Sanctuary

I really love running on the trails this time of year. All the leaves have fallen and are blanketing the brown & dirty ground. The sun is low in the sky but shines brightly through the leafless forest canopy. It’s crisp and cold but the snow has yet to arrive. Cross country season is over but snowshoe season is still a month away. It’s like trail running’s “curtain call” before the snow and ice of winter make the trails impassable (save for snowshoes) over the next few months.

I’m particularly fortunate this time of year to have a wonderful system of trails right outside my daytime door. A patchwork of Conservation Land, Wildlife Refuges, and Town Forests just across the street from where I work in Carlisle, MA. The trails system I run on stretches along the west side of the Concord River from Route 225 in the South up to Treble Cove Road in the North and includes land parcels named Foss Farm, Great Meadows and The Greenough Land.

The trails in this network are as varied as you’ll find anywhere around. They run through farmer’s fields, dense pine cathedrals, & colorful hardwood forests. Over rocky outcroppings & mossy flood plains. There are swamps, streams, ponds, & rivers to run by. And, at lunchtime, I have the place practically to myself. I have 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 mile loops that I can do on any given day. So, even though the number of trails is limited, the fun is not. Just look at these pictures! How could you ever get bored running here?

No matter what I'm dealing with at work I know I can change up, get out onto the trail and leave my worries behind - at least for a short while. It’s kind of like my own little sanctuary. But, I’m perfectly willing to share it. Anybody interested in joining me for a lunchtime sojourn through these amazing acres can e-mail me at mwade@ganekarchitects.com and we’ll set something up. It would be a sin to keep something this wonderful all to myself!

Check it out for yourself. It's a pretty special place!