Today was supposed to be a run day. I waited as a few morning showers passed, with the promise of better weather later. The better weather emerged, with actual sunshine. Yay! I changed and headed out.
As I headed out, I realized the high winds of the previous night’s storm were still rather high. I secured my cap and continued off to the lake, observing the ground for debris to see if I might need to reconsider.
I spied one large-ish branch down in Hume Park (photo below). This raised an eyebrow. I pressed on.
At Lower Hume, a very large tree was laying across the roadway. I opted not to take a photo because of the three workers already doing their part to remove it. I wish I had because by the time I returned, they had already cleared almost all of it away. It was, as mentioned, a very large tree. This caused both eyebrows to raise up.
When I got to the river trail, it was not as festooned with debris as expected. I cautiously started down and as I neared a bend by The Old Tree Bridge (years ago a giant tree fell across the river and was so tall it formed a bridge across the river that remains to this day. It’s not a very good bridge, as the other side is just a sheer wall you can’t climb up or anything), I heard a loud crack, then another. I stopped and looked about. I couldn’t see the source and continued on.
But I thought I recognized the sound–wood breaking or snapping.
I got to where one of the famously leaning trees was famously leaning, but now also swaying ominously. I pondered questions like, If it started to fall, how much time would I have to react and get out of the way? Do you feel lucky, punk? And others.
At this point, I felt the health benefits of not getting clobbered by a tree outweighed the health benefits of a run, so I turned back. A few minutes later I heard more cracks, looked to my left, and watched as several large branches snapped off another very large tree and tumbled to the ground. I kind of jogged out the rest of the way, so I did get a run of sorts after all.
I will try again Wednesday, when the risk of being bonked by nature should hopefully be lower.
Stats:
Walk 126
Average pace: 8:51/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 4.71 km
Time: 41:39
Weather: Sun
Temp: 11°C (feels like 5C)
Humidity: 70%
Wind: high to extreme
BPM: 110
Weight: 167.7 pounds
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255
Total distance to date: 922.91 km
