As darkness falls around me - Tuesday the 26th of April, 2011

I had long planned to head out on a long night-time run on a Tuesday or Thursday but only got around to it this week. So post-work, I packed up my work, changed into my run gear and set sail south for High Junk Peak, hoping to clear the treacherous parts before darkness descended.


As I head out the UST back gate the Sun is already hiding behind the fearsome Razor Hill... Never fear, as I gain a bit of altitude it'll make a reappearance


There it is, as I cruise the ~4km to the start of the trail


The great ball of fire sinks towards the horizon


Panorama shot of the dying sun. Already on the stage at this time, I figure I better stop shooting pictures and get a move along!


Golden light bathes everything making the mundane magical


As I push to near the highest point on the run, the sun finally slips in the hazy soup


Still enough light for running tho. And enough light for beautiful panoramas. High Junk Peak beckons me, just right of centre


Looking back down the ridgeline I've climbed


High Junk Peak stands alone looking south along the Clearwater Bay Peninsula


The view from the top of High Junk Peak is always special, but on this night as the world fades into inky blackness and I'm perched alone atop this sharp peak, the wind blowing hard against me, I feel entirely connected to the Earth. A small dot standing at (very locally) the highest point on the edge of the Earth.


Darkness Falls. I must have stood atop High Junk Peak for at least 5mins (which feels a lot longer than it sounds) revelling in the emotion, but I still had to descend and it was time to move on


A final shot from the top of High Junk Peak, from exactly the same spot and angle as this one.


Head torch on, my focus narrows to a circle roughly 1m in diameter. Incidentally, this was shot at around ISO1600, why they would have such a setting on a point-and-shoot is beyond me!


A self-portrait with Clearwater Bay rd twisting it's way along the coast in the background


A terrible photo I know, this guy was huge. About a foot long and much quicker than I thought he'd be, I snapped this and moved on, not wanting to provoke him!


I hit the trail end with tired legs, but fired up for the ~10km run back to UST



You all should be pretty familiar with the High Junk Peak route and elevation profile by now, I guess this is around the fourth or fifth time I've posted it!

What an awesome run, and an awesome feeling atop High Junk Peak. Better than the endorphins following a short run, the spirit following a hard fight or the exhaustion following a long run... The emotion connected to moments in time, like that one, is one of the primary pulls to keep doing what I do.

Keep running
~ Joe