With the last minute cancellation of Eastern States 100 I had a lot of pent up energy inside. With the last minute cancellation of Eastern States 100 I had a lot of pent up energy inside. The 23 mile Pinchot Trail (that my husband and I ran on our way home from ES100) was fun but didn’t satisfy my need to push the pace. Since I had to bring my daughter to the Berkshires for running camp I decided on Greylock. It holds a special place in my heart since for almost 20 years our family made the annual Father’s Day pilgrimage to run in the Greylock Half Marathon. The are many happy memories and the course coincides with some of the AT. I locked my bike at the northern end and drove to the Cheshire Senior Center to park. It was a mid afternoon start so I was surprised that I actually felt pretty good. I immediately passed a few thru-hikers and not 3 miles in startled a bear…. or did he startle me? This has been my 3rd bear encounter this year! All while trail running. I made a lot of noise after that and kept a bit more vigilant. These trails are so fun as there are so many rocks, roots, ups and downs. Bog bridges, mud and slick rock are ever present. I ate a few Untapped maple syrups on the climb up but did not feel very hungry for anything else. I also carried my Ulltraspire Zygos with 2 L of water, a jackets, light and emergency food. After about 7.5 miles the trail leads you right to the monument. It is such an amazing site. I was comfortably averaging around 13 minute miles. I even had a couple 11 minute miles in there, but I was chasing daylight so I pushed the downhill and had a blast. I feel like it had been a long time since I could so freely bounce from rock to rock and swing of trees on the decent. I passed a few groups hiking and one more thru-hiker before the zig zags leading to Pattison Road. They were never ending but I eventually popped out next to my bike. I was hot, energized and excited to make the ride back to my car.