Trail Running and Snowy Sunrises on Mount Watatic

January 23, 2021

In early January I decided to do a trail run up Mount Watatic in Ashburnham Massachusetts from the parking area on Route 119 to the summit following the Wapack Trail. This is one of my favorite local runs. It's a quick run and a beautiful spot to watch the sunrise. On a clear day you can see Boston in the distance and in January the sun rises just behind the city.

Even in January the trail is still runnable, although you should definitely wear spikes. So many people hike this mountain that the trail becomes packed down and easy to follow. Running up in the dark before sunrise it wasn't too difficult to follow the trail with the combination of packed footprints in the snow and the yellow trail markers. I wouldn't try running this trail without spikes, the trail gets so packed that it was almost completely ice when I went up.

I made a YouTube Video about this trail run which you can see Here

I made it to the summit a little before sunrise. From the summit you can head down slightly to a ridge just below the summit that has the best view. I packed some extra layers as I knew I wanted to watch sunrise and it can get really cold and windy up there.

Besides a trail run, my other goal was to take some sunrise photos. Combining running and photography is one of my favorite things. I have a relatively small weather sealed camera that uses small lenses that I clip to a peak design capture clip on my running pack. I added a an extra velcro strap to keep it from bouncing as I run. I also have a small travel tripod that clips to the side of my running pack. With one camera, one lens and the tripod my gear is light enough that I can easily run and I have everything I need to take photos and record video. In my opinion this is one of the best ways to spend a morning, a quick sunrise run before work.