Big Recon Around Portland

I’ve been running around Portland for a while now, and I’ve noticed all sorts of little trails that go around the peninsula. It’s hard to see exactly where they meet each other from a Google map, so I decided to just wander around the edge of town until I figured it out. The weather was nice, and I took lots of pictures.

When I say that the weather was nice, I mean that it was the first time I’ve been comfortable for the entire run. Not too cold, not too hot. In fact, by noon we had t-shirt weather in this little town. I was beginning to think that would never happen. With the sun out and the morning turning out so well, I decided to start out with Commercial Street and finish up around Back Cove. The primary reason can be gleaned from the image below.

Sun on the water by Commercial Street
On a nice day in Portland, Maine, you can see cool stuff like this.

This kind of thing really makes me eager for summer. During the summer months in New England, the sun comes up insanely early and sticks around almost until bedtime. While this makes sunrise photos a bit harder to come by, it also means that you can run outside in the morning without playing the Layer Game. (That’s my name for the morning routine where you bundle up against the cold and wind, but then you warm up and the wind stops and everything winds up tied around your waist.)

By the end of the run, I had answered all of my questions about where things go and how they connect, but I had been out there for over 90 minutes. My wife had already started the coffee and was on her second cup by the time I got home and cleaned up. It was worth the time, though. The day was just too perfect to stay inside.