The Mt Tom figure eight hike on which I discover that trail running is not as crazy as it seems

Yesterday was a strange day. I woke up feeling lousy—sorta achey and stuffed up—and it was unseasonably cool and deeply overcast. I was pretty grumpy for some indefinable reason through the whole morning, made worse by the fact that a certain someone discouraged me from making a pie, because Calories. But then, in the mid …

Whiting Street Reservoir, again!

We've had some pretty dull gray days recently in the Pioneer Valley (as I write, in fact, the sky is completely flat and sunless), but yesterday was a brilliantly bright break from the doldrums. I decided to head back to the Whiting Street Reservoir, I was so jazzed by my first visit. It didn't disappoint. …

Whiting Street Reservoir: a Nordic walker’s delight

About a day after the last round of snow in the Pioneer Valley melted, my pair of Nordic walking poles showed up, which I'd intended to use with my new snowshoes. Without any snow to shoe, I decided to give Nordic walking a try. I found a friendly instructional video, and headed to Whiting Street Reservoir. …