Hike #665; Spruce Run Perimeter

 Hike #665; Spruce Run Perimeter

11/21/12 Spruce Run Perimeter with Mark ? and Candace ?

Dry Spruce Run Res.

To keep with the positive night hikes, I posted somewhat last minute this repeat perimeter hike around Spruce Run.After posting it, I was initially sorry I'd done it. I was feeling out of it. I was tired, bogged down from work and all sorts of stress. I actually figured no one would show up, but when I arrived at the 24 hour lot on Van Syckles next to Rt 31, I had two participants, so I was going through with it. I'm actually quite glad I did for the sense of accomplishment I felt.Two newcomers were on the trip, Mark and Candace, both through the Metrotrails meetup group. Mark had heard about my hikes through AMC members. He lives in Virginia but had been spending a lot of time up here. Candace was from Randolph and happened upon the group. Neither realized the hike was going to be 15.8 miles, but both were comfortable with it. Mark figured 13 or 14 when he checked the maps.Candace was in the wrong parking lot at first, and was trying to get in touch with us, so once we were all together, we began hiking along the reservoir in the same direction as the previous time. I pointed out the historic ruins along the way, and how the road system was laid out prior to the construction of the reservoir.I was so out of it that I locked my keys in the car! I ran back to the car shortly into the hike, and was angry at myself for being so absent minded. My brother Tea Biscuit was in touch with me by phone, and I told him in passing that I was going to call AAA, but he told me  not to worry about it, he'd come down and bail me out. He's such a good guy, I owe  him so much.We continued the hike around the reservoir, past the boat launch and beach complex. We saw headlights near the beach, so we held off for a sec, then continued over the rocky outcroppings near the tower section of the recreation area. We then headed on further past the ranger dock. The hiking got easier, and the route around the reservoir was much better than the previous time because the ground wasn't so soft. We couldn't really make more shortcuts or anything despite the fact that the water was lower, because a lot was still just mud. The hike would be pretty much the same as the previous time except this time we went over the rocks beyond the beach instead of the paved path parallel.We made excellent time walking to the west end of the reservoir. Mark and I chatted about places we'd hiked, and the tougher stuff we'd done. He'd already done the Burroughs Range in the Catskills, and loved the tough backpacking trails. He'd even done the off trail high peaks that were awful bushwhacking. Candace had done almost 15 miles before, and used to live in Long Valley, so she was familiar with a lot of the trails I've been covering for years.

We continued around the reservoir until we got to the dike before getting into Clinton. I saw a vehicle drive across it, so we slowed up briefly, but then climbed to it and followed the access road to the left, and crossed the field as we'd done the previous time. We turned right on the abandoned gated road which took us out on the back roads into Clinton as we'd done before.Since I barely had any money, I found enough change and such to buy myself a Reeces Fast Break at the Krauszers in Clinton. We walked across the nice old truss bridge and Old Red Mill, and then headed through the cute middle of town, then up Rt 513 past the library to Rt 31. Instead of going around on the reservoir edge this time, we had to stay on Rt 31 for a while. We couldn't get back to the parking lot till nearly the parking lot because we hadn't talked to any water authority people to get through this time. No matter, we were able to get finished before 9 pm. We had kept a speed of at least 3 miles per hour the entire time. When I arrived at the parking lot, my brother was there with my car doors open for me!I felt honored to have met two newcomers who were able to keep such a great pace in the dark (though we had a half moon), and get done so early. Never before had I finished a night hike so fast save for the time I did Portland PA to Washington in 4 hours and 50 minutes over ten years prior. It wasn't even an uncomfortable pace. This hike was different than others, but I can celebrate that. It was a different experience, but still positive in so many ways.And it's not so bad I was able to stop at Shop Rite on my way home too! The next day I woke up, still feeling rested and went to work with Jillane before visiting my family at my cousin Dorothy's house in NY. It was an eventful Thanksgiving time, but still relaxing to me in the way I needed it to be.