Stinchfield Woods

I had what must be the most fun I've ever had on a run today in Stinchfield Woods. That place is heaven. I explored every single trail they had. To crib a Tom Waits lyric, "I've never felt more alive or alone".

These are old woods. My favorite sections, which would pop up almost without warning, were the old pines that smelled like Christmas and had no brush beneath them, just a long bed of soft pine and firm sandy soil to run on. This joint is HILLY. Definitely the hardest trails I've ever run on because the climbs are long and you're constantly going up or down.

The pic is from what I call the "rim trail" (although NONE of these trails are marked in any way) because you're running along a 100' cliff which you can see in the background. This goes down to what looks like a very old gravel pit, a wide open circular space with cliff walls all around it. This place is pure magic I tell ya.

After an hour of running I heard in the disance, "MOOOOOM!" cried over and over again, so I followed the sound down a trail unfamiliar until I found the 9 year old boy, Logan, lost in these immense woods, looking for his mom. I calmed him down, gave him my cell phone to call her, and waited with him until his mom and 2 border collies came running down the trail. His mom said she told the pups to "find Logan" and they went charging down the trail. Good dogs.


Here's the Garmin Connect file of where I ran, how far, how high, etc.  I'm just playing with it for the first time.