Thursday, July 14, 2011

The Hurkett July 10K

It was a perfect morning for a run.  Sunny, 13 C, calm.  I had a 10K scheduled, just to see where my training is at this point.  I headed down the highway, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jean Beliveau, who was walking in my area.  He had been spotted about 45 km NE of Thunder Bay the afternoon before.
I drove toward Nipigon, watching for him, and finally came to the spot near Hurkett where I hit a bear back in 2000.  I had never been to Hurkett in the summer, so I decided that today was the day, and I turned off the highway.  Hurkett is actually a little community on the rail line with a federal dock on Lake Superior.  
The last time I was at the dock was last winter.  Interestingly, one of the boats that was there in the winter (Donna 1) was still there.


I had to laugh, though, because the other boat docked was named "Jimmie N".


Too funny!  I headed out.  I decided to just run where I felt like running until I made up the full 10 K.  Running down all the little side roads always means that I have to keep track in my head of the distance I still need to travel until the turnaround, since I never want to do those little detours more than once.  

I learned very early in the run why little signs like this are so important!

You can see from the picture, though, how nice the road was for running today.  Too bad this was only a 1.4 km section out to the harbour (the rest was pavement).

The biggest problem I have with running is sheer boredom.  Luckily I love wildflowers, and the roadside flowers were gorgeous.  Lots of purple vetch....

Near the train tracks, I saw this rather rare clump of black-eyed susans.  I'd love some of these for my garden!


Out on the main road, near the turnaround point, a long section of fireweed, with a special place in my heart since my time in the Yukon as a teenager.


At the far east end of Hurkett, one of the largest flower planters I have ever seen!



One of the things I most loved about my time in Hurkett was how many really large tamaracks there are in the area.  I must come back here in the fall when they are in their full golden glory.


By the time I arrived back at the dock, the temperature had gone up 7C from 13 C to 20 C, so I was quite warm, and happy to get a cold bottle of water.


No sign of Jean Beliveau walking the highway on my way back either.  Perhaps we will see him when we head south next week.



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