A summer solstice trail run

Husband and I celebrated summer solstice by joining the Halifax Trail Runners Club for a short run along the Cole Harbour Heritage Park trails Wednesday evening. I'd never been on most of the trails we explored so it was a thrill to discover another great place to run so close to our new house. Husband enjoyed it too, though he found the pace a bit quick. Kudos to him for keeping up with so many runners half his age on a warm, muggy night!

Some of the trails we ran were as wide and well-groomed as the one pictured left, but most were single track paths through woods and grassy fields with enough hills and berms to make them moderately challenging for newbie trail runners like us. Fortunately, none was was as challenging as the Spider Lake trails I ran two weeks ago, so we were able to chat with fellow runners and take our eyes over the trails long enough to enjoy the lush spring foliage and distant ocean views.

(A quick word about the photos. I didn't have a camera with me so searched on-line today and found these which were taken by Scott Baltjes. When I contacted him, he kindly agreed to let me use them in this post. Go to this link to see his original images as well as others of the same park.)

If you ever find yourself in this part of the world, I highly recommend a visit to the park. It's the kind of place you can imagine you're miles from civilization when in fact you're just a few minutes' drive from downtown.

Next week, it's off to the Bluff Trail. I'm told it's the toughest trail on the group's schedule so stay tuned to hear how it goes. I suspect Husband may decide to give it a miss and elect to join the group for a short run through Point Pleasant Park and a Garrison Brewery tour the following week instead.