June 20 – A reminder of why I love early morning exercise. Giving the arms and shoulders a break, I opted for one of my favorite running routes– from my rental cottage on Chappaquiddick (luckily not rented this week) 3 miles on roads to the Dike Bridge, 2-1/2 miles in the sand down East Beach and around Wasque Point, back to the upland of the Wasque Reservation, and 1/2 mile home. The beach below the eroded cliffs at Wasque Point has changed dramatically of late, building out 200 feet and containing an elongated pond where the ocean was one year ago. As I came around the corner and reached the east end of the pond, I spotted a deer on the beach near the west end. I stopped, hoping not to startle it (appeared to be young, probably a yearling)…. but my presence was enough to send it bounding across the sand– and I knew what was coming next; it attempted to run right up the steep sand cliff face and vault the overhanging edge of upland, getting its forelegs over, but then tumbling back down. A second attempt ended with the same result, after which it ran 100 yards or so west along the cliff base, saw a lower spot, and tried again…. with no luck. After four “epic fails”, it finally took off further west, where the cliffs become markedly lower– and mercifully there were no other Homo sapiens walking the other way to add to the confusion, so it was finally able to get off the beach.
Inspecting the hoofprints at the pond’s west end– which went clearly down to the ocean’s edge– I have to wonder what on earth a young deer was doing on a broad stretch of open beach…. with little or nothing to forage, no fresh water to drink and, as it learned the hard way, absolutely no woods or cover to disappear into; will have to ask a Trustees of Reservations ranger if this is a common occurrence or rare sighting….
Nevertheless, the encounter did provide a much needed “breather” after 2 miles of beach running. Slow 9:33 pace overall in 57:25, but that sand was soft! And that’s a run I won’t forget anytime soon….
