North Country Trail 44M, Allegheny National Forest, PA October 3, 2013 - It was exactly 0352 when the angels roused me to climb out of my dreamy slumber to go chase another big ticket item on my bucket list. Like an emerging newborn grasping hard to hang onto his umbilical I tried to roll over and again find my place in the comfortable dream I was having before I got the call from above. Putting off my angels is not like shutting off an alarm clock - they're persistent to sometimes an annoying degree. Since I knew from experience they were not going to let me go back to sleep I jumped out of bed by four and embraced the birthing of another adventure. In a way, each of these adventures is an opportunity for rebirth; forcing one to step outside the zone of comfort and familiarity to slide into the unknown for a short while. The thing is, you can never go back to the way you were again; the connecting cord to who you were is severed and you find yourself reset, reinvented, reborn with a fresh perspective on what is really of value and what isn't. Heading out in the truck I managed to eventually wind my way north to where the North Country Trail crosses the northern-most road in Pennsylvania. By 0615, finally, with a head lamp to light my way, I was making tracks on a 1.4-mile dog-leg north on the NCT to the New York state border. I wanted to see as much of the Pennsylvania NCT as I could for as long as I could go. It took me 45 minutes to find my way to the NY placard and back to the truck in the dark before donning my ten-pound backpack to head south just after seven in the glow of the morning light. Pennsylvania woods are fairly predictable in terms of their autumn beauty and I am never surprised by the rooty and rocky nature of its trails. This area was heavily galciated more than once and is a virtual depository of erratic boulders left behind by the great ice sheets. I watched for rattlesnakes, but saw nary a sign. Through the morning hours I wound back and forth around inlets of the extensive and beautiful Kinzua Reservoir, sometimes making tracks along its muddy backwash before climbing to run the ridges overlooking its vast extent. My legs were strong and for the first time in a long while I was able to get some lift and power out of my right hamstring with the apparent healing of my longstanding ischial tuberosity tendinosis. After the morning fog burned off, the humidity remained quite noticeable, especially as the temperatures climbed past 80 degrees. I drank generously from the abundant wild waters along the way. The morning's blue skies and sunshine gave way to some emerging clouds by afternoon. After losing my map along the way and several times having to retrace my steps to find the trail I decided to end my jaunt before dark at 44 miles, at which time I called in rescue from Annie where the trail crossed Highway 6 west of Kane. I was prepared to run through the night when I set out, but had not anticipated how the fresh leaf cover on some of the trails obscured the way. Blazes were too often inconsistently spaced, leaving me scratching my head during day light hours. Without a map I could only imagine the degree of difficulty would only get worse at night, so I opted to end my adventure sooner than my body called for. As it turned out, it was a good call. The night brought torrential thunderstorms. In hindsight, I probably saved myself from a miserable night of shivering wet hypothermia requiring continued movement to stay alive, which could have been problematic if I got off the trail and couldn't find my way. The balancing act between discretion and valor leaves me to run healthy another day. I enjoyed seeing new country at a leisurely pace without a single fall or injury and am left feeling regenerated and will sleep with a smile. |