Another "Monday Off" trail run in Komoka!

   Okay, so today was a "Monday Off" and that meant hitting the trails once again. Before that, though, I  needed to make a little trip to the nearest Service Ontario outlet to pick up my new plate sticker for the car. If you remember from my previous post, I had run afoul of the law by driving after my birthday without a valid sticker. Not today, though!

   On Saturday, I had completed my quest of running in all seven of London's environmentally significant areas so today I opted for the tried 'n' true Komoka Provincial Park experience once more.
   It was another grey day, with a high of about 4C. I took a quick look through recent blog posts and the last time I ran in any kind of sunshine was almost three weeks ago. Hopefully, I'll be posting some sunny pics soon!
   Even if it wasn't sunny, at least it was above zero and we haven't had a ton of precipitation lately so the trails are actually beginning to dry out. Still some mud but not nearly as bad as it has been. One of the most consistent features I've run into lately is the

Had to go around this one

amount of wind damage I've encountered all over London. Komoka has been hit pretty hard and there were at least three different times trees had fallen right across the trails, plus all the visible damage in the rest of the forest. This is all the result of a massive windstorm which hit us almost three weeks ago and then went on to do major damage around other parts of the States and Canada east of here. We actually got off fairly easy.
   I had headed towards the west end of the park as this allows the longest run before you need to turn around and head back. At one point I found myself right down by the Thames River and I decided to step out onto the rocks lining it to take a pic. I turned around and saw this small ball of fur out in the open, all curled up into a circle, lying on the rocks. My first thought was that it was a beaver as they are very prevalent in the park. I also wondered if perhaps it was dead but I moved a little closer and saw that it was breathing. Just then it raised its head and looked at me and it was actually a raccoon. I instinctively took a step back but it didn't move and, in fact, curled back up into a ball. It also didn't look like a well raccoon and I was left with the feeling that it was simply waiting for the end. A little sad.
 

The "not well" raccoon.

 Shortly after this, I encountered The Steps. This is a set of wooden steps leading up the side of the river valley, and I have documented them quite a few times already. Back in the late summer, I decided to run up them one time. I almost didn't make it out of the forest on that occasion. Since then, I've only walked up. Today, though, I decided to give them another shot while running. I got to the top and...I didn't feel all that bad! This then had me wondering if maybe all this extra running might be working!
   After The Steps, I ventured on toward the very western end of the park and there I turned around. At this point, I made mistake. I let my natural curiosity get

The Steps through the trees

away with me and I took an unmarked trail on my way back. It led me nowhere and caused me to hike through a field to get back to the original trail. I then made a second mistake by taking yet again another unmarked trail. This trail took me so deep into the underbrush that I eventually had no idea where I was or where I was going. I ended up following deer trails (I could tell by the piles of poop and fur) into thickets that I couldn't possibly imagine a deer being able to get through. Brambles and thorny bushes and you name it. 
   

Matted deer fur, in the midst
of a thicket I was more or less
trapped in...

I managed to make my way to a little bit of higher ground and found that I'd been walking in the totally wrong direction. As much as possible I tried to stay on the higher ground until I made my way back to the regular trails. You're never that far away from civilization at Komoka, so you're never truly lost, per se, but it is possible to get yourself disoriented enough to waste a lot of time and energy getting back on track. This takes a lot of the enjoyment out of a run and this is kind if what happened to me today and, near the end, I just walked it back in. Ended up doing about 7K and I'd been aiming at closer to 10 but I think the same level of exertion had been attained so I was a satisfied and tired runner!

This is the same stretch of trail after
the windstorm. Two of the
beaver-damaged trees on the
right hand side have been toppled!

This is a pic I took of some
beaver damage, before the
big windstorm