Weekly Log 17-Oct to 23-Oct-2022: Canadian Adventures

Monday:  5

Lake Township, MI.  Visiting my cousin Rob.  First day after my Detroit Marathon.  I had planned for this to be a day off, but between being in a new area and waking up to falling snow, I felt I "had" to get out there.  It was pretty to see the snow falling and sticking to the grass, but truth be told, I like dry snow at 25°F, but cold wet snow at 35° not so much.

You can see the snow falling against the contrast of the
pine trees.  Not sticking to the roads.

But definitely sticking to the grass.
Mid-October is pretty early for snow,
at least back home.

Tuesday:  8

Northern Bruce Peninsula, ON.  Since I didn't need to be back at work ever, I took my sweet time getting home.  After visiting my cousin for two days, I started heading east.  From where my cousin lives in northern Michigan it's actually shorter to drive through Canada than drive so far south to stay in the US.  Canada took down its COVID travel restrictions just a month ago, so it was so easy and quick to cross the border.  I then drove a few hours north and stayed at Bruce Peninsula National Park.  I had never visited this part of Ontario, and it is beautiful!

Ah, Canada!  Perhaps my favorite country in the world.
(Don't send me any nationalist hate mail, please,
I just find Canada overall to be safer, cleaner, and more friendly.)

After driving most of the day in wet snow and rain, I was relieved when the rain let up just before I was arriving.  I quickly setup camp and went out for what I figured would be a wet and rainy trail run. 

Tonight's rustic accommodations.

Except that about two miles into the run, the sun came out!  Bonus!  

The trails around the campground were nice.

With great signage.

But it was when I got out to the Bruce Trail, along
the shores of Lake Huron, that the views became spectacular:

Amazing view of Lake Huron from a cliffside portion of
the Bruce Trail.  And the sun is out!  Yay!

Not really sure what this was, but very interesting geological formation.

OK, this part of the trail (see faint line to left of wooden post
marker) was very hard and very slow for me to run on.
This seemed like a good point for me to turn around, which I did.

This feature is called "The Grotto".
Look at the color of the water!  If you showed me this pic
without me having gone there, I would NOT think this was in Canada!

Just so many cool rock formations!

I wanted to stay longer and explore, but as you can see in this
picture (with flash), I was running out of daylight and still
had technical trails left to get back to the campground.

Fortunately, as it was getting really dark, I exited the single-track
onto a manicured double-track with great signage.  I had to
stop at each sign and use the flashlight on my phone to light it up,
but then at least it was clear which trail to take back to the campground.
(No, Dummy did not bring his headlamp.)

Got back to my campsite in total darkness.  But my Garmin showed 
I ran 7.5 and because I'm a total geek, I "needed" to get to 8.0.
No else can relate to this, right?  What to do?  Lit my Coleman
propane lantern and used this as a beacon to finish on dirt campground roads.

Is it weird to post bathroom pics on a running blog?
Post-run I went to take a hot shower and change into
dry, warmer clothes.  Besides being the only person at the facility
(and one of a very few camping that night), I found this to be
perhaps the cleanest bathroom facilities I have EVER seen
in a campground.  Not sure if this is the standard for
Canadian National Park campgrounds, but top marks!

Besides being pitch dark after my shower, it now started raining again.  Ugh.  In no mood for cooking in the dark and rain, I checked in with the park rangers as to any local restaurants, and they advised me one was open in a village 20 minutes away.  Went there and just like the campground, I had the place to myself.  A group of diners was leaving as I arrived, and I had the whole restaurant to myself.  I ordered a local trout dinner and a hot chocolate (I was getting cold now).  This also gave me time to catch up on the all-important Strava, as there was no service back at the campsite.  Drove back to tonight's accommodations, read a little, and crashed.  Uncharacteristic of me, I woke only once during the night and that was due to heavy rain.  It was 37°F when I got up for good, but I had stayed dry and warm bundled up in my sleeping bag and tent.

Wednesday:  10

Niagara Falls, ON.  Figured I would get one more run in before crossing the border back into the US.  Got off the Ontario highway in the City of Niagara Falls and parked at a small trailside parking lot just a few miles north of the famous falls.  

Started out on a quiet recreational trail before hitting the city streets.
In the summer, this area would be mobbed with tourists, but this
time of year the streets were empty, and most hotels looked closed.

Views along my run weren't bad!

Looking into the US side.

And a final shot from Canada, looking into the US
across the Niagara River, with some pretty nice foliage!

Thursday:  11

Charlestown, RI.  Got back home very late last night after a 700 mile drive from Ontario.  My original plan was to camp in the Catskills in New York, but I spent time enjoying sites in Canada and ending up missing my latest check-in time.  Since it was only 2.5 hours more to drive all the way home, that's what I did.

Slept in, and then ran with Brady on the old 10-mile Li'l Rhody course, plus tacked on the North Camp beach trails.  Finished up, and took a jump off the dock (at boat launch) with Brady.  It was in-and-out quickie for me.

Friday:  10

Westerly, RI.  Grills 10-mile course with Brady dog.  Trails in great shape; some minor clipping I want to do near Larson foundation and on Big Hill, but looking good for next Saturday's race!

Drove up to Milford, Massachusetts to check in at an Airbnb lakeside home I rented for a guys' weekend out, with five other Chariho Class of '82 friends.  Kind of our own high school reunion.  It's great that we kept up with each other for 40 years post-graduation!

Saturday:  8 run, 4 hike, 3 kayak

Milford, MA.

AM:  Solo trail run in Peppercorn Hill Conservation Area.  Never been here before.  A mix of technical and easy trails, with some surprising hill climbs.

Early on in the run

3-mile loop that formed part of today's run,
and most of the subsequent hike

This trail was very flooded (part of run only, not hike),
and there was no other way around it, so let's go
through it and get on with it.

Nice view, n'est ce pas?

AM:  Led the group of five guys on a short hike on an abbreviated 3-mile loop at Peppercorn.  Some of the guys were giving me grief calling it the "Bataan Death March".  Come on.  I guess you can't please everyone.

Solo kayak on the lake.
I couldn't get any of the other guys to go with me.

For a group of guys, I think we did pretty well
collaborating and making tonight's dinner!
(grilled steak and salmon, grilled asparagus,
baked garlic bread, tossed salad, wine)

Finished the day sitting around a
bonfire and catching up.

Sunday:  10

Milford, MA.  Solo run around the lake through the towns of Milford, Hopkinton, and Upton, while my high school buddies slept.  I don't know this area at all, so I planned it out the night before and saved the navigation to my watch.  Pretty quiet roads and hillier than expected.

Weekly mileage:  62 run, 4 walk, 3 kayak

Weekly synopsis:  Perhaps my best and fastest recovery ever after a marathon.  Really fun week running in three different states and one Canadian province, most of it in areas I had never been to before.

Weekly highlight:  Bruce Peninsula National Park.  Just an amazing and beautiful place.

Weekly lowlight:  None.  A great week!