Puffer's Pond-Mt. Orient Loop

Time: 88:00
Distance: 13 mi.


The view towards Amherst from the outlook on Mt. Orient

I'm still fighting through the jetlag a bit, so I've avoided running in the morning when it has been taking me a little while to wake up. Whenever I'm not highly motivated I tend to need to find some trails to get myself going. The ABC trail that leads to the Robert Frost Trail in this section is very nice, especially as it gets towards Atkins Reservoir and heads into Amethyst Brook. I was trying to do a loop, rather than going out and back like I did the last time I was out there. I knew that I was getting in over the 60-70 minutes I was shooting for, but I knew the trail connected somewhere around the west side of Mt. Orient. I so I kept heading out. Once I found it I headed back over the top of the mountain and then back most of the way that I had come. It is hard to judge pace out there... on the steep technical stuff it is hard to go too fast, on the downhills it is easy to fly.

I didn't get out there until a little after 7pm, so I was racing the sunlight a little bit on my way back in. Unlike what would've happened in Alaska, the sun won and I had to cut onto the road for the last little bit where I could see where I was going. Total on the soft surface was at least 12 miles.