15 years ago: March 2010 - I started out the month on the sidelines finishing out my two week sentence on the injured reserves from the foot woes that had plagued me since mid-January. I headed out to help out at the Hawley Kiln snowshoe, but they really didn’t need any help. Ken Clark suggested that I run the race. I figured I could handle 4.6 miles if I didn’t do a warm-up. Tim Mahoney and Tim Van Orden took off like they were shot out of a canon. I caught TiMA just before we exited the single-track and got back on the snowmobile trail. I hit the line pretty tired but pretty happy to make it through. My foot felt pretty decent (no worse at least) and it was fun to be back out in the woods competing. Results:
1. Tim Van Orden 38:58 CMS 40+ 2. Dave Dunham 41:45 CMS 40+ 3. Tim Mahoney 42:13 CMS 4. Ken Clark 44:07
The next weekend I headed up for the final race in the NH series in the pouring rain. The field was pretty small (34) probably because of the nasty weather, but conditions were great for racing. Jim Johnson and Kevin Tilton took off quickly to the front with Geoff Cunningham in tow for the early going. I was in 15th place by the mile and working harder than I had hoped. I was definitely feeling better as I shifted into low gear and started climbing. Kevin and JJ finished in a dead heat with both of them not giving an inch to the other and actually diving across the line. 1 Kevin Tilton 46:14 CMS 2 Jim Johnson 46:14 CMS 3 Geoff Cunningham 50:49 Acidotic 4 Dave Dunham 51:38 CMS 40+
The following weekend I headed west for the final snowshoe race of the season. Eric Morse and I were planning on doing some hiking after the race then bagging a bunch of peaks on Sunday morning. 70 degree temperatures felt way too warm for late March. This was the first time I’d done a snowshoe race in shorts/singlet. We’d climb for 950’ in the first 1.2 miles then zip down over about 1.4 miles. I hit the top in 15:14 and was 29 seconds back at that point. It took me all of 8:41 to cover the 1.4 miles back to the base. I was pleased with the effort but finished 1:11 slower than last year and 1:07 behind Ross Krause.
Eric and I did a two mile warm-down then headed out for a run/hike up Alander Mountain and bag the county high point on the west slope. On Sunday we met up with my High School teammate, and great friend, Jim Sullivan. We were planning on hiking to the highest point in CT and visiting the tri-State point where MA/CT/NY met.
After some picture taking we were off again, we hit the CT/NY/MA tri-state marker in another 11 minutes (total time 1:06) and again stopped for some pictures. Next up we climbed up out of the coll to the top of North Brace and the connection with the Taconic Crest Trail. The view from this 2,200’ peak was great we could see the NY farmlands that seemed to be right at our feet. We could also see the peaks we’d climbed earlier and off in the distance Mt Everett that we planned to hit later in the day. We did a little running on the ridge and ascended to the big open summit of Brace which also had a huge cairn on top. This was my 99th county high point. We took a couple of pictures and zoomed south to pick up South Brace. The rocky drop to the cull between Round mountain was slow going but we were back on the top of Round in 15 minutes and from there it was an easy 18 minutes back to the car. The entire trek took us 3:25 and it was a perfect day to spend three hours out in the woods!
For the final weekend of March, I planned on visiting my parents in Florida, with some side trips. I headed out early on Thursday, flying from Manchester to Huntsville. A quick 91 mile drive got me at my first goal at 11:15 am. I stood on the unimpressive summit of Woodall Mountain, the highest point in Mississippi. I lingered just long enough to take a picture. With this summit I’d reached my 100th county high point (and 26th state high point).
I settled in for the long drive from Iuka MS to Cheaha State Park in Alabama. The driving went by quickly with some good tunes and only a few areas where the speed limit was less than 70. I covered the 240 miles in less than four hours. It was eerily quiet on top, except for the hum of cell towers. Back to the car and off for a 256 mile drive to Andalusia AL for the night.
My 100th county high point Highest point in Alabama
Day two featured “the second highest hill in Florida” then continued on to Britton hill, the highest point in FL.
Next up was the Washington County high point on Barden hill (331’). In all everything went smoothly and I picked up – 3 state high points, 5 county high points, a state park high point, the second highest hill in Florida, a fire tower, and a couple of other random hills. I spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with my parents and enjoying my birthday. Mom also joined me on a couple of runs (she on the bike) which was a lot of fun. Picture at right with my “birthday banner”. Below that is a sunrise shot from the summit of Britton hill.
Sunrise in Florida
Posing at the “Birthday Banner”
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