“The Loop” with a twist

The venerable Spring Loop, in a whole new light, or NOT!This was my second Loop of the year, I think. Back in May(?) several of us did it, and the most important change was the news that the General Store was going out of business. Oh well, even the most respected of traditions must evolve.

Spuds could not participate on our last loop. He is now deep into Virgil Crest training. Three “good things” for Spuds’ training: Cool, dark, long duration.The die was cast. Spuds and I would do a night Spring Loop. We met Friday after work, and headed Northwest. We left a substantial cache of food/fluids/caffeine/batteries where the AT (bow heads, speak in whispers) meets West Cornwall Road. Then we drove the 7.5 miles to the traditional start.

We hit the trail at 7:15PM. The early running was in the light. “Sunrise Rocks” at sunset was a novelty. By time we re-entered the woods past Johnson Road, it was getting pretty dark. Our pace slowed substantially. Well before Leech Pond, we were in complete darkness. Spuds definitely knows how to “walk with a purpose”, so I tucked in behind and resolved to not fall behind, as I did at Manitou’s Revenge. At the 2nd beaver pond, we heard the amazingly loud slap of an irate beaver’s tail striking the water. Not terribly long afterward, the “highlight” (pun intended) of the dark night occurred. Spuds spotted two eyes reflecting our headlamps. Based on their size and spacing it was a largish animal, but low to the ground. Spuds said it was not a deer, but I suggested it could be a young deer laying down. As we got closer, the eyes started moving slowly away from the trail, still low to the ground. Finally the animal came into view, as it stopped to view us carefully. It was a bobcat!

On the way to Dean’s Ravine we followed the new reroute of the trail which adds a little distance and a little more single-track to The Loop. The falls were loud but invisible, and we ran by a couple camping at the base of the falls in the ravine with a very welcoming campfire. They offered us some smores, but we thought it best to keep moving. Once out on Music Mountain road we took about 10 seconds to convince each other to skip “The Magic”. There was a bright moon that allowed us to run the road with headlamps off. All too quickly, we were climbing Belter’s Bump.

This next section, along the AT (see above) normally has spectacular views, and often sounds, of the race track at Lime Rock. Not tonight. Clouds were beginning to partially obscure the moon, and the moon was headed towards the western horizon, despite the time being just past midnight. We were battling minor fatigue and major spiders. Many times our headlamps caught these massive sparkling perfectly crafted webs with equally impressive (I.E. “frightening”) spiders dead center on the trail. Spuds even became adept at picking up the eight glowing eyes reflecting his headlamp. I stayed behind, and thanked my good luck for my poor eyesight! Shortly after 2AM, we uncovered our “aid station”, unmolested by animals and hikers. Water, snacks, fresh batteries, Coca-Cola, and Red Bull. We were ready to roll again. Quickly.

The next stretch had lots of unidentified animals calling to each other. They seemed to be in the trees all around us, but I do not think they were birdS. I am guessing Fishers. We cleared that area pretty quickly. Soon enough, we were plunging off Breadloaf Mountain with no promise of a stop at the store! Instead, our reward was an immediate ascent up Dark Entry Road.

By the time we got above the falls past Dudleytown, I was showing no signs of Red Bull ingestion. In fact, I started trying to sell Spuds on the idea of a nap. I was really worried about sleepwalking off the plunge down into the meadow at the horse farm in Cornwall. I consumed a 5 Hour Energy, and came “back”. Also, before we got to the big downclimb, the sun came up. The meadow at the electric fence was wet and VERY overgrown. Soon, we were back in to Cathedral Pines. We disturbed sheep and their shepherds (dogs) climbing Mohawk, and swiftly moved down the road (not trail) to our car. Well over 12 hours. That is one tough trail in the dark!

It goes without saying that there was breakfast at the diner. Spuds is planning another Spring Loop, VERY soon. Ask him for details. Nothing crazy like nighttime, although he was musing about doing it backwards!