’s go”. We arrived at 8:30 and aafterwards we would find out that we were lucky to get there fairly early.  If you go, go early.  When we left, the parking lot was full and they were not allowing people to enter!.  Anyway, upon arrival, I asked the ranger what he suggested for a four hour run. He said “don’t run”. After a few minutes of assuring him we would be safe he directed us to an ascent that turned out to be amazing.  Perhaps there is a better way to go up but I doubt it.  First, it was runnable for the vast majority of the ascent.  Second,  there were very few people who chose this route and, third, it was an amazingly beautiful day and you are above treeline  for a long time. Stunning vistas abound. So, here it is Bimler’s, the magic route for trail runners to the summit of Mount Monadnock. White Dot Trail to Cascade Link to Pumpelly Trail to the Summit. Amazing!

The summit was great and Shellygirl and I stayed as long as we could, to enjoy the sun and the views.  After about 30 minutes we grew tired of the hoards of people, especially the young boy scout who kept yelling “it was easy” and “I beat all of you up here” and “man the flies are big up here”, and headed down.

It had only taken us 1 and 1/2 hours to ascend so we looked over the map and tried to find a way to go down in about 2 and 1/2 hours to complete our goal of a 4 hour run. No luck, but we picked a really nice route for the descent. White Arrow to Slide Foot to Smith Connector to Cliff Walk to Lost Farm Trail to Parker Trail. Some great sights along the way, inlcuding  Bald Rock and Thoreau’s Seat. Plus, we could run  and the downhills were somewhat less steep  due to the switchback nature of these particular trails (not much running on white arrow)

Getting back to our car we were an hour and change short of our four hour goal. We decided to car bushwhack about thirty miles over to our original destination of  Mount Pisgah and sample a bit of the 50K that is a part of the Grand Tree Series.

We got to the Kilburn Loop parking lot and took off. Our loop consisted of the Davis Hill Trail to the Baker Pond Trail to the Pisgah Ridge Trail to the Kilburn Loop and back to the car. Shellygirl and I both thought these were terrific trails and, if they are any indication of the Mount Pisgah 50K course, we are in for the race next year. Not overly full of vistas to be amazed by but the running was effortless. Very clean single track and no walking hills to be found. It was an amazing way to end our final Bimler training run.  We felt like we could run forever.

Well, this report has gone on longer than I had hoped but it was an awesome weekend and we wanted to share these terrific races and running routes with the rest of you. On to the Bluff! 

Lefty and Shelly Girl