Another Saturday morning run in the Chuckanuts. Out the door close to 6:30 AM, still dark. Coffee. At the trailhead around 7 AM. Still dark, empty lot.
I climbed the hills, first up to Fragrance Lake. Then up Little Chinscraper to the Cyrus Gates overlook. Steady hiking, a bit of running. Once on the ridge, I started running, and over the next couple hours made the loop out around Lost Lake, and then back down to the car.
Misty morning. I didn't see anyone for the first hour and a half, and the upper loop was pretty empty. The final hour was packed with trail runners, many presumably out preparing for next month's Chuckanut 50k, or perhaps the Fragrance runs. A good day to be out.
I am listening to a cd course on classical mythology. I listened to it on the way out, and then worked on trying to commit different mythical figures to memory on the run. Gaia is the earth. Chaos is a gap or void. Zeus is Zeus. Anyway, I spent much of my run trying to apply Greek stories to my run. It didn't work that well, but the mind goes to strange places when the trail is lonely. This was a good running morning.
Coming out of the Chuckanuts, i counted 10 eagles driving. A bunch of swans flew by as well. Birds are in their high season in the lower Skagit.
That's a morning well spent right there. The fog/mist, the moss, the silence except maybe moisture dripping from high up off trees, and your footsteps. Are you running Chuckanut this year?
ReplyDeleteHey Tim! Thanks for stopping by. It was a good morning--one of those mornings I like to remember later, and so the post. I do in fact plan on doing C-nut this year. I won't be fast--chasing cutoffs, likely, but its been a while since I last did it, and I'd like to give it a go one more time. I'm hoping the focus will rally me into shape. I'm probably doing Woolley in a week or two. That doesn't really give me the hills I need, but hard to pass up something so near. Spring training...
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