Random Recon of Goodness

I wanted some fresh trails today.  I just headed out the door and drove randomly looking for a trail head, power lines, dirt road, anything. 

I found myself in Saco and tried a dirt road that looked interesting,  but it turned out to be a golf course.  After about 20 minutes of random roads, and gorgeous houses and lawns I found a newly paved pull out on the side of the road.  I was way too excited and hurried to bother with warming up and hit the sandy trail with vigor.  It was obviously a dirt bike, four wheeler hang out area of sorts.  With lots of banked turns, pine needle sections, and sandy open areas for ample donuts.  I took only lefts on the trail to make sure I could find my way back as it was getting late, and I was without water.  It turns out after a road crossing I came upon an area that looked familiar.  The Eastern Trail.  Now that I had my bearings I started random exploration.  Picking the pace up a bit to get some sort of workout in I went back to the original "play" area. 

There are two major sandy areas with trails jetting out on all sides like two tangled octopi.  A really fun section that shoots down an embankment to a stream and then up the other side.  I looped around this section for ten minutes or so getting a good hyperventilation on until heading out on another tentacle.  This time I was down running along the stream on a newer trail probably made this year.  It ended after a quarter mile, so I headed up the embankment running along the side on a deer trail.  Talk about single track and fun!  After crawling and sprawling my way along for a bit I was forced back by brambles too thick to pass.  Profusely sweating in the afternoon humidity, and smiling from ear to ear, I slogged through the upper sandy section looking for the next venture. 

This wasn't the cleanest area, and I'm sure it gets a bunch of "punks-in-the-woods" as my father would say, but I'm excited about a new playground.  Since it's a fairly condensed area and would get boring running more than 10 miles in the warmer months I think it will be perfect for snowshoeing.  With the short ups and downs, twisty turns and few wide open spaces, it'll be a fun proving ground.

distance:  4.5ish
duration:  34:32