After running a spirited six miler with the RW group yesterday, I went to Keystone and met Chrissy and we marked all the turns for her race which will be tomorrow. I also squeezed in some bonus miles, and hunted down a couple of geo-caches while there.
The plan for today was to run with the TOTs early, and then go to Pumpkin Holler to run a 50K loop. I had recruited Brian, Kathy, Rob, Matt, and Kirk to go. Sounded like it'd be a great time. Matt messaged me last night and said he had family stuff. Kirk also remembered it was Easter and stayed home. Rob was geared to go, but had a watchful eye on the weather. At 7:00 am this morning, hearing the thunderstorms rumble through, I burrowed down under the covers and left my buddies (who braved the rain and showed up at Turkey to run) out in the cold. Bad Zombie. Turns out that Rob had messaged me with a weather report of 12 inches of rain and severe flood warnings for the Tahlequah area, so I decided to not go run the Pumpkin. I texted Kathy to tell her, and they already had the good sense to shelve the trip.
So what to do?? I am not much of a weekend TV sort. I got around, drank some coffee, and met Dana for an early lunch at the hospital. (Her weekend to work.) Then, I made a cat/dog food run, came home, and retired to the easy chair with a blanket to catch a nap while it rained.
BUT I COULDN'T SLEEP! How many times have I told people that some of the best runs ever were in the rain? I love running in the rain. And, I love running new places and new trailz! Heck, I even DREAM about running on new trailz! So, I decided to man up and head out to run....somewhere! I decided to go ahead to Tahlequah, and if the Pumpkin Holler loop was not good, if the river was out of the banks, I would check out some trailz near Sparrow Hawk, another camping area on the Illinois River. I had read of some trailz there that went up and over Sparrow hawk Mountain--maybe 6-8 miles of single track--WOW! It seemed perfect!
So here I am, parked, and the trail head is right up this road. It was raining a little, but not all that bad. Who knows--with the tree cover, it could be a great run. I had not called to tell Dana what I was doing, and ouch! I had no signal here. Bad Zombie!
I had trouble finding the trail head, and there was not a soul around to ask, but finally, I found it. It was not really marked, and brushing through the foliage soaked the remainder of my dry clothes.
I was wearing my New Balance Minimus, a shoe that I thought I would never wear, but I guess my friend Stormy finally talked me into it. They looked cool, and actually felt good on my feet. These trailz were smooth as silk. Nothing to technical so far.
For just a second, the sun popped out. But that was short lived, and as I left the lower trailz near a leg of the river and started to climb, I got up into a low ceiling of clouds.
This trail went up, but not over the tallest of the hill/mountain. It ran alongside the the mountain about half way up and dropped down to a feeder stream. The roar of this stream was musical.
The trail followed the stream towards the Illinois River, which I suspected would be out of its banks. The trail then crossed the stream, and headed back up the hill. Maybe this was where the trail climbed the mountain--I remembered reading there was some significant climbs.
Another view downstream just before the trail veered to the left. From this point, it was twisty turny single track, just like mountain bikers like. It meandered around, covering maybe a quarter mile as the crow flies and a mile or more by trail. As we neared the top, there were a series of rock formations--more like big boulders that had rolled down the hill.
I heard what I thought was a deer, crashing through the brush. I looked up, and as I did, I saw something that froze me in my tracks!! See the little black spot in the center of the frame?? That's a black bear--not really very big, but not a cub. I wondered is maybe it had a mama nearby, but I did not wonder enough to venture closer. I was trying to adjust the zoom on my camera when it evidently saw me and turned and ran uphill like a freight train.
Over the top, and down the other side. I wondered if this trail was a loop, or what. I had 4.8 on my Garmin, and did not have a whole lot of time if this turned out to be an 8 mile out and 8 miles back.
I was back in some bottom land--not the river, but another much smaller stream. This was some pretty soggy running.
Eventually, the trail turned back in the direction of my car. I was thinking it must loop back on itself, although if it did, I had missed seeing the intersection. But at least I was heading the right way--or so it seemed. I had a small climb over hill covered with briers, and the decent was much better, with a series of rocky switchbacks, The descent seemed like much more than the ascent through the briers. I could hear the roar of the river, and it seemed like I should be nearing the campground. Then I came to the river.
And WOW. It was raging. It still seemed to me that the campground must be right over the river--but I had not actually crossed the river--just the feeder stream, and I was upstream from that. There was no way this could be the feeder stream. But still, I just KNEW I needed to get to the other side. So, I followed the bank upstream. There was no trail, which also seemed to tell me the trail went across the stream-turned-river. Could it be that this was a flash flood? Maybe the water had came up rapidly since I had last seen it? That much in less than an hour??? The going was awful--and I should have simply retraced my steps even if it meant a 10+ mile out-and-back. But I was really second guessing myself not knowing if the trail was a dead end, or on the other side, and was this the same stream, or had it quickly risen?
It was then that I slipped. A mossy rock and my Minimus shoes were not meant for each other, and now I was in the rapids!! A lot goes through your mind in a hurry in a situation like this. First, I tried to stand up, and was thrown back down. I then thought of my phone and camera. (I had left my phone in the car) but my Canon which I had just got back from the manufacturer for a cracked screen, was now soaked. Then, I got a mouth and lungs full of water, and was just rolling through the water downstream.
Twice in my life, I have almost drowned--once when I was 18 months, and my mom drug me out of a creek and pumped water out of my lungs. And when I was 13, I went under for the third time in a creek not far from the Illinois River. My heavy feet (with tennis shoes) had sunk me to the bottom, and a friend of my mom and dads held a fishing pole out and I grabbed the end of the rod and he pulled me in. I had no help this time.
In what was probably only 20 seconds, I went from "Oh SH!T" to worrying about my phone and camera, to falling down for the 2nd and 3rd time, to rolling in the rapids with no control, to thinking about not making it out, to what would people say, to all I left behind, to passing into a new life. And with a mouthful of water, I tried to yell out HELP. I then heard a voice--that said in a low muffled tone--"HULP". Turns out the voice was my own, and then somehow I was safe. I found myself in an easy chair covered up with a blanket and a cat in my lap. My own cry for help had woke me up.
Ok--did I "get" you? There should have been a few things tipping you off. One, I would not wear a cotton T-shirt to run in if it was raining. I also would never wear NB Minimus--sorry Stormy. I actually like tanks on my feet when I run trailz. And I did mention that I dream a lot about running new trailz.
And, I had a good nap.
The plan for today was to run with the TOTs early, and then go to Pumpkin Holler to run a 50K loop. I had recruited Brian, Kathy, Rob, Matt, and Kirk to go. Sounded like it'd be a great time. Matt messaged me last night and said he had family stuff. Kirk also remembered it was Easter and stayed home. Rob was geared to go, but had a watchful eye on the weather. At 7:00 am this morning, hearing the thunderstorms rumble through, I burrowed down under the covers and left my buddies (who braved the rain and showed up at Turkey to run) out in the cold. Bad Zombie. Turns out that Rob had messaged me with a weather report of 12 inches of rain and severe flood warnings for the Tahlequah area, so I decided to not go run the Pumpkin. I texted Kathy to tell her, and they already had the good sense to shelve the trip.
So what to do?? I am not much of a weekend TV sort. I got around, drank some coffee, and met Dana for an early lunch at the hospital. (Her weekend to work.) Then, I made a cat/dog food run, came home, and retired to the easy chair with a blanket to catch a nap while it rained.
BUT I COULDN'T SLEEP! How many times have I told people that some of the best runs ever were in the rain? I love running in the rain. And, I love running new places and new trailz! Heck, I even DREAM about running on new trailz! So, I decided to man up and head out to run....somewhere! I decided to go ahead to Tahlequah, and if the Pumpkin Holler loop was not good, if the river was out of the banks, I would check out some trailz near Sparrow Hawk, another camping area on the Illinois River. I had read of some trailz there that went up and over Sparrow hawk Mountain--maybe 6-8 miles of single track--WOW! It seemed perfect!
So here I am, parked, and the trail head is right up this road. It was raining a little, but not all that bad. Who knows--with the tree cover, it could be a great run. I had not called to tell Dana what I was doing, and ouch! I had no signal here. Bad Zombie!
I had trouble finding the trail head, and there was not a soul around to ask, but finally, I found it. It was not really marked, and brushing through the foliage soaked the remainder of my dry clothes.
I was wearing my New Balance Minimus, a shoe that I thought I would never wear, but I guess my friend Stormy finally talked me into it. They looked cool, and actually felt good on my feet. These trailz were smooth as silk. Nothing to technical so far.
For just a second, the sun popped out. But that was short lived, and as I left the lower trailz near a leg of the river and started to climb, I got up into a low ceiling of clouds.
This trail went up, but not over the tallest of the hill/mountain. It ran alongside the the mountain about half way up and dropped down to a feeder stream. The roar of this stream was musical.
The trail followed the stream towards the Illinois River, which I suspected would be out of its banks. The trail then crossed the stream, and headed back up the hill. Maybe this was where the trail climbed the mountain--I remembered reading there was some significant climbs.
Another view downstream just before the trail veered to the left. From this point, it was twisty turny single track, just like mountain bikers like. It meandered around, covering maybe a quarter mile as the crow flies and a mile or more by trail. As we neared the top, there were a series of rock formations--more like big boulders that had rolled down the hill.
I heard what I thought was a deer, crashing through the brush. I looked up, and as I did, I saw something that froze me in my tracks!! See the little black spot in the center of the frame?? That's a black bear--not really very big, but not a cub. I wondered is maybe it had a mama nearby, but I did not wonder enough to venture closer. I was trying to adjust the zoom on my camera when it evidently saw me and turned and ran uphill like a freight train.
Over the top, and down the other side. I wondered if this trail was a loop, or what. I had 4.8 on my Garmin, and did not have a whole lot of time if this turned out to be an 8 mile out and 8 miles back.
I was back in some bottom land--not the river, but another much smaller stream. This was some pretty soggy running.Eventually, the trail turned back in the direction of my car. I was thinking it must loop back on itself, although if it did, I had missed seeing the intersection. But at least I was heading the right way--or so it seemed. I had a small climb over hill covered with briers, and the decent was much better, with a series of rocky switchbacks, The descent seemed like much more than the ascent through the briers. I could hear the roar of the river, and it seemed like I should be nearing the campground. Then I came to the river.
And WOW. It was raging. It still seemed to me that the campground must be right over the river--but I had not actually crossed the river--just the feeder stream, and I was upstream from that. There was no way this could be the feeder stream. But still, I just KNEW I needed to get to the other side. So, I followed the bank upstream. There was no trail, which also seemed to tell me the trail went across the stream-turned-river. Could it be that this was a flash flood? Maybe the water had came up rapidly since I had last seen it? That much in less than an hour??? The going was awful--and I should have simply retraced my steps even if it meant a 10+ mile out-and-back. But I was really second guessing myself not knowing if the trail was a dead end, or on the other side, and was this the same stream, or had it quickly risen?It was then that I slipped. A mossy rock and my Minimus shoes were not meant for each other, and now I was in the rapids!! A lot goes through your mind in a hurry in a situation like this. First, I tried to stand up, and was thrown back down. I then thought of my phone and camera. (I had left my phone in the car) but my Canon which I had just got back from the manufacturer for a cracked screen, was now soaked. Then, I got a mouth and lungs full of water, and was just rolling through the water downstream.
Twice in my life, I have almost drowned--once when I was 18 months, and my mom drug me out of a creek and pumped water out of my lungs. And when I was 13, I went under for the third time in a creek not far from the Illinois River. My heavy feet (with tennis shoes) had sunk me to the bottom, and a friend of my mom and dads held a fishing pole out and I grabbed the end of the rod and he pulled me in. I had no help this time.
In what was probably only 20 seconds, I went from "Oh SH!T" to worrying about my phone and camera, to falling down for the 2nd and 3rd time, to rolling in the rapids with no control, to thinking about not making it out, to what would people say, to all I left behind, to passing into a new life. And with a mouthful of water, I tried to yell out HELP. I then heard a voice--that said in a low muffled tone--"HULP". Turns out the voice was my own, and then somehow I was safe. I found myself in an easy chair covered up with a blanket and a cat in my lap. My own cry for help had woke me up.
Ok--did I "get" you? There should have been a few things tipping you off. One, I would not wear a cotton T-shirt to run in if it was raining. I also would never wear NB Minimus--sorry Stormy. I actually like tanks on my feet when I run trailz. And I did mention that I dream a lot about running new trailz.
And, I had a good nap.
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