Tag Archives: hiking

(Author’s note: This was practice run No. 1 for me on the Hyner course. For others, the “diehards,” this winter, it might have been their second, third or fourth practice run on parts of the course.)

So yesterday Denny Colegrove, Victoria Niditch and I joined a group of hardcore runners/hikers or “diehards” that train regularly for the Hyner View Trail Challenge and the Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect on a training run on parts of the course for the Hyner View. The group included Craig and his wife, Jennifer Fleming, who organize both races and Dave Hunter, who helps them design the courses. The other four were Bob, Rick, Ron (I believe) and Rick’s wife, Laurie (sorry, I’m terrible with last names, the only reason I remember Craig, Jennifer and Dave’s last name is because I’ve seen them in e-mails), and oh, a few dogs that belonged to Craig and Jennifer, whose names I don’t remember.

Craig, Jennifer, Dave, Bob and Ron already had been out clearing trail on the course earlier in the day. They began at 8 a.m. After about an hour-and-half drive from where I live, I arrived at 1 p.m. at the Western Clinton Sportsmen’s Association while they were grabbing a quick lunch before heading out at 1:45 p.m. Denny and Victoria were already there when I arrived and, I believe, Rick and Laurie joined us over near Hyner View. Regardless, we got started near Hyner View around 2 p.m.. I don’t know exactly since as usual I didn’t bring a watch (even though I had had one in the car, but forgot to bring it: I think later that I might have forgot my mind too or else I lost it while I was out there).

The part of the course that we (well, at least, some of we) decided to take this day was Johnson Run, with a portion that would be new to the race, if even used. Later, I joked that we were guinea pigs. But as we started out, it was just an adventure for me to be trying out some of the race course or potential race course that I would be doing in mid-April.

I know before “doing” the Megatransect last fall for the first time, it helped me to go “see” part of the course beforehand on a practice run with Denny, even if it was only part of the course. I only wish in that case, I would have done it earlier in the summer instead of only a month before the Mega. At least, here I am seeing part of the course almost four months before the race.

I believe we started on the paved road up to Hyner View. While Craig, Dave and Jenn would like to have the course on all trail, they also know they need to be able to have sections where they can spread people out (with an expected 600 people, this will be extremely important, to say the least). After we got to the view, we began a downhill descent into the valley. During this portion of the day, I did run; even though part of me thought I should stay back with Denny and Victoria, another part of me (my feet) thought I should run and so I followed my feet and Dave and his group down the hill.

Partway down the hill, we met up with Denny and Victoria, who had come in from a different angle. From about this point on, I stayed with Denny and Victoria. Unfortunately, and it wasn’t his fault, Denny wasn’t sure where the turn to Johnson Run was – since this was a new portion on which he had never been. He had run the race last year and has been on a practice run or two with the group this year, but didn’t know where the turn was. So we ended up going down into one valley a little farther than we should have, had to come back up a hill or two and then down along a pipeline before we reunited with the rest of the group.

Then, there’s no other way to put it, hell began. As we started back up along Johnson Run, we had to cross the stream several times (Craig guesstimated 20). Craig and Dave said when they had been out on this section last year, the streambed was dry, but yesterday that certainly wasn’t the case, perhaps a combination of run-off from melted snow. Sections of the stream we had to throw logs and rocks across or just jump across…not really “we,” mostly Craig, Rick, Bob and Ron did. I especially have to thank Rick for coming back to assist us several times as we started up the stream. Also, Craig jumped right in the water to help Victoria at many crossings.

Then it was just a matter of going up the run until we were back to a road. Of course, if only it had been that easy; between the stream crossings and what Craig dubbed “The Psycho Path” (which was the last section before the top), it wasn’t. And oh, not to mention, that it was getting dark and by the time we got to the road at the top, which was about a mile and three-quarters from the quarter, it was dark. As we got toward the top of the path, Jennifer and Bob came back to make sure we were doing OK. Besides being cold and frustrated (to put it mildly, at least, in one of our cases) and having wet feet, we were OK.

After walking along a road (by this time, I wasn’t paying attention to names), most of us with the exception of Craig and Jennifer and their dogs got a ride with Rick and Laurie in their truck back down to Denny’s SUV. From there, Denny drove me and Bob back to the club, where the hike had unofficially begun.

Unfortunately, I still had an hour-and-half drive back to Wellsboro. On the way home, I called my wife to let her know I hadn’t been eaten by bears or anything, and when I returned, she had ham, rice, vegetables and cookies waiting. And warm clothes…

Other random thoughts throughout the day and afterward:

• At several points during our hike back up the stream, Craig kept saying that he thought this was the last stream crossing we had. Of course, I think he said that about 10 times before we actually had the last stream crossing.
• Craig, Jennifer, Dave and group aren’t completely crazy. At one point, Craig mentioned that they did get permission to go up over a pipeline but decided not to do it after looking at the hill where the pipeline went. We were about an hour or so away from the road when he pointed it out to me. “Just over that hill is where our cars are,” he said. For those of you who have done the Chilkoot, it made the Chilkoot look like a molehill, at least to me at that moment. Even Craig said that would have been wrong to have included that hill in the Hyner course. Thank you, Craig, for not including that.
• My blog is definitely titled correctly now: Just A (Running) Fool, with de-emphasis of the running part of the name. The people with whom I was with yesterday, especially Craig, Jennifer and Dave, are the true runners. I just feel honored that they would allow a trail dilettante, as I have called myself other places, to even go out with them. Thank you, gentlemen and ladies. I hope next month to be able to do it again, just not in that inner circle of hell. If we could plan it a little farther outside of hell, that would be good.
• Oh, the time we got out of hell? As we were heading down the hill from Hyner View, I looked at the clock on the dashboard of Denny’s truck. It read 6:15 p.m. About four hours in hell: I don’t know about anyone else, but it was enough for me, at least until the next time, I have the chance to descend into it.