That's What She Said: Grand Isle Loop

I'm enjoying hanging out in Vermont with Mom for a couple weeks. I was originally thinking about running across Vermont while I'm here, with help from Mom and Renee. However, there is still a lot of snow and the weather is schizophrenic, so I looked around for something more reasonable. Running around an island in the middle of Lake Champlain sounded like just the ticket. I even got to meet Robert Rives, the guy who created both the Cross-Vermont and Grand Isle FKT routes. Very cool, since most of my FKT connections so far have been virtual.

Robert happened to mention meeting a photographer on Grand Isle who chatted with him and took pictures in a couple spots. If I wanted to, I could try contacting him? Sure, why not! I've never had external documentation for my FKT runs, this sounded like a fun experiment.

So it was that I met Rob Swanson yesterday morning at White's Beach on Grand Isle. He asked a few questions, took pictures, and chatted with me while my InReach chose that moment to download an update.

It was a chilly morning so I had a few extra layers on:

Setting up the InReach tracker:

Photo credit = The Islander/ Rob Swanson

And - go!

I didn't think to ask Rob if he was ready for me to start (oops), but he adapted quickly and caught a nice shot with the lake in the background:

Photo credit = The Islander/ Rob Swanson

It's fun having a loop course - pick your starting spot and direction. I headed east along quiet roads, soon inland for a couple miles since there isn't a continuous route along the southern shore. Robert Rives has created a nice running route, easy to follow and with varied terrain and sights along the way.

Rob's distance shot as I continued east:

Photo credit = The Islander/ Rob Swanson

I spotted Rob's car at the top of one of the bigger hills and my immediate thought was "dang, now I have to run up that whole thing." Happily we lost sight of each other for the first part of the climb and I could switch to speed-walking for a couple minutes!

OK, back to running - coming over the crest of the hill. I'm pretty impressed with Rob's photography, and not just because he makes me look like a real runner:

Photo credit = The Islander/ Rob Swanson

Despite the cloudy day, there were some good views of the lake and back toward the Green Mountains in the distance:

Turning onto Landon Road toward US-2:

Coming into the town of South Hero, Rob was set up for one last "photo shoot" - and I had trouble deciding where to look. With race photographers I'll look right at the camera (and usually do something goofy just for fun) but I supposed this was more of a "real runner" thing. Just look ahead and try to forget he's there, I guess? Kind of odd for someone who almost never gets media attention. It did make me think about my form for a few minutes at least!

Photo credit = The Islander/ Rob Swanson

Rob departed with a smile, a wave, and a "good luck!" - super nice guy. Almost immediately I realized I had missed my own photo opportunity. Usually I'm the one documenting the FKT run, pulling out the camera for every little interesting detail. But I didn't think to take a picture of Rob, too bad.

Mom and Renee were out for a walk as I pulled into South Hero, and when they saw me they started jogging along back toward the car. Hi y'all! Everyone's getting some exercise this morning.

And... another photo opportunity missed. OK, need to start thinking about the camera in my pocket at least a little.

After getting some water and a small snack, I continued on through South Hero. Time to attempt a selfie with my support crew (the red car)...

And there they go!

Love this sign across the way - "Friends are chocolate chips in the cookie of life" - true that!

Geology along route 2 - maybe shale?

Moo-box:

From the top of another hill (which I suspect gets used for sledding in the winter), with a great view across the lake:

I approve.

Mom and Renee went for a walk in Grand Isle State Park, and again they accompanied me back to the car:

Renee seemed to be enjoying herself (although every time I left and then appeared again somewhere else she looked a bit confused):

Puppy aid station:

The one eagle I spotted during my run - with prey, I think:

It's fun doing a supported run once in a while. Without having to carry much, my legs were just motoring right along, keeping a pace that was quite a bit faster than I had expected. I kept showing up before Mom expected, but neither of us minded that it was going quicker than planned.

The little post office of Grand Isle:

I headed around East Shore North, a wonderful quiet section with a few little rolling hills and plenty to see. For example - a whole bunch of ice still covering the lake in some places, what? Oh yeah, it's still winter here...

One of many large and beautiful houses around the island:

The ice is on the way out, leaving interesting shapes as it melts:

See, this is how things start. What is the "Coastal Trail"? Where does it start and where does it go?

A dry dock:

The right turn to stay on East Shore Road at Faywood is unsigned, but I had an inkling it might be a tricky spot so I was looking for it. Guys working at the farm down the road confirmed I was going the right way so I didn't have to dig out my phone and check. Thank you!

One last section along the slightly-busy route 2, one more stop at the car, and then I was heading west toward the other side of the island. As soon as I saw water over in that direction the world felt a lot smaller. Which is good, because otherwise it would take longer to run around the whole thing.

A tiny sugarhouse, with sap hoses connecting the trees:

While I have the camera out, I might as well take another picture of my face:

Proof that I did the little detour up around Adams Landing Road:

Chunks of ice on the west side of the island, with a contrast of greys:

Motoring down West Shore Road, my legs still felt surprisingly good. I guess the recent road running has been paying off.

Hey, a porta-potty at a boat landing! I didn't know this would be here, but I was happy to make use of it (the porta-potty, not the boat landing):

One last support crew stop, at the parking lot next to the ferry - hi Mom and Renee!

So, about those legs? Someone told them they were almost finished, because they started asking for some walk time. OK, fine, as long as I can listen to a podcast. Favorite thing to listen to during an FKT run? Why, the Fastest Known Podcast, of course :)

Also, I kept finding things to take pictures of, and my legs were OK with stopping here and there:

For example:

And another one? Apparently there are a few of these little stone castles on the island, neat!

Oh look, a winery! We stopped at Snow Farm after my run and picked up a half bottle (and by the way, the "half bottle" is an excellent invention):

I must be getting close to the end, as I was starting to see colorful bird houses...

Oh, that's cool too - Champ, perhaps?

Not sure what's up with this Bird House Forest (including dinosaurs - ?) but it's fun to look at. Oh, the link says that the birds eat mosquitoes, OK, I'm all in with this idea!