Tuesday and Sunday Trail Runs

With spring weather oh so slowly easing in, trail running has been awesome. My training has gone from nada to a little here and there. I am cleared to run smart, and Turkey Mountain and I have become buddies again. The TOTs group has welcomed me back as their super-mediate leader, and 4+ miles each Tuesday evening and Sunday morning has been the norm.
The news at Turkey Mountain this past week has been interesting. Some hikers (looking for mushrooms) found a piece of a human skull on the north end of the mountain near Mooser Creek. KJRH posted a picture of the upper teeth in a skull. I am not sure if that is all they found. Our group Sunday ran to the end of the mountain and ambled through a homeless camp, that had tons of filth and trash. We scurried through because I am pretty sure someone was sleeping in the tents. Then we did a little bone searching of our own. Finding bones in the woods is like finding a needle in a haystack...

 but Bill thought he had found one. It turned out to be a stick. OR was Bill taking a squat???

Well, Bill is not so coordinated when he takes a squat in the woods. Like He wore his dirt-stained shirt with pride.

Our Tuesday group ran to the Pepsi Bridge, and then did a little bush-whacking between the bluffs of the north end of the mountain and Mooser Creek. The briers were thick, and I almost had a mutiny just before we reached the low-water dam. On our return trip, we discovered that the gas company has cleared the undergrowth 30 feet either side of the underground gas line. All of the bush whacking was unnecessary, but if there were bones to be found they would be in the undergrowth. 

Paul, Steve, and Leaha approve of the route chosen for the return trip. Another couple of weeks the ticks and chiggers will take over the area, and treks like this will be foolish without a dousing of DEET.

On the way back, we dropped by the Blue Roof Inn--another former homeless camp. This is an old homestead where all that is remaining is a storm cellar, the footing of an old house, and a well. Several times, homeless people have pitched tents, and when I started running Turkey, there was a HUGE blue tarp tented over the top of the open topped storm cellar. Several years back, the camp was torn down and much of the debris was burned in the pit. The trash here is awful.

These homemade hammocks are new. I would like to see this area patrolled a little better. Who knows who these people. I am sympathetic to people who have fallen on hard times, but this gives them no right to camp where it is clearly prohibited and then trashing the place up. There are several litter cleanup days put on by River Parks and other organizations, and these well attended endeavors haul out LOTS (even tons) of trash. It pisses me off to see my mountain trashed up by homeless people, litter bugs, or assholes dumping. 
(rant ends here. sorry)

For another take on the litter and skull discovery, read  Proactive Outside.