Snow Trails

Braeval footbridge

Lemmahamish river bank trail

Up the Fairy Knowe

The depths of the forest alongside Park Burn

Lochan Spling loop

Homeward Bound

After a week or so of gales, dark days and wet snow, we were visited by good winter today. The overnight  freeze of the wet lingering slush was sprinkled with powder snow. The winds had abated and the skies were moody rather than mean. My running had been spasmodic over the past week; high stepping through wet snow or leaning into fierce winds are not the exercise of choice. Today was different, the shoes purchased into the powder and crunchy ice below, it was cold but without the damp and windchill of late; I was soon into a snow friendly rhythm. The only other marks in the snow were of two mountain bikes and a lot of animals. I had little difficulty convincing myself to add a couple of kilometres to my regular 9km route.

The river was swollen, the birches had been blasted by snow and there was an eerie silence even along the river bank. After running along the river to Lemmahamish I doubled back over the Fairy Knowe. I was breaking virgin snow at last but the steady climb was blockaded by a vast oak tree that had been blown down in the gales. It provided me with a tricky obstacle to negotiate; two young roe deer danced away in a reprise of a babycham advert as I clambered over the tree. It brought some fun and sparkle into the run. After this there was just a long easy run along trails that were untouched by humans until I reached the junction at Lochan Spling where I turned for home, happy that I had enjoyed a run for the first time in weeks even though it had taken 20% longer than normal.