Devil's Path, Halloween 2012

Where else would I rather be on Halloween? If only I could find a trail run in the setting for Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. But wait! What about the Devil's Path in the Catskill Mountains of New York?
      A classic long run of the Northeast, I felt it would be a fun reconnaissance mission to run a short loop on the eastern end of the Devil's Path on my way to the Mountain Masochist Trail Run in Virginia. My original plan had me running it a couple of days before Halloween but Hurricane Sandy made me push back my itinerary so that it was just right. Squeezed out a quick 1:49, 5.0 6.0 mile run (so slow due to technical difficulty!) with 1,800' of climb on Indian Head Mountain (3573'). I arrived at daybreak, having left home at 3am, and the lighting and fog at the summit added to the creepy feel of the trail. No better place on Halloween!

"Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in continual reverie. They are given to all kinds of marvelous beliefs, are subject to trances and visions, and frequently see strange sights, and hear music and voices in the air. The whole neighborhood abounds with local tales, haunted spots, and twilight superstitions; stars shoot and meteors glare oftener across the valley than in any other part of the country, and the nightmare, with her whole ninefold, seems to make it the favorite scene of her gambols..."

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving